A Beginner-Friendly Guide for WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, and Shopify

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Why Website SEO Still Matters

If you’ve ever Googled your business name and didn’t show up or worse, found your competitors instead you already know why SEO matters.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of helping your website appear higher in Google search results when people are looking for what you offer. Whether you sell products, book appointments, or share information, SEO helps people find you when it matters most.

And with AI-driven search (like Google SGE and ChatGPT) pulling content straight from the web, it’s no longer just about keywords. Your site needs to be structured for clarity, performance, and visibility across search surfaces.

Need help optimizing your site?
Contact Rakos Media

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The 5 Essentials of Modern SEO

Before we break it down by platform, here are the five SEO basics you need on any website:

1. Technical Setup
   • Mobile-friendly design
   • Secure SSL (HTTPS)
   • Fast load speeds (under 3 seconds)
   • Clean URLs and image compression
2. On-Page SEO
   • Unique page titles and meta descriptions

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How To Do SEO for Website

With step-by-step instructions for WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, and Shopify
Citations included. No em dashes. Every section includes a clear call to action.

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What Is SEO and Why Does It Matter?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It's the practice of making your website easier to find on Google, Bing, and even tools like ChatGPT and Bing Copilot.

If your site isn’t showing up in search results, people can’t find your products, services, or offers. That means missed traffic, missed leads, and missed revenue.

Effective SEO helps you:

• Rank higher in search results
• Attract people actively searching for what you offer
• Get long-term traffic without paying for ads

Need help making your site visible?
Contact Rakos Media

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The 5 Core Parts of Website SEO

Before diving into platform-specific instructions, here are the five pillars of solid SEO:

1. Technical SEO
   Your site should load quickly, work on mobile, and use HTTPS. Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights to check your score.
2. On-Page SEO
   Each page should have a unique title, meta description, and headings. Keywords should be natural and useful to your audience.
3. Content
   Google ranks helpful content. That includes blogs, FAQs, how-tos, and service pages that clearly answer real questions.
4. Schema Markup
   Schema helps Google understand what your site is about. It powers rich results like stars, FAQs, and local business info. Learn more here.
5. Backlinks
   These are links from other websites to yours. Think of them as digital word-of-mouth.

Need help building the right foundation?
Contact Rakos Media

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How To Do SEO on WordPress (Using Rank Math)

WordPress gives you full control over SEO, especially when you use a plugin like Rank Math. Here's how to get started:

Step-by-Step:

1. Install Rank Math from the plugin directory
2. Follow the setup wizard to:
   • Connect your site to Google Search Console
   • Set up schema defaults (LocalBusiness, Article, Product)
   • Choose what content should be indexed
3. On every page or blog post:
   • Write a custom title and meta description
   • Use your main keyword in the first paragraph, URL, and an H2 tag
   • Add FAQ schema using the Rank Math block
4. Use the Content AI feature (inside Rank Math Pro) to see keyword recommendations
5. Submit your XML sitemap to Google Search Console

Need help optimizing WordPress SEO the right way?
Contact Rakos Media

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How To Do SEO on Squarespace

Squarespace has built-in SEO settings, but they’re a little hidden. Here’s what you need to do:

Step-by-Step:

1. Go to Marketing > SEO to add site-wide metadata
2. For each page:
   • Click the gear icon and add a page title and description
   • Enable "Hide Page from Search Engines" only if you want it removed
3. Use headings properly (only one H1 per page)
4. Write image alt text when uploading media
5. Connect your site to Google Search Console via the Verification Code method

Reference: Squarespace SEO Guide

Need help making Squarespace more search-friendly?
Contact Rakos Media

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How To Do SEO on Wix

Wix has improved dramatically in recent years and now offers solid SEO features. Here's how to take advantage of them:

Step-by-Step:

1. Use the Wix SEO Setup Checklist found in the dashboard
2. For each page:
   • Click on the page > SEO Basics > Add custom title and description
   • Enable “Let search engines index this page”
3. Use Wix’s SEO Patterns to edit multiple pages at once (great for ecommerce)
4. Optimize images with alt text
5. Submit your sitemap through Wix’s SEO Tools

Need help getting your Wix site to rank higher?
Contact Rakos Media

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How To Do SEO on Shopify

Shopify is built for ecommerce, but many store owners miss key SEO steps. Here’s what to focus on:

Step-by-Step:

1. For every product and page:
   • Scroll to “Search engine listing preview”
   • Add a custom title and meta description with relevant keywords
2. Rename image files before uploading and add descriptive alt text
3. Use keywords in product descriptions, headers, and collection pages
4. Remove default pages like “/collections/all” if they don’t serve a purpose
5. Add the JSON-LD for SEO app or use Shopify’s native schema setup

Reference: Shopify SEO Help Center

Want help driving more organic traffic to your store?
Contact Rakos Media

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Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid on Any Platform

• Using the same title tag on every page
• Ignoring mobile speed
• Not updating old content
• Forgetting to submit your sitemap
• Skipping structured data

The best SEO is not just technical — it's strategic. Your site should help people quickly understand who you are, what you do, and why they should trust you.

Avoid costly mistakes. Let’s do it right.
Contact Rakos Media

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Final Tip: SEO Is Not One-and-Done

SEO is ongoing. Search engines change. Your competitors evolve. New features roll out.
What works today could be outdated next quarter.

If you want real results, you need to treat SEO like a living, breathing part of your digital strategy — not a one-time task.

Rakos Media is here to guide, build, and optimize your visibility every step of the way.

📞 Still not sure where to start?
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