Squarespace SEO Checklist - 10 Tips to Rank on the First Page

When you have a Squarespace website, it’s not just enough for it to look nice.

You want it to rank high in search engines.

Ranking in top positions is what I do to get thousands of visitors to my site every month:

The keywords above are only a selection of some of the keywords my site ranks for.

Want to rank high too?

You can do this in a variety of ways, from using certain keywords on your pages to making sure your website loads quickly.

I’ve put together a checklist of actionable Squarespace SEO tips you can use to make your website appear on the first page in the search results.

Why is optimizing Squarespace SEO so important?

The higher your website ranks in search engines, the better.

According to Backlinko, only 0.63% of Google searchers click on a result from the second page.

This means getting your website on the first page of the search engine results is the best bet when it comes to visibility.

Improved Squarespace SEO and a better search engine presence mean more eyes on your Squarespace website.

In turn, this results in more organic traffic, more conversions, and more sales.

The other great thing about SEO is unlike other marketing channels like pay-per-click advertising and paid social, it’s relatively cheap to implement.

This means SEO is a great way to boost the visibility of your Squarespace website if you have a small marketing budget.

10 Squarespace SEO tips to get you started

Optimizing your Squarespace website for SEO can feel daunting, especially if it’s not something you’ve done before.

The good news is you don’t need to hire a Squarespace SEO expert.

There are many easy things you can do to start ranking in the search engine results.

Here are my ten top Squarespace SEO tips.

1. Research the right keywords

When optimizing Squarespace SEO, it’s important to understand which keywords your customers are searching for. You can then add these keywords to the relevant pages of your website to boost your SEO rankings.

Here are some ways you can find the right keywords:

• Use Ahrefs Keyword Generator to generate keyword ideas. This is my favorite method

• Look at the ‘related searches’ at the bottom of Google to find additional ideas

• Look at your competitor’s websites and see what keywords they use

• Check out sites like Quora and Reddit to see what questions people are asking

• Use Google Search Console, which is directly integrated into Squarespace. Find out how to connect your site to Google Search Console

2. Create SEO-friendly content on your website

Optimizing your Squarespace pages for SEO means making changes, so they are easier to read and more compelling.

This encourages web users to stick around and makes it easier for search engines to index your pages.

Here’s an example.

Would you rather stay on this page:

…or this:

There’s a bit of a difference, right?

Here are some easy ways you can optimize your on-page content:

• Add headings and bullet points to make your content easier to read

• Include relevant keywords in both headings and paragraphs

• Remove any broken or slow-loading links

• Add a strong call to action at the end to encourage customers to convert

• Add compelling images that make visitors want to stay on your site

• Give any images you use relevant file names and ALT text

Most importantly, make sure the content on your page educates, entertains, or informs prospective customers.

3. Claim your free Google Business profile

Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) is a great way to improve your Squarespace SEO, especially if you sell products or services in a localized area.

By completing your Google Business Profile, you’re giving Google additional information about your business which it can use to make sure your website shows up in the right searches.

It also increases the chance of your site appearing in the ‘snack pack,’ which is the box that appears near the top of a Google search.

You can also claim a free Bing Places for Business profile to help optimize your website in Bing.

4. Manage your SEO page titles and descriptions

Your page titles and descriptions appear in the search engine results.

Adding your keywords will contribute to the SEO of your Squarespace site

They also can make the difference between someone clicking on your website and clicking on your competitor’s website.

Try and include any relevant keywords, add a call to action and keep your page titles and descriptions short. If they’re too long, the search engines will cut them off.

You can manage your SEO page titles and descriptions directly in Squarespace.

Just go to the relevant page, click on the gear, and choose the Squarespace SEO tab.

5. Boost your site speed

Page speed is a direct ranking factor in Google. This means the faster your website loads, the more likely it is to rank high in the search engines.

Why is this? Google wants to only show the most high-quality sites to its users. If your website takes forever to load, people will become frustrated.

In fact, a one-second delay in page loading time can lead to a 7% reduction in conversions.

Large images and intricate fonts can all cause your Squarespace website to slow down.

This article will show you how to test your site speed and what you can do if your pages are loading slowly.

