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Hello hello and welcome back to another highly requested post/tutorial all about custom code and Squarespace SEO!

In case you missed it, please check out part 1 in this series: 3 ways to add custom code to your Squarespace website. That post/tutorial will give you an introduction into custom code, what options you have and how it works if you want to insert that code at various parts of your site.

Super important to first understand the basics!

Which brings us to today’s topic, where I answer the question “does adding custom code to your Squarespace website have any impact on SEO?”

AKA if I add custom code to my Squarespace website, will there be any impact on SEO?

The answer is YES, there can be an impact on SEO. But in most cases, you’re probably fine haha.

I’m going to explain why this is and what to do if you want to clean up your custom code for better Squarespace SEO results.

As a Squarespace SEO expert and leader in this super random little niche, it’s my job/pleasure to introduce you to things like this and present it in a way that makes you think, yes Charlotte I can handle this!

This is the kind of insider info that I share with my Squarespace SEO consulting clients and students in my online course, Top Squarespace SEO. But since I’m not one for secrets and truly want the best for anyone with a website, I’m giving you the summarized goods here - totally for free!

Read the blog post or watch the video tutorial below - get ready to learn how if & how using custom code on your Squarespace website means that there’s any impact on SEO.

Some of you reading this might be totally new to Squarespace SEO and are looking for an introduction to this topic, someone to hold your hand and show you it’s not actually that scary. On the flip side, you might already be familiar with a few points on this list already but maybe you are looking for confirmation that you’re on the right track and haven’t missed anything important. No matter where you are in your Squarespace SEO journey, I know you’ll benefit from this info!

Alright, let’s get straight to it - read the post and watch the video tutorial below to understand what custom code means for Squarespace SEO!

Related:

SQUARESPACE SEO SERIES

I have so many tips to share on the subject that it would have been crazy to put it all in one article! There are many misconceptions about Squarespace SEO which is why I've dedicate so many posts to this topic. Enjoy!

Click to view all posts in the Squarespace SEO Series

Visit my Squarespace SEO page for lots more resources.

Does adding custom code to your Squarespace website impact SEO?

It’s all about Page load speed

The reason why we care about custom code on our Squarespace websites is because it can have an effect on something called page load speed.

Page load speed is basically how long it takes for your website to properly display or render. The quicker the better - obviously from a user experience point of view, but also because it signals to Google and other search engines that your site isn’t lagging and giving site visitors any problems access the site content (page, post, product, etc.).

Page load speed matters for SEO because in Google’s eyes, if your page is slow to load then it’s a signal that your site isn’t the best piece of online content to return to someone doing an online search… and as such, they won’t return you at the top of rankings for online searches.

This is why we care about page load speed, because the faster our sites load then the better it signals for SEO!

When it comes to custom code on our Squarespace website, this is our biggest concern!

The more custom code you have and the crazier/messier it is, the more chance it has to affect page load speed and therefore negatively impact SEO and how your site ranks.

Will custom code actually mess up page load speed and ruin your site’s SEO?

LOL I love this question :)

In most cases, when you’re using custom code on a normal sized Squarespace website, you’ll be fine. Odds are you won’t be using an insane amount of custom code for this to really be a problem.

But of course, there are always exceptions so it’s really important to actually take a look at the custom code you’ve got!

I’m going to show you how to see what kind of custom code you’re using on your Squarespace website and how you can improve, edit or remove it for better SEO results!

Review site wide code injection

Reminder: I cover site wide code injections in greater detail in my blog post about 3 ways to add custom code to your Squarespace website so check that out to learn more/see how to access it!

Log into the back end of your Squarespace website and from the main dashboard, go to Settings > Advanced > Code Injections.

You’re going to review the custom code that you’ve added to this section, keeping in mind that it’s site-wide code. Take stock of what’s there and whether or not you can delete any old/redundant code, or if you can clean up the existing code that you still want to keep.

Review code injections on specific pages

Reminder: I cover page-specific code injections in greater detail in my blog post about 3 ways to add custom code to your Squarespace website so check that out to learn more/see how to access it!

Log into the back end of your Squarespace website and from the main dashboard, go to Pages > select your page > open the page settings > Advanced tab > review the code that you’ve added to the page header code injection field.

If the page itself is no longer necessary, you can delete it entirely.

If you still want to keep the page but no longer need the custom code, remove it from the page header code injection field.

If you still want to keep the page but can clean up/optimize the custom code, do that!

Review custom code added to a page/post/etc.

Reminder: I cover code blocks in greater detail in my blog post about 3 ways to add custom code to your Squarespace website so check that out to learn more/see how to access it!

In this step, you’re taking note of all the instances where you’ve inserted a code block / embed block / markdown block onto a page/post/etc. of your Squarespace website.

If you no longer need that code block, you should remove it.

If you still need that code block, review it and see if you can clean it up or optimize it so that it helps the page to load faster.

Test how custom code affects page load speed

If you want to test out how custom code affects page load speed, you can always try temporarily removing the code from the page/post and seeing if there’s any change.

To do this, first copy the custom code and then paste & save it into a text editor or document. Once you’ve saved the custom code externally, then you can safely remove the custom code from your Squarespace website, run the site load test and see if there’s any change.

Simply re-add or re-insert the custom code if you want it back on that particular Squarespace web page or blog post!

Final Thoughts

And there you have it, a nice & easy answer to your burning questions about custom code and Squarespace SEO!

Not so scary, is it?

Personally I love how simple it is to use custom code on Squarespace websites, but of course you need to understand the code and how you’re using it BEFORE you start adding it to your site without a care in the world.

You must understand the code you’re using so that you can go back and review it, update it or remove it entirely if Squarespace SEO is a concern.

But again, to offer reassurance, in most cases it’s fine to use or insert a bit of custom code on your Squarespace website without seeing any negative effects on SEO. Unless your site is massive or the code is absolutely huge and repetitive, odds are you’ll be ok!

There’s a lot to consider with Squarespace SEO and I totally understand that it’s a daunting subject when you’re first starting out, which is why I’m thrilled to help you out with this blog post/video tutorial all custom code, Squarespace websites and how it affects SEO.

Whether you’re just starting out with a brand new website and want to make sure that you’re setting it up correctly, or if you’ve had a site live for a while and now want to grow it to make more of an impact, SEO will get you where you want to go! From web pages to blog posts to product descriptions, these factors should be considered across your Squarespace website if you want best results.

Now it's your turn to tell me, do you have any custom code on your Squarespace website? Are you concerned about how that custom code affects SEO? Have you ever had to remove custom code from your site because it was slowing down load speed?

Leave me your questions down in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer them. As people are spending more time online than ever before, it’s SO important that your website shows up properly in search results so that you can reach your ideal audience online - but you can’t do this without SEO!

If you want more SEO goodness, be sure to check out my Squarespace SEO page for all resources on the topic.

My signature online course, Top Squarespace SEO, will be opening for enrollment again soon - sign up for the TSS waiting list here!

You can also sign up for my newsletter (right here or below), where I often share Squarespace SEO tips, tricks and high-quality exclusive content. I send out emails to my list every Wednesday, mostly focused on Squarespace websites and SEO, and I can guarantee that you’ll find the newsletter topics interesting, entertaining and worth your time. #humblebrag

Finally, shameless plug: hit me up with any specific questions you have about Squarespace SEO and your website because I’m your girl. You can reach out to me directly if you’re interested in working together on your website and we can talk about whether or not you would be a good fit for my consulting and ongoing services. I can’t take on every request to do Squarespace SEO consulting but I do pick a few websites and businesses to work with every month and I’d love for you to be one of them.