That is the second submit in our collection the place we take a look at the on-page search engine optimisation of the world’s hottest CMS programs.
On this half, we’re specializing in a well-liked CMS within the “click on and go” small enterprise web site world; Squarespace, a CMS that presently powers 3.0% of internet sites globally (as of June 2024).
Once we first examined Squarespace three years in the past, we got here to the conclusion that we wouldn’t suggest it for web site homeowners who need to absolutely optimize their web site. There are simply too many on-page search engine optimisation elements that you would be able to’t management. However is that also the case in 2024?
Learn on to find:
- how properly arrange for on-page search engine optimisation Squarespace is out of the field in 2024,
- how one can configure your Squarespace web site to rank greater in Google,
- the technical search engine optimisation points we discovered on the platform
Let’s get began with a abstract.
In Abstract: Is Squarespace good for search engine optimisation?
Squarespace’s important attraction for small enterprise homeowners is its fast and simple, “level and click on” manner of establishing a web site. No technical data required, simply click on by the setup wizard and you may be on-line in a matter of hours.
It’s not likely a CMS designed to be tinkered with. It’s designed to get your enterprise up and working on the net. Quick. And it does that very properly.
However for these of us who wish to tinker — in search of the power to optimize each ingredient of a web site — that’s an enormous disadvantage.
So, sadly, our conclusion from three years in the past nonetheless holds true:
When you’re severe about search engine optimisation, Squarespace might be not a sensible choice.
You may management some search engine optimisation fundamentals. However there are both massive gaping holes or (we really feel pointless) hurdles to leap if you wish to get extra superior.
And all the pieces that you just can’t do to optimize your Squarespace web site is one thing {that a} competitor on a unique CMS would possibly be capable to do to achieve a bonus.
search engine optimisation is conflict. And also you don’t need to go using into battle on a horse when your opponent is advancing in direction of you in a tank.
We’re going to cowl intimately how Squarespace handles management of the search engine optimisation fundamentals.
However first, right here’s a abstract of our findings.
How we examined the search engine optimisation capabilities of Squarespace
We arrange a small web site on a Squarespace marketing strategy.
We selected a well-liked theme and loaded the location with demo content material.
And we additionally examined two of the preferred themes listed right here.
The exams included handbook evaluation, working the Squarespace websites by our personal search engine optimisation audit instrument, and testing utilizing third-party instruments corresponding to Google’s PageSpeed Insights and GTMetrix.
Squarespace search engine optimisation: The great, the dangerous, and the ugly
Earlier than reviewing Squarespace’s management of on-page search engine optimisation elements, let’s run by a few of the search engine optimisation highlights (and lowlights) of the platform.
We’ll kick issues off with a constructive.
Good: Squarespace’s HTML code is (comparatively) clear
It’s actually not an search engine optimisation deal breaker. However we consider there’s a bonus to having clear, bloat-free code on the entrance finish of your web site.
Visible web page builders can generate some severely ugly code.
Nevertheless, we had been happy to see that the HTML code Squarespace generates is comparatively clear.
There’s nonetheless a little bit of “DIVception” (DIVs inside DIVs for no specific motive) on the subject of format. However for content material, a paragraph is a paragraph, and a heading is a heading.
We might do with out the duplicated inline type for every tag. However no less than there’s no bizarre wrapping every paragraph in a div, and the textual content inside it in a span like this scorching mess from one other CMS we examined….
Squarespace’s HTML code shouldn’t be excellent. However it’s undoubtedly not the worst we’ve seen.
Good: Easy integration with Google Search Console
Google Search Console may give you beneficial perception into:
- the key phrases driving impressions and site visitors to your web site from Google
- any points Google discovered whereas crawling it
However for non-technical customers, establishing and verifying Google Search Console is usually a little tough. Squarespace makes it straightforward.
Simply head over to Analytics > Search Key phrases, click on the button to attach with Google, enable entry, and also you’re accomplished.
Right here’s the total (extremely easy) course of.
Unhealthy: Out-of-the-box Squarespace websites are prone to fail Core Internet Vitals
Google’s “Web page Expertise” replace rolled out on cell in summer time 2021 and got here to desktop as properly in 2022.
To recap, Web page Expertise assesses a number of UX and safety features (HTTPS, mobile-friendly, no intrusive interstitials) and measures velocity and format stability by three “Core Internet Vitals” metrics.
