4 Squarespace Myths that Every Business Owner Needs to Know
Dogs see only in black and white.Popping your knuckles causes arthritis.Lightning never strikes the same place twice.
Most myths are harmless.Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for most Squarespace myths.
At best, they’re slightly misleading. And at worst, they lead you to waste precious time and resources on things that will never improve your website’s reach or SEO rankings. So let’s bust a few common Squarespace myths once and for all.
Squarespace Myth #1: Squarespace is Bad for SEO
Back in the early days of website building platforms gaining popularity, things like keyword stuffing and using exact match domain names was the thing to do.
At least we all thought it worked, and to some extent it did. That’s why these approaches to boosting your ranking on Google became so popular.
However, these “low-hanging fruit” methods aren’t as effective as they used to be.
The main reason?
Google (and other search engines) have adapted their algorithms over time and have become more sophisticated - going so far as to penalize websites for things like keyword stuffing.
There are other reasons too. Google has shifted to prioritize boosting content that’s actually helpful to humans instead of content that just looks good to robots.
Which means that in order to boost your website’s traffic and rank higher in searches today, you can’t just write a ton of blog posts that sound foreign and unnatural (because of all the keyword stuffing) and expect to rank #1.
What to do instead:
You need to incorporate your keywords in a natural-sounding way.
Write your blog content in a conversational tone - like you’re speaking to an actual person (heck, even a friend!) Make sure your content is something real people would actually want to read and find helpful.
Don’t have a blog? That’s totally fine. This concept applies to your website’s general copy as well. You absolutely DO want to incorporate your keywords, but be thoughtful about it. Sprinkle them in strategically throughout the page.
In fact, Paige Brunton (my all time favorite Squarespace guru) has shared that once she began blogging consistently (and using her keywords naturally in each of those blog posts) her website traffic skyrocketed - all from organic leads.
So if you’re looking to improve your website’s SEO, here’s the approach I recommend trying out.
Squarespace provides all kinds of features to help optimize your website for search engines, but here’s the kicker: you have to actually use them!
Now I know it can be easy to miss out on these things because you don’t know what you don’t know! Don’t worry - I’m here for ya!
Start by optimizing your website’s images and resizing them to be 250 KB or smaller. Search engines like when websites are easy to load, and smaller images help to speed up page loading time.
Next, you’ll want to make sure all those lovely images have alt tags attached to them. This is a great place to add your keywords, but remember to incorporate them in a natural way (think regular sentences and not that weird Amazon listing we’ve all seen that has 30 words in the title).
Editing your meta tags is next. It might be tempting to stuff some keywords in here, but resist the urge to go overboard! There’s a sweet spot of about 50-60 characters, so try and stay within that limit. Challenge those creative muscles!
Lastly I can’t recommend enough that you sign up for Google Analytics and Google Search Console and connect them to your site. They’re free, powerful tools to track your website’s stats and give you insights on your traffic.
Squarespace Myth #2: Squarespace Has Limited Customization
Trying to decide between the 100+ Squarespace templates can definitely be overwhelming.
And it might seem like once you do make a decision you’re locked into that template for better or worse with all its highlights and flaws. Which might send you back to the drawing board looking for a different template - or even a different website building platform!
Well I’m here to tell you that feeling of being “locked in” or “put in a box” when it comes to templates? It’s not true!
While it’s true that Squarespace is a template-based system, if you’re working in version 7.1 it honestly doesn’t matter which one you choose because they can all do the same things. And now that Squarespace has introduced its Fluid Engine editor, customizing website pages has never been easier.
If you’re working with version 7.0 then template choice does matter a bit more for functionality, but my honest advice is just to upgrade to 7.1 with Fluid Engine. You’ll be so much happier in the long run, I promise!
And if that’s not enough, here are 3 other reasons Squarespace is great for customization:
Fluid Engine: I know I’ve already mentioned it, but I really feel like this is a game changer for those new to designing websites. If you’re a solopreneur that just wants to DIY your site and get it done, Fluid Engine is your best friend. It allows you to use your natural drag and drop intuition to arrange elements on the page. PLUS you can edit the mobile version of the page separately! Say what! Custom desktop vs. mobile view? Heck yes.
Third Party Tools: If you’re dying to embed custom forms or connect to analytics or marketing tools (*cough cough* Google Analytics), Squarespace works with a ton of third-party tools quite seamlessly. This flexibility lets you rest easy knowing your site doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s out there.
Custom CSS: Plus, you always have the option to inject custom CSS into your Squarespace website. This opens up a world of possibilities for changing the appearance and behavior of your site beyond the default customization that Squarespace offers.
You don’t necessarily have to go the fancy, technical route of using custom CSS to make your Squarespace site unique. Heck, you don’t even have to use any third party tools if you don’t want to!
