Keyword Ranking: How To Find and Evaluate Keywords for Squarespace SEO
Squarespace SEO: How To Find Keywords and Use Them On Your Website
Getting your Squarespace website to rank high on Google search result pages is the key to getting found online. The truth is, search engines consider dozens upon dozens of ranking variables when deciding which websites deserve to rank the best. Optimizing your website and content for search, while somewhat complex, can be done systematically when you understand some of the key factors search engines look at when determining page rank.
While unique, relevant content certainly plays a significant role, the key lies in choosing and using relevant keywords throughout your website in key areas. Some important areas to use keywords include page headers, page titles, page URLs, domain names, alternative tags, and image titles. Of course, there are other areas of your website that when optimized can also influence page ranking including, page load speeds, social media engagement, backlinks, and internal links
For the purposes of this post, we're going to look at how you can choose the best keywords for your business, and how you can include them in your Squarespace SEO efforts.
Making the Most of Keywords
Sit down and come up with a list of words and short phrases that are related to your business. While there are literally thousands of potential keywords, you want to create a manageable list for this step. The key is relevance. Many marketers make poor decisions when it comes to SEO. You want to avoid using keywords and phrases that are too competitive or rarely searched.
The way you determine the validity and relevance of your keywords is through using keyword search tools such as SerpStat, SEMrush, or Moz. Keyword rankings don't really mean much unless you study the data closely. Ranking tools will provide a corresponding URL and average search volume from Google. You then want to compare this data against the top organic landing pages in Google Analytics to identify opportunities.
Once you've done your research, if a keyword or phrase doesn't rank, or doesn't rank well, eliminate it from your list. Odds are your content may actually rank for keywords you've never considered. Take a look at your competitors and develop ideas from them that work.
Keyword research tools can help you discover keywords and phrases that are related but may have been off of your radar. You can then further explore these variations and see how websites rank with these phrases. Also, it is important to study paid search data. This can give you ideas for keyword phrases that people search before clicking ads.
Consider other sources for uncovering keywords. You can find viable keywords in all sorts of different places like website internal search data in Google Analytics, even in an industry related book index or periodicals.
Where to Place Squarespace SEO Keywords on Your Squarespace Website
Once you've narrowed your list down to relevant keywords and phrases that rank, it's time to begin using them throughout your Squarespace websites. There are certain elements that search engines prioritize when crawling your site for relevant keywords.
Most search engines will look at site titles, page titles, blog post titles and headings first. Remember these titles will also appear in browser tabs and search results so it's important to use them in a “natural” way so that they're friendly for both visitors and search engine bots.
Every page on your Squarespace website has an SEO title, navigation title, and page title. These are key areas in which to place your keywords and phrases.
• SEO Titles
These appear in search results and browser tabs and are indexed by the search engines. Add an SEO title for each page. SEO titles are a great place to place keywords for search engines.
• Navigation Titles
These create links in your navigation menus. Try to keep these short by using keywords rather than phrases.
• Page Titles
Page titles appear in some Squarespace templates. These can be longer than navigation titles. If you don't include SEO titles, the page title displays in the search results.
Strategic Use of Keywords
As you add text to your sites pages, blog posts, and images include words and phrases from your final list. Make sure that they are search terms people use to find sites like yours. These keywords will help search engines to see your site as relevant to searchers of those terms. While your strategy should be targeted to your buyer personas, it's important to use your keywords in a natural way that makes sense for readers.
Like titles, search engines typically give headings a higher priority. Clear headings that use keywords naturally and describe the content that follows makes it easier for search engines to detect relevance. Using keywords in headings will also help your visitors as they scan your pages and quickly give them the information they're looking for.
Meta tags are another important area to include keywords. Meta tags in a site's code will help search engines identify site's titles and page descriptions. Since you don't need to understand coding to use Squarespace, you don't need to add HTML markup. Use the different Squarespace SEO setting to automatically create them for you.
Squarespace will automatically many of the areas on your website but it is advisable to take control of these areas and ensure your keywords are being used.
• Page Titles – All pages on a Squarespace site have a page title, navigation title and an SEO title. Edit these titles in your page settings. You can leave your navigation title brief and add your keywords to your page title and SEO titles
• Page Descriptions – This function creates meta descriptions, AKA page descriptions for individual pages. Add a page description in your SEO page settings.
• Title Tags – Create title tags for every page on your whole website. Use your keyword in one H1 title tag per page and then again in your H2 and H3 title tags.
• Keywords in Page Content – Use your keyword at a 1.5% insertion rate in your page body copy. For a 600 word page, insert your keyword no more than nine times.
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The Takeaway On Keyword Ranking
The first step in improving your Squarespace SEO is research. Build your list of keywords and keyword phrases using available tools to narrow down your choices. Then use those words in all of your content including web pages, blog posts, titles, headings, tags, and descriptions to increase your visibility with the search engines.
On Squarespace SEO is easier than on a traditional website. Squarespace SEO has automated, built-in tools to help you optimize your site for the search engines. By developing your list of strong keywords and then editing your Squarespace SEO titles, descriptions, meta tags and more, you can improve your search engine ranking. A higher ranking means more traffic, more conversions, and more business.
Here at Means of Production, we build websites and create content that is SEO optimized. We understand the importance of SEO for our clients, and we're Squarespace experts. If you'd like to learn more drop us an email at mc@means-of-production.com or call (603) 289-6616.