Squarespace SEO | What's keeping you from getting started.jpg

I recently sent out an email to my newsletter asking what you need help with, when it comes to Squarespace SEO and growing your website. The replies and feedback I got was incredible and let me say, WOW I am overflowing with ideas for the content, tutorials, resources and live trainings that I’m going to create for you over the next few months!

Seriously, mad props for hitting reply and giving me so much to go with - I’ve got my work cut out for me and I couldn’t be happier ;)

This check-in with my audience also gave me a lot of unexpected insights into where everyone is with SEO right now.

Not surprisingly, we’ve got everyone from total beginners and self-professed “tech idiots”, bloggers who are growing their sites but want to slay it with affiliate marketing, fellow web designers/developers who plan to up level & expand their skill set and charge more for their services, business owners who've had to pivot their entire business model during the pandemic and understand that SEO is what will put them in front of their customers, and everyone in between!

After reading all your replies to my question, I can clearly see that there are some patterns and hesitations that just keep coming up. People want to get started with Squarespace SEO but there are several key reasons that have held them back.

Here’s what you said is keeping you from starting 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.

1. Don’t know where to begin

Without a doubt, this is the most common reason why you haven't started with Squarespace SEO yet!

Look: I totally get it - Squarespace SEO is a massive topic that requires so many website owners to step outside of their comfort zone and do something they’ve never done before. However this is where the inaction usually comes in: you don’t know where to start so you end up NOT starting at all!

Big mistake, my friend :)

When it comes to Squarespace SEO, I always say that you should never try to do everything at once. Instead, chip away at it a little bit at a time, one section after another.

If you’re looking for direction to follow, these are the first 3 steps I recommend that you take:

Verify & connect your Squarespace website with Google Search Console
Fill out the Squarespace Site Description
Fill out the SEO descriptions for each page & post on your Squarespace website

At the very least, these 3 steps will ensure that you build a solid SEO foundation by tackling your Squarespace website’s basic SEO settings. Focus on getting all the Squarespace SEO settings up and running first. This is #1, don’t skip over the basics.

From here, you can then audit your website’s pages/posts and update the content as needed. Then, you'd move on to strategic content creation which is mostly done through blogging. More advanced SEO strategies like developing backlinks will come with time, only after you’ve got the basics covered.

2. Lack of confidence in your tech skills or knowledge

Ooof, this is another big one!

When it comes to tech skills and experience levels with dealing with the back end of their websites, people are all over the map. Some of you can barely log into your Squarespace website and the thought of doing more than changing the text freaks you the eff out. On the flip side, others say that they can follow direction, demos and tutorials well enough…. but they don’t know where to find them!

For my total Squarespace SEO beginners and anyone who is terrified at the though of touching their website, I recommend that you push past your fears and just give it a shot!

My beloved Julia Child once said, “The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude!”.

Well hot damn, if the same thing doesn’t apply to Squarespace SEO! 😂

Reassure yourself that you will learn by doing and so long as you follow the right instructions, I have no doubt that you’ll find it much less daunting that you anticipate! Trust me, I have worked with some of the loveliest but most technologically incompetent clients on the planet and even they could figure it out and get started :)

The biggest thing here is to seek out the RIGHT information. There’s no point following along with a tech tutorial that’s 4 years old because the instructions won’t make sense anymore because Squarespace’s platform will have changed since then. Like, if they’re telling you to go to X then click Y then click Z, but the entire process has been updated, you’re going to be left like whaaaaaaat?

Seek out information that is up to date and comes from a credible source. For example, Squarespace’s knowledgeable is a fantastic resource. I’m also a leading Squarespace SEO expert so you can binge all my blog content, the video tutorials over on my Youtube channel, or sign up for my online course Top Squarespace SEO and you’ll know that you’re in good hands.

3. Crippled by conflicting advice

Here’s one that I wasn’t expecting: many people said they haven’t started with Squarespace SEO because they don’t know whose advice to follow.

When I saw these comments coming in, I was like 👀

This comes back to my point above about seeking out credible, up to date information that focuses on instructions that lead to results.

Depending on whose advice you follow, there will naturally be some sort of bias. For example, if you ask 5 different business owners how to grow their website, you could get a whole whack of answers: SEO, paid advertising, leveraging Instagram followings, media coverage, etc.

So yeah, if you come to someone like me, I’m obviously going to encourage you to focus on SEO over other growth strategies haha! Squarespace SEO is literally my entire job, I’m not a generalist or a jack of all trades who’s going to leave you hum-ing and haw-ing about this topic.

The thing is, there’s no one right or wrong way to go about it. Different strategies work for different people and businesses, and you can still get your desired outcome or results no matter which route you take.

But if you want to get started with Squarespace SEO, then you can come to me and I’ll confirm that you’re in the right place - and also steer you in the right direction.

