Is Squarespace Good for SEO in 2024?
Are you concerned about making your Squarespace website rank on search engines?
You are not alone. That's why we will dive into the big question: Is Squarespace good for SEO?
The answer is yes, Squarespace is good for SEO. It has many SEO features like customizable meta tags, auto-generated sitemaps, SSL certificates, and more. However, success also depends on factors like content quality and following the best practices.
Squarespace SEO has improved a lot in the last few years. Based on my experience using Squarespace for my blog(this website), I can confirm for you that I'm seeing some good SEO results.
You can see that most of my content ranks on the first page of Google if you check that. As a Squarespace SEO expert, I do everything it takes for my pages to rank in the first position. Yes, the platform helps, but also my effort and skills do.
In this article, you will learn what Squarespace brings to the SEO table. We will dive deep into the Squarespace SEO features to see if it’s really good or not.
Keep in mind that I tested all the Squarespace features by myself on my website. So I’m giving you information based on my expertise and experience with Squarespace SEO.
Is Squarespace Good for SEO
Yes, Squarespace is good for SEO. It comes with many SEO tools and features to help optimize your website for search engines. When used effectively, it can lead to good SEO results.
So it’s a great platform for SEO nowadays. It's not like 5 or 10 years ago. Squarespace has made a lot of improvements to help websites rank higher on search results. There are so many built-in SEO features and tools that you can use nowadays.
So based on my experience using Squarespace for more than 3 years now, I can say that it’s very SEO-friendly and it’s now going to the point where it’s competing with WordPress in terms of SEO features.
Squarespace has got your back when it comes to getting noticed by search engines. You can change important stuff like meta titles and descriptions for each webpage. Plus, you can make URL slugs match your keywords.
In addition to that, there are a lot of good Squarespace templates for SEO that are very optimized. That means all the code for those templates you can start with is SEO-friendly, allowing your website to easily get indexed by Google.
In general, Squarespace is a good pick if you want to create a website that search engines like. It's easy to use and automatically works on all devices like phones and tablets. It also has safety features to keep your site secure, like SSL certificates.
Moreover, it's even got tools and code behind the scenes to help search engines understand your site better.
Also, don't worry about sitemaps because Squarespace automatically generates XML sitemaps for you in order to guide search engines around your website.
But there's a little catch. You might not be able to change every single thing. Some super advanced SEO stuff might be out of your control.
Still, if you follow the basics of doing SEO and do things right, you can make a website that search engines will put right at the top of results.
You can watch the YouTube video by Style Factory if you want to learn more about Squarespace SEO. The video talks about all the steps you need to follow in order to make your Squarespace website rank on search engines.
How to Rank on Google with Squarespace.
By the way, Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial to let you comfortably try the platform and its features.
If you decide to build your website on Squarespace, I highly encourage you to get your free trial and use my affiliate code MEHDI10 for 10% off and a free domain name for the first year.
Do Squarespace Sites Rank Well?
Yes, Squarespace sites can rank well on Google and any other search engine. The key is using good SEO practices, quality content, and relevant keywords. Squarespace provides all the tools to help with that.
As you can see in the image above, my Squarespace website ranks number 1 on Google for a competitive keyword. I outranked a lot of WordPress websites, so that proves that Squarespace can be really good for SEO.
However, it's also important to understand that Squarespace gives you a platform for website creation, and the ranking potential well depends on many factors. Below, we'll delve into the key considerations that impact the ranking of Squarespace sites.
1. Content Quality Matters
The quality of your website's content is important to determine its ranking on search engines. Squarespace allows users to create and publish content easily. However, the effectiveness of your SEO efforts largely depends on the value and relevance of that content.
High-quality, informative, and engaging content that addresses the needs and interests of your target audience is more likely to rank well.
2. Keyword Optimization Is Key
Keyword optimization is a fundamental aspect of SEO. Squarespace provides tools and options to optimize on-page elements such as titles, meta descriptions, and headers with relevant keywords.
Conducting thorough keyword research and strategically incorporating those keywords into your content can significantly impact your site's ranking potential. Just make sure you don't overuse keywords in your content, only use them when you need to.
3. Page Loading Speed Matters
The speed at which your web pages load is a critical factor for SEO. Slow-loading pages can negatively impact your site's search engine rankings.
