Is Squarespace really bad for SEO?

I have heard a lot of rumours that Squarespace is bad for SEO - and that is simply not true!

There are so many things that can affect your organic search rankings that no website building platform is better than another, each have their strengths and weaknesses and a good designer with SEO knowledge as well as supporting strategies will help significantly.

Keep in mind that Squarespace is nearly 20 years old - the platform wouldn’t continue to grow if the websites had terrible SEO as people would switch to different platforms.

Here are 5 common SEO myths about Squarespace:

I’ve created my site. Google will find it.

Wrong. Creating a great website is not enough. There are hundreds of thousands of websites online and in order to be seen, you need to let Google (and even Bing!) know you exist. Backlinks from other websites and directories help, but the number one thing you should do is ensure your site is submitted to Google to be indexed. The fastest way is via Google Search Console. Your pages need to be well optimised to allow Google to determine what is there as well.

I’ve also encountered a lot of companies that do not have a Google Business Profile - get one! This helps with visibility on local searches (Google will display a map with the nearest companies matching your search query) and positive Google Reviews help build online trust.

Duplicate content is bad.

Right and Wrong. Duplicating your own content on your own website is fine, but ultimately you are competing against yourself on search engines as Google won’t know which page to serve up on search results. Also keep in mind the user experience - I’ve visited some websites where they have multiple locations and exactly the same content on each location page. These are considered ‘doorway’ pages that are templated pages jammed with keywords to show up on search results but don’t offer any real value to the visitor. This can affect search rankings as Google has trouble telling them apart. If you need multiple location pages, content and page layouts need to differ by adding maps, photos, client testimonials for that location, staff bios, etc.

I’ve also seen website pages with less than a paragraph of text displayed - this can work in a few cases, but can also be extremely frustrating if you have clicked through 2-3 times to get there. Ideally you should have 300-500 words per page as not only are you indicating to Google that you have relevant content on that page, you are also providing value to the reader.

Don’t duplicate content from another site on your website - it’s not a great look and it may be reported to Google.

Having a pop up will not influence your SEO.

Wrong. A full page pop up will impact your search rankings. Why? Because a full page or large pop up is blocking content and Google considers this ‘intrusive interstitial’ which means it can’t see what’s on the page - and neither can your visitors.

Many assume that a click on a pop up is an positive interaction to reduce bounce rates, but it might be simply to get rid of the pop up in order to access the page content.

If you must have a pop up, use them sparingly and make them smaller so they do not block the entire page.

Social media helps your SEO

Right and Wrong. Google does not factor your social media presence in search rankings.

However, social media is a part of a strategy to build brand awareness and link back to your website. Having that brand recognition means that if your company appears on a search, that brand recognition will lead to more clicks through to your website as people begin to know and trust your brand. That in turn has a positive impact on search rankings as Google notices more clicks through to your site when it displays your website on searches and registers it as ‘relevant’.

Do Squarespace websites rank on Google?

YES! Unlike other platforms, Squarespace has Google-friendly SEO tools built-in that can be further optimised. Squarespace even offers a SEO Checklist that can be accessed directly from your website. Keywords and page descriptions can be updated at any time, matching your business as it grows and evolves.

One website platform does not perform better than another by default. It is down to the knowledge and expertise applied during the design and development of the website, as well as accompanying SEO strategies.