AMP and Blogging with Squarespace: What You Need to Know
If you are currently blogging with Squarespace, you’re likely always on the hunt for ways you can optimize your site on all devices and get more views via search engines like Google.
As a Squarespace SEO expert, this is an easy win for my clients.
One lesser-known (but fantastic) option for optimizing your Squarespace website and blog on mobile devices is AMP, which stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages.
What AMP is and why it matters
Per Squarespace, AMP “creates lightweight versions of web pages to help them load faster on a mobile device, (and) works with Google to prioritize results in mobile searches.”
In simple terms, AMP helps your blog posts load faster and appear in a better layout on mobile devices, (as well as show up in thumbnails in Google searches to help you get more views.)
Loading speed is extremely important when it comes to blogging with Squarespace, especially when your blog posts are being discovered via search engines.
People looking for immediate information from blog posts aren’t going to spend much time waiting for your post to load before moving on to someone else’s – so loading time is very important.
In addition, if someone waiting for your blog post to load on their mobile device decides to stop waiting and clicks the back or exit button, this increases the “bounce rate” of your website – AKA the rate of people who visit one page of your website and then leave.
The higher the bounce rate of your website, the more your SEO (search engine optimization) is negatively impacted, meaning anything you can do to reduce the bounce rate on your website (including reducing loading times and ensuring your blog posts can be viewed neatly and easily on mobile devices) is a great investment of time into your website as a whole.
The effect of AMP on SEO doesn’t end here, though!
As mentioned before, Squarespace’s AMP enables your blog posts to appear on Google with thumbnail images and headlines, increasing the chances of being clicked on in the search results.
Lastly, AMP improves the overall appearance of your blog posts on mobile devices, making the following changes according to Squarespace’s info on AMP:
Page margins readjust.
All text displays in Muli font.
Supported blocks stack into a single column. This is standard for all Squarespace sites on mobile, even if AMP isn’t enabled.
CSS and other custom code won't display.
A Discover More link appears at the bottom of the post linking to your full site.
How to turn on AMP
If you’re convinced of the many ways AMP can benefit your Squarespace website and are ready to turn it on, don’t waste any time - do it today to start reaping the benefits as soon as possible while blogging with Squarespace.
Here’s a simple 3 step process for how you can turn on AMP for your own Squarespace website:
1. Click Settings
2. Click Blogging
3. Check off AMP
Yupp, it’s that easy!
I hope this post helps you in your journey blogging with Squarespace!
As a Squarespace website designer, I love helping my blog readers and clients alike improve their websites to grow their businesses.
If you are interested in my website design services, I want to hear from you! I encourage you to check out my services here and drop me a comment below if you have any questions. I can’t wait to build you the website of your dreams
Looking for more Squarespace SEO tips? Check out these blog posts: