Squarespace Blogging: A Comprehensive Guide
Written by: Travis Vance | Owner of Coyote Moon
Blogging remains a fundamental tool for personal branding, content marketing, and knowledge sharing. Squarespace, the best website builder for bloggers, offers an extensive blogging platform that caters to both beginners and seasoned bloggers alike. In this comprehensive guide, we'll dive into the benefits that Squarespace brings to bloggers. From its intuitive built-in SEO tools to customizable display options and advanced content creation capabilities, Squarespace empowers bloggers to create an engaging ecosystem for their readers.
1. Leveraging Squarespace's Built-in Tag, Category, and Search Filters
Bloggers understand that effective content organization is vital for a great user experience. Squarespace simplifies content organization with its robust tagging and categorization features. These tools empower bloggers to create a logical and easily navigable structure for their posts, making it a breeze for readers to find relevant content.
Blog post tags and categories:The tagging and categorization system in Squarespace allows bloggers to classify their posts into topics or themes. This categorization is displayed prominently on your blog, making it easy for visitors to explore related content.
Squarespace search block: Additionally, Squarespace's search filter feature further enhances user experience, allowing your readers to search for specific topics or keywords, significantly improving the accessibility and usability of your blog.
For example, imagine you run a cooking blog. With Squarespace's built-in tagging and categorization features, you can neatly organize your recipes into categories like "Appetizers," "Desserts," or "Healthy Eating." When a reader visits your blog, they can easily navigate to the section that interests them the most, enhancing their overall experience.
2. Built-in Squarespace's SEO Tools:
Optimizing your blog for search engines is crucial to attract organic traffic. Squarespace understands the pivotal role of SEO and offers an impressive suite of SEO tools that empower bloggers to optimize their posts with precision.
SEO customization options: one of the standout features of Squarespace is its user-friendly SEO customization options. Bloggers can effortlessly customize critical elements of each blog post, including:
Thumbnail images
Blog post excerpts
Blog post URLs
SEO titles
SEO descriptions
Social sharing images
This level of control enables you to tailor your content to match the search intent of your target audience, ultimately improving your blog's search engine visibility.
Social sharing: Squarespace simplifies the process of integrating your blog with popular social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Google Search Console. By doing so, you can widen your reach and engage your audience more effectively. Sharing your blog posts on these platforms becomes a seamless part of your content strategy, increasing the chances of your content going viral and attracting even more visitors to your blog.
3. Squarespace Posting Options:
A flexible posting schedule is essential for bloggers to maintain consistency and keep their audience engaged. Squarespace's versatile posting options give you full control over your publishing schedule.
Create a blog post draft: write your blog post content and save it as a draft for future use.
Blog post needs review: maybe you have a large content team that needs to sign off on your blog post before it goes live.
Schedule a blog post: set a specific date and time for your blog post to publish to the web. Squarespace makes it effortless to ensure your content is released precisely when you want it to be.
This flexibility is especially useful for bloggers with busy schedules or those who want to maintain a regular posting cadence. You can batch-create content when you have the time and schedule it to be published at optimal times, ensuring that your blog remains fresh and engaging for your readers.
4. Blog Page Display Options:
The visual presentation of your blog plays a large role in capturing your audience's attention. Squarespace understands this and offers a wide range of diverse display options, allowing you to craft a blog layout that aligns perfectly with your brand's identity and your readers' preferences. You can choose from various blog page layouts, including:
Basic grid layouts
Side-by-side blogs
Single-column designs
Masonry layouts
Alternating side-by-side blogs
Each layout offers unique visual appeal, making it easy to find one that resonates with your content and audience.
Fine-tuning the details is where Squarespace truly shines. You can adjust the number of columns, image placement, text alignment, excerpt visibility, and more to create a visually captivating blog layout. For instance, if you run a photography blog, you might prefer a masonry layout that showcases your images in a stunning grid format, allowing your readers to appreciate your work in all its glory.