Just don’t feel “boxed in” or limited when it comes to using Squarespace. Whether you choose to use only its native tools or if you want to sprinkle in a few lines of custom code or outside tools you’re sure to have everything you need to get a beautiful, not copycat-looking website.
The best part is, using a Squarespace template as a jumping off point will save you time and give you back some mental energy to focus on the parts you want to adjust and make your own.
Squarespace Myth #3: Squarespace is Only for Small Businesses
One of the most persistent myths about Squarespace is the idea that it’s only suitable for small businesses or personal blogs.
So not true! Squarespace can absolutely work for everything from portfolio sites to e-commerce stores. Just not the way you may think.
While Squarespace’s user-friendly system is incredible for making website building accessible to beginners, it also incorporates scalability factors that can accommodate growth for businesses of lots of different sizes.
Squarespace offers features like e-commerce functionality, membership sites, and blogging tools that allow a business to expand over time.
And speaking of e-commerce, Squarespace allows you to create an online store, manage inventory, set up secure payment methods, offer custom shipping options, customize your users’ shopping experience, and more.
That means everyone selling goods and services - from small boutiques to larger online retailers - can effectively use Squarespace for their e-commerce needs.
So you can absolutely use Squarespace for your business website, but if you don’t leverage all the tools it has to offer, you’ll not only hurt your chances of growing your business but you run the risk of only a few people being able to find you.
So the “Squarespace is only for small business” theory is out, but you still need to leverage a well thought out structure for building your website (of any size) in order to make it effective. Read on for details.
What to do instead:
When building out your Squarespace website you want to think about your main goal. Do you want visitors to buy products? Book a service? Schedule a call with you?
Once you’ve narrowed down your ultimate goal, you’ll want to build your pages as a funnel to get your visitors to that goal. And building trust along the way is key.
Naturally, providing great content is one of the best ways to earn users’ trust. Blogging is a classic, but if making videos is more your style you can absolutely do that instead. (Bonus if you turn those videos into blog posts!)
Be strategic about your button placement, and even what words you use as button titles. Try to create a sense of urgency or importance.
Don’t forget to capitalize on Squarespace’s built-in SEO features (after all, visibility matters!) Make sure all your images have alt text, put keywords in your meta titles and descriptions, and regularly update your content to keep your site relevant in search results.
For example:
Once I learned the importance of meta titles, page descriptions, image size, and keyword placement I was able to improve my site’s SEO ranking by 65%. I used a tool called SEOSpace and have been loving it ever since! (You should definitely check it out for any Squarespace website.)
Squarespace Myth #4: Squarespace has Slow Loading Times
The truth? This can be true of any website, regardless of the platform. It all comes down to how the images and content are optimized.
Even though you may think you have limited options when it comes to your website’s speed because Squarespace is the one hosting it, there are still a few things that ARE in your control.
To really get the results you want, you should be measuring your site’s speed regularly and tracking stats after making any adjustments. After all, how will you know if you’re getting better if you don’t know where you started?
Henry Purchase - founder of SEO Space - even states that you can go so far as removing things like natively stored video and custom fonts to speed up your Squarespace website (check out his video on Why is Squarespace so Slow? [and how to fix it]).
What to do:
Some simple steps you can take today are to:
Update your site to Squarespace 7.1. If you’re still on Squarespace 7.0 and haven’t already made the switch this is the perfect time to do so. This is also the simplest step you can take to improve your site’s loading speed. Why?
Because Squarespace’s developers are constantly working to update this version to be more compliance with Google’s Core Web Vitals standards. The updates are only being applied to 7.1 sites, so if you’re on 7.0 you’re missing out.
Caveat: upgrading your site from Squarespace 7.0 to 7.1 can be a process, especially if you have a lot of pages so it’s worth it to plan ahead or even hire a Squarespace web designer to do it for you (feel free to reach out to me if you’d like to chat about this option!)
Enable the SSL Certificate. This will allow your site to be delivered through the faster HTTP/2 protocol, which will load your pages faster. It sounds complicated but I promise it’s not! Just go to your Squarespace dashboard, then Settings > Developer Tools > SSL. Make sure Secure (Preferred) and HSTS Secure are checked. Boom - done!
Make sure all images are under 250KB. Larger image files mean slower page loading times so you want to keep your images as small as possible without sacrificing quality. A good way to do this is to save all your images as JPG instead of PNG. PNG files tend to have better quality and more data stored in them, which makes their size inherently larger. JPG files do have less quality than PNGs but their smaller size is worth the cut.
Wrapping it Up
There you have it: 4 Squarespace myths.
As you saw, Squarespace is evolving and you should, too. Today, it’s more about optimizing SEO factors and creating beautiful designs. Not using “outdated” templates to make a website that looks like everyone else’s.
I hope this post has helped you steer clear of misleading information so you can get your website built and launched, and start growing your business.
