How to Increase Website Traffic Organically: A Simple Guide to SEO & Visibility

A non-techy guide to Squarespace SEO for health & wellness coaches and practitioners who want to set up their site, drive traffic, and get found on Google.

How to Increase Website Traffic Organically: A Non-Techy SEO Guide

Back in 2014, I tried to build a website for my health coaching business- and absolutely no idea what I was doing. I fiddled with it for months, and it never went live. Eventually I walked away from the whole business because I couldn't figure out the online piece.

So when I tell you SEO doesn't have to be techy, I mean it in the most literal way possible. I was the woman who couldn't get her website off the ground. I was in your shoes, the least techy wellness entrepreneur out ther, and now I do this for a living. I see you, I know where you’re at, I’m here to make this simple.

Most health and wellness websites don't show up on Google, and it's rarely a design problem. Nearly all web pages- 96.55%, according to a large-scale Ahrefs analysis — get zero organic search traffic, and the gap usually comes down to a handful of fixable things: how the site is set up, what words are actually on it, and whether anything is being done consistently to earn Google's attention.

If you learn only one thing in this post, make it this:

Your website needs exactly two things to actually book clients: 1.traffic and 2. conversions. This post is about the first one. Without people finding your site, there's nothing to convert, so consider this your foundation, with the conversion piece waiting for you in a different post.

SEO, or search engine optimization, is simply how you get found on Google by the right clients. It isn't code, and it isn't some personality trait certain people are born with - it's just a strategy. It’s simply the strategy of how to get more clicks from search engines. By the end of this guide, you'll understand what SEO actually is, how to set it up on Squarespace, how to find the right keywords for your specific niche, and what it actually takes to drive consistent traffic, all without becoming a tech person to do it.

Table of Contents

1. What Is SEO?

2. SEO 101: The Basics Every Health & Wellness Coach or Practitioner Needs to Know

3. Keyword Research 101 for Health & Wellness Brands

4. How to Set Up SEO on Your Squarespace Website

5. Website Templates and SEO: What You Need to Know

6. How to Drive Organic Traffic to Your Website

7. Using Pinterest as an SEO and Traffic Tool

8. Launch + Visibility Strategy for a New or Refreshed Website

9. Tracking What's Working: Understanding Your Traffic Data

10. How Long Does SEO Take, and What's Realistic to Expect?

11. FAQs

What Is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimization, which is really just the practice of shaping your website so Google understands what it's about and shows it to the right people searching for it. That's the whole concept, even though it tends to get dressed up as something far more complicated than it is.

Here's the reframe I want you to consider: SEO isn't a technical skill you're missing. It's much closer to a communication skill you already have. It’s just a matter of understanding what your ideal clients are searching for and making sure your website content matches that. And there are a few specific strategies that you can use to help you get there.

A few terms are worth knowing upfront, since you'll see them throughout this guide. Organic traffic is free visitors who find you through search results. Paid traffic is visitors from ads you're paying for. Referral traffic is visitors coming from social media, other websites, or Pinterest. This guide focuses specifically on organic traffic, because unlike an ad that stops working the moment you turn it off, a well-optimized page can keep working for you for years.

A couple of myths are worth clearing up while we're here, too. SEO is not a one-time setup you check off a list; it's ongoing, the same way client relationships are ongoing. And SEO is not a coding project. It's strategic marketing, the same category of skill as everything else you've already learned to run this business.

Every strategy in this post falls into one of three buckets: technical setup (the behind-the-scenes settings), on-page content (the words on your site), and visibility (how you drive traffic to it). Keep that framework in mind as you read, because it's the skeleton for everything below.

SEO 101: The Basics Every Health & Wellness Coach or Practitioner Needs to Know

Whether you're a health coach, wellness coach, nutritionist, therapist, or holistic practitioner, the fundamentals here are the same. A few concepts are worth understanding before you touch your website at all.

Keywords are simply the words and phrases your ideal client types into Google, and the trick is thinking in client language rather than industry language. "How to stop stress eating" will more likely outperform "cortisol regulation modalities", because nobody is Googling the clinical term for their problem at 11pm. They're Googling the problem itself.

Search intent matters more than search volume. Someone searching "why am I so tired all the time" is early-stage and just learning what their problem is. Someone searching "health coach for hormone balance near me" is solutions-focused and ready to book. Both searches matter, but they call for different kinds of content, and confusing the two is one of the most common mistakes I see.

