How To Optimize Your Squarespace Website

  • Best Practices
  • geo
  • seo
  • squarespace
  • website optimization

Squarespace SEO: How to Rank Higher on Google (Step-by-Step Guide)

Today, there are over 4.7 million Squarespace websites in the world. Of those, a little over 2 million are in the United States. If you’re a small business owner, chances are you either heard of Squarespace, are using Squarespace, or are planning to use Squarespace. The CMS does an incredible job on giving non-tech savvy people the opportunity to build an amazing website with minimal costs. This makes it a great pick for small business owners, entrepreneurs and creatives when looking for something they hope they can manage long term on their own. While Squarespace makes it easy to build a beautiful site, ranking high in search results takes strategy.

This guide will walk you through effective Squarespace SEO strategies—from on-page optimization to site structure and backlinking—so you can boost visibility, drive organic traffic, and grow your business.

Tip 1. Use Squarespace’s Built-in SEO Tools

Squarespace comes with powerful SEO features right out of the box, which will help with some of the SEO headache.

  • Locate the SEO Panel: Go to Pages > SEO to customize page titles, meta descriptions, and URLs. You can do this for every page on your site. Taking this extra step will do wonders for your SEO efforts.
  • Connect to Google Search Console: Before, you would need to manually add your sitemap to GSC, now you can do this by adding your domain inside GSC. Google will provide a step-by-step guide on how to do this.
  • SSL Certificate: Every Squarespace site is HTTPS-secure, which Google considers a ranking factor. This is great since it is not something you need to worry about. All you need to know is it helps give credibility to your website, especially if you sell any product or service.

Local Tip: Clean URLs (like /services) not only help your SEO—they look more professional, especially for local businesses in places like Charlotte, Raleigh, or Asheville.

Tip 2. Optimize Page Titles, Meta Descriptions, and URLs

This is preached constantly in the marketing world. You must optimize your pages. Focus on the following areas for each page. All of these can be located in the SEO panel of each page:

  • Titles: Keep under 60 characters, include primary keywords, and make them compelling.
    • Example: “Affordable Web Design for Small Businesses | Charlotte NC”
  • Meta Descriptions: Under 160 characters, with a clear benefit or action.
    • Example: “Grow your Charlotte small business with an SEO-optimized Squarespace site. Learn proven tips to rank higher today!”
  • URLs: Use short, keyword-rich URLs. Avoid numbers or gibberish.
    • Example: yourdomain.com/web-design-charlotte

3. Use Headings (H1, H2, H3) to Structure Content

With GEO on the rise, it is now more important than ever to ensure the overall structure of your page is accurate. Google and Bing love clean, organized content. Here’s how to structure your pages:

  • H1: One per page, usually the page or blog title.
  • H2: For each major section.
  • H3: For subsections or bullet points.

Use keywords naturally in your headings—but don’t overdo it.

4. Add Internal Links to Boost SEO & Keep Visitors Engaged

Internal links help Google understand your site and keep users exploring. This is also a super easy way to integrate call to action buttons throughout the content. Here are some ways you can leverage internal linking:

  • Link blog posts to relevant service pages.
  • Use descriptive anchor text (e.g., “see our SEO services” instead of “click here”).
  • Regularly update or remove broken links.

5. Optimize Images with Alt Text & File Names

Images matter for both speed and SEO. We highly recommend saving your images for web legacy, using TinyPNG or compressing your image PRIOR to uploading them to the website. This will save you time and headache down the road.

  • Be sure to rename files before uploading (e.g., charlotte-web-design.jpg).
  • Add descriptive, keyword-rich alt text (e.g., “Squarespace SEO services for local businesses”). This helps e-readers and keeps your site ADA compliant.

6. Write SEO-Friendly Blog Content

This is important regardless of what platform you have your website on. Blogging is powerful for local and long-term SEO and GEO. Squarespace makes it incredibly easy for you to add blogs to your website so be sure to leverage this. Aim to create:

  • Posts that answer common client questions
  • At least 1,000 words per post
  • Content rich with headings, bullet points, and images
  • Internal and outbound links

If you use AI to help you with your blog, be sure to drop the content in a word or google doc and go through it with a fine-tooth comb. You will want to make sure its human readable. To understand more as to why this is so important, check out this guide about OpenAI and the impacts it has on SEO.

Pro Tip: Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest to guide your content.

7. Submit Your Site to Google Search Console

This is similar to the point made earlier. To elaborate, after you add your website to Google Search Console and Bing Web Masters, you will want to monitor your website. You can receive great insights like:

  • Top referral pages and search inquiries
  • URL Inspection Tool to request indexing of new pages
  • Monitor and fix crawl errors

Pro Tip: Check your Core Web Vitals in Search Console to optimize page speed and performance.

8. Improve Mobile Experience & Page Speed

In today’s digital landscape, more than half of your customers will be searching your website on their phone. Therefore, Google ranks mobile-friendly websites higher. Here are some ways you can make sure your site functions well on all devices:

  • Use Squarespace’s mobile preview to ensure responsiveness
  • Avoid unnecessary scripts or heavy plugins
  • Enable lazy loading for images
  • Compress files and optimize fonts

Try This: Run your site through Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.

9. Get High-Quality Backlinks

Backlinks are one of the top Google ranking factors. Here’s how to earn them:

  • Submit your business to directories (Google Business Profile, Yelp, Bing Places)
  • Guest post on niche blogs
  • Partner with other local businesses for backlink swaps
  • Share blogs on social media platforms to increase exposure

Pro Tip: Reach out to Charlotte-based directories and influencers for local SEO.

10. Track Your SEO Progress & Update Regularly

SEO is not a one-and-done task. Monitor your performance using tools like:

  • Google Search Console (keyword visibility, crawl issues)
  • Google Analytics 4 (traffic behavior)
  • Ahrefs or SEMrush (backlinks, rankings)

Refresh outdated posts, rework meta descriptions, and reoptimize pages that underperform.

If you need an easy to use guide, check out my spring cleaning checklist.

Final Thoughts: Optimizing Your Squarespace Website Is Standard SEO Optimization

SEO for Squarespace doesn’t have to be complicated. When done right, it can make a big impact on your business—especially for local service providers.

Quick Recap:

  • Optimize titles, meta descriptions, and URLs
  • Use internal linking and structured headings
  • Compress images and use keyword-rich alt text
  • Blog consistently around key topics and locations
  • Submit your site to Google and track results
  • Build backlinks and maintain a mobile-friendly design

Need help optimizing your Squarespace site for SEO? AOC Web Design specializes in Squarespace design + local SEO for small businesses across North Carolina and beyond. Contact us today for a free consultation.