You may learn our full rundown on Core Internet Vitals right here.
And the dangerous information is that — whereas ticking the UX and safety containers — our take a look at web site (and the favored themes we examined) all failed Core Internet Vitals.
Whereas Cumulative Structure Shift could also be good, the velocity points are probably more durable to beat as they’re patially attributable to blanket loading of core scripts and types, even when not utilized.
Certainly, JavaScript execution time accounted for over 4.5 seconds of complete load time.
There are actually positive factors to be made by velocity optimization, however you’re beginning on the again foot.
That being mentioned, beginning on the again foot doesn’t imply it’s unimaginable. And, as a matter of reality, the Core Internet Vitals Know-how Report reveals over 65% of Squarespace websites on-line appear to move Core Internet Vitals which is definitely a surprisingly excessive quantity.
And as you’ll be able to see from the graph, Squarespace has consistently improved its CWV metrics over the previous years.
Backside line:
Out of the field, Squarespace websites appear to be sluggish and don’t have nice Core Internet Vitals. Nevertheless, it’s clearly attainable to attain a very good rating with sufficient work.
Ugly: Lack of management over superior search engine optimisation options
Need to edit your sitemap manually?
How about your robots.txt file?
Indirectly.
For a lot of small enterprise websites this may not be a problem. However we’d actually like the choice.
And customarily, we discovered the platform to be missing on the subject of management of any (even semi) superior on-page search engine optimisation elements.
On-Web page search engine optimisation Fundamentals: How does Squarespace measure up?
Now let’s flip our consideration to regulate of a few of the basic on-page search engine optimisation elements.
Does Squarespace cowl all of them?
No. As in our final take a look at in 2021, there are nonetheless massive gaps. And on prime of that, sure on-page search engine optimisation duties are more durable to do than they need to be.
Right here’s our abstract once more.
Observe: having management of an search engine optimisation rating issue shouldn’t be equal to its optimization. search engine optimisation audit instruments like Seobility supply recommendation on tips on how to correctly optimize every ingredient and discover errors in optimization which can be holding again your web site. See our search engine optimisation audit information for extra data on tips on how to absolutely optimize your web site.
search engine optimisation Titles and Meta Descriptions
Management in Squarespace: sure
A web page’s title continues to be some of the vital on-page rating elements. And a well-written meta description will help you get extra click-throughs (though Google gained’t all the time use it).
Squarespace permits you to add and amend the search engine optimisation titles and meta descriptions for every web page in your web site.
Simply click on the gear icon subsequent to the web page you need to edit, then choose search engine optimisation.
You may edit your web page’s title and outline, and preview the way it will look in search.
Tip: for extra superior previewing (together with cell preview), try our free SERP Snippet Generator instrument.
All good up to now. However we do have a minor(ish) grumble.
Squarespace permits you to arrange templated title codecs on your pages. Beneath you’ll be able to see we’ve got this set to “web page title (%p) — web site title (%s)” which is the default.
Settings > Advertising and marketing > search engine optimisation Look
That is helpful. And customarily together with your model in your titles is a good suggestion.
So what’s the issue?
Effectively, you’ll be able to’t overwrite this title format on particular person pages. And if there’s a web page the place you need to go for an extended, keyword-rich title and take away your model title to keep away from truncation…
…properly, you would wish to take away the template and add your model title to all different pages seperately.
Which is reasonably annoying.
Be taught extra about search engine optimisation Titles and Meta Descriptions
Web page slug / URL
Management in Squarespace: sure
We suggest creating brief, descriptive, 2-3 phrase slugs, together with the first key phrase (or phrase) for every web page. Use hyphens to separate phrases.
Squarespace routinely generates web page slugs based mostly on the web page’s title.
You may as well set/change the web page slug for every web page in your Squarespace web site below Web site > Pages then clicking on the settings icon subsequent to the web page in query. . Beneath Basic you’ll discover the URL Slug area:
Necessary: in case you change the slug for a web page, you’ll must arrange a 301 redirect to level the outdated URL to the brand new one. This information from Squarespace covers tips on how to do it.
Be taught extra about URL slugs/permalinks
Canonical URLs
Management in Squarespace: not likely
On smaller websites, you most likely gained’t want to fret about this.
