How to Start a Squarespace Blog in Less Than a Day
Nearly 80% of internet users read blogs daily, so there’s no better time to start a blog. Blogs aren’t only fun, but they also offer multiple income opportunities. If you’re considering starting a Squarespace blog, you’re in the right place.
In this article, I’ll share everything you need to know about starting a blog on Squarespace. Set aside one day to do this, and you’ll be blogging before bedtime.
I’ve had my Squarespace website and blog for a few years, and I love it. It’s helped me grow my business and is easy to use, customize and optimize for SEO.
Is Squarespace good for blogging?
Yes, Squarespace is an excellent option for blogging. It’s easy to use, has various customizable templates, and is desktop and mobile responsive.
I’ve used various blogging platforms, and Squarespace is easily my favorite. I’ve written many successful blogs on Squarespace that get excellent traffic. Best of all, you can easily optimize Squarespace websites for SEO to reach your target audience.
As you can see in the analytics below, the more blog content I publish, the more traffic I get to my Squarespace site.
Blog analytics from organic search traffic (Google without paid ads)
9 Steps to Creating a Squarespace Blog
You’re finally ready to start a blog, which may feel complex or confusing. But it doesn’t have to.
With these easy-to-follow steps, your new blog will be ready in less than a day.
Step 1: Learn About SEO
*5 minutes (start by reading this article)
If you’re new to blogging and don’t know about search engine optimization (SEO), I recommend learning some basics before writing your first blog.
A quick read of one of the articles I shared above is a good introduction. That said, learning about SEO should be ongoing for the best blog success.
SEO is a primary way to reach your target audience and get people to read your blog. When you write an article using SEO techniques, it tells Google your content is helpful, so they share it with people who might be interested in reading it.
Step 2: Think About Your Brand
*45 minutes
Before you start your blog, you need to brainstorm your brand. It’s essential to have a brand identity to connect with your target audience and have an aesthetically pleasing site that matches your brand.
Here are some things to consider:
What your niche is
What your blog name is
Who your target audience is
What your vibe and tone are
What colors represent this
I recommend jotting these down so you have something to refer back to.
Before you get your heart set on your blog name, check USPTO to ensure it hasn’t been trademarked. You might want to make sure the name is also available on social media if you plan to be on socials with your brand.
You can buy your domain from Squarespace, which I did, or elsewhere.
Step 3: Create Your Squarespace Website
*10 minutes
One of the best things about Squarespace is just how simple getting started is. As an all-in-one platform that hosts your website, it doesn’t get much easier.
Here’s how to start your website and blog:
Create an account, starting with the 14-day free trial period.
Select what kind of website you want to create (“blog,” in this case).
From there, choose one of the recommended templates for your website. You can add to and update this template as you’d like.
Step 4: Add a Blog Page
*10 minutes
When you’ve created your website, it’s time to add a blog page.
There are a few blog layout options to choose from. I recommend naming your blog exactly that – ”Blog.” Avoid choosing something like “Journal” that might not be obvious to your audience.
Once you’ve added your blog page, you’ll see example posts already there. You can go in and edit or delete these.
Here’s a quick video to walk you through adding your blog page:
Step 5: Update Your Blog Page Settings
*5 minutes
Once your Squarespace blog page is ready, you can update your settings.
Tips for updating your blog settings:
Keep it simple and name your blog page “Blog.”
Disable the page if you’re not ready for people to view it yet. If you haven’t published your site yet, it won’t be visible anyways.
You can also add a password so that only people with the password can view it. Be sure to remove this when your blog is ready for the world.
Select how many posts per page you want to be shown. If your posts exceed that number, your blog visitors can scroll to the next page of articles.
Step 6: Add Your First Blog Post
*a few hours
Now for the fun part! Add your first blog.
You can type your blog posts directly in Squarespace or do what I do and paste your content from a Google doc. Both options are suitable.
Your Squarespace blog has blocks, which is how you add text, images, clickable buttons, spacers, etc. It also shows the desktop and mobile views. This makes it easy to customize your blog and make it look however you’d like and include whatever you want.
Fun fact: Squarespace blogs are easily customizable without any coding.
Here are some things to include when writing your blog article:
Post title: Include your primary keyword and use Sharethrough Headline Analyzer to ensure it’s engaging.
Headers: Header tags (h1, h2, and h3) help format your blog for skimmability. You should only use one h1, which is the title.
Short sentences and paragraphs: This makes your content easy to read.
Internal links: Links to other blogs keep people on your website longer.
