How to Perform a Basic Squarespace SEO Audit

An SEO audit is a structured check of how well a site can be found, understood and used. For a Squarespace site, a basic audit takes a few hours and needs only free tools: Google Search Console, PageSpeed Insights and the site itself. This guide walks through the audit in order and ends with how to prioritize what you find.

Before you start

• Verify the site in Google Search Console if you have not already, and submit /sitemap.xml. Search data takes a few days to appear.
• Make a spreadsheet listing every page and post, with columns for the issues below.
• Note your main goals, such as enquiries, bookings or sales, so you can judge which pages matter most.

1. Indexing

• In Search Console, open the page indexing report. Are your important pages indexed? Which pages are excluded, and why?
• Search Google for site:yourdomain.com to get a rough view of what is indexed, and look for old demo pages, test pages or duplicates.
• Check that pages you do not want in search, such as thank-you pages, are hidden from search engines in their page settings.
• Confirm the site uses one domain version, with SSL on.

Google's SEO starter guide explains how pages get crawled and indexed.

2. Titles and descriptions

For each page and post, check the SEO title and description in its settings:

• Is each title unique, specific and under about 60 characters?
• Does each description summarize the page in a sentence or two?
• Are any pages using the default site title or no description at all?

3. Headings and content

• Does each page have one H1 that states the topic, with H2 and H3 headings below it?
• Does each main service have its own page with enough detail to answer customer questions?
• Are there thin pages with only a sentence or two, or near-duplicate pages covering the same topic?
• Is the content up to date, with current prices, services and contact details?

Use Google's questions on helpful, reliable content as a checklist. Write for readers; there is no target keyword density to hit.

4. URLs and redirects

• Are URL slugs short and descriptive, rather than /page-1 or auto-generated strings?
• If pages were renamed or removed, are old URLs redirected with 301 redirects in Squarespace's URL mappings?
• In Search Console, check for 404 errors on URLs that used to exist or that other sites link to.

5. Internal links and navigation

• Can visitors reach every important page from the navigation or from links within content?
• Do blog posts link to the related service pages?
• Are there orphan pages that nothing links to?
• Do links use descriptive text instead of "click here"?

6. Images

• Do images have descriptive file names and alt text?
• Are any images very large? Compress them before uploading.

7. Speed and mobile

• Run the home page and your main service pages through PageSpeed Insights. Note the Core Web Vitals results and the main suggestions.
• Look for heavy video backgrounds, many fonts, large galleries and third-party scripts.
• Check each key page on a phone for readable text, tappable buttons and no sideways scrolling.

8. Local signals

If you serve a local area, check that the business name, address and phone number are the same on the site, your Google Business Profile and other listings. Google lists what affects local results in its local ranking tips.

9. Search performance

• In Search Console's performance report, sort pages by impressions. Pages with many impressions but a low click-through rate need clearer titles and descriptions.
• Look at the queries each page appears for. Are they the searches you want?
• Note pages that get no impressions at all; they may need more depth or better links.

Prioritize the fixes

1. Blocking issues first: important pages not indexed, broken redirects, missing SSL.
2. Quick wins: titles and descriptions on pages that already get impressions.
3. Content gaps: missing service pages and thin pages that need more depth.
4. Ongoing work: speed improvements, internal links, new content and local listings.

Repeat a light version of the audit every few months, and after any redesign.

Common questions

Next steps

For the full list of settings to apply, use our Squarespace SEO checklist. If you would like an expert audit, see our Squarespace SEO services.

Sources

1. Google Search Central: SEO starter guide
2. Google Search Central: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content
3. Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking on Google
4. web.dev: Web Vitals