Squarespace SEO Best Practices for Success

Are you looking for a simple way to build an SEO-friendly website? Then Squarespace is a solid choice. It offers easy-to-use templates and plenty of SEO tools to help your site rank better in Google search results.

Not sure where to get started? I’ll guide you through everything you need to know about Squarespace SEO, including best practices to follow and the tools it offers. 

Key Takeaways

• Conduct keyword research and incorporate relevant keywords naturally into your Squarespace website’s content, including page titles, headings, meta descriptions, and body text.
• Squarespace templates are fully customizable for branding and offers built-in, advanced SEO tools. These include an SEO checklist, integration with Google Search Console, mobile optimization, and default SEO page titles and page descriptions.
• Create high-quality, valuable content that addresses the needs and interests of your target audience, aiming for depth, relevance, and originality.
• Monitor your website’s performance using analytics tools and adjust your SEO strategies accordingly to continuously improve your website’s search engine rankings and visibility.

Why Should You Care About SEO for Squarespace?

Is Squarespace good for SEO? Absolutely! 

Squarespace comes with a ton of advanced SEO tools built in. Understanding how to use them to optimize your site is crucial to your online success.

To help you with your SEO efforts, Squarespace:

• Provides analytic tools to monitor your performance. Use the results to tweak your SEO strategy and maximize your visibility.
• Links up with Google Search Console to see which keywords your customers and visitors use to discover your site.
• Provides default SEO meta descriptions and titles which can be tweaked for easier online discovery.
• Has technical SEO (Including site maps, automatic markup, and mobile optimization) already included for a better user experience.

These features are great because they provide an out-of-the-box solution to help increase brand awareness, traffic, and conversions. 

You can also use Squarespace for e-commerce, but you’ll need the premium plan for this.

Still on the fence? Then check out my Squarespace vs WordPress post. 

Finally, I’ve got one more resource for you. Read this LinkedIn piece, “Is Squarespace bad for SEO: Debunking the Myths” for more info.

12 Tips for SEO for Squarespace

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the SEO advice out there. There’s on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and even SEO best practices for developers. 

With SEO on Squarespace, you don’t have to worry as much about the more technical side, there are tools to help you manage this automatically.

Still, there’s lots more you can do to help your site rank well in Google, Bing, and other search engines.  Ready to learn more about how to improve SEO on Squarespace? Great! Here are ten best practices.

1. Perform Keyword Research

At the core of SEO is keyword research, and when it comes to Squarespace, this is no different. No matter what builder you use, it’s essential to take the time to find out what keywords your site should target. I’ve written several in-depth guides about keyword research, but I’ll explain the basics here.

Keywords are the words or phrases users type into search engines to find your website. 

Sometimes, they are obvious; for example, a dentist in Chicago will probably target keywords like “Chicago dentist.” 

Other terms might be less obvious, such as “dentist near me” or “root canal.” That’s where a good keyword research tool, like my tool Ubersuggest (it’s free!), can be helpful. 

Type in your main keyword (I used SEO for Squarespace for my example) and see what other terms come up: 

Ubersuggest will take you to an overview page where you can see data about search volume, SEO difficulty, paid difficulty, and cost per click:

It even suggests keyword and content ideas:

You’ll want to use these terms on your website in your domain name, URLs, and SEO page titles. (Don’t worry, we’ll cover how to do all that later.) 

Consider researching what terms your competitors use as well. This can provide insight into what terms users are searching for.

2. Create High-Quality Content

High-quality content is a cornerstone of good SEO on a Squarespace website. It provides fresh content (which Google likes) and offers valuable information your users want and need. 

Squarespace makes it easy to add a blog to your website, though many themes come with them already in place. 

Once you’ve created your blog page, it’s time to get writing. You can write yourself or outsource it to a freelancer. I recommend writing yourself at first to get an idea of what type of content your target audience wants. 

Start by coming up with topic ideas. What questions do you answer most often? What pain points do your customers share? Aim to solve those problems as a core part of the SEO strategy for your Squarespace site.

Here are a few other tips for creating useful, high-quality content: 

• Offer helpful information: Answer a question, provide a step-by-step guide, or give advice. Keyword research can help with this. 
• Break up content: Use headings, lists, and pictures to break up longer content and make your piece easy to read. 
• Be specific: Don’t write for everyone; instead, write for your particular target audience (or even a subset of your audience). For example, this post isn’t just about SEO in general; it’s specifically for Squarespace users. A dentist could write about “how to brush your teeth,” but “how to teach your kids to brush their teeth properly” will likely be more useful. 
• Optimize your content: Once you’ve created relevant, high-quality content, review Squarespace’s best practices to ensure your audience can find your great content. 

3. Add Internal Links to Important Content

Internal links are links on your website to other pages on your site. They improve user experience by helping users find pages, but they’re also great for SEO on Squarespace websites. 

