Squarespace Blog SEO Guide: The #1 Way To Make Your Blog Posts Rank
Have you ever wondered why your Squarespace blog posts don't rank, even though you've tried everything? Unfortunately, you see other websites ranking for the same topic you wrote about, which makes you start thinking of where you might be getting it all wrong. No, it isn't the website builder; it is your SEO strategy.
SEO-optimized content is not just about writing blog posts and including a bunch of keywords you want it to rank for. It requires a simple SEO process that guarantees its visibility to your target audience, and getting your blog posts to rank can drive in a lot of converting traffic. So, we will be looking at the ultimate Blog SEO guide that will improve your Squarespace blog post ranking.
I have been following this process for years, and my blog is doing super great, with most posts appearing on Google SERPs. Therefore, I am here to share the same guide with you, and you can watch how your blog page will grow and bring in more traffic. So, if you are ready, let's get the ball rolling.
Squarespace SEO Video Tutorial
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Basic Misconception About Squarespace SEO
Before going further in this article, please eliminate the misconception that Squarespace is bad for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). That is untrue and has little to do with your blog page rank on search engines. Most website builders have little effect on your website pages; what matters is how your content is well-optimized for search engines. The Squarespace website has strong in-built SEO tools that can contribute tremendously to your website visibility if taken advantage of. Squarespace SEO features such as SEO descriptions, meta tags, and titles can go a long way. So, if you've ever harboured the thought of Squarespace being bad for SEO or a blog page, you should get rid of it. I have a Squarespace site, and my blog posts perform very well.
Keep In Mind
Also, remember that while this post will teach you how to rank your articles on search engines, you are not creating your posts only for search engines but for human beings with real emotions and problems. Therefore, the quality of your content should be top-notch, and you should create posts that actually solve problems and come packed with valuable information. Now that we've covered the 'terms and conditions,' let's get started.
Step One: Keyword Research
It is beyond writing on the interesting topic that dropped on your mind while taking your first cup of daily morning coffee (that's brilliant, though!). You must ensure you are writing a blog post that contains keywords that actual people (your target audience) are searching for, and the only way to know that is through Keyword Research.
Before writing any blog post, the first thing to do is to perform keyword research. There are various ways and tools that can be used for this step. For this post, we will be using Semrush, an all-in-one SEO tool with a robust keyword research feature.
If you are new to Semrush, it offers a 7-day free trial to create an account. Also, note that you can use any keyword research tool you are comfortable with. We use Semrush, and it is fantastic.
The first thing to do before heading to SemRush is to write down a list of topics or keywords you want to write content about. Doing this will give you direction and allow you to discover more specific keywords you can rank for. When doing this, narrow it down to specific and less broad topics.
For example, if you run a fitness business and want to write a fitness blog, inputting the keyword fitness is broad. In the image below, you'll realize that most search terms are too difficult to rank for and won't help you narrow down the right target audience. (the red signifies a high level of difficulty, the yellow/orange signifies a medium level of difficulty, and the green indicates a low difficulty level.)
To become more specific, you can use a keyword such as workout plans for females. This keyword is more precise, and there is a higher chance that you can rank on search results for that keyword. Also, it will give you related keywords that are more specific with a low difficulty level. For example, you can write a 12-week Dumbell workout plan.
Metrics to look out for when performing keyword research
Beyond inputting keywords and gathering information, attention to certain details that will influence the blog topic and SEO is important.
Search Intent: Search intent is simply the reason behind an individual's search. It is the WHY of every search. Knowing the search intent will inform you how to format your blog post to satisfy your target audience. You have the Information intent, Commercial intent, etc.
Keyword Difficulty: This points to how difficult it is to rank for a particular keyword. You generally want to avoid keywords with high difficulty (signified by a red dot in Semrush) and opt-in for medium or low keyword difficulty. Going for the easy keywords gives your blog post a higher chance of ranking on Google search engine and other search engines. Depending on the keyword research tool you use, you can search based on the keyword difficulty.
Search volume: You can get insight into the total number of people searching a particular keyword monthly or yearly. Knowing this can give you an estimate of the website traffic you should be expecting. Keywords with very low volumes signify that only a few people are searching for that keyword, which may be a waste of effort. It is best to go for keywords with moderate search volumes.
