If you are using Squarespace templates for your website, you need to work on driving traffic and improving your search engine ranking. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the factor in deciding where your site ranks on Google. Of course, Squarespace templates are user-friendly and can be used in different varieties, but one needs to work on long-term SEO strategies to make sure that your website appears on the first page of Google search.
With this article, we will give you the best ways to optimize Squarespace templates to rank #1 on Google.
Understand the SEO Basics for Squarespace Templates
Before you start optimizing the template you have selected, you must understand the whole concept of SEO and how it functions. SEO combines various techniques that improve website ranking and visibility on Google. Several factors are considered for this- keyword research, backlinking, technical SEO, content marketing and image optimization, etc.
Squarespace templates are made to adapt to good SEO practices, but you need to add the rest over tips and tricks to fully utilise the power of it. Here we will explore how to do it-
Select the Correct Squarespace Template
Squarespace templates are not the same when it comes to SEO. Some of them have a higher loading time, different code, and also enhanced mobile responsiveness- these become deciding factors when it comes to Google ranking. So, while choosing any template, keep the following factors in mind.
Mobile Responsiveness
It is no secret that Google will uplift that page which has mobile-friendly websites. While different Squarespace templates are good to go with mobiles, you need to choose the right one that will work well for all kinds of devices.
Faster Loading Speed
Google will also use how fast your page ranks as a factor. If your template has unnecessary codes, images or text, it will slow down the site. You need to go for the best squarespace templates that will have optimized code that doesn’t affect the overall site speed.
Optimize Your Content
Content is the base of any good SEO strategy. If you want to rank #1 on Google, you need to make content that is informative, relevant, keyword-specific and user oriented. Here’s how to optimize and custom squarespace template content:
Keyword Research
There are many keyword-generative tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, Google keyword planner, etc to generate high traffic to your website. Once you sort the keywords required for your business, incorporate them into your website content- don’t forget to use the titles, headings, summary, etc.
Meta Titles and Meta Descriptions
All the pages that are there on your website must have a proper title and description. These elements not only guide Google bots in understanding the page’s purpose but also help users quickly grasp what the page is about.
Headings and Sub-headings
All your text content must be categorized into H1, H2, H3 to H6. The first title is H1 and the ones that follow under it are H2, H3 and so on. Once you categorize it, the audience will be able to read the text better and the search engine will crawl it accordingly.
Use Alt Text for Images
Google is not able to see your images which is why it relies on the alt text feature to identify what the image is about. When adding images to your template, make sure it also has the required keywords.
Technical SEO Tips
- Faster loading time is a necessity for SEO. You must resize images, reduce HTTP requests, and use browser caching to increase the speed of the website.
- Google will prioritize mobile-friendly indexing. You must ensure that the template can be used easily with mobile and test it on the Google Mobile-friendly test if needed.
- Squarespace will automate an XML sitemap. You should ensure that robots.txt is not stopping other important pages from the search engines.
- You need to customize the URLs to be descriptive, compact, and keyword laden. Don’t use any unnecessary, complex text sentences.
Using Squarespace Plugins
- Filter plugins will help users find content easily, and this is one of the best plugins for Squarespace. User experience and SEO metrics will improve with this.
- Social sharing plugins will increase traffic by allowing the audience to share the content.
- Squarespace Plugins store will help you get SEO plugins for optimizing title tags, meta, and alt text for images, for good SEO practices.
Always remember that SEO is not a shortcut strategy, it will require patience and consistency. With the right optimizations and the correct plugins from websites like Square Websites Plugins, you can rise to the top of Google search rankings and be #1.