Search Engine Optimization (SEO) happens to be among the most significant in increasing your website traffic. When you are using Squarespace to build your site the good news is that the platform already has many built-in SEO features. But, in order to really be higher on Google and to reach more people in the United States, you have to be active in optimizing your site.

This guide will walk you through how to improve SEO on Squarespace, step by step, in a way that’s easy to understand and apply.

Understanding SEO on Squarespace

SEO is the art of making your web site easily discovered, interpreted and ranked by search engine companies such as Google. Squarespace is already SEO friendly and this does not necessarily mean that it will be ranked highly.

To succeed, you must focus on:

• High-quality content
• Proper keyword usage
• Technical optimization
• A good user experience

Now we can divide this up into some real steps to be taken today.

Do Keyword Research First

Why Keywords Matter

Keywords are the words and phrases that individuals enter into Google. Identifying the appropriate keywords will ensure your site is in the search list when the customer wants to use your service or product.

How to Find Keywords for the U.S. Market

Pay attention to the keywords that your audience utilizes.

You can:

• Consider the most frequently asked questions.
• Resort to such keyword tools as Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest.
• See the Google People also ask section.

Where to Use Keywords

When you have found your keywords, add them naturally in:

• Page titles
• Headings (H1, H2, H3)
• Page descriptions
• Body content
• Image alt text
• URLs

Do not stuff your keywords, Google likes natural helpful content.

Optimize Page Titles and Meta Descriptions

Page Titles

The title of your page is one of the most significant SEO factors. Squarespace allows you to make changes on this.

Best Practices:

• Limit titles to less than 60 characters
• Include your main keyword
• Make it clear and compelling.

Example:

SEO Services in the USA to Small Businesses.

Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions do not have a direct impact on the rankings but have an impact on clicks.

Tips:

• Keep them under 160 characters
• describe the contents of the page
• Add a call to action.

Example:

Learn how to optimize SEO on Squarespace and get more U.S. clients to the site.

Use Headings Properly

Headings are useful in making the users and the search engines familiar with the structure of your content.

Heading Structure

H1: Main page title (use only one)

H2: Main sections

H3: Subsections

Why This Helps SEO

Clear headings:

• Improve readability
• Assist Google with prioritization.
• Keep users engaged longer

By default, Squarespace attributes H1 to page titles and therefore you can work on the structure of H2 and H3 headings in the body.

Create High-Quality, Helpful Content

Focus on User Intent

Google compensates content by answering the questions of the users.

When writing, ask:

• What problem am I solving?
• Is this beneficial to an individual in the U.S?
• Is the content easy to read?

Content Tips for Better SEO

• Use short paragraphs
• Write in plain English
• Add bullet points and lists

Provide real-life examples that are applicable to users.

Content Length

The longer content (800-1500 words) usually works, provided that it is good, not fluff.

Optimize Images for SEO

Photographs have the power to facilitate interaction and may also slow down your webpage when not optimized.

Image SEO Best Practices

• Name descriptive files (ex: squarespace-seo-tips.jpg).
• Includes text describing the image.
• Image compression to file size.

Alt text is used to make Google interpret your images and provide better access to screen readers.

Improve Site Speed and Mobile Experience

Why Speed Matters

Speed of the page is a ranking parameter particularly to the mobile users. Most people use their phones to browse the web and therefore performance is of the essence.

How to Improve Speed on Squarespace

• Use compressed images
• Do not use any unnecessary animations
• Limit third-party plugins
• Use a clean template.

Mobile Optimization

Both default and custom Squarespace templates are mobile-responsive, however, there is always:

• Preview your site on mobile
• Check text readability
• Make sure that the buttons are user friendly.

Customize URLs and Slugs

Clean URLs assist the users as well as the search engines.

URL Best Practices

• Keep URLs short
• Include keywords
• Never use numbers and arbitrary characters.

Good Example:

www.yoursite.com/squarespace-seo-tips

Bad Example:

www.yoursite.com/page-12345

In Squarespace, you can do editing of URLs in page settings.

Use Internal and External Links

Internal Linking

Connection of your own pages:

• Helps Google crawl your site
• Helps keep your web site visitors longer.
• Improves overall SEO

External Linking

Include links to trustworthy related websites in the U.S. where possible. This gives credibility and context to your material.

Set Up SEO-Friendly Blog Posts

Blogging is one of the best ways to improve SEO over time.

Blogging Tips for Squarespace

• Write on what your audience is searching.
• Local or U.S.-specific terms should be used where applicable.
• Maximize every post as a landing page.
• Regular blogging is an indication to Google that your site is alive and commanding.

Submit Your Site to Google Search Console

Google Search console assists you to:

• Track keyword performance
• Identify indexing issues
• Submit your sitemap
• Squarespace will automatically create a sitemap, and therefore this is not a complicated process.

This is to make sure that Google is able to crawl and index your site.