6 steps to Squarespace blog posts that CONVERT

Blog posts that CONVERT.

You guys have been asking for me to cover this topic and hot dang, have I got the goods for you.

Look, I get it. People have a resistance to blogging. This complaint comes up ALL THE TIME in my consulting sessions, in my group program and online course, Masterclasses, you name it - theoretically, people understand that blogging is a pillar of Squarespace SEO but they don’t want to “waste their time” blogging if it doesn’t lead to results.

Well, what if I told you there was a guaranteed way to write and publish blog posts on your Squarespace website that actually converted?

Blog posts that drove product sales, booked your services on autopilot, strengthened your relationship with your online audience, grew your email list… all that and more?

Best of all, what if I told you it isn’t rocket science either?

That’s right, there’s 6 straightforward steps you can follow so that your blog posts CONVERT.

Work smarter, not harder.

As a Squarespace SEO expert and leader in this super random little niche, it’s my job/pleasure to introduce you to things like this and present it in a way that makes you think, yes Charlotte I can handle this!

This is the kind of insider info that I share with my Squarespace SEO consulting clients and students in my 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 summarized goods here - totally for free!

Read the blog post or watch the video tutorial below - don’t spend hours slaving away on your blog when instead you can get it done in a fraction of the time with wayyyyyy more impact! #winning

Some of you reading this might be totally new to Squarespace SEO and are looking for an introduction to this topic, someone to hold your hand and show you it’s not actually that scary. On the flip side, you might already be familiar with a few points on this list already but maybe you are looking for confirmation that you’re on the right track and haven’t missed anything important. No matter where you are in your Squarespace SEO journey, I know you’ll benefit from this info!

Alright, let’s get straight to it - read the post and watch the video tutorial below. Then start blogging your little heart out and enjoy all the conversions coming your way!

Related:

SQUARESPACE SEO SERIES

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.

Blogging on Squarespace with a focus on conversions

This video tutorial shows a demo website using the Rally template (Brine family, Squarespace 7.0) but the process is the same if you’re using Squarespace 7.1

Work smarter, not harder for those conversions

Believe it or not, there’s a proven way to publish blog posts that not only exist on the internet… but also drives the right kind of traffic to your website and converts those visitors.

But first, what do we mean by conversions via a blog post?

Depending on the type of website and goals you have, conversions could mean different metrics.

Here are some examples of conversions:

Purchase a product

Book your services
Sign up for a discovery call
Read more related content, like/comment/share the post
Click through any affiliate links so that you get commission for sales
Subscribe to your email list/join the newsletter
Etc.

In essence, you want to get your blog posts in front of your ideal audience online (dream clients, customers, readers, etc.) and then get them to actually do something after reading this blog post.

We don’t want to just increase traffic to our websites/blogs for a vanity number. Leave the ego aside! Instead, focus on driving the right kind of visits to your content and then pointing these eyes to your desired next step.

When it comes to blogging, I’m here to help you to use your time efficiently. I totally understand that many of you are solopreneurs or part of a small team and you just don’t have endless hours to dedicate to blogging. You already have a lot on your plate and you are probably pulled in several directions already when it comes to online marketing, content creation and business growth.

This means that the time you DO spend blogging needs to count and your efforts must pay off! Conversions are queen/king.

I always tell people that if conversions and growth are your goals, you have to be way more strategic than just “blogging from the heart” haha

1. Know your ideal audience

Let’s kick things off with a return to basics: before you even think about blogging, you must first have a crystal clear understanding of WHO YOU’RE BLOGGING FOR.

Aka, who is your ideal audience? the dream clients & customers? the people who you want to purchase/sign up for your offerings? the dedicated readers who never miss a post?

You must know who your ideal audience is so that you can create blog post content for them. You want them to find your blog posts and content online and think to themselves “yep, this is exactly what I''m interested in”

The blog posts you create must resonate with your ideal audience in order to convert. They must find your blog content

interesting and/or entertaining
informative
answers the questions they have
offers a solution to their problem
helps them go from A to B
comparative
etc.

So, ask yourself who are these people you’re trying to reach online?

Basic ideal client avatar exercise

To help you with this step, I recommend doing a basic “ideal client avatar” exercise so that you know exactly who you’re creating blog post content for. Where are they from? How old are they? Basic demographic profile? What are they struggling with? How can you help them? What are they looking for online? Are they looking to make a purchase or just consume content?

Don’t overthink this. Just grab a pen & paper, open the Notes app on your phone and start brainstorming whatever comes to mind until you have a solid understanding of “who” you’re writing for, the type of person you’re targetting.

Check out your website’s Analytics tab

Another way to better understand your ideal audience is to take a look at the data that comes through on the Analytics tab of your Squarespace website. Here you’ll find data & numbers & insights related to your current website audience (who they are, where they’re from), the type of content that is most popular (i.e., what pages/posts are getting the most traffic), the most popular products (i.e., what they’re buying).

2. Understand search intent

Now that you get your ideal audience and know WHO you’re writing for, the next step is to understand their search intent so that you can write the kind of blog post that they’re looking for online and actually want to read.

If search intent is new to you, please read/watch Why search intent is the secret weapon of Squarespace SEO first THEN come back here to carry on the discussion. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to understand search intent if you want to blog effectively!

