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  • Lura Mack
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5 Steps Towards Better Squarespace SEO
5 Steps Towards Better Squarespace SEO 3360 2240 Lura Mack

SEO. Sounds uber techy but it’s actually not. We are cracking the code to 5 steps towards bettering your online cred. 

You’ve heard the term SEO thrown around and it’s actually way less technical of word than it sounds. Search engine optimization, it’s a technique used to organically help your audience find you more efficiently, gain website traffic, and build engagement with your followers/readers/dream customers. When you Google search, your search engine will populate the most relevant websites based on your search and they will appear at the top. Those sites/businesses that are listed first included those keywords to ensure they’re ranked higher and easier to find. A search engine wants to compile sites that they trust and that provide on point info to what users are looking for.  Here’s some of the handful of techniques to maximize your Squarespace SEO:

1. Organize your Pages

Make it easier on your users/readers to find what their looking for by organizing your pages. Choose the main topics that you’d like to organize your brand into. Your primary categories should be organized into one main, umbrella category. By creating these categories, your site is more user friendly to navigate to their desired topics.

2. URLs: Keep👏🏽it👏🏽simple

Do all you can to make the URLs of your blog posts as simple as possible. Squarespace generates a post title for you however, you can change it to be shorter but still have the necessary information included. Search engines like Google prefer shorter/cleaner URLs. If for some reason it’s crucial to include the date, we urge you to keep it simple. Here’s an example: https://yourdomain.com/blog/keep-it-simple

3. Valuable, Consistent Content

You want to create quality content that is relevant and in line with what your readers are looking for. This is Evergreen Content.  It’s content that will be relevant and applicable yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  In order for Google trust sites, it needs to become familiar with the content and information that users are looking for.  This is why it’s important when you’re building a blog post to make a point to utilize those keywords that circle back and reference your post title.  

4. A picture is worth 1,000 (SEO key)words

Give your images clear names that describe the photo well. By adding in alternative text, you optimize the visibility of your photos for various search engines. Computers are smart and all, but a search engine isn’t going to recognize the contents of that image. So, instead of leaving a photo named “IMG_123”, give it a name that describes what the image is.

5. Good things take T I M E

In a perfect world, we click publish and the whole world sees our site. Unfortunately, building trust and a relationship with search engines will take some time. SEO takes time to build, but once that relationship and recognition is there with google, your content will be found! So hang in there and keep that premium content coming!

Next topic coming soon! Stay tuned! 

  • Susan Rapaglia
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Google Analytics: To Know It Is To Love It
Google Analytics: To Know It Is To Love It 800 533 Susan Rapaglia

3 Key Metrics We Think You Should Know

Oh Google Analytics, how we love you. How could we not love a tool that offers awesome insights into your online presence and is FREE! Much more than a conversion platform, Google Analytics (GA) offer plenty of equally, if not more useful tools to help you assess the health of your website and business.

In addition to the popular GA stats—like site visits—there are 4 other key metrics that we think all business owners should know (and check regularly!):

Acquisition Source/Medium

Acquisition > All Traffic > Source/Medium
On the Acquisition Overview page you’ll find a quick snapshot of your bounce rate. There’s not much else to say here other than you should keep an eye on this value pretty regularly. A “target range” can vary depending on your website and industry, but typically you want to stay in the  40-60% bounce rate range. Anything below that is great! Above a 60% bounce rate probably calls for some additional research as to why the value is so high. We like to compare the bounce rate month to month as well as the rate compared to the previous year. 

*Extra Credit: According to Google Analytics, the bounce rate is the percentage of visits in which a person leaves your website from the landing page without browsing any further.

Pages Per Session

Similar to bounce rate, it’s a good idea to compare “Pages Per Session” values to the previous month and year to monitor growth. Another helpful piece of insight is on the Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels page where you can see the pages per session breakdown per channel. This is a great way to analyze visitor engagement depending on the channel they used to get to your website. While the length of time and pages search will vary on industry, most businesses are looking for their website visitors to stay engaged and move around the site towards a specific goal—contact forms, shopping pages, etc. 

Device Type and Behavior

Audience > Mobile > Overview
Here you can find a breakdown of the types of devices visiting your website: desktop, mobile or tablet. You can get even more specific (down to device name) in the “Devices” section, but  we find that the Overview page usually does the trick. Make sure to check crucial metrics like bounce rate and pages per session per devices. A low bounce rate for desktop and tablet, but high rate on mobile likely indicates a design/responsive issue that’s preventing users from exploring your site from their smartphone. As we become more and more “mobile first” it’s really important that you’re optimized for all device types.

This was definitely a quick and dirty intro into important Google Analytics metricsThe list could go on and on. Every tool in Google Analytics serves a valuable purpose, but for those just learning the ropes it’s best to start with the most important.

  • Susan Rapaglia
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Squarespace Versus WordPress: What’s Right For You?
Squarespace Versus WordPress: What’s Right For You? 2100 1400 Susan Rapaglia

It’s a question we’ve asked ourselves. It’s a question our clients have asked. And you may be wondering right now: Should I use Squarespace or WordPress for my new website. Our simplest answer is, unfortunately, not that simple; because it all depends on you.

Today, we’re comparing the three primary differences between WordPress and Squarespace so that you can make the right decision for your business.

CUSTOMIZATION:

Both WordPress and Squarespace provide beautiful website templates designed for different industries, and both can be customized. That said, WordPress has  considerably more (an understatement) plugins and options than Squarespace. In fact, there are over 40,000 WP plugins available right now! When talking to clients, we typically say that WP is a more robust website platform, and a great option for those needing more site capabilities and functions. With less customization on Squarespace, there are also fewer chances for things to go wrong in the development phase. If you are building a website yourself, that’s something to certainly keep in mind.

Winner: WordPress

EASE OF USE:

Who doesn’t like easy? Get in, get out, get a website, right? While WordPress allows for high levels of customization, it’s not necessarily the easiest. Squarespace, on the other hand, was developed for those of us who are NOT developers. Much of Squarespace is drag and drop. You, the builder, can see exactly what is happening as you are doing and can adjust as such. That said, WordPress is a very “learnable” platform, and certain aspects of a website are incredibly easy to use. Blogs, for example are easy to post and update. The WordPress Backend and Frontend Editors are also helping the less tech-savvy create quality websites.

Winner: Squarespace

COSTS:

Squarespace certainly makes it easy with upfront costs and everything you need baked in. WordPress requires you find your hosting and will often require a handful of plug ins to really make your website pop. Hiring a Squarespace designer is also often less expensive than working with someone who specializes in WordPress. This, of course, is dependent on the situation; but it’s typically a safe bet that the WP site will be a more time-intensive build.

Winner: Squarespace

Yes, technically Squarespace won 2 out of the 3 comparisons, but that doesn’t mean we think Squarespace is a better platform. It still goes back to what functions your websites must perform.

If you are considering a Squarespace, WordPress or Shopify website, Coast Creative is here to assist you in design, implementation and tracking. Contact us today at [email protected].

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