SquareSpace is a platform used to build websites by providing design tools. It’s widely used for eCommerce websites nowadays. Additionally, it has SEO tools available to help you rank your website better.
By using SquareSpace, you can create a great website using a template and adjust it to your personal style. You can sell anything you want, and if you use some of the best eCommerce SEO practices, you can quickly build a business of it.
The implementation of SEO for SquareSpace depends on the type of store and the products you offer. Anyway, there are some general tips and suggestions about it. You can even use them as some SquareSpace SEO checklist and mark the step you took.
All sites created with SquareSpace are built to be indexed by search engines. It’s up to you to perform a SquareSpace SEO audit and add valuable content to make sure everything works perfectly. In this case, the integrated site audit tool can help a lot.
So, before launching your e-store, it’s essential to pay attention to these things:
Table of Contents
General Site Elements
When it comes to SEO on SquareSpace sites, there are common things for most eCommerce platforms, and they are:
1. Site Title
Use the site title together with your logo, so search engines can index the website. Make sure there is at least one keyword, and it’s not more than 60 characters.
2. Site Description
Add SEO website description, not longer than 300 characters. It must be readable and contain a keyword or two.
3. SEO Descriptions on Each Page
Again, don’t make it longer than 300 characters. It should describe the page contents.
4. Format the Page and Titles Properly
Check how your titles will appear in SERPs, and format them properly if something is not correct.
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Website Design Elements
The site design also plays a massive role in SquareSpace SEO implementation, so pay attention to these things during the SquareSpace SEO audit:
1. Site Favicon
The browser icon, or favicon, makes your brand visible, and your logo/icon may appear in search results.
Add default photos to appear when someone shares your site on Facebook or any other social network. According to the recent Google Guidelines and anti spam policies, make sure you don’t duplicate the same image for the whole website.
3. Custom 404 Message
If it’s encouraging, visitors will continue their user journey. Sometimes we face broken links, and an Error 404 Message makes a difference.
4. Implement Content Best Practices For Squarespace SEO
One of the most important parts of the SEO SquareSpace strategy is content. Make sure you create it properly, it’s user-oriented, and you don’t write it just to overstuff the text with keywords.
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Adjust the Domain and URL Settings
The URL format is a crucial SEO ranking factor, so you have to do these things:
1. Use Custom Domain
Websites with custom domains rank better than those that use built-in URLs. In this case, that would be the .squarespace.com domain.
It’s easier for everyone to share your page if they have a button to press on.
3. Enable SSL
Google loves sites with enabled SSL, and they often penalize those who don’t have it.
4. Review the Slugs
Use real words, and make sure there are no random character sequences before you publish the products.
5. Use Proper URL Format
You can choose a default format that applies to every page you post or adjust it as needed.
Implement Local SEO Features
Local SEO is a crucial part of every audit. The SquareSpace search engine optimization requires localization for better ranking, and these are the factors:
1. Add a Location to the Website
You can use Google My Business to localize your website. Also, add a map widget, and locate yourself on Google Maps.
2. Promote Yourself Online
Add your working hours, address, service areas, etc. Use Google My Business, and connect it to your website even while working on SquareSpace SEO audit.
3. Use Localized Keywords
Local keywords can help you rank your content in local search engine results. Add the country, area, or even the particular city you cover with your business, and make sure you optimize the content for it.
Now you are ready to launch your website, but the SEO activities won’t stop here.
You need to perform a regular SquareSpace SEO audit to check on the performance, and also pay attention to these things:
- Google Search Console Verification
- Request Indexing by Google
- Use Bing Webmaster Tools
- Connect the SquareSpace Site to Google Analytics
- Enable AMP to Make Sure Website Loads Faster
Again, your job related to SquareSpace SEO optimization doesn’t stop here since you have many things to do after your site goes live.
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To discuss your website optimization needs and find out what prevents it from ranking on the 1st page on Google, hop on a quick call.
Content Optimization
Sometimes, you will need to add new pages and blogs to your current website, so do these things all the time:
1. Update the Current Content
Make sure you write quality copies, descriptions, and product features.
2. Broken Links Redirects
Sometimes you will have to change some pages or update the URL. Use 301 redirects to navigate the visitors where needed.
3. Add New Content
Your website must stay active when it comes to content, so blogs can be a great solution.
4. Track the Performance
Use Google Analytics, or any other keyword research and tracking tool, to make sure the website traffic is sufficient. Also, you can track customers’ behavior properly and change the content according to that knowledge.
Content Best Practices
There are just a few more content-related practices we need to add to this checklist that you can even consider a list of SquareSpace SEO tips:
1. Use the Keywords Properly
Keywords must be placed through all the text. Don’t use too many keywords in some paragraphs, and don’t leave paragraphs without keywords. Avoid keyword overstuffing, as it’s one of the worst but still common SEO practices.
2. Content Structure to Help With Your SEO for SquareSpace
Make sure you separate headlines, subheadings, and paragraphs properly. Run a SquareSpace SEO audit for your content to see if everything is structured nicely.
3. Optimize the Images
Use descriptive file names, and avoid generic naming. Add alt text once you upload the image. Make sure you don’t use too big files to prevent site loading issues.
Tags need to be visible on the website. It helps every visitor to navigate through products relevant to them. SquareSpace allows you to tag the products and make sure visitors can find similar but still different products that fit their needs better.
SEO SquareSpace Tips
To help you understand what the best SEO practices for SquareSpace eCommerce websites are, we decided to compile a list of the most useful tips:
- Always submit your sitemap to Google Search Console
- Check the mobile usability in Google Search Console
- Target low-competition long-tail keywords (when possible)
- Create enough internal links to your most important pages
- Implement Schema markup
SquareSpace SEO Audit Final Thoughts
Knowing the most useful SEO SquareSpace tips can help you create a detailed checklist and mark the steps you took while creating your eCommerce website. Don’t skip on the SquareSpace SEO audit as the most critical step in implementing the overall strategy.
In general, SquareSpace is a good eCommerce web builder, with many SEO functionalities available, including the site audit tool.
Always start your project with an audit, so you can check on different ranking parameters. After that, you are ready to implement an SEO strategy without a chance to miss any error to cause performance issues later.
To explore other ecommerce platforms and learn how you can perform an SEO audit on them, take a look at the following blog posts:
