Welcome to all my new subscribers from the Let's Get Digital Bundle! You grabbed my Lead Magnet Idea Generator Prompt, and I hope you're finding it helpful. I'm glad you're here! 🤍

hey Reader,

Confused about how to actually draw people to your website?

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the practice of 'optimizing' your website so people searching for what you have to offer on Google can actually find you. The more 'optimized' your site is, the higher up it will appear in search results. And the more people who see it, the more likely they are to click through, find your site, and become clients or customers.

It's a long game, and certainly changing these days with AI and social platforms (read more here: The Rise of GEO: Why Your Content Needs to Speak AI's Language), but there are still actionable things you can do to bring people to your site.

Here are 10 SEO tips for you that you can implement today to get started on making your website easier to find.

10 SEO Tips to Help Your Website Show Up in Search Results

1. Perform Keyword Research

You've got to know what keywords people are searching for! This means, what are people actually looking for? Research takes some time, but there are a lot of good tools out there these days.

Use tools like Google Keyword Planner (free!) or SEMrush (I received my SEO certification from SEMrush and can recommend it, it's pricey AF but powerful) to find the right keywords for your website.

I also really like using Keywords Everywhere these days, they have a $27/year Bronze plan that I find myself using more than anything else.

2. Optimize Your Website Structure

You need a well-organized website that’s easy to navigate. You can take advantage of Squarespace’s handy-dandy SEO Checklist to ensure your URL structure, title tags, and meta descriptions are optimized.

You also want to be sure to use H1 (Heading 1) as the main header, and only use it ONCE per post or page. Seriously. Once. That's it. More than that and Google gets all confused about what your page is actually about.

3. Create High-Quality Content

Content is queen 👑 when it comes to SEO.

Your website needs high-quality, original content that’s relevant and engaging to your audience. And — when I say content, your website copy, sure. But I’m also talking about blog posts.

Great content brings people back to your site. When you write things people enjoy reading, they'll share it, spend more time on your pages, and Google notices that - which means more people find you when they search.

When creating content, focus on providing value to your readers, and make sure your content is well-structured and easy to read.

Think of it this way - would YOU want to read your content? If the answer is "meh," then it's probably not going to rank well either.

4. Optimize Your Website for Mobile

More than half of all website traffic comes from mobile devices. Use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test to check if your site works well on phones.

✍️ Tip: If you're designing in Squarespace, MAKE SURE you hit the little phone icon in the upper right corner to design separately for mobile.

5. Improve Website Speed

If your website takes longer than 3 seconds to load, you're losing visitors faster than I lose hair ties (which is like, constantly). Use tools Pingdom to check your site speed and don't forget to compress/resize/rename those images! (Here's a great free tool for compressing images!)

Read more on my blog: How and Why to Optimize Your Images ​

6. Utilize Internal Linking

Internal links are like the little bread crumbs that lead visitors (and Google) through the delicious vegan bakery that is your website. 🥐😉

When you link from one page to another on your site, you're basically saying "Hey! This other page is also super relevant and helpful!" Google picks up on this and starts to understand how all your content fits together.

For example, if I'm writing a blog post about SEO tips, I might link to my services page where I offer a SEO in a Day service. And boom! Now Google knows these two pages are connected.

✍️TIP: If you have a custom 404 Error page set up (you should), you can add a simple form to fill out to find out what broken link got your visitor there. This should help keep your internal links active.

Read more: Six Internal Linking Tips to Boost Your Website's Search Rankings​

7. Get High-Quality Backlinks

Backlinks are like votes of confidence from other websites.

Try guest posting, creating shareable content, submitting your business to free local or niche-related directories, or collaborating with complementary businesses.

You can also subscribe to Source of Sources for free, which sends free daily media queries to your inbox from journalists looking to source expertise. The idea is you pitch for relevant articles, and if your pitch is accepted, many times the article links back to your site.

8. Utilize Social Media

Social signals like likes and shares can help increase your SEO rankings. Share your content across platforms where your audience hangs out (though if you're a social media hermit, it's totally fine to focus on the other tips first).

Note: A lot of my SEO keywords that I rank for pop up from Pinterest and LinkedIn in Google when you search them. So don't feel like you have to default to TikTok or Instagram for example if that's not your jam.

9. Use Analytics to Track Your Progress

Track your SEO journey with analytics. Use tools like Google Analytics 4 (GA4) or Google Search Console to monitor key metrics like your website’s traffic and bounce rate. This way, you can see where you need to make improvements and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Squarespace also has a good built-in analytics tracker (it's connected to Google Search Console) that's a great way to monitor high-level analytics.

This does take a bit of time to get comfortable with, so give yourself some grace as you’re ramping up on your SEO knowledge and implementation.

10. Stay Up-to-Date with SEO Trends

SEO isn't a "set it and forget it" kind of thing. (I HIGHLY recommend focusing on a short-term marketing strategy as well, like in-person networking, cold pitching, or mastering Reels or TikTok).

SEO more like tending a garden - you plant the seeds (keywords), water regularly (create content), pull the weeds (fix technical issues), and eventually, you'll have beautiful flowers (traffic and sales)! 🌱 → 🌺

The most important thing is just to start. Pick one tip and implement it this week. Then next week, tackle another one. Before you know it, you'll be well on your way to better search visibility and more website traffic.

And hey - if you're feeling totally overwhelmed by all this SEO stuff, I get it! It's a lot. That's exactly why I offer my SEO services to help get you set up and feeling confident. My SEO in a Day service includes:

• SEO audit and review of your current website
• Targeted keyword research up to 5 pages
• Navigation and site structure review and recommendations
• On-page and off-page SEO strategies
• Analytics and performance report
• Implementation recommendations
• Dedicated Q&A
• Resource guide

Not quite ready for a full SEO in a Day package? I also offer website audits for more of an intro service if you're curious how well your website is performing and just want to get some actionable steps on how to improve your site.

Yours in SEO Success,

Janessa

PS -Thinking about starting a blog but don’t know where to begin? These templates make it easy.

Nifty Tidbit

Every week I share a Nifty Tidbit, a fun little trivia fact curated just for you. This week's Nifty Tidbit is about... the month of March.

March was originally the first month of the year!

In the early Roman calendar, the year began in March (Martius), named after Mars, the god of war. This made sense because winter was over, and it was time to start military campaigns again.

It wasn’t until 153 BCE that January became the official start of the year (because of Julius Caesar), and even then, many places kept celebrating New Year’s in March for centuries.

Helping small business owners navigate marketing, business strategy, web design, and AI without the overwhelm. 15+ years of experience packed into practical templates and strategies you'll actually use.