Now that you understand some of the information to look out for determine the best keyword and get more specific information about that particular keyword. The image below shows more detailed information on the 12-week dumbbell workout plan keyword.
Next, analyze the first five article results (competitors) to see what they did right and how they got the search intent right. Knowing what they wrote about helps you note the strengths you want to add to your blog and avoid their weaknesses. You can also analyze the websites individually to discover more unique keywords they are ranking for and how to use that to your advantage.
You've determined the keyword you want to write on; now it is time to start preparing for blog writing.
NOTE: Remember to check out the top-performing blog posts on the keywords you're writing about. It goes a long way in informing you on how your blog post should look and the information to include.
Step Two: Outline Your Blog
You have your keywords ready; the next thing is to outline your blog. Everybody can outline a blog and come up with great headings. However, our focus here is to create blog posts that rank. Therefore, SEO must also come into play when outlining your blog. You want to make sure that each heading contains your keywords and that it is also one's ranking on search engine results.
A useful tool that can help you in your blog outline is the SurferSEO blog outline generator tool. SurferSEO is all about writing SEO-optimized content that ranks on search engines, so it comes with powerful AI that analyzes millions of similar articles and creates great headings that people are searching for. It is super easy to use; all you need to do is include your keywords, and you'll get a set of headings to choose from.
Beyond the headings, SurferSEO also provides you with the ideal word count for your article, keywords to include if you want to outrank your competitors, and the number of times to have them. It also has an SEO content rank score that tells you how well your post is SEO-optimized and the number of images, headings, and paragraphs that will make for an SEO-optimized blog post.
Also, it gives you the top twenty articles ranking for that keyword, and you can choose more than four competitors' articles to compete against. All in all, SurferSEO is one of my favorite tools to use in writing blog posts because it produces tremendous results.
Pay Attention To Headings
Breaking down your articles into smaller pieces isn't only useful for readers but also for search engines. You are helping the search engines to understand what you're writing about. Therefore, it is important to know how you use headings and when to use them. H1, also known as heading one, is specifically for the post title; other headings can follow. The bottom line is to use enough headings in your post and use them correctly.
Step Three: Write Your Blog Post
After outlining your blog, the next thing is to start writing. It is important to keep in mind that you are writing for humans who can feel and think. Therefore, it is important to give in the best. Write engaging and valuable content that keeps your readers coming back for more.
There are various AI tools around the net that you can use for writing your article (if you want to go through the easier route). Some include JasperAI, ChaptGPT, etc. Although these AI tools save time, I prefer writing my articles because they eliminate emotionless posts and plagiarism. I also advise using content writers to write or edit your AI-written articles to sound more natural.
Here is a quick checklist to keep in mind when writing your blog content
No Plagiarism: Search engines do not support plagiarism of any form. Therefore, ensure that you run your posts through plagiarism checkers to avoid wasting resources\
Include keywords throughout the post, including the blog post title.
The blog post title must contain the main keyword you want to rank for
Provide valuable information that benefits the readers.
Keep it concise and engaging.
Step Four: Upload, Optimize & Publish Your Post
When you are done writing on SurferSEO or any other content tool, it is time to upload it on Squarespace. Create a new blog post on your site and upload the content. When uploading, ensure that you only have H1, which should be your topic. Format the blog to look presentable, and move to the SEO-optimization part.
Add Images: Images are important for SEO, and using a tool like SurferSEO will give you an idea of how many images you should include in your post. Using at least three to four images on your blog is a way of boosting SEO. However, please do not upload your image without compressing its size. The large image size can negatively affect your website's loading speed; we don't want that. A great tool is tinypng.com. It is great for compressing images without reducing their quality. When you upload your images on Squarespace, ensure you have an image alt text that contains your keyword, and also rename the image to contain your keywords. These are little changes, but they can positively affect your Squarespace blog posts.
Optimize the blog post: Go to the blog post settings on Squarespace. To do this, go to the blog post page and click the three dots beside the page.
Under the content tab, upload a featured image and edit the post URL to contain the exact keyword for your post.
Under the Options tab, you should add tags and categories to your post. This will help to sort your content and help search engines to understand your content better.
Under the SEO tab, include the SEO title for the post and also a meta description. Let the description be short, concise, and contain the necessary keywords. The meta description will appear on search engines when your post appears, so you should make it captivating to intensify the decision to click your post.
