How to Research and Use Keywords for Squarespace SEO
Nothing is more disheartening than dedicating your time and energy to creating a fantastic website that goes unnoticed on search engines. Among the billions of websites, over 90% get no traffic from Google. To be part of the elitist 10% that appear on search engine results, you'll need to add keywords to your Squarespace website. But why are keywords so important? How do you choose and decide which keywords to target? How many do I use? How do I add keywords to my Squarespace website? Don't fret; all will be revealed.
Why Are Keywords Important for Squarespace SEO?
When you search online to find a product, service or information on a particular topic, a search engine's goal is to provide you with the most relevant content in relation to your search query. To achieve this, search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo are constantly sending bots to crawl billions of websites and identify content deemed relevant to the search terms (keywords) their users are looking for online.
Adding keywords within your Squarespace website's content helps search engines understand the topic of your content and decide whether it is relevant to a user's search query. By using relevant keywords in your content creation strategy, you can ensure that you're providing readers with valuable information that matches their needs and help drive your website up the search engine rankings.
What Are the Different Types of Keywords?
When conducting effective keyword research for your Squarespace site, consider using a variety of keyword types as part of your content creation strategy.
Short-tail Keywords
Short-tail keywords are single words or short phrases. They tend to be broad and typically have high search volumes, making them competitive and difficult to rank for. Short-tail keywords examples:
Engagement rings
Candles
House plants
Furniture
Long-tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases that narrow in on the topic. They tend to receive fewer searches but can be easier to rank for in search engine results pages (SERPs) and tend to have a higher conversion rate.
Long-tail keyword examples:
Diamond solitaire engagement ring
Jasmine scented soy candle
Houseplants that like direct sunlight
English oak garden furniture
Navigational Keywords
Navigational keywords are words and phrases related to a specific geographical area. Incorporating local keywords into your site is particularly effective when looking to increase your site's visibility in local search engine results.
Navigational keyword examples:
Engagement rings London
Candles shops in London
Florists near me
Furniture store in London
Informational Keywords
An informational keyword is a type of keyword that indicates an interest in learning more about a particular topic or product.
Informational keyword examples:
How much should you spend on an engagement ring?
What candles have the longest-lasting smell?
How to dry a bouquet of flowers?
What is the longest-lasting wood for furniture?
Transactional Keywords
A transactional keyword is a type of keyword that indicates an intention to purchase or purchase-related action.
Transactional keyword examples:
Jewellery pay monthly
Candle subscription
Order flowers online
Office furniture online discount code NHS
The Different Elements of Keyword Research
When performing keyword research for Squarespace, there are three key components to consider.
Relevance
When it comes to ranking content, Google looks for relevancy. Again, search intent is critical here - if your content does not correspond to the user's needs, it will stay hidden in search results. Why would Google rank your website's content above another site that provides more value? Your content must be the cream of the crop when responding to a query.
Authority
Google will give higher-ranking sites it deems authoritative. For your website to become a trusted authority on the web, it's essential to fill your website with helpful information and promote your content to obtain social signals and backlinks.
Volume
Monthly searches measure the volume of a keyword. Generally, the higher the search volume, the harder it will be to rank for that particular keyword on SERPs. So the trick is to aim to rank for keywords with a low authority ranking but a high traffic volume.
How to Find Keywords?
Below we have included a variety of techniques on how to find keywords for your Squarespace website.
Identify your goals
When it comes to keyword research, it's essential to identify your goals. First, ask yourself: What are you trying to achieve with this research? For example, are you looking to increase web traffic, generate more leads, and sell more products? Knowing your objectives will help inform which keywords you should focus on. Additionally, consider the bigger picture and how each keyword fits into your strategy. Which will help keep your efforts organised and focused as you move forward.
Use your intuition
Leverage firsthand knowledge of your business and customers and get brainstorming! Compile a list of related words and phrases that define your services or products and the terms users might search for to discover what your business offers.
Uncover the competitors who rank highest for specific search queries. It's also worth noting how many paid search ads appear on the page - this will give you a good idea of the value of that keyword. Ask your family and friends what terms they would use to find a business like yours — their answers may surprise you. You can also create buyer personas for your target customers and consider what they would search for.
Use free keyword research tools.
Use free keyword research tools to analyse and find keywords.
Google Keyword Planner - It's great for identifying keyword opportunities for your SEO campaign.
Uber Suggest - Find out where your competitors are bringing in the traffic.
Keywords Everywhere - A Chrome extension that shows you monthly search volume, CPC, competition & 12-month trend data on 10+ websites. It also provides traffic, link metrics and backlink data.
How Do You Vary Keyword Usage?
When it comes to varying keyword usage on your Squarespace website, try to use them in different forms and combinations within your text. For example, if you were writing content for your website about watches, you'd want to include a variety of synonyms such as 'wristwatch' or 'timepiece' to mix things up and avoid keyword stuffing. Additionally, you'd incorporate into your content-related keywords such as 'chronometer' or 'quartz' to give some context.