Internal links help Google understand which pages on your site are most important. Search engines also use internal links to pages on your site.

However, don’t go overboard with internal links. I aim for 5 to 10 internal links per 2,000-word article, which seems to be a happy medium. You’d include fewer links if you have only ten pages on your site. 

As part of your SEO for your Squarespace website, you’ll also want to refine your anchor text (the words users click to follow a link) for increased optimization. It looks like this:

Finally, make sure the internal links you include add value for your readers. This isn’t a place to spam users about your newest product; it’s about leading them to useful pages. 

Here is how to add text links to your Squarespace site. 

4. Add SEO Page Titles and Descriptions

SEO page titles and descriptions (also called meta titles and descriptions) are short blurbs displayed in the search results that tell users what they’ll find on your page. 

Get this part of your SEO right, and traffic to your Squarespace website can skyrocket. Ignore them, and Google will create them for you—and they might not be as effective. 

Here’s how to update your page titles and descriptions on Squarespace for SEO:

• In the Home menu, select Pages. 
• Click the gear icon next to the title. 
• Select the SEO tab, then add your title to the SEO title field. 
• Select Save. 

You can (and should) add SEO titles to all your pages, including blog posts and product pages. This guide to meta titles and descriptions will walk you through how to create SEO-friendly titles. 

In general, meta titles and descriptions should: 

• include the primary keyword you want to target 
• offer clear details about what the user will find if they click

Here’s an example of what an optimized Squarespace title and meta description looks like in Google search and an example of the Squarespace website underneath:

5. Add Optimized Alt Tags to Images

Don’t ignore alt text as part of your Squarespace SEO strategy.

According to Google Devs, alt text is the most important attribute for providing more image metadata.

But that isn’t the only reason for adding alt text to images. Specifically, it:

• Aids accessibility for people using screen readers
• Provides a description when there are image loading issues
• Gives search engines context, potentially enhancing your SEO

And there’s another advantage, too. Google’s John Mueller says alt text is an image ranking factor.

On Squarespace, you can use alt text in email campaigns, gallery pages, product pages, cover pages, images, logos, and more.

Just remember to make your alt tags short and descriptive and add your keyword(s) like this:

6. Find and Fix Broken Links

SEO for any Squarespace website also depends on backlinks. In case you don’t know, there are tons of Google ranking factors, and quality backlinks are right up there among the most important. 

You see, when authoritative sites link to your content, search engines feel your content must be valuable and trustworthy. The result? Higher rankings in the search engines.

Focus on creating shareable, valuable content that naturally pulls in backlinks and enhances the SEO of your Squarespace website. For instance, you could write extensive guides or create images like infographics that others in your niche are likely to share.

You could also try reaching out to influencers and using guest posts to flesh out your backlink profile. Just remember, it’s all about quality rather than quantity. 

Feeling confused? Just consider that every solid backlink strategy begins with an analysis to find broken links, spot new opportunities, and disavow any spammy, low-quality links. My free backlink tool can help you out with this part.

7. Use Keywords in Your URLs

Remember those keywords we looked at in step one? To boost an Squarespace site, make sure to include them in your URLs. 

You’ll also want to ensure your URLs are clean and easy to understand, especially for service or product pages. 

For example (sticking with the dentist example above), the pediatric dentist service page should be www.chicagodentist.com/pediatric, not www.chicagodentist.com/he12909vhsw#. 

Clean URLs perform better in search and look more trustworthy to users.

Here’s how to change your URL in Squarespace for SEO:

• From the Home menu, click Pages. 
• Click the gear icon to open page settings.

• Type your new URL in the URL slug field. 
• Select Save.

8. Optimize Your Domain Name

While domain names aren’t a direct SEO factor, they can impact the overall performance of your Squarespace website. 

For example, if someone wants a dentist in Chicago, do you think they’ll click on a site like www.chicagodentist.com or www.marymandyddc.com? 

Using keywords in your domain name is a simple way to clarify what your site is about, build your brand, and enhance SEO for your Squarespace site. 

If you already have an established website that is ranking well, there’s no need to change it (though you could redirect your site to a more SEO-friendly domain if you wanted).

If you are just getting started, make sure to include keywords in your domain name and make it easy to remember. 

9. Integrate With Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free tool for monitoring and maintaining your Google presence. Integrating it with Squarespace allows the two sites to share data and makes it easier to see where your SEO efforts are paying off and where they’re falling flat. 

The console makes it easy to verify your site and lets you see all that awesome Google data right in your Squarespace Analytics dashboard—no need to visit two sites. 

To integrate, follow this guide on the Squarespace support page and learn how to verify your site.

10. Integrate With Google Business Profile

If you have a brick-and-mortar business, this is a step you can’t ignore as part of your Squarespace SEO strategy. Google Business Profile is a free tool that lets you manage how your business appears in Google Maps and the search results. 

