One Simple [But Powerful] Step To Boost Your Squarespace SEO
I’ve talked in-depth about blogging for SEO, optimizing images for SEO, promoting your content after publishing, and designing effective sidebars for your Squarespace blog, but I still have some more tricks up my sleeve...
This particular technique I’m going to share with you helped my niche website & this site rank on Google Page 1 for several of my target keywords.
In my experience, blogging for SEO and this step I’m about to tell you about are the two strongest ways to rank a Squarespace website.
The Secret? —Optimize ALL Page URLs
first step - keyword research
All SEO endeavors must begin with keyword research. Trying to take SEO boosting steps without first doing thorough keyword research makes no sense.
You have to know your target audience and your target keywords first.
(I offer a Fundamental SEO Service for Squarespace websites that includes thorough keyword research and optimization of page URLs if the client agrees).
once you know your target keywords…
Optimize all page urls
Optimize URLs of sections on index pages
Optimize all blog post slug URLs (covered in this post)
*Note: Only change page URLs after considering how this could impact links to your site. This technique is best for new websites that have yet to accrue backlinks. Also, be sure to edit internal links (buttons, images, etc.) so that they point to the URL of your new optimized page URL and not the old one, otherwise your visitors will arrive at a “Page Not Found” and this is never good.
Optimizing Page URLs
From your Squarespace dashboard, hover over the page you’re about to update and click the gear icon.
Next, enter your updated page URL slug, separating each word with a hyphen. Choose a high value keyword that you really want to rank for, then click Save. (I’m sure it goes without saying, but these images are examples from this site, obviously don’t enter “squarespace-website-design” as your new URL).
Optimizing URLs of sections on index pages
If you have used Index pages within your site, you can boost SEO by using keywords for the URL of each section within your Index page(s).
Hover over the section you’re going to optimize, and click the gear icon.
Then, chose the keyword you want to use and enter it into the URL box, using a hyphen between words, then click Save.
Optimize Blog Post URLs
Last of all, before publishing new blog posts, make sure to optimize the URL.
I wrote a really comprehensive guide to blogging for SEO here which explains how to optimize the URL of each blog post you create.
Update Your Sitemap To Reflect The Changes
After you taken these steps throughout your entire site, I recommend getting your sitemap updated. To do this, contact Squarespace (I prefer using the live chat option) and tell them you’d like to get your sitemap manually regenerated. Though you probably know, SEO is not an overnight process, it’s a long-term snowball effect that requires ongoing effort, but this will ensure the changes you just made show up to Google search engines as quickly as possible.
If you need any further help, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below or contact me directly!
Welcome!
I'm Tiffany - a Squarespace Web Designer & SEO Specialist.
Here on the blog, I write about Squarespace tips, creative inspiration, art & design, and being self-employed. Let me know if there's any way I can help you!
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