While Squarespace offers beautiful designs and templates, it's important to optimize your images and consider any additional elements that may affect page load times.
4. User Experience and Navigation
A well-structured website that offers a smooth and intuitive user experience is favored by both visitors and search engine crawlers.
Clear navigation menus, logical page hierarchies, and internal linking all contribute to an enhanced user experience. This can positively affect SEO on your Squarespace website.
5. Ongoing Efforts
You should keep in mind that SEO is not a one-time task but an ongoing process. Regularly updating your Squarespace site with fresh content and monitoring its performance can be very important.
SEO is like a game, you have to always keep improving and updating your content to get good results. It's about your efforts and the use of the best practices.
So in short, Squarespace sites can rank well on search engines when the right strategies are employed. Success in SEO depends on a combination of factors, including content quality, keyword optimization, mobile-friendliness, technical SEO, and user experience.
By focusing on these aspects and staying committed to ongoing SEO efforts, your website will definitely rank on search engines.
Squarespace SEO Features
Squarespace has a lot of built-in SEO features that you can use in order to make your website rank well on search engines.
That’s why I want to inform you about most of the features that this amazing platform offers. As a result, this would help you make an informed decision for your website SEO.
Here are some of the Squarespace SEO features:
1. Google Index
Google maintains an index of recognized web pages through crawling and categorizing. While Squarespace doesn't automatically request Google indexing, you can initiate it via Google Search Console. However, Google eventually indexes pages even without active requests.
In addition to that, Squarespace allows you to add tags and categories so that search engines can easily scan through your website content.
2. Meta Title
The meta title is an HTML element that concisely communicates page content to both search engines and users. Squarespace makes it easier for you to add your own custom meta title to any page or post.
This is an important feature because it also allows you to customize your titles in order to increase the CTR.
3. Meta Description
Complementing the title, meta descriptions summarize page content in under 155 characters. Squarespace allows you to quickly add your own meta titles that include your target keyword.
This useful feature also allows you to add custom descriptions that can make users click. Squarespace offers the tools to add these descriptions within page configurations.
4. Site Title
The site title is the prominent text displayed at the top of each webpage. Beyond a stellar logo. Using a descriptive title helps search engines understand your website's purpose. Opt for a concise title with a focus on relevant keywords.
If you can include your target keyword in the site title, that’s great. It can help boost your on-page SEO score.
5. Readable File Names
Even image file names impact SEO. Prioritize relevant keywords when naming images for upload. Squarespace empowers users with this capability and provides best practice guidelines for accuracy.
Whenever you upload an image to your Squarespace website, you can customize the name of that image. So in my opinion, I think you should always have the same name and the same alt text on your image for better SEO.
The name of your image can be your target keyword or just a descriptive small sentence that tells what the image is about.
6. Image Alt Text
The manually written alt text describes images for search engines, appearing when images fail to load. Squarespace allows you to add alt text for every image. This feature makes your website accessible to all users with visual problems.
Alt text is important for accessibility and SEO because it can help both search engines and users know what an image is about.
7. Bing Webmaster Tools
This free service assists in managing your site's presence on Bing's search results. Just like Google, Bing requires manual verification of your Squarespace site, underscoring the need for user involvement.
This can allow you to add your Squarespace website to the Bing search engine for more traffic.
8. Headings
Structured content with headings guides search engines and readers. Squarespace's automatic HTML tags cover all the important headings. This allows you to write well-structured content on your website.
9. Custom URLs
Custom URLs align with content and offer greater insight than random strings. Squarespace generates URLs based on page titles, which you can modify within page configurations. So it allows you to easily include your target keyword on the URL slug.
10. Speed and Uptime
Squarespace boasts impressive server response times and uptime, factors lauded by Google for SEO. While no platform guarantees 100% uptime, Squarespace's performance excels.
However, you still need to always optimize your images and compress all files on your pages for faster loading speed.
11. Mobile Friendly
All Squarespace templates are automatically mobile-friendly and responsive. That means your website will look good on all screen sizes and devices.
Having a website that is mobile-friendly is very important nowadays. That’s because most users use mobile phones. So your website should be responsive and work well on all devices, including smartphones.
Squarespace helps with that and automatically makes your website responsive. So you don’t have to worry about your website not being mobile-friendly.