6. Add internal links to your site

One of the easiest Squarespace SEO tips is to add internal links to your website pages.

By internal links, we mean links to other parts of your website – like this link to the Spark Plugin blog.

Internal links make it easier for search engines like Google to crawl your site and understand the connections between specific pages.

If one of your pages has a lot of links, the search engines take it as a sign that it’s a high-value page that web users will like.

7. Optimize your URLs

The URL (or link) to your webpage can help or hinder your Squarespace SEO efforts. Providing a clear, easy-to-understand URL provides additional context about your website, which can help search engines place it higher.

Consider these two URLs:

www.joebloggs.com/about-us
www.joebloggs.com/01092014%20about

One tells you (and search engines) what a page is about at a glance. The other is a lot harder to decipher!

Keep your URLs short, snappy, and relevant.

To change your URLs in Squarespace, go to the relevant page, click on the gear, and choose the Squarespace General tab.

However, be careful when changing the URL of live pages as it can lead to broken links. To be on the safe side of things, do an URL mapping.

8. Get backlinks on high-quality websites

Trust is an important part of SEO.

The more search engines see your content as trustworthy, the more likely they are to rank your pages high.

When other websites link to your content, this is a sign that your website is reliable.

Quality is better than quantity here. It’s better to get one or two links from a good-quality, relevant website than a hundred from low-quality spammy ones.

Getting backlinks from other websites can be hard – the best way to ensure success is to offer something of value.

For example if you’re writing an article, make sure it is as helpful as possible for the reader.

Another way to do this is to contact relevant sites and ask if you can write an article for their blog in exchange for a link. That way, they get a fresh piece of content, and you get a link back to your site.

For more tips on how to get backlinks, visit this link building guide by Backlinko.

Incorporating Digital PR strategies can further enhance your online presence. According to recent studies, approximately 62% of digital PR professionals emphasize linking their PR efforts to important business objectives as the most effective way to increase the overall value of their PR initiatives.

9. Make your website mobile-friendly

Did you know that 58% of website visits are carried out on smartphones?

This means it’s important to make sure your website is easy to use on a mobile phone.

Google operates ‘mobile-first’ indexing, which means it uses the mobile version of your website for indexing and ranking. This means if it can’t read your website, you won’t rank as highly.

All Squarespace sites are optimized for mobiles and tablets, which gives you a good starting point compared to other content management systems.

However, there are a few other things you can do to ensure your Squarespace site stays SEO-ready:

• If you use Fluid Engine, test your website to make sure your elements look good on mobile

• Avoid using hi-res images and videos that may cause your site to load more slowly

• Turn on AMP to make your blogs faster – find out how to speed up your site

10. Update your website often

My final tip in this Squarespace SEO checklist – update the content on your website regularly.

Search engines like Google pick up on the fact that websites are frequently updated, meaning these pages are more likely to be selected as a reliable source of information.

Regularly review the content on your website and remove anything out-of-date or broken. You can also add any relevant keywords that you’re made aware of.

Bonus: Don’t forget, a high-quality Squarespace website can help boost your SEO

A good-looking, efficient site can help contribute to your SEO rankings.

The longer people spend on your website, the more value search engines see in it.

This increases the chances of ranking high in Google and Bing.

Spark Plugin lets you customize your website, making it more functional and exciting to use.

So whether you want to improve your navigation bar or add some stunning animations, Spark Plugin makes it easy.

And the best thing? You don’t need to know any code!

Take a look today and see how simple Spark Plugin can make improving your Squarespace SEO.

Bonus: Squarespace SEO plugin

Are you having difficulties with your Squarespace website not showing up on Google? Concerned about why is Squarespace so slow? SEOSpace is here to help! This easy-to-use Squarespace SEO plugin is designed to address these issues, enhance your site's performance, and improve your search engine rankings.

With SEOSpace, you'll have access to a range of tools that simplify SEO for Squarespace users, ensuring that your site ranks better, loads quicker, and attracts more visitors.

So… what did you think of this Squarespace SEO checklist?

Did you get on the first page on Google thanks to my Squarespace SEO tips?

Please let me know! ✉️

I will feature some of the website submissions in this article with a backlink, which will boost your SEO even more.