4 Steps to Rank #1 in Google | Squarespace SEO
** Updated May 16, 2023 **
Getting your Squarespace Website to show up on the first page in a Google search can seem impossible! The web is riddled with strategies you can use to increase your ranking and optimizing your site for search engines. Plus, the recommended strategies seem to constantly be changing.
This can often seem overwhelming and time consuming. So I am here to provide you with a game plan. In this video, I am going to show you 4 steps you can take that will make the greatest impact in your search engine ranking in 2023.
Step #1: Squarespace SEO Checklist
The first thing you should do is go through the Squarespace SEO Checklist. You can find it at the link provided or by going to Marketing > SEO Appearance and clicking on SEO Checklist.
This will cover all the basic settings and strategies you can do to get started with SEO including what to do before publishing your site, after publishing your site, and as your site grows and evolves. These strategies will set your site up for success and make sure you are on the right track right from the day you launch.
Pay particular attention to the content best practices to ensure that your page loads quickly and is structured properly.
Step #2: Post High Quality Content Regularly in Your Niche
Publishing high quality content on a regular basis that establishes you as a leader in your field has been found to be the top ranking factor for Google. Blogs, podcasts, videos, articles, etc all keep visitors on your page for longer periods of time which indicates to Google that your website is somewhere that searchers want to be. Some articles suggest that posting new content twice a week is the optimal amount. However, others believe that the quality is more important than the quantity.
So, its not just about consistently posting new content on your website. You want to be posting high quality content around a niche topic. Posting multiple high quality, authoritative pages around the same niche topic, will establish you as a niche expert for that keyword. This increases the likelihood of your site being shown in searches where this keyword is used.
Overall, make sure that your content is original and provides value. The specific number of words or length of the post isn’t as important as ensuring it has depth and purpose.
Additionally, if your topic involves news or trend, then don’t forget to keep it updated by adding new information. Just don’t change the URL when you republish the page or it will be considered a new page.
Step #3: Increase Backlinks
Backlinks occur when another site links to your site. This indicates to Google that your site contains useful information that searchers want to know. This ranking factor has risen in importance and has now become a huge influence on your ranking in Google.
However, remember that it is important that these backlinks are from other reputable websites. Try guest blogging or working with another business in your niche to write together. You can also provide internal links within your own blog posts to other posts on your site.
Step #4: Keywords in Your Meta Titles
Take some time to build a list of important keywords that you want to rank for and are important to your ideal client. Then be sure to include these keywords throughout your site. The most important place for these keywords is in your titles as well as your SEO Title. This can make or break whether a user clicks on your page versus another website. Take your time to develop thoughtful titles that draw searchers to your site. However, do not keyword stuff your titles or fall into the clickbait style of writing as that could harm your SEO.
Check out this article for tips on developing your Meta Title Strategies.