12. 301 Redirects
Squarespace has the 301 redirects feature. This is a crucial aspect of website management and SEO.
So 301 Redirects are like signposts that inform both users and search engines that a particular web page has permanently moved to a new location.
So this is a useful feature for site organization and maintaining SEO authority during website changes or URL updates.
13. SSL Certificate(HTTPS)
Squarespace provides free SSL certificates to all domains. This allows secure and encrypted connections that search engines value for SEO.
Having an SSL certificate on your website is important nowadays because nobody wants websites that might not be secure.
14. Auto Generated Sitemaps
Squarespace automatically generates and updates XML sitemaps. These sitemaps can help search engines understand your website structure. It's an automatic feature that requires no manual intervention.
Sitemaps can also help search engines navigate your website content for easy indexing.
15. Google Analytics
Integration with Google Analytics empowers users with insights into site performance, user demographics, and more. Squarespace enables the simple setup of Google Analytics via the "External Services" section.
This is an important feature that will help you track many details about your website visitors. It’s also a good way to help you take the right actions to boost your traffic.
16. Google Search Console
Similar to Google Analytics, the Google Search Console provides valuable data on your site's performance. Squarespace makes really easy to connect your Google search console account with just one click.
You can check out this resource if you don’t know how to verify your website with Google Search Console.
17. Keyword Search Panel
Squarespace also has a built-in keyword panel that helps you understand how specific keywords drive traffic. It complements Google Search Console and can guide ongoing SEO efforts.
It’s another useful feature that comes with Squarespace's built-in analytics. It will help you a lot to find the keywords you’re ranking for and check in what position your content ranks.
18. Social Media Integration
Squarespace lets you integrate with over 30 social media networks which allows content sharing and cross-posting between your website and social profiles.
This will help you diversify your traffic sources and attract more social media users to your website.
19. Search Engine Instructions
Requesting search engines not to index specific pages is possible in Squarespace through code injection. This feature allows you to give an instruction to search engines. As a result, it will help you pick which pages will show up on search results.
You can access this feature by going to your specific page and then clicking the settings icon of that page in the “Website” section. After that, just click the SEO tab and scroll down to the bottom to see the checkbox that says: “Hide the page from search results”.
Have a look at the image below:
So as you can see, whenever you create a page on Squarespace, you have the option to turn on or turn off the visibility of that page on search engines.
20. Structured Data
Squarespace offers limited automated structured data implementation, but additional types may require manual code injections.
Other platforms excel in this area for those comfortable with coding. However, Squarespace also makes it easier to add your own structured data. With the code injection feature and code blocks, you can add a schema markup to any page you want.
21. Canonical Tags
Canonical tags dictate search engines' focus when multiple versions of a page exist. By specifying the canonical URL, you're telling search engines which page to prioritize, consolidating the SEO value into one primary URL.
This can enhance your website's overall search engine performance and ensure that your content is properly indexed and ranked.
22. SEO Friendly Translations
Expand your reach to new markets with SEO-optimized site translations that increase visibility without spending hours on translations. That's because Squarespace integrates with Weglot to help you translate your site into multiple languages.
So thanks to all these useful SEO features, my Squarespace blog ranks well on all search engines and I also get higher SEO scores when I audit my website. You can see below according to PageSpeed insights that my website loads in less than 2 seconds.
And in terms of SEO, I also get a score of 100 for my blog posts. But that’s because I apply all the important on-page SEO basics. If you know what you’re doing, your Squarespace website will always get an SEO score like the one below.
Ready to take your website to the next level? Try Squarespace for free and experience the difference firsthand. No credit card is required.
Unlock the power of user-friendly design and built-in SEO tools. Start your 14-day free trial today and watch your website shine.
Is SEO Better on WordPress or Squarespace?
Deciding whether SEO works better on WordPress or Squarespace depends on what you're looking for. Both have their own good points:
WordPress SEO
WordPress is like a superhero for flexibility. You can customize a lot and use plugins to help with SEO. If you're good with technical stuff, this can be a big plus. You can get into the nitty-gritty details of SEO if you want.
Squarespace SEO
Squarespace is more like your friendly sidekick. It's easier to use, especially if you're not a tech person. It comes with built-in SEO tools, like meta tags, URL slugs, and auto-generated sitemaps.
