SEO for Squarespace Websites

Things that we do to the website are called “on-page SEO”.  Things that we do to drive traffic and links pointing to the website are called “off-page SEO”. You can't do one without the other and expect to improve your ranking substantially. You need both.

SEO isn’t a quick-win game. There’s no magic bullet (aside from paying to appear at the top of the rankings). However, there are some basic things that every site owner can do to help increase the likelihood of being noticed by Google and prospective customers who are searching. Once these are in place and the practice is understood, then you can proceed with a content and link-building strategy to gradually increase the website’s authority and organic (unpaid) search engine ranking.

SEO Report & Keyword Research

Find out how your site is currently performing, and the right combination of words to use on your website for SEO visibility moving forward.

SEO Report

Find out how your current website is performing on search engines/Google right now, as a benchmark for future work. I’ll give you:

• A detailed SEO report card that rates your performance in all the key areas, with information on what Google is looking for and how you stack up.

• A report showing the keywords your site is currently ranking for, what position you are in the search results and how much traffic this generates.

• A report on every page on your website that details what you currently have in the main “SEO boxes” that Google uses to determine what the page is about and how well that page will rank, with any problem areas marked up so you can attend to them.

Keyword Research

Keywords are the phrases that people type into search engines to find a website. The goal here is to identify the most valuable phrases to use on your website to ensure you get the right type of visitors. This can mean changing the language you use on your website. For example, you might describe yourself as a "fashion guru", but if your prospective customers are searching for "personal stylist" then you'll never get found.

I'll use special SEO research tools to:

• Find the words and phrases that strike the right balance of popularity vs competition. For example, we wouldn't focus on broad terms such as “video production” as it will not be possible for SMEs to outrank large established companies with huge budgets and content teams. It would also be a waste of time & energy, as that term is so broad it would be unlikely that a user would type those words into Google and get targeted, relevant results.

• Find "long tail" keywords - longer combinations of words, or highly targeted phrases - that can drive a smaller number of specialised searches to landing pages, articles or case studies on your website. These words may not include your main product/service, but will be related to what you do or targeted to specific products/features. For example, on my own website "Squarespace 7 template comparison chart" is one of the biggest drivers of traffic to this site. Many of these visitors then go on to book my services based on what they find on my website when they get here.

You will get a spreadsheet showing my recommended keywords (core and "long tail") along with detailed stats on how often people search for these terms each month, how much competition there is to get to the top, and how much it might cost you to go for paid ads targeting these words (pay-per-click Google Adwords campaigns). We'll also have a 45 minute call to go through my findings.

Cost: £550

Competitor Analysis

Spy on your competitors to see what they're doing to appear at the top of the search results.

One of the quickest ways to gain insight into what works in your niche market is to look at what some of the top-ranking competition are doing. It's a good idea to examine at least 3 competitors to give you a good spread of types and tactics that they may be using.

I can use my SEO tools to:

• Analyse the pages and content on the competitor's website, showing you the strengths and weaknesses, things they are doing right and wrong when it comes to on-page SEO

• Report on how many visits they are getting through search engines, what search terms people are using to find that site, and what position the competitor is in the Google search results

• Identify which websites are linking to the competitor's website, what kind of link it is, and how valuable those links are in Google's eyes

You'll get a report that covers all 3 competitors, including all the background stats and figures. We'll also have a short call to go through my findings and how you can apply this learning to your own business/website.

Cost: £850 for 3 competitors

Content Optimisation

Rewrite your text and put keywords in all the right places.

This focuses on taking the learning from the Investigation stage and applying it to your website content. The goal of this phase is to optimise the pages on your website, and to identify any major content gaps so you can action them.

Option A: One Page Demo & Training - £95

If budgets are tight, you may choose to simply have a 1-hour consultation/training session that takes 1 web page as an example and shows you all of the things that need to be changed on that page, and how/where to make those changes.

Option B: Rewrite, Recommendations & Training - £750 for up to 3 pages

• I'll review and rewrite your website content (up to 3 pages / 1500 words total) to optimise them for SEO, including putting keywords into all relevant places from a technical SEO perspective, as well as the actual text itself.

• I'll give you recommendations on what additional content needs to be produced associated with those pages, and why.

• I'll supply a training video showing how to implement on-page SEO from both a technical and content perspective so you can ensure these things are handled correctly in future (ie. where to put things in the page to make them more readily picked up by search engines)

Linkbuilding Toolkit

Identify ways to attract links to your website.

Once all the ducks are in a row regarding your website’s on-page SEO, then it’s time to focus on linkbuilding. The Linkbuilding Toolkit is a set of instructions, tips, resources and online tools that covers:

• Critical steps to take BEFORE contacting anyone to ask for links, to improve your chances of a “yes”

• Who to approach for links & the right ways to ask for them

• Examples of proven techniques, as well as what NOT to do

• Online software/tools that you can use to research the leaders and influencers in your niche and identify the ones most closely aligned with your brand/audiences

Cost: £100 for the Toolkit

(You can also book a call to go through the toolkit and how to apply it to your business for a reduced rate of £90/hour)

SEO Overview Training

The Do-It-Yourself Approach

Alternately, if you just want a general SEO overview of all of the above tactics, then you can choose to book a 2-hour consultation and I’ll give you a nutshell summary of SEO, show you where to put essential SEO pieces on your website, and give you advice on linkbuilding approaches. Bear in mind you won’t get any reports, analysis, checklists or tools - this is just an SEO overview training consultation.

Cost: £180