However if in case you have a collection of comparable pages in your web site — i.e. focusing on the identical key phrases, or with very small variations in content material — there could also be occasions if you’ll need to set a canonical (grasp) URL.
This helps to keep away from duplicate content material points.
Sadly, whereas Squarespace will set a canonical URL for every web page in your web site routinely, there’s no straightforward option to edit it. Which form of makes it a bit pointless….
¯_(ツ)_/¯
There’s a workaround that you need to use, although it’s not essentially the most person pleasant one and solely works for pages and never weblog posts.
To vary the canonical tags for a person web page in squarespace, go to a web page’s settings and navigate to Superior. You may add customized code to the web page right here.
Copy and paste the next script, ensuring to alter “https://instance.com/abc” to the URL you need to set because the canonical.
So, though it’s technically doable, they don’t make it straightforward for you!
Be taught extra about canonical URLs
Index management (robots meta tag)
Management in Squarespace: partial
The robots meta tag instructs Google to both index (1), or to not index (2) a web page:
- – index this web page please Google
- – ignore this web page please Google (however observe the hyperlinks on it)
You don’t really want the primary one as (assuming your web page meets their high quality requirements) indexing is Google’s default motion. However it doesn’t do any hurt to have it in place.
Squarespace permits you to add a noindex robots tag to a daily web page by checking the “Conceal Web page from Search Outcomes” field.
However they don’t allow you to noindex particular person weblog pages…
For some motive, they’ve taken an “all or nothing” strategy within the weblog. Your solely choice is to noindex all the pieces.
Not precisely ultimate.
Be taught extra about index management
Heading Tags (h1, h2, h3 and so forth)
Management in Squarespace: partial
Heading tags (h1, h2, h3, and so forth) assist Google perceive the construction, and subject(s) of your web page.
They need to be correctly nested.
For instance, an h1 tag would usually be the principle subject (stage 1), an h2 might be a subtopic (stage 2), and an h3 might be a sub-sub subject (stage 3), and so forth:
(subject of the web page)
Goldfish
(subtopic)
Caring on your goldfish
(subtopic of goldfish)
Clear your fish’s tank commonly
(subtopic of caring on your goldfish)
Cats
(subtopic)
Caring on your cat
(subtopic of cats)
Squarespace lets you set heading tags from h1-h4.
Whereas this could cowl most content material, there are undoubtedly occasions if you would possibly need to go all the way down to h5, and presumably even h6.
So the platform setting this tough restrict might stop you from absolutely optimizing your content material.
Be taught extra about heading tags
Schema markup
Management in Squarespace: form of
Schema markup is a kind of structured information that may assist Google perceive:
- the kind of content material on a web page (i.e. recipe, evaluation, product, article),
- the entity behind the web site (i.e. group),
- and will also be used to indicate further search options (wealthy snippets)
When you’re not accustomed to schema and its impression on search engine optimisation, we suggest studying our wealthy snippets information.
You may add customized schema markup to a daily web page on a Squarespace web site. However you’re going to must do it utilizing their “code injection” performance, which you’ll discover below “Superior” in web page settings.
Observe: you’ll must generate the schema markup your self. We suggest this free instrument.
A little bit unintuitive, however no less than it’s attainable.
The dangerous information nevertheless is there’s no code injection choice for weblog posts. Which implies you gained’t be capable to add customized schema to a weblog submit.
Be taught extra about structured information and wealthy snippets
Picture search engine optimisation
Management in Squarespace: sure
The three most vital components of picture search engine optimisation are:
- Alt textual content (description of the picture for display screen readers and search engines like google)
- File dimension (smaller = sooner = higher)
- File title (we suggest utilizing descriptive file names)
Let’s begin with a constructive.
When you overlook to make use of a descriptive filename, Squarespace will allow you to change it. Which is a pleasant contact.
With regards to optimizing your photos although, you gained’t get a lot assist. Whereas Squarespace will routinely create numerous sizes for you, they gained’t compress or optimize your photos.
And as for including alt textual content…
It’s very straightforward to do by merely filling within the alt-text area.
Be taught extra about picture search engine optimisation
HTTPS
Does Squarespace run over HTTPS? sure
HTTPS has been a confirmed Google rating sign since 2014.
And right this moment there’s actually no excuse for any web site to nonetheless be working over HTTP. However any search engine optimisation advantages, it’s unsecure.