Things to Think About
There are many factors to consider in order to help you decide on which platform you want to do your SEO. Here are a few factors to consider:
Easy or Advanced: If you're not a tech wizard, Squarespace is simpler and will do a great job. But if you're into tech and SEO, WordPress gives you more control.
Customizations: If you want your site to look exactly how you want, WordPress is your playground. Squarespace is a bit more structured, but it also has a lot of beautifully designed templates that you can use.
Adding plugins: WordPress has a lot of cool plugins to use. Squarespace has what you need, but not as many. However, there are a lot of external third-party plugins that you can use for your Squarespace site.
Maintenance: WordPress plugins need regular updates. Squarespace looks after itself, you don’t have to always worry about updating your plugins.
Speed and Performance: WordPress can be super fast or slow, depending on your choices. Squarespace is also fast and keeps things consistent. You just need to use the best practices by compressing your images and using less external code to have a fast website.
You can watch the video below by Henry Purchase where he compares both Squarespace SEO and Wordpress SEO.
WordPress vs. Squarespace: Which is better for SEO?
In the end, which one's better depends on you. If you're ready to dig deep and want lots of options, WordPress is your answer. If you want things to be easier and done for you, Squarespace is your go-to.
Pros and Cons of Squarespace SEO
Squarespace is known for its design, but its SEO capabilities have significantly improved in recent times. My blog that you're reading right now is fully built on Squarespace and I'm always ranking higher on search engines thanks to this platform.
However, like all website builders, Squarespace SEO has its pros and cons.
Pros of Squarespace SEO
User-Friendly SEO: Squarespace offers built-in SEO tools that are easy to use. This makes it suitable for beginners and those without deep SEO knowledge.
Customizable Meta Information: You can easily edit meta titles, descriptions, and URLs for each page. This feature can improve how your site appears in search results and boost click-through rates.
Mobile Responsiveness: Squarespace templates are designed to be mobile-friendly. As a result, this helps your website perform well on different devices. Because that’s important for SEO.
Integrated SSL Certificates: SSL certificates are included with Squarespace sites, boosting security and SEO rankings.
Structured Data Options: Squarespace provides options to add structured data, helping search engines understand your content better and potentially enhance your search result appearance.
Automatic Sitemaps: Squarespace generates XML sitemaps automatically. This feature helps search engines in discovering and indexing your website's content.
Blogging Capabilities: Squarespace's blogging features are great, which allows you to easily create good content. That’s a key factor for SEO. In addition to that, Squarespace also allows you to schedule blog posts for future posting.
Visual Appeal: Squarespace templates are clean and professional. As a result, this provides a good design foundation and structure for your website. That’s because a good website structure means easy search engine indexing.
If you want to use Squarespace, don’t forget to start your free trial and use my affiliate code MEHDI10 for 10% off and a free domain name.
Cons of Squarespace SEO
Customization Limits: While Squarespace templates are stylish, there's less flexibility for deep customization compared to other platforms like WordPress, which might affect the unique design or advanced SEO implementations.
Advanced SEO Control: Squarespace's built-in SEO tools might not provide the same level of advanced control as SEO plugins on platforms like WordPress.
Performance Optimization: While you can optimize for speed, Squarespace might have limitations in achieving the highest levels of performance compared to platforms focused solely on performance optimization. But if you compress all images and use minimal code, you can make your site load in less than 3 seconds just like mine.
Editing Canonical Tags: You might not have direct control over canonical tags, which can affect your control over certain SEO aspects.
Limited Plugins: Squarespace has fewer third-party plugins and integrations compared to platforms like WordPress, which might restrict additional functionalities. However, there are platforms like Ghost Plugins where you can find a lot of Squarespace plugins to use.
In summary, Squarespace offers a user-friendly environment with built-in SEO features that can benefit users seeking simplicity and basic SEO needs.
It's particularly suitable for those looking for a user-friendly website builder with some SEO capabilities. However, if you need advanced customization and precise control over every SEO aspect, you might encounter limitations.
So consider your familiarity with SEO, website goals, and customization needs when choosing Squarespace for your SEO strategy.
Related blog post: Best Free Squarespace Plugins That You Should Know.