On-page SEO is everything you control directly on your website: your words, your page titles, your site structure. Off-page SEO is everything that happens elsewhere that signals your credibility, like other sites linking back to yours (backlinks).

Google also weighs something called E-E-A-T, which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. This is genuinely good news for you. Your certifications, your own health history, your years in practice- it’s so much more than just a nice bio blurb. It's an actual a ranking signal for Google, so lean into it rather than downplaying it.

If you want the full beginner walkthrough, this companion SEO 101 post covers the setup side step by step.

Keyword Research 101 for Health & Wellness Brands

Before you start any kind of SEO strategy, you need to know what your ideal client is actually searching for. Consider this section an overview to get you moving today.

Start free and start simple. You don't need an expensive tool to begin; type a phrase into Google and look at the autocomplete suggestions and the "People also ask" box, since that's real, current search data, for free.

If you want to go further and get more actual keyword data like share monthly searches to give you a better idea of viable keywords for your business, check out platforms like Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest or Moz Keywords orAnswerThePublic. Also if this feels like A LOT right now, no worries just search those terms in Google to get yourself started.

Long Tail & Short Tail Keywords

There are two types of keywords to consider- short tail keywords and long tail keywords.

Short-tail keywords are broad terms, usually just one or two words, ike "health coach," "wellness coach," or "life coach." They get searched a lot, which sounds appealing, but that volume is exactly the problem. A term like "health coach" gets typed into Google by an enormous, vague mix of people: someone researching what a health coach even is, someone looking for a job as one, someone writing a school paper, and maybe - buried in there somewhere - someone actually looking to hire one. You're competing against massive sites (Healthline, Mayo Clinic, huge coaching directories) for a term that doesn't even tell you who's searching or why. Small businesses cannot compete for keywords with huge monthly search volumes, so you want to find something more specific.

Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases - usually four or more words - like "health coach for hormone imbalance" or "therapy for stress and anxiety." These get searched far less often, but the person typing that phrase knows exactly what they want, and it's usually much closer to actually booking.

Why this matters specifically for your business:

1. You’re a small, niche business competing for attention, not a publisher. A site like Healthline can rank for "health coach" because it has thousands of pages and decades of authority. A single practitioner never will - because that's simply not a fair fight. Long-tail keywords are the ones a small, specific business can actually win.

2. Long-tail traffic converts better. The person searching a long, specific phrase has already done the "what is this" thinking. She's past the awareness stage and into "I have this exact problem, does someone like this coach exist?" That's a warmer lead than someone who just Googled the category name out of curiosity.

3. It's the difference between ranking and getting clients. Ranking #1 for a broad term nobody-in-particular is searching doesn't book anyone. Ranking #1 for the specific phrase her ideal client actually types - even if only 20 people a month search it - puts you directly in front of someone ready to act.

4. It reinforces the "client language, not clinical language". Long-tail keywords are almost always written the way a real person talks about their problem, not the way a coach describes her modality. That's not a coincidence- specificity and client language are the same instinct pointing in the same direction.

How to Set Up SEO on Your Squarespace Website

This is where we take everything you learn about SEO and put it into practice- setting up your Squarespace website. The good news is Squarespace has already built most of the technical heavy lifting in for you. You just need to know where to look.

Check out our step-by-step Squarespace SEO setup guide to make sure your site is optimized.

Keywords: Where They Actually Go

Take the keyword list you just built and place it in these spots: your SEO page titles, your SEO meta descriptions, your URL slugs, your headers (H1s and H2s), and your image alt-text.

Page Titles and Meta Descriptions

This is the content or tect that shows up when someone Googles something, and Google suggests one of your website pages. Your page title is how your page title shows up in Google searches. This allows you to give your about page a more strategic title than “about”. Your meta description is the short blurb that shows up under your page title in Google's search results.

The blue text is the page title and the black text is the meta description.

Image Alt Text

Alt text describes your images for both accessibility purposes and search engines, and it should be written descriptively and naturally, working a keyword in only where it genuinely fits. Basically, it should just give a clear description of the image, because Google knows if you’re keyword stuffing. "Health coach client reviewing a meal plan" is useful and specific. "Health coach nutrition coaching wellness plan meal prep" is keyword stuffing, and it reads that way to Google, too.

