You've added the Buddy embed to your Squarespace site (if not, start here first). Now let's make sure your site is optimized to actually get found.
This guide walks through the site-wide Squarespace settings that affect how your site appears in Google search results, on iMessage previews, and when customers share your booking page on social. Most of these are 2-minute settings — but if any are missing, every page on your site is leaving bookings on the table.
Time: ~30 minutes total.
What we'll cover
Favicon — the icon in the browser tab
Social Links — clickable social icons across your site
Social Sharing Image — the preview image when your site is shared
SEO Appearance — your title and description in Google search results
Site Title & Tagline — used across the site and in some social previews
Per-page SEO settings — title and description for each individual page
Google Business Profile — see our dedicated guide
1. Favicon (browser tab icon)
Settings → Website → Favicon
The little icon that shows up in browser tabs and bookmarks. Without one, your site shows a generic Squarespace icon — which makes you look unverified.
To set:
Click Replace under the current default favicon
Upload a PNG between 100×100px and 300×300px
📸 [Screenshot: Squarespace Settings → Website → Favicon screen with REPLACE/EDIT options]
💡 Use a simplified mark or icon — NOT your full logo wordmark. It won't render at 16px in a browser tab.
2. Social Links
Settings → Website → Social Links
Adds clickable social icons to your site (footer, header, share buttons).
To set:
Click Add a social link or email
Add your Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok URLs
Make sure each is set to Visible
📸 [Screenshot: Squarespace Settings → Website → Social Links screen]
💡 If you keep your handles consistent (e.g., @yourshopname everywhere), customers searching for you on any one platform will more easily find your other channels too.
3. Social Sharing Image (link previews)
Settings → Website → Social Sharing
This image shows up when ANY page on your site is shared on iMessage, Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, etc. Without it, links share with no preview — a huge missed opportunity for what is essentially free marketing.
To set:
Click Replace (or upload if blank)
Upload a 1200×630px branded image — your boat, an underwater shot, your team, your logo over a hero scene
📸 [Screenshot: Squarespace Settings → Website → Social Sharing screen]
💡 Test it after saving: paste your homepage URL into opengraph.xyz to confirm the preview renders correctly.
4. SEO Appearance (homepage search title + description)
Settings → Marketing → SEO Appearance
This is what Google shows when your business appears in search results. Critical for ranking on local searches like "scuba [your city]" or "dive shop [your city]."
To set:
Click SEO Appearance → click into the Home tab
SEO Title Format:
%s(this auto-pulls your site title)SEO Site Description: A 50–300 character summary of who you are, where you're located, and what you offer.
Example:
Diving [Your City] since [Year]. Daily charters, PADI courses from Open Water through Divemaster, dive travel, and the area's best wrecks and reefs. Book online with [Your Business Name].
📸 [Screenshot: Squarespace Settings → Marketing → SEO Appearance modal]
Hit Save.
5. Site Title & Description
Settings → Brand → Site Title & Description
Sets your site's name and tagline used in browser tabs, footer, and some social previews.
Example:
Site Title:
[Your Business Name]Site Tagline:
Diving [Your City] since [Year]
6. Per-page SEO settings
Pages → hover over any page → ⚙️ gear icon → SEO tab
Most operators set the homepage SEO (Step 4) but forget that every page has its own SEO title and description. Each one needs to be customized or Google will use generic fallbacks.
For each major page (Home, Tours, Courses, Trips, About, Contact):
SEO Title: Page-specific title — e.g., "Scuba Tours in [City] | [Business Name]"
SEO Description: Page-specific summary — e.g., "Daily 2-tank scuba charters in [City]. Reefs, wrecks, and small-group trips. Book online."
📸 [Screenshot: Squarespace Pages → ⚙️ → SEO tab]
💡 The SEO Title shows in Google as the clickable blue link. The SEO Description shows as the gray text underneath. Both should include your location and what you offer.
You can also upload a page-specific Social Image under the same panel — useful if you want a tour page to share differently than a course page on social.
7. Google Business Profile (highest-ROI move)
Not a Squarespace setting, but the #1 thing for ranking on local search like "scuba [your city]" or "dive shop near me." See our dedicated guide → Set Up Your Google Business Profile.
✅ Done? Quick test
Once all six are saved:
Open your site in a browser — favicon shows in the tab? ✅
Paste your homepage URL into opengraph.xyz — preview shows your branded image + title + description? ✅
Search
site:yoursite.comon Google — results show the new SEO description? (can take a few days to update) ✅
Want help with this?
Email [email protected] and let us know you'd like help — we'll walk you through how to add us as contributors on your Squarespace site so we can take it over from there. Pages we add stay Not Linked until you review and publish.
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