4. Haven’t invested in fancy SEO softwares or tools yet

OMG hunni do not let this be something that hold you back from starting out on your Squarespace SEO journey! Seriously, there is sooooooo much that you can do *before* you even think about using paid tools or investing in special softwares.

But wait! Maybe you’re like “What SEO softwares or tools are you even talking about, Charlotte?”

Think Moz, SEMRush, Ahrefs, etc.

Those are all nice and incredibly helpful, but they aren’t “must-haves” by any means… especially if you have barely started out with SEO yet!

Begin with what you already have and work with what you’ve already got.

For example, you can log into Squarespace and take a look at your Analytics tab for a bird’s eye view look at your site and how it’s currently performing. Make note of your website traffic, any referral sites, popular content, search terms, etc.

Many of these softwares offer free trials so whenever you’re ready to test the waters, you can do so risk free!

If you haven’t already, check out these posts:

5. Want results now but SEO seems like too much of a long-term strategy

We live and work in a culture that prioritizes fast action and quick wins, so it makes total sense that many people overlook SEO because it doesn’t always deliver immediate results. SEO is all about playing the long game and building up an online marketing strategy that will grow and snowball over time… but even I acknowledge it’s not your best bet if you need a quick injection of cash or clients in your business.

Let’s say you have a services-based business or sell products online through your website. The end of the month is creeping up and you are just looking for a way to fast track and get in front of your ideal clients & customers so that you can meet your goals and keep a roof over your head. This is where something like paid advertising might come into play and be hugely useful. You throw a few thousand bucks at an ad campaign and watch the ball start rolling. However, if you don’t have cash to spare at the moment, then you are SOL with this “quick win” strategy my friend! Same thing goes for pitching your services - it’s a totally different strategy but it’s one of the fastest ways to secure new business and beef up your bank account.

it’s totally true that you will see some immediate results from tinkering around with SEO on your website, but the real benefits come over time… weeks and months down the road.

SEO is all about playing the long game but don’t let that hold you back from getting started! There are ways that you can still get these quick wins (e.g., pitching, paid advertising, etc.) while also spending time on Squarespace SEO and reaping the benefits for years to come.

6. Haven’t launched my website yet, SEO seems too far off

Believe it or not, but if you haven’t even launched your website yet that you are in one of the BEST positions for SEO success!

Think about it: you are essentially working with a clean slate and you can set it all up correctly from the very start. This is massive. If you do it right from the very beginning, then you will save yourself countless hours of work in the future because you don’t have to go back and do it all over again - it’s already taken care before you even hit “publish” on your site.

People told me that they were about to launch their websites but were focusing on stuff like branding and creating blog content. That’s well and dandy but HELLO, don’t sleep on SEO!!!

Also, blogging is a huge part of SEO. It’s how you create pillar content for your website, incorporate target keywords that your ideal audience is searching for, and builds up a bank of posts that search engines can crawl & index. So while you’re prepping to launch and thinking about writing several blog posts to get you started, I strongly recommend that you consider the SEO value that you might be overlooking.

7. Already have an old or big site, SEO seems daunting

On the flip side, many of you said that you already have a website up and running but the thought of having to go back and optimize all your pages and posts seems like too much to handle.

Here’s some real talk for you, my friend.

Time is going to pass one way or another. Wouldn’t you rather have time on your side, doing you favours and building you up?

Yes, it will take time to audit all your existing website content and optimize it for search engines. Yes, it will take time to write blog posts that reach your target audience. Yes, it will take time to re-name & re-format all the images on your site. Yes, it will take time to get backlinks from other relevant websites.

But trust me, it will pay off!

Just because something is going to take some time and effort, doesn’t mean it won’t be worth it.

If you find yourself in this camp, then go back to my point above about breaking down each task and doing a little bit at a time. Don’t try to do it all at once, that’s a sure way to get frustrated and burn out. However, if you work on SEO a few hours every week, then before you know it you will start seeing the results.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it, these are the top things that are holding YOU back from getting started with Squarespace SEO!

These hesitations are all valid but that doesn’t mean you should resist it forever. The internet moves at such a fast pace that SEO is not something you can ignore forever….those who do will slip further and further down the rankings and it’ll be increasingly difficult to reach your ideal audience/clients/customers online.

The good news is that a little effort goes a long way when it comes to SEO! Dedicate a few hours to your Squarespace website every week or month and before you know it, you’ll notice that your efforts will pay off.

Now it's your turn to tell me, have you done any SEO work on your Squarespace website yet? What’s the biggest thing that’s keeping you from getting started? Which one of these points is holding you back?

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 - get started today, don’t let anything hold you back from at least trying out the basic strategies, and then come thank me later! ;)

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.