For more on SEO, these five quick fixes go deeper.

Is Squarespace actually good for SEO?

I hear this question from clients all the time: is Squarespace actually good for SEO? The short answer is yes. But the more useful answer is that "good for SEO" depends on what you're actually building. WordPress is genuinely the most powerful platform out there- if you're a serious blogger planning to build a business around your content and make money from your blog, its flexibility is hard to beat. But for coaches and service providers whose main goal is simply getting found on Google by the right clients, that extra power found in Wordpress usually just means more skill required and more to manage. Squarespace gives you the SEO basics you actually need, built in from day one, without asking you to become an SEO expert to use it.

	Squarespace	WordPress	Wix
Best for	Coaches & service providers who want clients to find them on Google	Bloggers and content creators planning to monetize their content long-term	Beginners who want something simple and DIY
Ease of use	Easy — SEO tools are built in, no extra setup required	Steeper learning curve — relies on plugins you have to choose, install, and maintain	Easy
Will it help you get found on Google?	Yes — the SEO basics are ready to go from day one	Yes — but only once the right plugins are installed and set up correctly	Yes, with basic built-in tools
Ongoing upkeep	Low — Squarespace handles the technical side for you	Higher — someone needs to manage updates, plugins, and security over time	Low
Jamie's take	My pick for most coaches and practitioners — a polished, done-for-you site that gets you found on Google without a learning curve	The most powerful platform out there, but really built for someone treating their blog like its own business, not most service providers	A fine beginner option, but built more for simple hobby sites than a growing practice

An SEO comparison of Squarespace, Wordpress, and Wix

Website Templates and SEO: What You Need to Know

Here's something most people never think about: your template itself, before you've written a single word of copy, either helps or hurts your SEO. Google isn't only reading your words. It's also evaluating the structure and design of the page underneath them.

A few specific things Google's crawlers (the little bots that scan your site to figure out what it's about) weigh include proper heading hierarchy (this is how your headings, H1, then H2s, then H3s, used in the correct order rather than chosen for how they look on the page), content depth and word count (an image and one sentence doesn't give Google enough to actually index), clean, uncluttered code that loads quickly, content-first design where the words lead instead of getting buried under design flourishes, and mobile responsiveness and page speed, both of which are direct ranking factors rather than nice-to-haves.

^^ This is exactly what I mean when I stress the important of smart design.

I build every single Glo template with this in mind. Heading tags are structured correctly on every page from the start, so you're never left to figure that out yourself. Page layouts are built with real space for actual copy, not just image blocks with nowhere for your words to live. The code (if any) stays simple and clean, because a beautiful template that loads slowly is still a liability, no matter how good it looks in the preview. And every layout is content-first from the ground up, so the SEO foundation is already sitting there waiting for you before you customize a single thing.

A heading tag strategy for the Green Goddess template.

What You'll Still Get to Make Your Own

A well-built template gets your foundation right - but the personalization is the part where your voice and your actual clients come in, and honestly, it's the fun part! You'll still get to:

• Write your own page titles and meta descriptions for each page

• Add alt text to every image

• Do your own keyword research, so your copy targets what your ideal clients actually search

• Customize your headers and body copy so the site sounds unmistakably like you

SEO element	Built into the template	You'll customize
Heading hierarchy (H1–H3)	Yes — structured correctly on every page	No action needed
Content-first layout	Yes — real space for copy, not just images	No action needed
Clean code / fast load speed	Yes	No action needed
Mobile responsiveness	Yes	No action needed
Page titles	No	Write for each page
Meta descriptions	No	Write for each page
Image alt text	No	Add to every image
Keyword-targeted copy	No	Requires your own keyword research

A brief breakdown of what SEO features are included in Glo Squarespace templates, and what content business owners need to complete.

And you're not left guessing what to do with any of it. Every Glo template comes with a built-in SEO checklist inside the Glo Up Lounge - the same support hub where you'll find video walkthroughs and your launch checklist - so you know exactly what to customize before you go live. Nothing gets missed!

If you're not even sure yet what pages you need or how to talk about your offers, that's a step before this one - grab the free Website Starter Kit first and get that clarity sorted before you touch a template at all.

