SEO Linking and Sitemap

Hi There,

I watched a very informative Squarespace SEO Masterclass video from Dec, but I still have a few questions. I'm hoping someone can help, see below:

Outbound Linking

This was not recommended in the video I watched. I am concerned because I currently have 8 outbound links on one page (my art page for example), yet they are all leading to the same outside business, Manifold.

I could alway embed a widget from Manifold to allow for bidding/purchasing directly on my site, but this is not the road I want to go down. I prefer to go a different route that is also fiat friendly so there's an easy web3 onramp for people in the near future.

That said, does having multiple outbound links, even it all leads to the same outside business, harm my SEO ranking?

I'm curious, how do bloggers/influencers doing affiliate sales retain their SEO ranking, regardless of their outbound linking to various online shops?

Curated Page

I embedded a widget on m y website so I can easily feature some of my favorite art from other artists. That said, this also links back to Manifold. Is this is an issue for SEO ranking?

I was planning on embedding an additional widget from another art marketplace so there would be more on offer from a curation perspective. This would likely be put onto a separate page, and not included in the same Manifold curation page. 

Before I do this, I just want to make sure that it doesn't hurt SEO rankings.

Sitemap

I would like my website to take up more digital real estate on Google search for example and extend down. How can I get my site to populate like the two examples I've attached below? My site is still very small, I want to ensure I build it out effectively.

I've also attached a screenshot showing how my website appears when you do a Google search.

Many Thanks,

Tina

Outbound Linking / Curated Page

Outbound links are not necessarily a bad thing, they're best when you link to multiple reputable sources, but never necessarily bad unless you are linking to bad content with bad text descriptions. 
I certainly wouldn't be removing all outbound links for SEO if that has a negative impact on your website's usability, user experience is always going to be the most important thing.

Sitemap

Have you set your website up on Google Search Console? and added your website's XML sitemap? That can be very useful, but generally speaking you don't have much control over how Google displays your website in their search results (you can request to remove links or use paid search to place your links in search). 

https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/206543547-Your-site-map

Hi Ziggy,

Thanks for your reply. It's super helpful to learn that I can still use outbound links as long as the site I'm linking back to is reputable.

Sitemap

I set up my website on Google Search Console. I am unsure if I added my website's XML sitemap. 

What I have been doing is indexing each page...

I will look through the link you shared and see if I have any other questions. 

Another thing I've noticed is that Google Search Console doesn't appear to like HTML pages. For example, my Curated page on my website is a widget that I used from Manifold. I received an error message for this page from Google Search Console, not sure if you've encountered this issue before?

Many Thanks

Tina

7 hours ago, tinareith said:

Another thing I've noticed is that Google Search Console doesn't appear to like HTML pages.

Sadly embedded content is not great for SEO, not much you can do to change that sadly.

This is where you add the sitemap:

Here's a guide:

https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/206543547-Your-site-map

but basically you take your primary domain, and add /sitemap.xml and submit it where shown.

Hi Ziggy,

Happy Friday! I reviewed the links you shared, thank you! When I indexed my home page and the other pages, I did not include the /sitemap.xml at the end of the url for each on Google Search Console. Is this something that I need to add for all pages I indexed on Google Search Console? I've attached a screenshot for your  example, is this something I need to add at the end of my url?

Embedded Pages (Curated)

When I do a google search, I see my Curated Page appear next to the other pages I indexed, which is good (see attached screenshot). Is there another work around to easily add a lot of images, without having to upload each image one by one?

Many Thanks

Tina