I recommend using this blog checklist freebie for this step:
Step 7: Add Visuals
*30 minutes
As I mentioned, you can add images and other visuals via blocks to your blog. This is important because humans are visual creatures, and only a few people, if any, stay on a text-only blog.
Visuals are an excellent way to break your content up and add value.
Some examples of visuals include:
Pictures: Use your own high-quality images and get free stock photos from sites like Unsplash.
Infographics: You can use Canva to create infographics related to your blog to share more information.
Videos: Your audience can connect better with your article through videos, which are easy to embed on Squarespace like I have in the image below for another blog article.
Example of embedding video in article
Step 8: Edit Your Blog Style and Design
*1 hour
To personalize your site style, you can update your font, colors, animations, spacing, and more. This took me a while to perfect and match my brand colors and fonts, so I suggest about an hour for this step.
That said, you can go with your template’s blog design if you like it or are short on time. You can always come back and update this later.
Here are some suggestions for formatting an easy-to-read blog:
Content width: narrow or medium
Text alignment: left
Colors: Dark-colored font with a light background
Step 9: Optimize Your Blog’s SEO
*15 minutes
When you finish writing your blog, it’s time to ensure it’s SEO-ready.
Go to your article’ settings, like in the screenshot below, and do the following:
Add a featured image related to your article, which will appear on the search engine results page (SERPs), aka Google.
Update the URL to your primary keyword.
Add tags related to the post to help your audience find your content.
Create categories that help you organize your post for your audience.
Select to disable or enable post comments.
Write your SEO title and description, which also show up on the SERPs.
Add a social image, which can be the same as your featured image.
At this time, you can publish your post now or schedule to publish it later.
Learn more about SEO with these simple tips:
The Best Squarespace Blog Tools
While Squarespace is an all-in-one platform for blogging, there are helpful tools you can use to help you write excellent blogs that get ample traffic and lead to conversions.
With countless tools, don’t feel like you have to use a dozen of them. I’ve been writing and managing blogs for years and only have a few go-to blog tools.
Keysearch: for keyword research; also has a new content assistant AI feature (use code KSDISC for 20% off)
Grammarly: for editing blogs and ensuring good readability
Canva: for creating visuals to include in your blogs
Flodesk (this link gives you half off!): to create an email newsletter to promote your blog
Keysearch: my favorite keyword research tool
Use this resource to learn more about other website information, including uploading your Squarespace logo, adding SEO titles and descriptions, a 404 page, and more. Although these components are important for ensuring your blog is user and Google-friendly, you can go through these tasks over the first month or so of starting your blog.
Squarespace Blog FAQ
Below, I’ll answer common Squarespace blogging questions.
Is Squarespace a free blogging platform?
Squarespace is free for the first 14 days, then you pay a low monthly payment of $16 to $65 per month, depending on your plan. I find Squarespace to be the most affordable blogging platform, given how easy it is to use and the many features, including templates, analytics, and custom domain options.
Is Squarespace better than WordPress?
I’d much rather use Squarespace than WordPress. Although many people appreciate how much you can do with WordPress, Squarespace is also customizable and doesn’t require coding.
Because Squarespace is more user-friendly, most people can start their Squarespace blog on their own. Meanwhile, WordPress is more technical. Many people who use WordPress need to hire a tech-savvy professional for help.
Which website is best for blogging?
According to various data and expert insights, Squarespace is in the top 5 best blogging platforms of 2023.
The other best blogging platforms are:
WordPress
Wix
Weebly
Is Squarespace blog good for SEO?
Squarespace has many built-in features that help with SEO. Although it’s a common misconception that Squarespace blogs aren’t SEO-friendly, there are many ways you can optimize for SEO.
Google ranks any article optimized well for SEO, no matter the website builder. Here’s an example of one of my Squarespace articles shown as a featured snippet and in the top-ranking spot for a high-traffic keyword phrase:
featured snippet and top spot on Google for a Squarespace blog article
Can I make money from my Squarespace blog?
From ad revenue and affiliate marketing to selling online courses and other digital products, there are many ways Squarespace users make money.
Like with a blog on any platform, you need to publish new articles consistently, target high-traffic keywords, and build your audience before you start earning money. As you begin to grow your blog, you can increase revenue streams.
This fashion blogger earned $177,100 in 2021 via affiliate marketing, partnerships, and YouTube AdSense.
Ready to start your Squarespace blog?
Starting a blog is exciting. But it can also be intimidating. With these easy-to-follow steps, you’ll be blogging in less than a day.
If you want to learn how to write blogs that rank on Google and reach your target audience, check out a free preview of my SEO blogging course.