How to Drive Organic Traffic to Your Website

For a health and wellness coach or practitioner, a handful of channels tend to do most of the real work when it comes to driving organic traffic: SEO and blogging, Pinterest, Social Media, and content channels like Podcasting and Youtube.

Organic search produced an average of 33% of all website traffic across industries in 2024, and 91% of marketers reported that SEO had a positive impact on their business results that same year, according to Conductor's 2025 State of SEO survey.

That's the real case for organic specifically: it compounds. A social post tends to disappear from feeds within days, but a well-optimized blog post can keep ranking and driving traffic for years afterward. I went six months without posting on social media at all, and organic traffic and Pinterest carried my business the entire time.

Here's what you need to know: you don't need to be everywhere. Posting across every platform tends to produce worse results than going deep on one or two channels that actually fit how you like to work, and where your clients are- so pick your lane and commit to it.

For more, check out these five organic traffic channels in more depth and how to get more monthly website visits.

Using Pinterest as an SEO and Traffic Tool

If you've never used Pinterest, here's the quick version: it's a website (and app) where people save images they like - outfits, recipes, workout routines, home decor, business tips - onto organized collections called boards. Each image is called a pin, and every pin can link out to a website. So if you post a pin of, say, "5 Signs Your Hormones Are Out of Balance," and someone clicks it, it takes them straight to that blog post on your site.

Here's the part that surprises most people: even though Pinterest looks like social media, it doesn't act like it. When someone opens Pinterest, they're usually not scrolling to see what their friends are up to. They're typing something into the search bar, the same way they'd type something into Google, because they're actively looking for an idea or a solution. That's why people in the industry call Pinterest a "visual search engine" instead of social media. It behaves much more like Google than like Instagram, and that one shift in thinking changes how you should use it.

That search-engine behavior is also why Pinterest is worth your time. Pinterest reported 619 million monthly active users in Q4 2025, and 96% of the top searches on the platform are unbranded, meaning people are searching by what they need, not by a specific company or influencer name. In plain terms: that's hundreds of millions of people actively searching for solutions, with no brand loyalty yet formed, which is exactly the kind of person who's open to finding you.

Here's the best part, especially if platforms like Instagram have ever felt exhausting: Pinterest doesn't punish you for taking a break. On Instagram, if you stop posting, your old posts basically stop being shown to anyone. Pinterest works differently. Each pin gets tagged and organized by keyword, almost like a filing system, so Google and Pinterest's own search bar can find it later. That means a single pin you make today can keep sending people to your website for months, sometimes years, without you touching it again. Some of my top performing pins today were made almost 2 years ago!

If you've stepped back from traditional social media, or you're dreading the idea of posting every day just to stay visible, Pinterest is your natural replacement. It's real traffic to your website, without the daily content treadmill.

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Check out the full Pinterest strategy breakdown and how to use Pinterest to get more website traffic.

Tracking What's Working: Understanding Your Traffic Data

Here's some good news: you don't need to already understand everything about SEO to check whether it's working. "Ranking on page one" just means your website shows up on the first page of Google results for a certain search - the goal most people picture when they think of SEO. But you don't have to wait until you get there to know if your efforts are paying off. There are earlier signs to watch for along the way, and they're easier to read than you'd think.

The tool you'll use for this is called Google Search Console. It's a free tool from Google (not something you have to buy or install) that basically shows you the report card for your website: how often you're showing up in search results, what people are typing in to find you, and which of your pages are getting found. If you don't have it connected to your site yet, that's the very first step - everything else in this section depends on it.

Once it's connected, a few numbers are worth checking in on every so often. Organic search visits is simply how many people found your site through a Google search, rather than through a link on social media or an email. Your top landing pages show you exactly which pages on your site are actually pulling people in, which tells you what's working so you can do more of it. Your keyword rankings, also visible inside Search Console, show you where your site currently lands in Google's results for specific search terms. And the most important number of all is simply this: how much of that traffic is actually turning into inquiries, since that's the whole point of doing any of this in the first place. I like to include a question on my client inquiry forms asking them specifically how they heard about me- and many of them say Google!

If you'd like a full, step-by-step walkthrough of where to find each of these numbers and what to actually do with them, this Squarespace analytics guide breaks it down one metric at a time.

How Long Does SEO Take, and What's Realistic to Expect?

