Here's what my typical day looks like as a Squarespace SEO expert during the global pandemic

Let’s start off this post by stating the obvious: we’re in the middle of a global pandemic, thanks to COVID-19!

Life as we know it is no longer the same and it’s impacting every aspect of our daily lives: work & business, personal finances, health & fitness, social interactions, staying at home vs going out in public, emotions and mental health, screen time… you name it, it’s different from a few months ago!

I’m writing this post in the middle of May 2020 at by now, we’ve all settled into some sort of “new normal” routine. It’s kind of whack to think about but humans are adaptable and we are all just doing our best and making the most out of this insane situation.

Earlier this week, I published a blog post where I talked about how I’m making the most of Lockdown 2020. Looking at the numbers, I can tell that people like this type of blog post because it’s a post that has received a crazy amount of traffic & visits lately! I decided to give you more of what you want and write a “day in my life” blog post so that you can see a more detailed breakdown of how I’m spending my time during this global pandemic.

Way back in May 2017, I published “Here’s what my typical day looks like as a web designer/developer” and it’s really fun and interesting to reflect on what has changed since then and how in other ways the foundation of my daily schedule looks so similar, even though years have passed and the situation is completely different.

I hope that you enjoy seeing this “behind the scenes” look at what a fairly typical day looks like for me right now, how I’m still running my business during the pandemic, what projects and products/services I’m working on, and how I’m spending my time. Personally, I really enjoy seeing how my peers (and other creatives) run their businesses and schedule their time and I love playing the comparison game to my own schedule. I usually find myself picking up pointers or suggestions along the way so hopefully there are things here that resonate with you!

Business, SEOCharlotte O'HaraMay 15, 2020my, my business, life, it's personal, typical day, squarespace seo series, seo, routineComment

Can you realistically DIY a Squarespace SEO plan and strategy?

A few days ago, a potential Top Squarespace SEO student (who ultimately ended up joining TSS during this cohort) messaged me with a really wonderful question:

“Charlotte, give it to me straight - is it realistic for me to DIY an SEO plan and strategy for my Squarespace website?”

Ohhhh what a juicy question this was! I loved it so much that I ended up doing a whole Instagram Live video training on the topic… and came back for more to write this blog post!

The short and sweet answer is YES, 100%! It is very realistic to DIY a Squarespace SEO plan & strategy… so long as you know what you’re doing haha :)

Look, I get it: an SEO strategy might not be top of your list of things to consider but trust me - if you have website, there is literally NO BETTER TIME to figure SEO out than now!

Some businesses are moving online for the first time. Other people & brands are being forced to learn how to use their websites effectively when they never used to give it a second thought - up until now they never paid much attention to their websites, or might not even have touched it in years! There’s also a whole other group of people who see the value of SEO and all the promise it brings, and while they want to get started asap, they don’t really know step 1.

We’re all in uncharted territory here, what with the whole COVID-19 pandemic, and now we have to adapt and hit the ground running. There are two main reasons for this:

Serve our audiences, clients and customers online. Many people, brands and businesses are depending on their websites and online businesses to stay afloat right now)
Take advantage of all the potential website traffic out there, really connect with and attract a new audience. There is a nearly limitless reach since everyone is online like never before

People are coming out of the fog and quickly realizing the value of SEO… but they don’t know if they can realistically follow and implement an effective Squarespace SEO plan and strategy - especially if they don’t know the basics yet!

That’s what we’re going to cover here today.

SEOCharlotte O'HaraMay 4, 2020seo, squarespace seo series, top squarespace seo, seo plan, seo strategyComment

Will SEO drop if you move your website from WordPress to Squarespace?

Um wow I can’t believe it has taken me so long to write about this topic because it literally comes up allllllll the time when I work with clients! Whether it’s with my custom website projects or SEO clients, this is a question that burns strong in everyone’s minds - for good reason!

Over the past few years, Squarespace has exploded in popularity and users LOVE how easy it is to use, how functional the platform is, how much control they have over their website’s design, and also how they’re set up for SEO success right from the start.

Squarespace doesn’t mess around - they WANT your website to grow as big as possible on their platform and reach massive audiences online. Think about it, that is a great look for them so you’d better believe they’re going to do everything they can to help you out here. When it comes to SEO, Squarespace takes extra steps to make it as easy and automated as possible (much love to the Squarespace product design and development teams! xoxo)

It’s no surprise, therefore, that many people, brands and businesses choose to build new websites on Squarespace - it truly is an “all in one” platform with major bang for your buck!

But the big question people still want to know: what if you already have a website built on Wordpress and you want to move over to Squarespace? What happens to SEO and any high rankings you’ve already built up? Is your website’s SEO going to completely tank when you make the switch?

These questions and concerns are totally valid, but I’m here to tell you are probably worried about nothing!

Trust me, this should NOT be something that holds you back from moving your website from WordPress over to Squarespace and I’m going to tell you exactly why that is. Plus, I’ll also give you tips to follow so that you set yourself up for SEO success after the switch! There are best practices to follow when migrating from WordPress to Squarespace and if you keep them in mind, you will minimize any negative SEO effects.

And best of all? If you follow these instructions closely, you might even see an improvement in your website’s SEO and rankings in the long run!

Ready to dive in? Let’s go!

SEOCharlotte O'HaraApril 28, 2020seo, squarespace seo series, url, url redirects, url mapping, site map, squarespace tips, wordpressComment

Is it weird, bad, icky or shameful to focus on SEO and growing your website right now?

Today’s post might be a little controversial but what the heck, I’m throwing caution to the wind and addressing this topic head on because it’s something I have a very strong position about.

A few days ago, someone emailed me telling me to “lay off all the SEO talk, people are dying”.

If I’m being totally honest, this comment hit me like a ton of bricks and I was completely thrown off balance - probably because it’s something I already felt insecure or weird about, deep down.

I asked myself straight up if I was being insensitive by creating Squarespace SEO and website-related content during the middle of a pandemic? Are my daily Instagram Live video trainings unnecessary noise? Should I just STFU and put my business on hold for a few months? Am I completely out to lunch right now and is everyone making fun of me behind my back for having my head buried in the sand, trying to adjust to this new normal?

Look, I get it. I’m not an essential worker, I am at zero health risk sitting at my home office, and I’m beyond lucky that my business can pretty much carry on as usual during the covid-19 madness (thank god for Zoom). Adding onto this, I have not been personally affected by the virus - and neither have any of my loved ones, either personally or professionally!

I’m an easy target.

Not going to lie, I called my friend and had a low-key freakout about this comment - what can I say, it got to me and made me question everything I was doing and the way I was showing up & running my business right now! We ended up having one of the most incredible discussions about mindset and service that I’ve ever had and I’m really proud of how I feel now.

I’m mostly writing this blog post for myself - it’s kind of personal, but it’s pretty much the pep talk and point of view I needed to hear. And I hope that it resonates with you too, or that at least it opens your mind up to a different point of view.

So let’s get right to it.

I can truthfully say that in my personal and professional opinion, it is NOT an icky/weird/gross/bad/wrong time to focus on SEO and growing your website.

People are going to project their own thoughts and views onto you, especially if they believe that your actions go against theirs. This happens all the time, pandemic or not. However, everyone’s emotions are hyper-heightened and we’re all triggered like never before, so these types of comments or projections can really sting.

But it’s our job to keep showing up and being of service in whatever way we can! And yes, that includes SEO and teaching people how to grow their websites…. even if a pandemic is happening!

squarespace seo checklist

DOWNLOAD THE CHECKLIST TODAY!

squarespace seo checklist

DOWNLOAD THE CHECKLIST TODAY!

Thank you!