Additions to the Ultimate Guide to SEO for the Site Editor in Square Online

Seamus — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 03:45:30 GMT

The Ultimate SEO Guide offers a wealth of information to help you improve your SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Most of the information in the guide is universal, but some of the instructions are specific to the classic site editor experience. The purpose of this post is to act as a supplement to the original guide, providing additional instructions for the Square Online site editor experience.

There are four main sections in the guide: Getting Started, Keyword Research, Growth, and Tracking. We’ve provided additional information for each section below.

To manage and build your website with the Square Online site editor, navigate to your online Square Dashboard > click Square Online > click Edit Website.

Getting Started

URL Optimization > How to Customize URLs in Square Online

For the full text, see the section on URL Optimization - Create the perfect URL for SEO.

Standard and Item Page URLs

To edit page URLs for each page on your site (including Story pages):

Go to your site editor and open up a page of your choice using the Page dropdown menu in the upper left.
Select the gear icon in the upper left and select View page settings.
In the General section of the popup window, you can change your page URL. If this area is greyed-out, that means the page URL cannot be edited.
Once complete, select Save.

Page name not greyed out.

Page name greyed out.

To edit item page URLs for each item in your library:

Go to your Square Online Overview page > Items > Site Items/Item Library.
Select an item from your list.
Scroll to the bottom to get to the Permalink field of the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) section (permalinks are the last part of page URLs).
Add your permalink and select Save when finished. Important: This information will sync to the item page of your site in the site editor. If you update it in the site editor, it will sync back to this area of your Square Online Overview page.

Title Tags/Meta Description > Optimizing Title Tags in Square Online/Customizing Meta Descriptions in Square Online

For the full text on Title Tags, see the section on Title Tags - The most important single on-page SEO factor. For the full text on Meta Descriptions, see the section on Meta Descriptions.

Standard and Item Page Titles & Descriptions

To edit SEO title tags and meta descriptions for each page on your site (including Story pages):

Go to your site editor and open up a page of your choice using the Page dropdown menu in the upper left.
Select the gear icon in the upper left and select View page settings.
In the SEO section of the popup window, you can update the page title and description.
Once complete, select Save.

To edit SEO title tags and meta descriptions for the entire site:

Go to your Square Online Overview page > Website > SEO & Social Media.
Under Search Engine Optimization (SEO), select Update SEO to update the title and description.
When finished, select Save. Important: This information will sync to the homepage of your site in the site editor. If you update it in the site editor, it will sync back to this area of your Square Online Overview page.

To edit item page SEO title tags and meta descriptions for each item in your library:

Go to your Square Online Overview page > Items > Site Items/Item Library.
Select an item from your list.
Scroll to the bottom to get to the SEO Title/Description fields of the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) section.
Select Save when finished. Important: This information will sync to the item page of your site in the site editor. If you update it in the site editor, it will sync back to this area of your Square Online Overview page.

Content > Headlines, Content > Theme

For the full text, see the section on Content - Understanding the basics - headlines, body and themes.

Headlines

In the Square Online site editor, the title option in any section will use H tags for you.

Themes

Themes are not currently supported by the Square Online site editor, although this is something we are working on. In the meantime, try out different header layouts and site design options to achieve different looks.

To change the overall look and style of your site, particularly colours, fonts, and button styles, start by pulling up the Site Design panel found in the bottom left corner of your site editor.

To view Advanced options, select the icon on the top right corner of Colours or Fonts.

Image SEO > Image Alt Tag, Image SEO > Image Captions

For the full text see the section on Image SEO - How to optimize images for SEO results.

Image Alt Tag

Click on a section and then click on the image. On the left you will see options for the image, including a text field to enter ALT text.

Image Captions

Follow the same steps to add alt text, and then click on the checkbox the caption option to display a field to add caption text and options on how you want to position the caption.

To read more about adding images to your site, see the Adding Pictures to a Site article.

Mobile SEO

For the full text, see the section on Mobile SEO - Understand your mobile SEO capabilities..

Mobile SEO Matters

For instructions on previewing your site for desktop and mobile, see the Preview and Publish Your Site article in our Support Centre.

Robots.txt

For the full text, see the section on Robots Exclusion Standard - Controlling search engine crawlers with Robots.txt and meta tags.

Using Robots.txt

To hide a page from search engines:

Go to your site editor and open up a page of your choice using the Page dropdown menu in the upper left.
Select the gear icon in the upper left and select View page settings.
In the SEO section of the popup window, change the Search visibility option to Hidden from search engine results.
Once complete, select Save.

To hide your entire site from search engines:

Go to your Square Online Overview page > Website > SEO & Social Media.
Under Search Engine Optimization (SEO), select Update SEO to update the title and description.
In the SEO section of the popup window, change the Search visibility option to Hidden from search engine results.
Once complete, select Save. Important: This information will sync to the homepage of your site in the site editor. If you update it in the site editor, it will sync back to this area of your Square Online Overview page.

Robots Meta Tags

It is not currently possible to add meta tags to individual pages at this time; however, you can add a meta tag to the entire site (which will apply it to every page on your site) by following the directions below:

Go to your Square Online Overview page > Website > Integrations.
Select +Add new code near the bottom of the page.
In the popup window, enter in the code's name and the code itself into the corresponding fields.
To place the code in the header, select head, or to place the code in the footer, select End of body.
When finished, select Save. Important: There's no reason to use these fields unless you've been instructed to do so, so it's perfectly fine to leave them blank. Please do not use them for keywords or generic text, as it could have an adverse effect on your site.

Canonical Tags

For the full text, see the section on Canonical Tags - Protecting your site from duplicate content issues.

Since there is no Header Code section for individual pages, it is not possible to add canonical tags for individual pages at this time. This tag should not be necessary unless you have multiple pages with identical content.

Redirects

For the full text, see the section on SEO Redirects - Understanding the 301 Redirect and How it Impacts Your SEO.

To redirect a page:

Go to your site editor and open up a page of your choice using the Page dropdown menu in the upper left.
Select the gear icon in the upper left and select View page settings.
In the General section of the popup window, toggle Redirect other URLs to this page on.
Enter your redirect, then select Save.

You can read more about this in the How to 301 Redirect an Old Page to a New Page article.

Search Console

For the full text, see the section on Google Search Console - Formerly Webmaster Tools, Google Search Console is a Must for SEO.

Verifying Your Website with Google Search Console

Please see our article Verify Your Site with Search Engines for instructions on how to verify your site with Google’s Search Console.

Keyword Research

Read the guide for information about keyword research strategy and keyword research tools.

Google Analytics

For the full text, see the section on Google Analytics - Everything You Need to Understand SEO Performance.

Once you have signed up for Google Analytics and have your analytics ID:

Go to your Square Online Overview page > Website > Integrations.
Enter in the code for Google Analytics.

Growth

Local Search > Reviews

The Square Online site editor does not currently support apps from the App Centre; however, you can often add additional functionality to your site by using the Embed Code section.

International SEO > The Path to International SEO Success

At this time it is not possible to add <link> tags to sites created in the Square Online site editor.

Tracking

Tracking Tools > Square Online SEO Tracking and Performance Apps

Since the App Centre is not currently supported by the Square Online site editor, it is not possible to add tracking and performance apps to your site right now. However, you can add other tracking tools to your site if they provide tracking code that you can add to the header code field of your site. Check out the Add Custom Tracking Code article for instructions to add additional scripts to your site.

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