Finally, remember that keywords should be used naturally throughout a text without disrupting its readability or sounding forced.
How to Organise Your Keywords for Your Content?
When organising your keywords for your content, one of the best ways to approach keyword placement is to understand the keyword hierarchy. Which can be broken down into three tiers:
Primary Keyword
A primary keyword is the most important keyword you want to target. Your target keyword should be placed in your H1 header text at the top of your page. It should be directly relevant to the web page and accurately reflect what readers will find.
Secondary Keywords
Secondary keywords add detail and support your primary keyword. Secondary keywords are often more specific and aligned with the searcher's intent.
Additional Keywords
Additional keywords are words or phrases that may be spelt differently or connected to your topic. Generally, phrases consisting of several words - known as "long-tail" keywords - are classified in this group.
How many keywords should you put in your content?
This is a great question and a hot top among SEO experts. It comes down to the keywords you plan to use and the length of your content. You should include your primary keyword once every 100-150 words.
For example, if you're writing a 1000-word article, it would be appropriate to distribute your primary keyword around 7-10 times evenly.
It would be best to use your secondary and additional keywords organically throughout your web page; however, these keywords shouldn't be in your content more than your primary keyword.
Whatever your primary keyword baseline is for your content, you should decrease secondary keyword usage by 25% and a further 25% for additional keywords.
Maintaining a solid keyword hierarchy will enable Google's crawlers to quickly crawl and understand your site's content.
I recommend using the free keyword density checker by Small SEO Tools, which will analyse your keyword usage across either a URL or text.
How to Add Keywords to Your Squarespace Website?
Whenever you create content for your website, you should target a specific keyword for each page. The obvious place to add keywords to your Squarespace website is in the body of your text. However, there are many other places where you could also insert keywords.
Here are ten places you need to insert keywords into the pages of your Squarespace site.
H1 title
A general rule is to use the primary keyword you aim to rank for in the H1 title. It helps search engine crawlers immediately identify the page's topic, allowing it to be indexed and ranked more effectively. It also gives readers a better idea of the content and entices them to click or read it.
Subheadings
Subheadings are a fantastic way to break your content into more readable sections and incorporate your secondary keywords. Therefore, it is a good SEO practice to insert your keyword in at least one subheading.
Body Content
You should incorporate keywords into the body of your content in a way that is both natural and organic. Avoid keyword stuffing, which can make your content difficult to read and also result in your website being penalised by Google. You should aim to have a keyword density of no more than 3-5%.
First and last paragraphs of the content
To reinforce the subject of your page, include your main target keyword or phrase in both the initial and last paragraphs of your body text.
Page title
The page title, or H1 Tag, is one of the most important places to insert your keyword. Your page's title will appear on the search engine results page. Your keyword or phrase should be at the beginning of your title.
Meta description
Your meta description is the snippet of text that appears in the search engine results under your title tag. Adding a Catchy and engaging meta description to your Squarespace website will improve your site's click-through rate. Keep your tone of voice natural and incorporate keywords to create relevance to your target user's intent.
Page URL
Your target keyword should also form a part of the page URL. Incorporating your target keyword will help your web pages rank more effectively and help readers identify the topic of your content, enticing them to read on.
Images
Incorporate keywords within your images ALT text description, and file names, which will also help your product and decorative images rank on image search engines.
Blog post categories + tags
Include your main target keyword in your blog post category or under an affiliate category. Not only will this make your blog pages easier to navigate and create breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs aren't just aesthetically pleasing; they offer a huge benefit for SEO.
Tags are another way to organise your content and include your secondary and additional keywords into your website tags to reinforce the content of your blog posts for readers and search engines.
An example of how to organise your keywords within the categories and tags of your blog is if the article is titled 'Five fruits you should eat every day', then 'fruit' would be your category. Your tags would be apples, blueberries, bananas, mangoes and cranberries.
'Fruit', however, as a category might not be relevant to your other content, so it might be worth placing it under a pre-existing category such as 'healthy eating' or 'nutrition' and using the keyword 'fruit' in the tags instead.
Keyword-rich anchor text
When linking to other websites or pages within your website, include target keywords within the anchor text. Using keyword-rich anchor text helps search engines understand the content of your web pages and helps viewers better understand the purpose or relevance of the linked page.
(Looking for more tips and tricks to increase your Squarespace website’s visibility on search engines? Learn the fundamentals - Squarespace SEO: Ultimate Guide)
Need Help with Your Squarespace Keyword Research?
With time and practice, whilst testing out different keyword types within your Squarespace website, your efforts will start coming together. The main thing to remember about Squarespace SEO is it's a long-term marketing strategy. It's unrealistic to expect results overnight. However, effective keyword research is the foundation for any successful SEO campaign.
Are you looking to improve your Squarespace website's visibility, increase the number of inquiries received and rank higher on search engine results? If the answer is yes, take advantage of our complimentary SEO audit and 20-minute consultation. We'll find out what keywords your website currently ranks for and I’ll share strategy suggestions for increasing your organic traffic.
