Squarespace SEO: Understanding Keywords

Keyword research is the foundation of any solid SEO strategy.

Without keyword research, you can’t possibly be executing good SEO practices. It would be like going someplace you’ve never been before, with no map. Your keywords are your map— they inform everything you do toward growing your SEO.

Keywords help you figure out what your target audience is searching for on Google, how to structure your site, what you need to blog about, and more.

I think a lot of people aren’t getting the results they want with their website rankings and traffic, and I believe this is mainly because the first and most crucial foundation of SEO—(keywords)—isn’t properly understood.

So if you want good SEO, it’s imperative that you take the time to really get this.

And I’m going to try to help you do just that in this article!

Understanding Keywords for best squarespace seo strategy

If you want your Squarespace site to perform well, this is perhaps the most important thing to understand: what are your keywords, that is- the keywords that your target audience is typing into Google?

In SEO, a keyword is simply the word or phrase—most often phrase—that people type into Google (or any search engine) to yield pages of results. From here, the user clicks on the most intriguing and accurate links that respond to their search query (keywords), and the goal with SEO is to get your site (your client’s site, etc.) to show up at the top of those results and to be a great response to the user’s search, causing them to click through to your site.

Once they’re on your site, it’s your job to create high-quality content that thoroughly satisfies what they were hoping to find based on their search keyword. If you do this, the user is likely to further engage with your site, clicking to other articles, browsing your site, and potentially purchasing your products or services.

Choosing SEO keywords for your site

A good question to ask yourself about keywords is: is this something people will realistically search for on Google?

For example— I have had clients state that they want to rank for keywords such as “happiness” and “self-confidence.”

But have you ever typed in these keywords, or similar ones, to Google? Probably not.

That’s because most of our searches are more specific. So “self-confidence tips” and “how to build self-confidence” are much more effective keywords than “self-confidence.”

In my experience as an SEO Specialist, I have found that these longer, more specific keywords perform best. Therefore, it’s this kind of keyword we want to focus on.

Long-Tail Keywords

Yep- they have a name. These specific keywords that around 3-4 words are called long tail keywords.

Using long-tail keywords allows us to more effectively position ourselves in front of our target audience(s).

It’s much better to use long tail keywords that relate to what you are writing about or offering. For example, if you run a knitting website, rather than targeting the keyword knitting, you would want to gt more specific with keywords such as:

knitting with self striping yarn
knitting for beginners
knitting in the round (or even more targeted: knitting in the round with 2 circular needles)

Assuming of course that you are offering content and/or products around these keywords. If your site is all about advanced knitting, then don’t target for the keyword knitting for beginners or how to knit a simple hat.

If someone lands on your site but it isn’t an appropriate response to what they are looking for, they’ll likely leave, your bounce rate will increase, and this will hurt your SEO.

Make sense? So only target for keywords that apply to what you are writing about or selling. But, within that realm, get as specific as possible.

I teach in a very detailed way exactly how to locate keywords for your site, including video lessons, in my Squarespace SEO Expert Course. So if it’s in your budget, this course is truly an incredible investment in your business (and can be written off on taxes, win-win!).

High-Intent Keywords

Aside from long-tail keywords, high-intent keywords are the other important type of keyword to understand and to use in your SEO strategy.

High-intent keywords are keywords that have a transaction behind them. Someone who types in a high-intent keyword is looking to make a purchase. This purchase might be physical, it might be digital, or it could be a service.

Obviously, if you’re running an online business, high-intent keywords are important to target for.

Examples of high-intent keywords include:

best professional chainsaws
website design and seo services
gifts for runners

See how all of these have a buying mindset behind them?

To understand more about high-intent keywords, refer to this other post of mine: Squarespace SEO: What Are High-Intent Keywords?

When selecting the keywords to focus on as part of an SEO strategy for a Squarespace website, there is a system I use which involves the following steps:

Answering the necessary initial questions
Discovering what the target audience is searching for
Using suggested keywords
Using the keyword planner tool
Making sure to include high-intent keywords
Generate blog post topics around the keyword research

From there I move on to the on-page SEO portion of the project.

To learn more about this crucial component of a solid SEO strategy for your site or your client’s sites, you should invest in my course—Squarespace SEO Expert— which teaches everything I’ve learned and all of the techniques I use to get Squarespace websites to Google Page 1.

Please let me know if you have any questions! I’m happy to help!

Thanks for stopping by & I’ll talk to you soon~