It’s a massive SEO misconception that in order to create a high-performing Squarespace site, you need to ignore human beings and focus on what makes the bots and algorithms happy. This can feel techy, unknown and, frankly, boring for a lot of small business owners. After all, who wants to spend their precious time making marketing for robots?! Not us, that’s for sure!

Thankfully, despite this common misconception, the opposite is, in fact, true! By creating amazing experiences for your human users, you can massively boost the SEO of your Squarespace website. No need to worry about bots or algorithms at all! Doesn’t that feel much more achievable?

Here’s 10 human-friendly ways you can improve your Squarespace SEO and start getting super visible on search engines.

Focus on user experience

Instead of worrying about ‘site maps’ or ‘page structure’, create your Squarespace website pages with your customers’ experience in mind. Where are they likely to come from - how easy is that process? How easy is your website to use on a range of devices? Only about 34% of your user base will find you on a desktop after all. Once your customers have made it to your Squarespace site, how easy is it for them to navigate and find what they need? Are your pages organised and clear for your customers?

A great way to audit this is with real human testing. Ask your ideal customers to work through your site to give you feedback on making it a better experience for others like them.

Consider accessibility

If your Squarespace website is difficult to access for some users, your SEO will suffer. There are lots of things that can impact how accessible your Squarespace site is:

• Not enough contrast between colours can make buttons and text difficult to read

• Not making use of alt text means people with visual impairments won’t be able to understand your imagery

• Having a Squarespace site that doesn’t work well on mobile isn’t accessible to those without desktops

Rather than ignoring these things because they’re ‘for bots’, consider the real world implications to your users and create a better experience for them.

Keep an eye on Squarespace Analytics

Analytics may not sound very human (or very exciting) but they’re a very clear indicator of ways your users may be struggling. If your conversion rate is super low, experiment with things like button placement, descriptions and imagery until they improve. See what works the best for your customers.

A very high bounce rate (customers that leave quickly without clicking any links or interacting with your page) on one particular page could indicate that it isn’t clear, engaging or usable enough for your customers. Keeping an eye on these metrics will help you spot issues and rectify them so that your Squarespace site can provide a better experience for your users and improve your SEO score.

Create content that simplifies your customers lives

Instead of trying to spam the search engine algorithm with keywords and phrases (won’t work, by the way) focus on writing content that gives your customers clarity. Clarity on:

• Exactly what it is that you provide

• Why you provide it, what problem you solve

• Who you provide it for

• Where you provide it

Your customers, like you, are busy. If they aren’t able to decipher whether you’re right for them quickly, they’ll bounce. High bounce rates from your Squarespace site are bad for your SEO as it shows search engines that existing users are unhappy or dissatisfied with your content. By making content that’s clearer to your human users, your SEO score will also benefit.

Build trust with community

Make use of your existing community to prove that you are legitimate and trustworthy. By showing up regularly on other websites in the form of guest blogs, podcast episodes, masterclasses and events, you prove to your customers that you are the real deal and build a valuable network of backlinks. Backlinks are links to your website from other reputable websites. The more you have, the better, as it proves you are active, legitimate and trustworthy.

Having a strong online presence rich in connection and collaboration provides a lot of extra value to your customers and proves that you are a reliable expert that they can trust. It’s also a fantastic way to build connections, find clients and make business friends!

Be mindful about where you build these backlinks though, linking from a spammy or badly regarded site will negatively impact your Squarespace SEO! Only collaborate with trustworthy businesses that will help you build your visibility.