Worried about your website’s SEO & AIO? Here’s what Squarespace handles for you
If you’ve ever Googled “how to improve SEO” and immediately regretted it, you’re not alone.
There’s a lot of jargon out there: Crawlers? Indexing?! Schema?!! Structured data?!!! AI optimisation?!!! It’s enough to make you want to quietly close the tab and pretend visibility on Google is someone else’s problem.
If you’re anything like most of the small business owners I work with, you don’t want to “learn SEO” – you want:
a website that works
to show up when someone searches
to look professional
things to function properly in the background
to not touch any code.
If your website is built on Squarespace, here’s the reassuring part: a lot of the technical SEO and AI optimisation foundations are already taken care of for you. That doesn’t mean you can ignore SEO or AIO (sorry), but it does mean you’re not starting from scratch.
First, some quick definitions: What is SEO and AIO?
Before we talk about what Squarespace does, here’s a quick refresher.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is about helping search engines like Google understand what your website is about so they can show it to the right people.
AIO (AI Optimisation) is about helping AI-powered search tools understand and reference your content clearly. Things like AI summaries, voice search, and chat-based search results — the new way people are finding information. You don’t need to “do AI”, you just need your website to be clear and well structured.
Lucky for you, Squarespace quietly does a lot of work behind the scenes for SEO and AIO.
What Squarespace handles behind the scenes
When your site is built properly on Squarespace, a lot of the technical infrastructure is already in place.
Here’s what you’re automatically covered for.
1. Clean, structured code
You don’t see this part, but search engines do.
Squarespace generates clean HTML code with proper heading structure and logical page hierarchy. This helps search engines understand:
What your main topic is
What sections support it
How content is organised
You don’t need to touch code. Squarespace handles the formatting framework in the background.
How can you help? Make sure you use headings in the right order – start with a Heading 1 at the top of the page, then for each section of content, start with a Heading 2. If necessary, use Heading 3 and 4 (in sequential order) too.
2. Mobile responsiveness
Google prioritises mobile-first indexing, which means your mobile site matters more than your desktop version.
For the most part, Squarespace websites are automatically responsive, meaning:
Your site adjusts to phones and tablets
Text resizes properly
Layout adapts to screen size
You don’t have to build a separate mobile site as it’s already built in.
How can you help? While the overall website structure is automatically responsive, you’ll still need to review your content in the mobile editor to make sure blocks are sized how you want and there’s no extra space between elements.
3. SSL security (the little padlock 🔒 next to your website address)
If you’ve ever seen “Not Secure” in a browser bar, that’s an SSL issue.
Squarespace includes a free SSL certificate for every site. That means:
Your website runs on HTTPS (the S here is for “Secure”)
Visitors see the secure padlock
Search engines trust your site more
Security is a ranking factor. You’re covered.
How can you help? If you don’t see the padlock, learn more about SSL certificates and troubleshoot any issues.
4. Automatic XML sitemap
This sounds complicated, but I promise it’s not! An XML sitemap is simply a list of all your pages that search engines use to understand your site structure.
Squarespace automatically generates and updates this sitemap for you. You don’t need to create or upload anything manually.
How can you help? Well, there’s actually not much you can do here! The one thing I recommend for new websites is to submit your sitemap on Google Search Console. While Google will eventually find it, this will speed up the process.
5. Clean URL structure
Squarespace automatically creates logical URLs like:
yourwebsite.com/services
yourwebsite.com/blog/post-title
Clean URLs:
help search engines understand page topics
improve click-through rates
look professional.
No technical setup is required.
How can you help? While Squarespace takes care of the technical side, you’ll still need to create your URLs. Ensure URLs are clear and descriptive, words are separated by hyphens (/work-with-us, rather than /workwithus), and they actually describe the page (especially if you’ve duplicated a page).
6. Built-in image optimisation
Large images can slow websites down, and slow sites generally rank lower.
Squarespace:
compresses images automatically
serves responsive image sizes
uses modern formats when possible.
This helps improve load speed without you needing to install extra plugins.
