How to Use Squarespace SEO Tools to Optimize Blog Posts
Use Squarespace SEO Tools to Optimize Blog Posts
If you are here doing your due diligence and trying to determine if you should use Squarespace for blogging, GOOD! Because I’m here to set the record straight. Squarespace is GREAT for blogging!
Before you leave, be sure to read my blog post The Truth Behind the Myth that Squarespace is Bad for SEO and learn why it simply isn’t true. In other words, do your fact-checking before you go believing nasty rumors.
The whole point of blogging is to:
Increase organic traffic to your website by attracting the RIGHT audience
Demonstrate your empathy and authority to solve your target customer’s problem
Build trust with your audience
Grow your email list
Nurture your audience
Make YOU the go-to person for what you do
So, SEO is important!
Good SEO practices ensure your content appears higher in search engine results, making it easier for your target audience to find your posts, engage with your brand, and ultimately do business with you.
Squarespace's built-in SEO tools make it easier to implement these practices without needing extensive technical knowledge. Squarespace has all the native tools you need in a Content Management System (CMS) to optimize your blog posts.
In this post, I’m going to show you how to optimize your blog posts using Squarespace’s native tools and provide you with some pointers for how to use them.
Automatic H1 Tags
All Squarespace blog post headings are automatically assigned an H1 tag.
An H1 tag is an HTML element used to define the main heading of a web page. It is one of the most important tags in HTML for both user experience and SEO.
Why?
Because H1 tags are the highest-level heading tags, indicating to search engines the most important content on the page. There should only be one H1 tag per page to maintain clear hierarchy and structure.
Search engines use H1 tags to understand the primary topic of a page, so it needs to accurately reflect the content of the blog post, subsequently improving SEO ranking because the H1 title clearly indicates the focus of the blog post.
Additionally, H1 tags help users quickly understand the main topic of the page. This is especially useful for accessibility, as screen readers often use H1 tags to navigate content.
To optimize your blog post title, include your primary keyword within the H1 tag and make it between 40-60 characters and is 5-12 words long.
And don’t use an H1 tag ANYWHERE ELSE in your blog post.
Rather, use H2 tags for subheadings that contain secondary keywords.
Here is a post on how to use SEOSpace to easily do keyword research for your blog.
Squarespace Blog Post Settings
Content Tab
The URL slug for your blog post is this part of the web address:
yourwebsite.com/blog/url-slug-goes-here
Your URL slug should also align with your blog post content and contain your primary keyword.
Make it short and snappy, avoid stop words like "and," "or," and "but," and keep it between 3-6 words.
SEO Tab
What is a Meta Tag?
A meta tag is an HTML element that provides metadata about a web page. Metadata is information about the webpage that is not displayed directly on the page but is used by browsers, search engines, and other web services to understand and manage the content.
Both the SEO title and the SEO description are considered meta tags. These tags are part of the HTML metadata that help search engines understand the content and context of a webpage.
To optimize these in Squarespace:
SEO Title:
This is the title that appears in search engine results. It should include your primary keyword and be between 50 and 60 characters and 5-12 words to follow SEO best practices. Descriptive and catchy SEO titles are better for ranking high on Google and boosting click-through rates.
Squarespace will automatically use your H1 title as the SEO title, and oftentimes this is just fine. If you want to override it, you can do it in the SEO tab where it says “SEO Title (Optional).”
It’s also a good idea to eliminate your site title from all blog posts.
SEO Description
The SEO or meta description briefly summarizes your blog post appears below the title in search results.
To optimize your SEO description, make it compelling to entice readers to click your link, include your primary keyword, and make it between 150-160 characters.
Pushing Your Content to Google Search Console
Share Tab
Google Search Console is a free tool that helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site's presence in Google Search results.
You will need to be connected to Google Search Console in order to do this.
If you haven’t already, connecting your Squarespace website to Google Search Console is super easy.
Go to Settings > Connected Accounts > Google Search Console and follow the prompts. Be sure you’re logged into the Google account you want associated with your website before you start.
Share Tab
In your blog post settings, select the ‘Share’ tab and enable pushing to Google Search Console.
*I do recommend manually requesting indexing for every single blog post to speed up the process.
Create a file in the not linked section to store your freebies
Squarespace Blog Post Image Optimization
Images can boost your blog’s SEO if used correctly. Here’s how to optimize your blog post images in Squarespace:
Add Alt Text
Always add alt text to your images. This is a description that helps search engines understand what the image is about. Make sure to include your primary keyword in at least one of your images.
I always include do this for my Pinterest sharing image.
To add alt text in Squarespace, click on the image block and in the image editor, find the "Image Alt Text" field and add your descriptive text.
* Pro Tip: Name your image files descriptively BEFORE uploading them. Instead of "IMG1234.jpg," use "image-description.jpg."
I often use the same filename and Alt Text for mine.
In Conclusion
Squarespace's built-in SEO tools are there to significantly enhance your online visibility and drive more traffic to your site. Squarespace has all the tools you need in a Content Management System to optimize your blog posts for SEO.
For keyword research, I recommend SEOSpace for its ease of use, even if you don’t know anything about SEO, in addition to extensive resources and tutorials, customer support, and community. It truly is unparalleled.
By effectively using keywords, meta tags, URL slugs, and image optimization, and leveraging Google Search Console, you can create a powerful SEO strategy that ensures your content reaches a wider audience.
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