Basically, search intent is when you put yourself in your ideal audience’s shoes and imagine what they’re looking for online, followed by the type of content they expect to get.

Ask yourself, what are they searching for and typing into Google? And based off that knowledge, what type of content do they expect to see in the search results?

There are 4 main categories of search intent:

Navigational query - searcher knows exactly where they want to go online
Informational query - searcher is looking for information, educational & entertaining content
Comparison query - searcher is looking for “X vs Y product”, wants to know the difference between 2 or more options. Is close to making a purchase online but not quite ready.
Transactional or purchasing query - searcher is ready to buy online

Once you understand search intent, you’ll know the insider info that allows you to create blog posts that get more traffic to your blog/website.

And once you get all these target visitors over to your site, then you can convert them as you see fit. This is HUGE.

See how we’re laying the groundwork and making sure it’s all connected before we even hit publish? Yes, good. Let’s continue.

3. Write clear & concise blog post titles

The blog post titles should be clear, concise, explanatory and easy to read.

Imagine someone does a Google search and one of your blog posts shows up in their search results. This person should be able to skim the results, see the blog post title and immediately know if this post is right for them (and whether or not they are going to reward you by clicking over to your site for a visit).

If the blog post title is too wordy, unclear or takes the person more than a second to figure out what the content is about or if it’s what they’re looking for, there’s no way they’re going to click over to your site. If the blog post title sucks, imagine the content!

Get to the point!

4. Format blog posts with on-site SEO factors

This is where we get a little technical but basically you want all of your blog posts to include on-site SEO factors.

Please read/watch The most important on-site factors for Squarespace SEO to learn more or get a refresher because trust me, this is super important and it can make or break your blog post content.

On-site SEO factors to include:

Headers and hierarchy (H1, H2, H3)
Images (correctly named, size, file format, aspect ratio, etc.)
Video and other media
Links (internal & external) with proper anchor text
URL slug
Body text formatting (readability, bullet points, numbered lists, short paragraphs, bolded text, etc.)

The reason why on-site SEO factors are so important is that it makes the blog post content more valuable to Google (the search engine) AND to the real, living human visitor who is consuming this online content.

It also helps to make the blog post content easier to skim and digest, so that people can find the exact part of the post that they’re interested in and skip over what they don’t need (especially helpful when your’e writing long-form content that satisfies search engines and helps you to rank higher - most of the time people don’t need to read the whole post they just want a certain chunk).

This makes the blog post more valuable and the visitor is more likely to make it all the way to the bottom of the post (the goal!).

5. Finish each post with CTA

CTA = call to action

Tell people what next step they should take!

CTA examples include:

Purchase a product
Add related product to your order
Inquire about services
Book a discovery call
Sign up for a free training
Watch a video or read the next blog post
Like, comment, share, subscribe
Sign up for the newsletter or join your email list
Get in touch / contact

When it comes to CTA at the bottom of the blog post, you can include one or several, depending on how you structure the content! For example, I usually finish things off with a CTA to book my Squarespace SEO services (consulting, online course, etc.), sign up for my free video training, and then read related blog post content.

But it’s totally up to you to decide what works best!

Think about what your most important offerings are, what’s relevant based on the blog post content and search intent that satisfies your ideal audience! You can mix it up or keep it the same, use a sort of template at the bottom of each blog post that’s totally fine.

Don’t leave people hanging.

Remember, in many cases people are finding you/your brand for the first time through a random google search and one of your blog posts came up. This blog post is their introduction to you and everything you have going on. CTAs are SO IMPORTANT because it tells all these newbies what to do next, makes sure they don’t just leave without checking out all the amazing things you have to offer.

Create the kind of content your people are looking for > Clear CTA that pushes them towards desired conversion.

This gives people a place to go after reading the blog post, beyond an abrupt ending LOL.

6. Promote the blog post

Publishing an amazing blog post is an accomplishment in and of itself but don’t forget to PROMOTE it as well!

When you PROMOTE the blog post, it gives your ideal audience a chance to actually find and read the blog post - and then convert like you tell them to!

Here are some ways you can promote your blog posts:

Email out to newsletter
Share on pinterest
Share on instagram (link in bio, swipe up in stories
Share on FB page
Share in FB groups or other online communities
Mention in a podcast interview

Blog posts often die a long & tragic death if all you do is publish and hope for the best. Instead, get as many eyes in front of the post as you can and that will help snowball traffic and traction.

Final Thoughts

Et voila - the 6 steps you must take in order to publish Squarespace blog posts that convert!

It’s not rocket science and you can literally use this list as a checklist to refer back to anytime you publish a new blog post on your Squarespace website.

Don’t rush a good thing, instead spend a little longer writing a blog post that is going to work FOR you, drive the right kind of traffic so that you can grow your website and reach you ideal audience online. Before you know it, the sales and bookings will come in on autopilot thank to your SEO efforts and content marketing.

Now it's your turn to tell me, do you have a blog set up on your Squarespace website? What kind of blog posts are you currently publishing? Have you missed any steps on this list? Any tips you’re going to start doing from here on out?

Leave me your questions down in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer them. As people are spending more time online than ever before, it’s SO important that your website shows up properly in search results so that you can reach your ideal audience online - but you can’t do this without SEO!

If you want more SEO goodness, be sure to check out my Squarespace SEO page for all resources on the topic.

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.