I have received this question several times recently so I thought, what they heck - let’s share the answer on the blog & YouTube!

So, thank YOU for inspiring today’s topic! I love being able to share what I know with you so that we can learn about this wonderful little niche of Squarespace SEO together :)

The question is “Is blogging or email marketing better for Squarespace SEO?” or “Should I focus on blogging or email marketing if I want to improve SEO for my Squarespace website?”

Honestly I loveeee this questions because it just goes to show how much confusing and often conflicting advice is floating around out there about online marketing.

Let’s face it: the entire point of online marketing is so that you can grow your brand & business, right?

Well, SEO is a massive player in your online marketing success, whether your website is on Squarespace or any other platform.

So when we think about all the different areas that we should be spending our time on, what’s worth it and what can wait until we’ve got a solid foundation under our digital feet, then we really need to talk about SEO and how we’re going to use it to make MOVES this year!

As always, I’m giving away all my best tips here, answering all your questions and pulling away the internet curtain if you will. I’m here to hold your hand to make sure SEO actually gets done on your Squarespace website in 2022 - and, more importantly, that it gets done correctly LOL !!

This is the kind of insider info that I give to my Squarespace SEO consulting clients and students in my signature online course, Top Squarespace SEO. But since I’m not one for secrets and truly want the best for anyone with a website, I’m giving you the goods here totally for free!

Oh, and I’ve even recorded a video tutorial for you to watch in case that’s more your vibe.

Alright, let’s jump right in - I know you’re hyped to get your question answered so let’s chat tech goodness!

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

Work with Charlotte - explore my Squarespace SEO Services

Blogging or email marketing for best Squarespace SEO results?

Let’s first consider how SEO works

Before I answer the question with a simple YES/NO answer, let’s make sure that we return to basics and consider how SEO works on your Squarespace website.

SEO stands for search engine optimization and it’s basically all about how you get your website to show up in online search results.

You want your target audience/dream clients/customers to go to Google, type in certain keywords or keyphrases, and then see your website come up at the top of Google’s search results page. Because that’s how you’re going to drive organic traffic to your website and get in front of wayyyy more people online, which then drives business and brand growth.

You with me so far?

The difference between blogging and email marketing for SEO

Blogging is a part of content marketing, but more specifically it falls under the SEO umbrella.

Blogging is an online marketing strategy that will help you grow your audience and get in front of new people, thanks to SEO and how you’re showing up higher in online search results.

It’s a fantastic way to create lots of different keyword-rich blog content that your audience might be searching for online, which we love because that gets us closer to our goal. Blogging can help to grow your website by sending more traffic your way via online search results - one of your blog posts shows up in Google search results and a visitor clicks over to your site from there.

If you are interested in SEO and want to get the maximum benefits, then blogging is a non-negotiable.

In fact, I strongly believe that EVERY website should have a blog, no matter what industry or type of brand/business it is!!! Blogging is a great way to create the kind of content your ideal audience is interested in reading or learning about. You can use blog posts to educate your audience, showcase or sell products, highlight your services, create a rapport with your audience, position yourself as a leader in your niche, and so much more!

Your target audience will love your blog posts….but SO WILL GOOGLE!

Don’t sleep on blogging, my friend.

Email marketing, by contrast, fits under the wider “online marketing” umbrella - meaning, it’s not specifically related to SEO.

It is SUPER beneficial and I’m a firm believer that every website/brand/business should have an email list.

Heck, my entire business pretty much runs off of my email list - it’s the most effective way that I communicate with my audience. Yes, I have social media and I have “fun” with it, but as of the time of writing this blog post, email marketing is the heavy hitter for my business.

Basically the whole point of email marketing is that you turn a random website visitor into an email list subscriber, which means that you can communicate with them long term.

You will use your email list to let subscribers know about:

brand/business/personal updates and news
upcoming sales and promotions
special events that you’re hosting or taking part in
availability of your services
new or updated products
fresh content (on your blog or on social media)
run challenges or special events
and so much more!!!

Email marketing really comes down to nurturing your relationship with your subscribers, which in turn will help you to grow your business.

Think of your blogging and email marketing this way:

Blogging will help you to improve SEO and grow your website… but then once you get those new visitors to your site, one of your goals should be to get them to join/opt-in to your email list so that you can stay in touch with them long term and drive your biz forward!

So if you are asking yourself “which should I focus on first, blogging or email marketing?”

Then I encourage you to think back on your GOALS to help you to answer this question.

People sometimes think of it like that question “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” but I think that’s a mistake - instead, don’t think of “blogging first then email marketing (or vice versa)” and instead think of it as two complimentary things that should be happening in tandem, at the same time.

It’s kind of a 3 step process:

you write keyword-rich, seo friendly blog posts that attracts new people to your site
the person/visitor opts in/subscribes to your email list
you communicate with them via email marketing

When it comes to blogging, you want to create high quality, keyword rich content because this is what’s going to have a positive impact on SEO. Blogging is one of the ways that you’ll grow your online audience, thanks to all this new website traffic coming in when Google shows your blog posts in search results. it will help you to attract the right kind of people to your site, meaning attract more of your ideal clients/customers, because you’re creating blog posts that they’re actually searching/looking for and are therefore are likely to actually click over and read it.

Email marketing can’t be ignored - don’t just drop it to focus solely on blogging! Remember, people might find you via a blog post but they’ll stick around or come back because they’ve opted in to your email list. Email marketing is how you’re going to communicate with these people once they click away from the page, which is why it’s SUPER important that it also gets prioritized when you’re thinking about SEO and online marketing.

To get people to join your email list, you will often need to give them a reason to do so haha most people won’t just give up precious access to their inbox without something in return! This could be:

a freebie
a discount or promo code
early access
waitlist priority
etc.

At the end of the blog post, you will usually include a CTA (call to action) that prompts the blog post reader to join your email list.

Blog to build SEO & grow your audience, then convert them to email newsletter subscriber, then market to them to grow your biz & brand!

It’s a grand cycle, you see?

Final Thoughts

Short answer:

Blogging and email marketing go hand in hand, focus on both at the same time :)

They should not be separate from each other - instead, they are hunnis that stick together and play different but complimentary roles in your online marketing efforts.

Blogging is more directly related to SEO, but you should 100% definitely be incorporating email marketing into your blog post so that you can grow your email list and stay in touch with these new website visitors/subscribers over time!

You can see examples of this on my blog and throughout my website in general, feel free to take a look and see what’s going on.

Remember the 3 steps that we’re doing here with blogging and email marketing for the SEO on your Squarespace website

blog to attract new people to your website via SEO
get those people to join your email list
do email marketing to stay in touch with your new subscribers

Makes total sense, right?

Now go ahead and start blogging and building up your email list today! You’ve got this and know that I’m cheering you on every step of the way :)

-Charlotte xo

Exciting news : my signature online course, Top Squarespace SEO, will be opening for enrollment again soon - sign up for the TSS waiting list here!

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 Wednesday, mostly focused on Squarespace websites and SEO, and I can guarantee that you’ll find the newsletter topics interesting, entertaining and worth your time. #humblebrag

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 Squarespace 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.