Back in 2016, I wrote an article all about SEO + Squarespace since then a lot has changed, we will get into all of the new deets here.
Squarespace is one of the leading website building platforms available. According to Built With, there are nearly 2 million websites that are currently built on Squarespace.
That is a lot of web sites.
And it makes total sense, right? Squarespace templates are beautiful — clean, easily customizable + thoughtful. PLUS Squarespace wins big bonus points because their sites are easy to build and manage.
When creative entrepreneurs choose a website management system, aesthetics and ease of use are two of the main deciding factors. A third factor, that I am always the advocate for, is SEO.
It is so important for sites to have increased visibility with search engines, and the chosen platform plays a big role in the findability of the site.
Remember, Google’s big goal is to organize the whole WWW efficiently so that it can quickly and easily access the best info for searchers.
If you have been around Clapping Dog Media long you know that the key for any site to have good SEO is to consistently provide valuable content for users—the big question—is what if there are two sites that are equal in terms of content, authority and expertise, one is built on Squarespace and the other is built on WordPress, which site would be ranked higher on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP)?
Great question. Squarespace vs WordPress — which is better for SEO in 2019?
6 months ago, my answer would have been WordPress, simply because it is open source and there is more control of how Google reads sites.
However, in December of 2018 Squarespace made three major SEO updates.
- The ability to write a title and meta description for blog posts
- Search and Social Preview
- Social Sharing
1. Meta Descriptions for Blog Posts
One of the major changes to Squarespace SEO is that you can now edit page titles and meta descriptions. As a standalone feature, regardless of the platform, this won’t necessarily achieve higher rankings. However, when meta descriptions are paired with consistent content, a strong keyword strategy, and solid onsite optimizations, it’s an essential SEO tool.
Prior to the December update, Squarespace only allowed users to modify page meta tags and not blog posts, this update is very significant for all businesses that have a strong content marketing strategy.
Squarespace and content marketing
Whether you run a service or a product business you know that if Design is Queen then Content Is King.
Content Marketing, is producing content that you want to be known or found for on a regular basis. The content must be helpful, which benefits both your raving fans and Google.
Squarespace has always been great for design, but now that you can distinguish blog posts with unique meta descriptions, Squarespace sites can be a major player for content marketing.
2. Search and Social Preview
Now, you have more control over how your site appears on Social Media. When you share a URL on social – like facebook – you can now select which image will appear the social feed, even if the image doesn’t appear in the post.
This customization drastically affects the click through rate which is a key factor for SEO.
Squarespace has added 2 types of sharing images Social Sharing logo which will link to the whole site and the Alternative Social Sharing Image which is for individual pages.
Again, having control of how your post and site appear on Social Media is key to SEO. Traffic is like a snowball affect, the more traffic you get from social the higher Google will rank you on the SERP.
3. Social Sharing on Squarespace
FINALLY. You can connect to a wider audience by linking your site to your social media profiles as you publish it.
Adding social services like Share and Pinterest Save will help visitors share your content which will further increase your reach!
Man, so back to the big question, if two sites are equal in content and expertise and authority and one is built in Squarespace and one in WordPress — which will Google rank higher?
Well that is up to google, but due to the recent updates by Squarespace the higher ranking site is not dependent on the platform.
If you have a Squarespace site or are a Squarespace designer or developer and want to learn more, check out SEO Made Simple: Squarespace and SEO.