How to Improve SEO on Squarespace
Improving SEO on Squarespace is a goal many website owners have. Here's a simple guide to help you boost your site's visibility in search engines:
Optimize Page Titles and Descriptions: Craft clear, concise, and keyword-rich meta titles and descriptions for each page. This helps search engines know what your content is about and encourages users to click.
Create High-Quality Content: Regularly update your website with valuable, relevant, and original content. This keeps your site fresh and engaging for both users and search engines.
Use Relevant Keywords: Research and incorporate relevant keywords into your content naturally. Avoid overstuffing, you need to focus on providing valuable information to readers.
Create Readable URLs: Customize your URLs to be descriptive and concise. This helps users and search engines understand what each page is about.
Optimize Images: Use descriptive file names and add alt text to images. This not only improves accessibility but also helps search engines understand your visuals.
Use Heading Tags: Structure your content using H1-H6 heading tags. These tags make your content easier to read and help search engines grasp its organization.
Improve Page Speed: Optimize your site's loading speed by optimizing images and reducing unnecessary elements. Google considers fast-loading sites favorably.
Don’t forget Internal Linking: Link relevant pages within your site to improve navigation and guide search engines through your content.
Add Your XML Sitemap: Squarespace generates an XML sitemap automatically. Check that it's up to date and submit it to search engines via Google Search Console.
Add Social Media Channels: Connect your site to your social media profiles. Social signals can indirectly influence your SEO by driving traffic and engagement.
Use Structured Data: You can use structured data(schema markup) to help search engines understand your content's context. This can enhance how your content appears in search results.
Avoid Duplicate Content: Ensure your content is unique across pages. Duplicate content can confuse search engines and affect your ranking.
Monitor Analytics: Integrate Google Analytics and Google Search Console with your site to track performance, traffic sources, and keywords.
Improve User Experience: Aim for a user-friendly and intuitive website design. User experience indirectly affects SEO by influencing metrics like bounce rate and time on site.
Add External Links: Include authoritative external links when relevant. This can provide additional context and credibility to your content.
Engage on Social Media: Active social media engagement can increase brand visibility and indirectly impact SEO.
Always Stay Updated: Stay up-to-date with SEO trends and algorithm changes. SEO is an evolving field, so adapt your strategies accordingly.
Use SEO Plugins: While Squarespace has built-in SEO features, you can also explore third-party SEO plugins for more advanced options. You can try SEOSpace, it’s an amazing SEO plugin that will help you boost your rankings on search results.
I have written a full guide on how to boost SEO on Squarespace to help you easily rank on Google. You can check it out if you’re interested, I covered some of the important on-page SEO tips that you should know.
Remember, SEO takes time to show results. Consistency, quality content, and user experience are key. Keep learning and adapting your strategies to stay ahead in the search rankings.
Do you want to use these SEO tips on your next Squarespace website? If so, start your free trial now and build your online brand using the power of Squarespace SEO.
How to Get Started with Squarespace SEO
To get started with Squarespace SEO, you need to learn the basics of on-page SEO first. Because once you know how to write SEO-optimized content on your website, the rest is a piece of cake.
Squarespace gives you all the tools and features that you can use to rank. By using those SEO features to your advantage, you will be able to show up on the top of search engines.
There are a lot of free resources and tutorials that can help you get started, Squarespace itself has a very useful SEO checklist that you can learn from.
Squarespace has also shared its very own guide to help you show up on search engines. This guide is full of insights and includes a video.
Moreover, it has in-depth written sections that walk you through everything from picking the right keywords to improving your content structure for maximum impact.
In addition to that, there are a lot of quick Squarespace tutorials on YouTube that can get you started up and running.
You can watch the video below to help you understand how to simply implement SEO on Squarespace. Just to get you started and see how the platform works.
Squarespace SEO optimization tutorial for beginners.
If you’re an absolute beginner with no technical skills, Squarespace is a good platform for you to learn and practice. Because the best way to improve at SEO is to know the basics and practice all the knowledge you have learned.
Squarespace with its user-friendly interface makes it easier for you to start your website with few clicks so that you can practice SEO.
Best Squarespace Template for SEO
There are a lot of beautifully designed Squarespace templates that you can use to easily start a website with a few clicks. But the question is: Are all Squarespace templates SEO-friendly? Well, the answer is a big yes.
