Our search engine optimization (SEO) checklist
Gasta has extensive experience with search engine optimization and Squarespace. We are dependent on our customers having websites that rank well on Google for relevant keywords. It's also important that you, as the website owner, do the work after the website has been launched. This checklist is a good tool for both us as a supplier and you as a customer.
Before launch
Before Gasta launches the website, we optimize it for search engines.
Create a title on the website - We add a title to the page, which is read by search engines, and should be short and under 60 characters.
Add SEO description - We add a short text (between 120-200 characters) containing a relevant and easy-to-read description of your website. This text will appear below the website title in the search results and is part of the SEO description of your website. The text may appear in visitors' search results, but it depends on what they are searching for. The text should therefore contain keywords, popular search terms, related to your services.
Add an address - Your page has a better chance of appearing in searches in your area if Google and your customers can see where you are located. If you have a business with a physical business address, you should create a "contact us" page with your address and a map.
Add your address online - We recommend creating Google My Business, this will make your business more visible locally. You can add your address, what services you offer and opening hours. If your business already has Google My Business, you can connect this to your Squarespace page and manage your information through Squarespace.
Connect to social media - Squarespace allows you to connect your website to your social media channels, allowing you to publish content from your website on multiple platforms at the same time, and visitors can easily share content from your website to their social media channels.
In-browser icon - Having an in-browser icon gives more visibility to your website's brand. The icon will appear in search results, browser tabs and elsewhere on the web.
Add images to social media shares - These are images that appear when you share a page on social media, this is an image that previews what the page is about and should therefore be related to the post or business. Choose an image to represent the entire website (e.g. a logo), also choose one for each page on the website, and one for each blog post, product and event.
Create SEO descriptions - If budget/agreement dictates, we also create unique SEO descriptions for all subpages. The text should be short and easy to read, and between 50-300 characters, but we recommend between 120-200. This will avoid the text being cut off. The text should describe the content of the page in question. You can also add SEO descriptions to individual blog posts and events.
404 page - We customize a 404 page. This encourages visitors who hit a link that doesn't work to stay on your site, rather than returning to the search results.
URL format of your blog posts - If you have a blog, you can choose what the URLs of your blog posts should look like and make it automatic. You can choose what the URL should be called, but we recommend including the title of the blog post.
Check URL - It's best to have URLs that reflect the content of the website. We review the URLs for each page.
SSL is enabled - We make sure to enable SSL so that you get https:// in the address. If you don't have SSL, visitors will get a warning that the site is not secure, which often results in them not visiting the site.
At launch
When launching the website, we do the following:
Verify your site with Google Search Console - After we've verified your site with Google, you can control your website's visibility in Google search results and see how visitors find you.
Ask Google to index the website - We get Google bots to look over the page and update search results with the new content.
Connects to Google Analytics - By using Google Analytics and connecting it to your Squarespace site, you can track visits and analyze your website using Squarespace's integrated analytics tools.
Turn on AMP (if desired) - AMP converts pages into lighter versions that are better adapted to mobile phones. If you have a blog, AMP will create a reduced version of the website so that it loads faster on a phone.
Optimize for search engines
As you add and change content, you need to make sure that your website is also updated for the search engines
Use the Squarespace analytics tool - Squarespace gives you access to most of the information you need. By staying on top of search keywords and other analytics features found within Squarespace, you can monitor site traffic and search engine rankings.
Track Google Analytics - Use Squarespace's integrated Google Analytics dashboard to view visits and analytics.
Make updates strategically - SEO is not a one-off job and needs to be constantly optimized and changed. That's why it's important that you don't stop being strategic when updating SEO descriptions on your website.
Redirect changed or broken links - If you change URLs on your website, remember to redirect so that the old URL takes visitors to the new URL.
Keep updating and adding new content - Updating your site regularly helps search engines see it as an active site. An active site ranks higher in search results, so a good way to create new content regularly is to create a blog.
Best practice when it comes to content
While you're building up your page, think about:
Use keywords strategically - Include words on the page (titles and descriptions) that match the search terms customers use to find businesses like yours.
Structure your content - Structure your pages with H1 headings to make the text easy to skim through. This will help search engines navigate through the content on your page.
Add text below images - In addition to increasing accessibility for visitors with accessibility needs, text below images also helps search engines identify the content on your site.
Add images to content shared on social media - As you add new pages to your website, remember to add images to social sharing and SEO descriptions.
Give your images readable file names - Image file names can also be used as alt text and can help search engines find your page content.
Tags and categories - Organize your blog posts, products, image gallery, and other content with tags and categories to help visitors navigate your website.
Link to website content - When relevant, use links to connect the content on your website.
Customize URLs - When adding multiple pages, make sure the URL of the pages reflects the content on the page.
Fast websites - To ensure that the page loads well on different devices, we recommend that you choose images that are less than 500 KB and that a page is less than 5 MB in total.
Fluctuations in Google ranking
If you see a drop in ranking right after optimizing your page, it's nothing to worry about. It's normal to see some fluctuations in rankings while search engines index your changes.
If your rankings haven't gone up after a few weeks, check Analytics on Squarespace to see if there are any traffic trends that could explain the drop. For example, a change in how other websites link to your website could be affecting visibility. You should also consider whether you should update your keywords to show up in search results.
More help
Search engine technology is constantly changing and it can be difficult to keep up with all the changes. We know that SEO can be tricky, which is why we've developed a special package for our customers. The package can be taken as a whole or broken down into chunks, depending on what you need. We know SEO and keep up with the changes taking place in the search engines, and not least we specialize in Squarespace. That's why we're a good choice when you need help with SEO on your Squarespace site.
