Does Squarespace Have An SEO Plugin Similar to Yoast in 2023?
Yoast is a popular plugin that helps WordPress users improve their websites for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Squarespace users have been long overdue for a similar plugin in the same vein! In April 2023, Henry Purchase, founder of Rough Water Media, released their long-awaited plugin: SEOSpace.
Using this plugin, Squarespace users can now run scans on each page of their website to give them more insight into what areas to improve to optimize their chances of being favored by Google.
I’ve been following Henry Purchase for a few months before the plugin was released. He’s well-versed in both Squarespace and SEO, and has released multiple YouTube helpful videos on his channel on the topic of optimizing for SEO. I’ve found his videos are super informational, and he seems to be very passionate about helping Squarespace users get the most out of the platform without breaking the bank.
I purchased a “DIY Plan” ($9.99/mo) and tested my own website to see how it works. I downloaded the Chrome plugin, put in my targeted keyword “squarespace experts,” and ran a Premium Scan on my homepage. After the scan was complete, it gave me a score: 49/100.
The plugin caught a few issues that were likely holding my page up from being ranked, such as having multiple H1 tags and missing image alt text. I had forgotten that I created a section on the homepage that was only visible on mobile, which included an H1 tag and an image. Nice catch, SEOSpace!
The plugin also used my keyword “squarespace experts,” and caught any instances where it should be placed on my website in order to improve my chances of ranking for it (a Premium Scan perk).
I fixed the outstanding errors, ran the Premium Scan again, and got up to an 89/100. There was one fix that I had missed - my meta description didn’t have enough characters. Once I fixed it, I was tempted to run the scan again just to feel the satisfaction of seeing a perfect score. But I decided against it, since I wanted to save them, as my plan comes with 10 Premium Scans.
I plan to go through each page on my website with my intended keyword to optimize my entire site. I’m still working on my SEO strategy, though, so I feel like that should come first.
Overall Thoughts
I think the emergence of SEOSpace is an awesome start to helping Squarespace users optimize their site for SEO. Their “Free Plan” includes 10 Basic Scans per month, which looks for baseline refinements such as checking broken links, image sizes, meta tags, and other baseline refinements to get your website up to speed. It’s a good place to start if you just want to test the plugin out.
It’s a great quick way to check every page of a Squarespace website for optimization suggestions, and it’s the first of its kind.
If you upgrade to their “DIY Plan,” you’ll be able to enter a keyword and location to get suggestions on where to place them throughout your page.
Henry and his team at SEOSpace are very responsive and open to suggestions as they continue to make improvements and iron out kinks since their first launch date. With the “DIY Plan,” you get access to the SEOSpace community, where you can offer suggestions, get help, and connect with other SEOSpace users.
I plan to upgrade to the highest tier “Agency Plan” to see how the “Discover search keywords” function works once I have my SEO strategy in place. With this plan, it looks like there’s some additional features that are on their way as well, such as automated monitoring, scans, and reports. I’ll report back when I do.