Squarespace has made a lot of improvements to its codebase to make all templates SEO-friendly and easy to get crawled by search engines.
However, some templates have better design structures, especially the ones from the 7.1 version. Here are some Squarespace templates that are best for SEO:
Paloma Template
Paloma template is a clean and modern Squarespace 7.1 template that emphasizes visual content, making it great for blogs or podcasts. You can customize everything on this template to make it your own.
No matter what type of website you’re building, you can use the Paloma template because it’s flexible for every use case.
Key features:
Mobile Responsiveness: Paloma's design ensures that your site looks great on all devices, which is important for SEO performance.
Clean Code: Well-structured code that helps with page loading speed and search engine visibility.
Customization: 7.1 templates generally offer flexibility, allowing you to optimize your content for SEO.
Bergen Template
Bergen Template is another awesome Squarespace template that focuses on minimalistic design and offers a clean design layout. It’s the same template I’m using for this website.
What I like about this template is its simplicity and flexibility which means you can use it for any type of website.
Key features:
Visual Appeal: Bergen's design encourages a focus on visual content, which can enhance user engagement and indirectly impact SEO.
Mobile Optimization: A responsive design is vital for SEO, and Bergen delivers on that front.
Clean code: Bergen also has SEO-friendly code behind the scenes which means you can count on it to help search engines understand your website.
So these are just a few examples of Squarespace SEO-friendly templates that you can use. There are a lot more options. The choice is yours you can check out all the Squarespace templates and see which ones you prefer.
Is Squarespace Bad for SEO
No, Squarespace is not bad for SEO. It offers a good starting point with clean code, mobile-friendly designs, and tools to tweak SEO elements.
Yet, it has some limits on customization and super advanced SEO tactics, but it also has a lot of strengths. How well your SEO works on Squarespace depends on how you use its features and follow best practices.
Based on my experience and expertise using the platform for more than 3 years, I can say that Squarespace is good for SEO and has all the important features to rank your website.
However, using a good platform or website builder will not guarantee that you will get good SEO results. A website builder is just a tool. So if you don’t know SEO basics and best practices, you can’t rank on search engines.
It’s your SEO skills and efforts that will guarantee good results for your website, not the platform. So instead focus on writing high-quality content that is SEO-optimized and well-structured.
Ready to make an awesome website? Try Squarespace for free for 14 days. When you sign up, use my code "MEHDI10" to get 10% off and a free domain name for a whole year. It's time to build your online brand.
Conclusion
Squarespace is a good platform for SEO. While it may not offer the same level of flexibility as some other website builders, it provides a user-friendly environment.
In addition to that, it does have many built-in SEO features, but your success will depend on your content quality, keyword optimization, and SEO efforts.
So follow best practices and use Squarespace's SEO tools well to create a website that looks good and ranks well in search results.
A big thank you to all of you who read the entire article. Your time and attention mean a lot, and I hope you found it valuable. Stay tuned for more engaging content coming your way.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can I rank well on search engines using Squarespace?
Absolutely! Ranking well depends on various factors, including content quality, keyword optimization, and backlink strategy, rather than just the platform you use. Squarespace offers the tools you need to succeed in SEO.
2. Are there any limitations to SEO on Squarespace?
While Squarespace is SEO-friendly, some advanced SEO techniques might be easier to implement on other platforms. However, for most websites, Squarespace's SEO capabilities should suffice.
3. How can I optimize my Squarespace website for SEO?
To optimize your Squarespace site, focus on keyword research, creating high-quality content, optimizing meta tags, using descriptive image alt text, and building backlinks. Squarespace's built-in SEO settings make these tasks manageable.
4. Does Squarespace handle technical SEO well?
Squarespace generally takes care of technical SEO aspects, such as mobile responsiveness, site speed, and SSL certificates. So you can concentrate on content and strategy.
5. Can I customize my Squarespace site's URL structure for better SEO?
While Squarespace sets some URL structures by default, you can customize the URL slugs for individual pages and blog posts to improve SEO.
6. Is Squarespace's SEO good for e-commerce websites?
Yes, Squarespace offers e-commerce-specific SEO features. This makes it a good choice for online stores looking to improve their search engine rankings.
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