Let's set honest expectations here, because this is where most people quit too early. SEO is a long-term marketing strategy, which just means it's something that pays off gradually over time, not overnight. You're not going to post one blog and wake up to a flood of new clients tomorrow. It's more like a fine wine- it gets better with time! SEO needs time to actually understand your website, rank your website, and continue indexing new content.

In practical terms, that usually looks like four to six months before you start seeing any meaningful results - meaning your website pages are actually getting clicks. It's simply how the process naturally works for everyone, on every website, in every industry. Newer websites especially take longer for Google to rank and recommend.

Here's the mindset shift that matters: showing up consistently beats trying to do everything all at once. Publishing a well-written blog post every month, built around a specific keyword your ideal client is actually searching for, will genuinely outperform ten posts written in a single frantic week with generic surface-level content.

This is why so many business owners are choosing SEO over Instagram today. It’s for the woman who places slow, intentional growth, and deep, valuable content over trends and “viral” content. If that sounds like you- check out my top three marketing alternatives to social media.

Q: Is Squarespace good for SEO?
A: Yes - Squarespace includes built-in SEO tools like editable page titles, meta descriptions, alt text, mobile responsiveness, and SSL by default. The platform gives you a solid technical foundation, but ranking still depends on keyword strategy and consistent content, not the platform alone.

Q: How long does it take for a Squarespace website to show up on Google?
A: A Squarespace site can be indexed within days to a few weeks after submitting your sitemap to Google Search Console. Actually ranking for competitive keywords typically takes four to six months or more of consistent, keyword-targeted content.

Q: What are the best SEO keywords for a health or wellness business?
A: The best keywords for small health and wellness businesses are specific long-tail keywords that mirror how your clients actually describe their problem, or what solution they are looking for.

Q: Do I need a blog to improve my Squarespace SEO?
A: A blog isn't strictly required, but it's one of the best ways to actually start ranking and bring in more website traffic by adding fresh, indexable content and target long-tail keywords your service pages can't cover on their own - and that content keeps working for you over time.

Q: How is Pinterest different from other SEO strategies for driving traffic?
A: Pinterest functions as a visual search engine, not a social platform - pins get indexed by keyword and can drive traffic to a blog post for months or years. Social posts, by contrast, typically lose visibility within days.

Final Thoughts

Getting found online isn't about becoming a tech person. It's about simple SEO setup, keyword research, consistent content, and the right traffic channels. Your website needs traffic and conversions to book clients. This post covered the traffic piece. And you don't have to build the foundation for it from scratch - that's exactly what a Glo template is already set up to do. You don't need to implement everything in this post today. Start with one section. One step at a time.

Ready to build a site with SEO-considered design?

Shop our wellness website templates - every one comes with SEO optimized structure and page design, plus an SEO checklist so you know exactly what else you need to do to be fully SEO setup before you launch.

Not ready for a template yet?

The free Website Starter Kit walks you through your pages, your offers, and your brand clarity before you ever open Squarespace, so by the time you do, you know exactly how to start and what you need.

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Go Deeper: More Organic Traffic & SEO Guides for Wellness Coaches

Setting Up Your Squarespace SEO

• Squarespace SEO for Beginners: Your Simple 101 Setup Guide
• Boost Your Website's SEO with These Simple Tips

Driving Traffic to Your Site

• 5 Ways to Drive Organic Traffic to Your Website
• How to Get 1,000 Monthly Website Visitors
• How to Drive More Traffic to Your Website with Pinterest
• How to Get Started with Small Business Pinterest Marketing

Launching & Tracking Results

• 8 Ways to Create Hype for Your Website Launch
• How to Understand Squarespace Analytics

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Hey I'm Jamie - Squarespace Web Designer and Certified Health Coach

I specialize in building strategic, elevated Squarespace websites for health and wellness coaches and practitioners who are ready to grow their business with more clarity, confidence, and ease.

After designing over 100 custom websites and selling over 1,000 templates that support women-owned wellness brand, I’ve seen firsthand how a strategic, beautiful, and professional website can completely shift the way you show up and how you sell online.

This blog is where I share the real stuff: design tips, marketing strategies, and behind-the-scenes insights to help you build a brand online that actually works for you.

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Disclaimer: My policy is to only share products and resources that have brought value to me and/or I believe will bring value to my audience. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, and I will earn a commission if you make a purchase using them.

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