Squarespace SEO audit: the issues built into Squarespace — and how to fix them

Audit your XML sitemap and internal linking so that every product and category page is discoverable and crawlable by Google — not hidden behind JavaScript, pagination, or missing links.

1. 1Squarespace auto-generates a sitemap at yoursite.com/sitemap.xml and includes all published pages and products.
2. 2Pages panel: ensure all product pages and category pages (Folder or Index pages used as categories) are set to 'Public' (not Password Protected or Disabled).
3. 3Pages › Products page › Settings: confirm 'Enable' is checked and the page is not hidden from navigation.
4. 4Marketing › SEO: check 'Hide Page from Search Engines' is unchecked at the site level. Then for individual pages, open Page Settings › SEO and confirm 'Hide page from search engines' is off.
5. 5Connect Google Search Console via Marketing › Google Search Keywords or via the manual HTML verification in Settings › Advanced › Code Injection, then submit yoursite.com/sitemap.xml.
6. 6Add internal links to product collections from your homepage or navigation so Google follows them, not just the sitemap.

<!-- CORRECT: Standard crawlable link -->
<a href="/products/blue-running-shoes">Blue Running Shoes</a>

<!-- WRONG: JavaScript-only — Googlebot cannot follow this -->
<span onclick="navigate('/products/blue-running-shoes')">Blue Running Shoes</span>

Eliminate unexpected layout shifts by reserving space for every image, video, embed, and dynamically injected element so nothing jumps when the page loads.

1. 1Images: Squarespace's image blocks automatically generate width/height attributes in modern templates (7.1). If you are on a 7.0 template, migrate to a 7.1 template to get this benefit automatically.
2. 2Banners / announcement bars: In Pages → Not Linked → promotional pop-ups, or in the Announcement Bar settings, set position to 'bottom' or use a modal overlay style to avoid pushing page content down.
3. 3Custom code embeds: Go to any page → Edit → Add Block → Code, and wrap third-party scripts (reviews, chat, social) in a <div style='min-height:150px'> so space is reserved. Enter this in Settings → Advanced → Code Injection (site-wide).
4. 4Fonts: In Design → Fonts, choose from Squarespace's curated list; these are loaded with optimised settings. For custom fonts added via Code Injection → CSS, add font-display: swap; inside your @font-face rule in Settings → Advanced → Code Injection → CSS.
5. 5Header scripts: Any JavaScript injected via Settings → Advanced → Code Injection → Header that modifies layout should be deferred with defer or async attribute to prevent shifts during initial load.
6. 6Verify: Run PageSpeed Insights on your Squarespace domain; CLS should be < 0.1.

<!-- CORRECT: explicit width and height prevent layout shift -->
<img
  src="/images/product-red-sneaker.jpg"
  alt="Red canvas sneaker, side view"
  width="800"
  height="800"
  loading="lazy"
>

Reduce Interaction to Next Paint (INP) to under 200 ms by breaking up long JavaScript tasks, deferring non-critical third-party scripts, and lightening event handlers so the page feels fast and responsive after every tap or click.

1. 1Go to Settings → Advanced → Code Injection. Review any third-party `<script>` tags in the Header or Footer injection areas. Move scripts from Header to Footer, and add `defer` or `async` to reduce main-thread blocking during load.
2. 2Remove any unused third-party integrations (chat widgets, marketing tools) from Settings → Integrations or from Code Injection — these are common sources of long tasks.
3. 3Squarespace does not offer deep JavaScript customisation, so the primary levers are: (1) reducing the number of third-party scripts, (2) switching to lighter Squarespace-native blocks instead of embedded widgets, and (3) ensuring custom JavaScript added via Code Blocks uses `defer`.
4. 4Monitor INP via PageSpeed Insights and Google Search Console → Core Web Vitals. For significant INP problems, a migration to a more flexible platform (e.g., Shopify or a headless stack) may be required if Squarespace's first-party scripts are the bottleneck.

Reduce Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) to under 2.5 seconds by serving the hero image in a next-gen format (WebP/AVIF), preloading it, and eliminating render-blocking resources.

1. 1IDENTIFY LCP IMAGE: Run PageSpeed Insights on your Squarespace URL. LCP is almost always the banner/header image on your homepage.
2. 2WEBP: Squarespace automatically serves WebP to supporting browsers via its Imgix CDN — no manual conversion needed.
3. 3OPTIMISE SOURCE: Upload hero images at 2500px wide maximum and use JPEG at 85% quality before uploading. Squarespace resizes and converts automatically, but a smaller source = faster processing and delivery.
4. 4REDUCE BANNER SIZE: In Pages › your page › Banner › Edit, use a focal-point crop to reduce unnecessary image area. Shorter banners render faster.
5. 5INJECT PRELOAD (7.1 + Code Injection): Go to Settings › Advanced › Code Injection › Header. Paste: <link rel='preload' as='image' href='YOUR_HERO_IMAGE_URL' fetchpriority='high'>. Find your hero image URL by right-clicking the live image and copying the src.
6. 6DEFER JS: In Code Injection › Footer, move non-critical third-party scripts here. Add 'defer' attribute to any custom <script> tags you have injected.
7. 7REMOVE UNUSED PLUGINS/BLOCKS: Delete any Squarespace blocks or extensions you are not using — each can add render-blocking weight.
8. 8VERIFY: Re-run PageSpeed Insights after saving.

<!-- Squarespace: Code Injection › Header — preload LCP hero image -->
<link
  rel="preload"
  as="image"
  href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/YOUR_SITE_ID/YOUR_IMAGE_FILENAME.webp"
  fetchpriority="high"
>