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It’s almost like magic.
You type a question into Google and voila — you have hundreds of answers at your fingertips.
If you’re not super familiar with the ins and outs of SEO (search engine optimization), you might be wondering how it all works behind the scenes. How does Google always find such accurate matches for your search queries?
The answer: Keywords.
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Keywords & SEO
Why Are Keywords So Important for SEO?
Keywords and key phrases are the words or sentences you use in your website content and metadata to tell search engines what your website is all about.
When you’re thinking about how to use keywords and keyphrases, ask yourself one simple question:
If someone searched for [blank], would they find my website?
The [blank] should be what you want to be known for.
For example, are you an LA Family and lifestyle photographer? Are you the best freelance writer in Santa Monica? Do you sell the best gourmet cat food in the US? Your [blank] would look something like this:
Best LA Family Lifestyle Photographer
Best freelance writer in Santa Monica
Best small-batch gourmet cat food in the US
Of course, there’s a lot more that goes into finding the most effective keywords and key phrases to enhance your Squarespace SEO.
You have to consider factors like the search volume of a keyword or keyphrase, the competition for that keyword or keyphrase, and where it needs to be included on your site.
You’ll have to dig into the research behind the keywords and phrases you identify to truly understand how to move the needle forward in your Squarespace SEO ranking.
ProTip: This is where we can help! We offer services to help you find either the top 5 or the top 25 most relevant and most searched keyword phrases for your website.
Once you’ve identified the best SEO keywords for your website, you’ll need to add them to your Squarespace site.
We got you covered.
How Do I Add SEO Keywords to My Squarespace Website?
Where you add your keywords matters. In fact, search engines prioritize where to look for keywords in certain areas of your site.
Here’s our list of where (and how) to add keywords in Squarespace (by order of importance).
Site Domain
Your site domain is the URL address to your website. When you sign up for a Squarespace website, you’ll automatically be given a domain that looks like this: www.yoursite.squarespace.com.
If you want to improve your SEO, you can start by adding your own custom domain.
If you already own a domain from a third-party site like GoDaddy or Hover, you can connect or transfer your domain to Squarespace in order to use it for your Squarespace website.
Site Title
Your site title is the name of your website (normally, it’s also the name of your business). The site title you choose for your website shows up in the top left-hand corner unless you replace it with a logo.
Search engines look to your site title for clues on what your site is about. Here’s how to edit it to include a keyword(s).
Version 7.1
Click Edit in the top-left corner of your site preview.
Hover over the header and click Edit Site Header.
Click Site Title & Logo.
In the Site Title text field, enter a site title.
Hover over Done and click Save.
Version 7.0
In the Home Menu, click Design, then click Logo & Title. (You can also hover over the title text on any page and click Edit).
In the Site Title field, enter a site title.
You can also add a Tagline, which appears with the site title in some templates.
Click Save to publish your changes.
URL Page Slugs
URL page slugs are the unique URLs you give to each of your website pages or collections. It’s a great idea to add keywords to these whenever you can.
Here’s how to edit them in Squarespace:
In the Home Menu, click Pages.
Hover over the page and click the gear wheel icon to open page settings.
Update the URL in the URL Slug field.
Click Save.
SEO Title and Page Titles
Your Squarespace SEO title is what displays in browser tabs, search engine results, and shares across the web.
To add or edit this in your Squarespace dash, follow these steps:
In the Home Menu, click Marketing, then click SEO.
In the Search Appearance area, click the Home tab.
Edit the SEO Site Description field, then click Save.
Similarly, your page titles are the name of your pages and how they appear in browser tabs and search results. Here’s how to edit those:
To add a page's SEO title:
In the Home Menu, click Pages.
In the Pages panel, hover over the page and click the gear wheel next to the title.
Click the SEO tab and enter your SEO title in the SEO Title field.
Click Save.
On-Page SEO and Content
Next, you’ll add keywords wherever it makes sense in the front-end content of your website. This is commonly referred to as On-Page SEO. This includes blogs, website content, image titles, etc.
You can really enhance your Squarespace SEO by always taking the opportunity to add keywords to:
Blog or content headings (e.g., heading 1, heading 2, heading 3)
Body text
Your website categories
Captions and titles for Image Blocks, Gallery Blocks, Gallery Pages, and gallery sections
File names for files and images
Looking for more information on how to increase your Squarespace SEO in 2021? Check out our free eBook: The Ultimate Guide to Squarespace SEO 2021.