For example, you might have seen the “Google three-pack” when you search for a local business:

Google pulls information about reviews, pricing, and hours from the Google Business Profile account. 

GBP is valuable, but for many smaller businesses, managing another platform is a hassle. Squarespace makes it easy by interacting directly with Google Business Profile to manage your listing. 

Here’s how to integrate your Squarespace site with GBP: 

• From the Home menu, select Marketing, then Location Management. 
• Select Add Location. 
• Click Import from Google. 

If you don’t already have a GBP account, you can set it up in Squarespace by following the prompts. Once you’ve integrated, you can automatically push and pull data from your website to Google. 

11. Create a Custom 404 Page

A 404 page is the page users see when they click on a link that doesn’t exist or has been moved but not redirected. But did you know that 404 pages can boost your SEO and improve user experience? 

Here’s mine: 

I use it to direct users to my SEO tool, but you can also direct users to blog posts, product pages, or other important site pages. This keeps users on your site and helps them find the information they need. 

A custom 404 page can keeps visitors on your site, indirectly helping SEO. If you have a broken link, a custom 404 page can guide visitors back to relevant content on your site, which can improve navigation around your Squarespace website. 

Here’s how to create a custom 404 page.

12. Check Your SSL Settings

SSL certificates (secure sockets layer) encrypt the data that passes between your website and your server. It improves website security, making it crucial for all websites, especially e-commerce sites. 

Do they impact SEO on your Squarespace site, though? They certainly can.

SSL is not only a good idea, but also a Google ranking factor, which means enabling it is beneficial SEO. 

Luckily, Squarespace makes this process pretty easy. All their sites are automatically protected with an SSL certificate. However, you can adjust several settings based on your needs. 

Here’s how to check your SSL certificate settings in Squarespace:

• From the Home menu, select Settings, then Advanced.
• Choose SSL.
• Select Security Preferences.
• Check the box for Secure and HSTS Secure. 
• Click Save. 

Monitor Your Squarespace Website to Improve Performance

If you aren’t actively monitoring your Squarespace stats, you won’t know what you’re doing well and where there is room for improvement.

By analyzing your stats and boosting your online performance, you can make smart decisions about your Squarespace website SEO strategy. This can lead to an improved user experience, better, more visible search engine rankings, and hopefully, more click-throughs and conversions.

Squarespace has some awesome tools to help you keep your tabs on:

• Total web traffic
• Repeat and Unique users
• Organic and paid traffic
• Conversion rates
• User behavior (Bounce rates, time on page, exit rate, etc.)

Keep a close watch on conversion, click-through rates, and campaign performance to see which marketing channels or strategies are delivering for you.  You can also monitor keyword rankings, organic search traffic, and backlinks to see how well your website is performing.

Don’t forget you can also use Google Analytics to get a complete overview.

FAQs

Does Squarespace have SEO tools?

Yes, Squarespace has you covered with a bunch of SEO tools, including built-in technical SEO, analytics tools for monitoring your metrics, and integration with Google Search Console.

How do I optimize for SEO on Squarespace?

Squarespace does much of the heavy lifting so that you can put your energy into writing content and other on-page SEO activities. That means researching keywords and adding them to your content, page titles, and image descriptions.

You’ll also want to add alt text to images, use descriptive page titles, and add fresh content regularly. 

Use the built-in tools for customizing meta descriptions, page titles, and URLs, too.

Which template is best for Squarespace SEO?

Most Squarespace templates are pretty SEO-friendly. However, Brine gets top marks for the ability to customize headers, content insets, and adjust mobile styles. You can also add advanced features like parallax scrolling.

Is Squarespace good for SEO?

Yes. Squarespace offers plenty of SEO tools and features to help you optimize your website. While there are some things you can’t access, it offers a number of SEO tools and features.

Is optimizing SEO for your Squarespace free?

SEO for Squarespace sites features are included in their paid plans, so it is free in the sense that you don’t have to pay extra just for SEO. However, some features are only available to Business or Commerce customers. Make sure to consider your SEO needs when comparing plans.

What are the downsides to Squarespace, and how can you overcome them?

One of Squarespace’s major downsides is the lack of control. Although many templates are easy to adjust, customization is limited. You can overcome these issues by carefully considering your template options and choosing a format that will grow with your business.

Conclusion

Implementing successful SEO practices on Squarespace and creating great content is crucial to online success. While SEO on Squarespace websites is a little different than that of other website builders, it still offers a wide range of SEO tools. 

One of Squarespace’s biggest advantages is that it does a lot of the work for you. This makes it a good option for beginners that don’t have expertise in website building or just want to learn their way around.If you haven’t built your site yet, I strongly recommend starting with keyword research, which can help inform your content marketing strategy. If you get stuck, my team is happy to help.