How can you help? While Squarespace does compress images for various screen sizes, you still need to upload sensible file sizes (please don’t upload a 10MB image. Background image? You probably don’t need any wider than 2000 or 2500px. Smaller images on the page? You can probably get away with 1500 or 1000px wide while maintaining image quality.
7. Hosting and speed are built in
This is the unglamorous but important part.
Squarespace includes:
secure hosting
global content delivery
automatic updates
server maintenance.
You don’t need separate hosting, performance plugins, or to update software manually (lookin’ at you, Wordpress).
How can you help? Nothing to do here – it’s all sorted.
8. Basic structured data (schema)
Structured data (also called schema) helps search engines understand what type of content they’re looking at, like a blog post, product, event, or business.
Squarespace automatically includes standard structured data for:
pages
blog posts
products
events
You don’t need to write code to make that happen.
How can you help? If you include FAQs on your website, you can also create and include an FAQ schema on the page, as Squarespace does not create these. This is done by adding some code to the page – your visitors won’t see it, but search engines do. If you work with me, I can help with this!
9. Social sharing metadata
When someone shares your site on social media, the preview (image + title + description) matters.
Squarespace automatically includes metadata, which controls how your links appear when shared on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn.
You can customise it easily — but the framework is already there.
How can you help? Add a social sharing image to your site, add separate social sharing images to each page (if necessary), and include page titles and descriptions in page settings.
What Squarespace does NOT do for you
This is the part that matters. While Squarespace handles the technical base, it does not handle:
your messaging
your positioning
your keywords
your clarity
your local signals
your authority.
It won’t automatically explain what you do in a way that Google understands. It’s not going to rewrite vague headlines or add location context if you never mention where you work. That’s the strategy part that.
How can you help? I strongly recommend working with a copywriter to get your content foundation sorted. Lucky for you, I work with some kickarse copywriters, so we can get it all sorted in the one project alongside your website.
So what actually improves SEO & AIO on Squarespace?
Since Squarespace handles the technical base, your job (or mine, if we’re working together) is to focus on:
1. Clear headings
AI and search engines love clarity. Every page should clearly state:
who it’s for
what you offer
where you’re located
No clever-but-confusing headlines. Use one main heading per page and logical subheadings underneath. This helps both humans and AI tools scan and understand your content quickly.
2. Plain language explanations
AI tools prioritise helpful content. If your services are explained simply and thoroughly, you’re more likely to be referenced.
Put it this way: if a 12-year-old couldn’t roughly understand what you do from your homepage, it’s probably too vague.
3. Location info
If you serve a specific area, it needs to be clearly stated in natural language.
Search engines can’t guess where you operate.
4. Internal links
Linking between related pages helps search engines understand:
topic clusters (aka content that’s related)
service relationships
site hierarchy
Squarespace makes linking easy, but it’s up to us to use it strategically.
5. Consistent, helpful content
Regular blog posts, FAQs, and service breakdowns demonstrate expertise and depth.
AI tools are more likely to reference businesses that thoroughly explain their expertise.
The lingering myth: “Squarespace is bad for SEO”
This may have been true a decade ago, but it isn’t anymore. Modern Squarespace sites are technically sound, secure, fast and structured correctly.
If a Squarespace site isn’t ranking, it’s almost always a strategy issue, not a platform issue.
If your site isn’t ranking, it’s likely because:
your messaging is unclear
your services aren’t explained properly
there’s no depth of content
there’s no location information
there’s no internal linking.
Not because of the platform. Need a hand with the above? I can help.
The bottom line
So now you know that Squarespace takes care of:
technical structure
mobile responsiveness
security
hosting
speed infrastructure
basic schema
sitemaps.
Your job (or mine, if we’re working together) is to make sure the messaging is clear, strategic, and structured in a way that both people and search systems understand instantly.
Good SEO and AIO on Squarespace isn’t about hacks, it’s about clarity. When your website makes sense at a glance (to humans first!) the algorithms tend to follow.
And that’s always the goal at Willful Studio: not chasing trends, but building websites that are intentional, strategic, and built to be found.