So we’re happy to say that each Squarespace web site (whether or not on a customized area or not) runs on HTTPS.
Be taught extra about HTTPS
Robots.txt file
Management in Squarespace: not likely
A robots.txt file lets you cease search engine bots from accessing sure areas of your web site.
For instance, you may need a bit with user-generated content material that you just don’t need crawled or listed by Google.
Sadly whereas Squarespace will create a default robots.txt file on your web site, there’s presently no option to edit it manually. We wish to see them add this performance sooner or later.
That being mentioned, within the web site settings below crawlers (Settings > Web site > Crawlers), you’ll be able to select to dam search engine crawlers and/or AI crawers sitewide.
This doesn’t offer you a lot management, however it’s one thing I assume…
Be taught extra about Robots.txt
XML Sitemaps
Generated by Squarespace: sure
An XML sitemap helps Google discover (and index) all of the pages in your web site.
Squarespace routinely units up and maintains an XML sitemap on your web site (pages, weblog posts, and so forth), nevertheless, there is no such thing as a option to edit it. However no less than, noindex pages will probably be routinely faraway from the sitemap.
Be taught extra about XML Sitemaps
Is Squarespace mobile-friendly?
One phrase reply: sure
When designing your Squarespace web site, there’s a very good probability you’ll be specializing in the way it seems on desktop.
However cell site visitors overtook desktop site visitors manner again in 2017. And Google has been prioritizing the cell model of your web site for crawling and indexing for some time now.
The excellent news is that Squarespace websites are absolutely responsive, and (velocity points however) work properly on cell.
Simply be certain that to preview how your web site seems on each desktop and cell. And bear in mind it’s the cell model of your web site that Google prioritizes. So if in case you have a function that shows on desktop however not cell, then Google might not take it into consideration when rating your web site.
You may swap to cell view by clicking the cellphone icon within the Squarespace editor.
Different search engine optimisation Options Price Mentioning
Squarespace search engine optimisation Guidelines
Squarespace has its personal search engine optimisation guidelines you need to use to start out optimizing your web site. It solely covers a portion of what you are able to do to optimize your web site and doesn’t go into nice element, however Squarespace isn’t an search engine optimisation firm and their customers are primarily novices.
General, it’s a very good place to get began.
That being mentioned, when you get your web site and the fundamentals on the guidelines arrange, we suggest utilizing our personal web site audit instrument to optimize your web site.
It provides particular suggestions on your web site and goes into much more element, permitting you to actually make a distinction in your search engine optimisation efficiency.
In conclusion: Squarespace is barely appropriate for web site homeowners who don’t want to optimize their web site absolutely
We don’t like to speak negatively a few platform.
However on the finish of the day, technical search engine optimisation evaluation (and naturally suggestions for enhancements) is what our instrument is all about. So it could be remiss of us to suggest a CMS platform the place you might be unable to totally optimize your web site.
There are simply too many holes. And sure optimization duties (like modifying canonical tags) appear unnecessarily exhausting to finish. Sadly, Squarespace hasn’t made vital enhancements on this space over the previous few years.
However with that being mentioned:
When you’re on Squarespace already or don’t want management over each issue, like within the case of a interest web site, it might nonetheless be a very good choice for getting your web site up rapidly.
Whether or not you select to make use of Squarespace or not, our recommendation stays the identical:
- run a full search engine optimisation audit (you’ll be able to observe this information),
- allocate time to fixing points and optimizing your web site (the place attainable),
- concentrate on creating high-quality content material that helps your customers and absolutely solutions their search queries,
- construct your web site’s authority by incomes high-quality backlinks (try our advisable hyperlink constructing ways right here)
Observe: This CMS evaluation has initially been written in 2021 by David McSweeney and has been up to date for 2024 by Bram Vergouwen. Bram is a search engine optimisation specialist with greater than 6 years of expertise working with corporations throughout completely different international locations and industries, offering personalized search engine optimisation options and methods that improve on-line visibility.
Within the different components of this collection, we reviewed the on-page search engine optimisation of Wix, GoDaddy, WordPress and Joomla. And we’ve in contrast the search engine optimisation execs and cons of every CMS in a closing roundup submit, the place we additionally revealed the most effective CMS for search engine optimisation. We are going to publish the up to date variations of those articles within the coming weeks, so keep tuned!
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