5. Tailoring Blog Post Display Options:
Each individual blog post is an opportunity to engage your readers and leave a lasting impression. Squarespace allows you to tailor each post to perfection by offering various display options to match your brand's style and the preferences of your audience.
Customize the content width
Set the text alignment
Adjust the meta content positioning (above or below the title)
Show/hide categories, publish dates, author names, and author profiles based on your blog's unique needs.
These customization options are invaluable for bloggers who want to create a cohesive and immersive reading experience. Whether your blog focuses on tech tutorials, travel stories, or fashion tips, Squarespace's flexibility ensures your content is presented exactly how you envision it.
6. Building Captivating Blog Posts:
Creating compelling blog posts is at the heart of successful blogging. Squarespace offers an extensive range of content blocks that help you craft captivating and informative posts. Here is a list of useful content blocks for your blog posts:
Text block
Image block
Button block: calls-to-action
Gallery block: display a gallery of images related to your blog post
Video block
Form block: collect feedback or comments on your blog post
Newsletter block: allow your readers to sign up for your newsletter
Social links block: allow your readers to connect with you on social media
Product block: pull in products from your online store to sell through your blog post
Squarespace provides the tools you need to bring your ideas to life. Imagine you're a travel blogger sharing your adventures around the world. With Squarespace's content blocks, you can seamlessly integrate stunning photo galleries and even embed videos to provide your readers with an immersive travel experience. Adding interactive forms allows your audience to engage with you directly, perhaps by asking questions or sharing their own travel stories.
7. Enhancing the Reader's Experience:
Creating an exceptional reader experience is key to building a loyal audience. Squarespace offers many interactive features to engage with your audience. But there are customizations you can add to take your blog to the next level:
Reading Time Calculation: Squarespace allows you to insert code that calculates estimated reading time based on word or character count. This feature gives your readers an idea of how long it will take to consume your content, helping them plan their reading accordingly.
Social Share Buttons: You can easily incorporate social media share buttons using embed codes from platforms like ElfSight. This enables your readers to share your content with their networks, increasing your blog's reach and potentially attracting new visitors.
Table of Contents: Squarespace supports the inclusion of a table of contents using code snippets from services like Adlytic Marketing. A table of contents makes it easier for readers to navigate longer posts, quickly finding the sections that interest them the most.
Related Articles: Keeping your readers engaged is essential. Squarespace offers built-in summary blocks that allow you to display related articles at
8. Creating a Standardized Blog Template:
Consistency is key to building a strong brand and a loyal readership. Squarespace makes it easy to create a standardized blog template that you can use for every new post. This template ensures that your blog maintains a cohesive look and feel, making it instantly recognizable to your audience. In your standardized template, you can include elements such as:
"Related Posts" summary blocks: to encourage further exploration of your content.
Newsletter block: allows your readers to subscribe to your updates, ensuring you can reach them with new content and updates.
Button blocks: consistent call-to-action sections at the end of each post can guide your readers to take desired actions, such as signing up for your services or purchasing your products.
Conclusion:
Squarespace offers a comprehensive and user-friendly platform for bloggers to build, customize, and optimize their blogs. With its built-in SEO tools, flexible display options, and a wide range of content blocks, Squarespace empowers bloggers to create engaging and visually appealing content that resonates with their audience.
By utilizing the full suite of Squarespace's blogging features, you can improve your online presence, drive more traffic to your website, and ultimately boost your chances of ranking on page one in Google search results.
So, whether you're a seasoned blogger looking to revamp your website or a newbie, Squarespace is your ideal partner for publishing your content online. Your path to successful blogging begins here, with Squarespace.
Travis Vance is the owner and lead designer at Coyote Moon, a Squarespace web design studio. After working as a Squarespace employee for 7 years, he’s taking his in-depth knowledge on the inner workings of the Squarespace platform to help business owners of all sizes reach their full potential online.