5 answers to real Squarespace SEO questions I've received recently
5 answers to real Squarespace SEO questions I’ve received recently
Hey there lovelies! Today’s blog post is a little different from the normal format, we’re trying out something new here.
Gather round, I’m back with another Squarespace SEO blog post!
As a Squarespace designer and writer who blogs/creates a lot of online content about the topic, people have come to know and think of me as an expert in this (super small) niche. I don’t say this to humblebrag but to let you know that thousands of people find my website every month through Google searches about “Squarespace SEO” and they usually end up sticking around and asking more questions. I want to share some of those real life questions about Squarespace SEO that have landed in my inbox recently, mostly coming from my newsletter subscribers (you guys are the best!).
You know how they say that there’s no such thing as a dumb question? I truly believe there isn’t - everyone starts out as a clueless beginner who is a total newbie with no idea what they’re doing. We only improve and get better by asking questions, learning as we go and seeking information from people who are a few steps ahead of us.
That’s why I’m so excited to share these real Squarespace SEO questions with you today! I know that if one person is taking the time to ask the question, there are plenty of other people who have the same question but are too shy to hit ‘send’ on that email to me. I hope that many people can benefit from these answers and see that they aren’t alone in their questions!
Related :
Remember that SEO is an art, not a science. There’s so much to learn about Squarespace SEO which is why I have written about it a lot - it’s the most popular topic on my blog by far. Check out my Squarespace SEO page for more resources, blog posts & video tutorials and get your copy of my Squarespace SEO Checklist below for free!
SQUARESPACE SEO SERIES
TThis article is part of my series on Squarespace SEO. I have so many tips to share on the subject that it would have been crazy to put it all in one article! There are many misconceptions about Squarespace SEO which is why I've dedicate so many posts to this topic. Enjoy!
Click to view all posts in the Squarespace SEO Series
Visit my Squarespace SEO page for lots more resources.
Question 1 : “Will Google/other search engines automatically find and index new content on my site?”
Answer : Search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.) are always on the hunt for new content. Every time you publish new content on your site (think: blog posts, new pages, etc.), you’re offering something for search engines to dig into and all to their index. Basically search engines want to “read” and make note of every single web page and content that exists on the internet so that they can return it whenever someone does a search. It’s a LOT of work but those little crawlers have a system in place to catch everything!
Although search engines will eventually crawl your website and find new content naturally, it might not happen right away. This is especially true for new websites with little traffic or authority.
Because of this, it’s always a good idea to help search engines out so that they can identify and index your new content sooner. Once they’ve indexed your new content, search engines will be able to push it out into the inter webs and more people will find it faster.
A great way to do this is to share new content on social media so that the new content shows up in multiple place and is more likely to be found.
Also, if you regularly update or add new content to your website, search engines will keep a closer eye on your site and it’ll get indexed faster. So be consistent creating content for your site and make sure to share it on multiple platforms for best SEO!
Related : Squarespace SEO Series : Connecting your website to Google Search Console
Question 2 : “Is guest blogging a waste of time?” / “Should I submit articles to other websites if I want to improve SEO?”
Answer : Easy answer - guest blogging and writing articles for other websites is not a waste of time at all! Not only does it help build valuable inbound/back links to your website (which is major SEO goodness), these posts/content are also super valuable for loads of reasons. Here are just a few added bonuses to guest posting:
position your brand in front of a wider audience
develop relationships with other influencers in your niche
increase brand awareness
drive traffic to your website (known as referral traffic, which you can check in Squarespace’s analytics platform)
Obviously you don’t want to contribute to spammy websites or blogs because that isn’t actually valuable to anyone. Protect your website and brand’s integrity! Create contextual content for other blogs or websites that directly relates to your niche and you’ll reap the SEO benefits.
Here's a quick example of how this worked for me. Over a year and a half ago, I wrote an article for Small Business BC’s website. I was recently contacted by a business owner who had read that article on their site and they ended up hiring me to make some changes to their website for them. Yes, it took time and effort to write the post but as you can see, it continues to pay off and brings in money to my business down the road. #worthit
Related : Benefits of backlinks for Squarespace SEO
Question 3 : “Is long-form content really best for SEO?” / “Will Google reward me for writing fewer, long blog posts instead of more but shorter ones?”
Answer : This is up for debate amongst SEO experts. Generally, yes, long form content (for example, blog posts over 1500 words) can improve search engine rankings but there’s more to it than that!
If your content is long but doesn’t provide real value to the reader, especially compared to other related content on other websites in your niche, then you will NOT see any SEO benefits for those posts and your search engine results will reflect this.
Don’t bother writing 2000+ word blog post if you’re just going to keyword stuff or ramble on just to hit that word count. It’s better create shorter, more valuable posts than write long form content that doesn’t contribute anything useful to the internet.
Related : How to perform a content audit on your website
Question 4 : “My website has lots of images and is sometimes a bit slow to load. Does that affect SEO?” / “I’m a food blogger and my website has hundreds of images. How can I make sure that I’m optimizing them for Google?”
Answer : This is such a great question and I get asked it all the time! YES, websites that are slow to load because of too many larges images are penalized by search engines. This is because it’s a negative user experience and search engines are focused on putting forth the best/highest quality content & websites in their results.
If your website is slow to load because of lots of images, the first thing you should do is reduce the image file size. You might want to look at changing file formats (PNG vs JPEG) or compressing the file. Yes, this will take time but I promise it’ll pay off.
Another reason you want to pay attention to the images you use on your website is that Google images actually indexes images too, which means that people could come across your website through Google image search results. More info on that here.
This is especially important for bloggers who have loads of images in every blog post they publish - do not cut corners here!
Related : How to add and format images on a Squarespace website
Question 5 : Do brand colours affect SEO?
Answer : LOL no brand colours or the colours you use on your website do not affect SEO :)
Related : How to master colour psychology for your brand and website
Final Thoughts
I’m always thrilled to hear from my blog readers and newsletter subscribers that you’re enjoying this Squarespace SEO content. SEO can definitely seem like an overwhelming topic when you’re first starting out and I’m happy to help guide you through it!
The questions above are just a few examples of Squarespace SEO inquiries I receive on a regular basis and I hope that the answers clear things up and point you in the right direction to learn more.
Check out the other Squarespace SEO Q&A blog posts I’ve done here:
Now it's your turn to tell me, what Squarespace questions are keeping you up at night? Are you just getting started with Squarespace SEO or have you already dabbled in it? Are these answers what you’d expect to see?
Leave me a note down in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer them. No matter what type of website you have, it will benefit from SEO so I encourage you to start where you are and work on improving your SEO a little bit every week.
If you want more SEO goodness, be sure to check out my Squarespace SEO page for all resources on the topic.
You can also sign up for my newsletter (right here or below), where I often share Squarespace SEO tips, tricks and high-quality exclusive content. I send out emails to my list every week and while I don’t talk about SEO every time, I can guarantee that you’ll still find the newsletter topics interesting, entertaining and worth your time.
Finally, shameless plug : hit me up with any specific questions you have about Squarespace SEO and your website because I’m your girl. You can reach out to me directly if you’re interested in working together on your website and we can talk about whether or not you would be a good fit for my consulting and ongoing services. I can’t take on every request to do SEO consulting but I do pick a few websites and businesses to work with every month and I’d love for you to be one of them.
You may also be interested in:
Top Squarespace SEO - online course details and enrollment
Squarespace SEO for Affiliate Marketing - masterclass
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