Add Internal and External links: You should not publish content without linking them to existing posts on your website or higher authority sites. Internal links are simply links to other posts or pages on your website. It is great for SEO because it gives your website structure and increases the hierarchy of your website. Link to at least three of your existing blog posts and one website page. This is a form of on-page SEO, and it can yield tremendous results. External links, on the other hand, increase your website's authority and establish the relevance of your content.
Once you've done all these, you are ready to publish your blog post. If all is done well, your post should be ranking soon. Writing SEO-optimized content that ranks on Google search results is easier than you have imagined. It is all about following a set of processes and doing them well.
Submit Your Website To Google Search Console
Submitting your website's sitemap is a way of telling Google that your website exists, and it can crawl it for relevant content. Most website owners need to pay more attention to this, and it usually slows down the process of qualifying your website content to rank on search engines. So, maybe the reason why your blog page isn't ranking, even after adding SEO page titles, is because you've not submitted your website on Google Search console. To do this, follow the procedure outlined here.
What To Avoid On Your Blog Posts
We've looked at what to include in your blog to increase visibility; let's look at the flip side of the coin.
No tags or category: Adding tags to each blog post gives it a bit of structure and makes it easier for search engines and readers to find your posts. Categorizing your posts, especially when you have many posts on your blog, can be a relief for readers. So, remember to add keyword tags that are simple and searchable.
Little spacing between content: I have seen posts so choked up that I felt uneasy reading them. Sadly, that is how your readers feel when there aren't sufficient paragraphs between your content. Breaking your blog posts into smaller bits makes them digestible and easy to read.
No image alt text: Adding alt text to images may not matter much, but it is worth it. It helps people with special needs understand what the images are about and helps search engines understand them.
Useful SEO Checklist To Rank Your Website
There are other useful Squarespace SEO tips that can help your blog and website rank, so let's take a look.
Add Google Analytics to your Squarespace site: Google Analytics is one of the best tools to have as a business owner. It integrates seamlessly with Squarespace sites and gives insights into your website traffic. It tells you the
total number of traffic you're getting
the keywords responsible
the best-performing pages
the average time spent on your website, etc
Knowing all this information tells you what you do in your blog posts and website. You can find out what may be wrong with low-traffic pages and the search intent of most visitors.
Set Up Squarespace SEO: Squarespace comes with built-in SEO features that can contribute to the ranking of your website. Therefore, ensure you've dotted your i's and cross your t's in the Squarespace SEO settings. You've written your descriptions, SEO page titles, site title, etc.
Optimize URLs: Edit all your pages and posts' URLs to contain the keywords you want each page to rank for. Don't just go with the URL slug that Squarespace creates; make sure that each URL is optimized to rank for certain keywords on search engines.
Create Redirects for Broken Links: Discovering how many broken links your website has can be surprising. That is why it is important to avoid taking chances when dealing with broken links. You can use the free broken links checker online and create redirects for them following this useful Squarespace article.
Each page must have at least 500 words: Check through your website and ensure that each page has at least 500 words, or else it won't be given preferences on search engines. If you are still looking for the right information on a page, you can use tools like Semrush to analyze competitors' pages and determine what they are doing right. Also, ensure you eliminate any duplicate pages or content because Google may flag it as plagiarism, and that can hurt your SEO
Focus on on-page and off-page SEO: On-page SEO interlinks your posts and pages to improve their structure and hierarchy on search engines. When the interlinking of pages is done well, it can improve traffic and favor SEO. Off-page SEO is about linking to other sites and building backlinks that will benefit your brand. So, you want to focus your energy on linking to high-authority websites.
Wrapping Up!
Nothing is stopping your blog posts from ranking on search engines. All you need to know is how to write SEO-optimized content and other SEO procedures. Thankfully, various SEO tools can make the procedure easier. This post will also serve as a guide to creating quality content that ranks on search engines.
Follow these steps one after the other, and you'll be shocked with the result. However, remember that beyond SEO, you are writing for humans. Therefore, ensure you focus on quality and eliminate any fluff in your content. It will be best that your ranking posts exceed the expectations of your readers. Lastly, avoid plagiarism because it has negative effects on SEO. The best way to prevent this is to run your posts through a plagiarism checker.
