Mood: Grouchy/worn out. Yesterday felt like three days. Toiling in obscurity. [Accomplishment: getting a dryer filled with wet towels to remain semi-functional. Day 2: Dryer is still attempting to dry the towels.]
Reading about: Travis Scott concert disaster; covid.
Entertainment: Monty Python, “How Not to Be Seen”; Radiohead, “How to Disappear Completely.”
The commonality: On a grand scale, in a crowd, and on an individual level, we want or need to be seen. Sadly, often we're not.
I reckon publishing or commenting on a Substack newsletter can help meet our need to be seen.
In a better week, I intend to examine Google search results and give some thoughts about how to make newsletters more likely to be seen. (I was a contractor for a few years on two Google projects and later a reference librarian. So I have background for analysis and conclusions of Google results.)
In the meantime, let me ask you:
What do you do to get your newsletter more likely to be seen on Google or elsewhere? 🤔
In my view, the tough question is: Which small mammals? (And does the sacrifice work if your newsletter is about vegan cooking or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals?)
I set my newsletter up in Google Search Console and it's being indexed properly, but they sent me an email saying there was the following error: "Indexed, though blocked by robots.txt" and even though I posted in the Office Hours thread today, I didn't get any actionable responses. So I don't know if this is actually something to worry about since it is being indexed now.
For me, setting it up in Google Search Console was essential, as none of my content had been indexed after writing for several months. After I did it, though, it was like magic - about a week later I was showing up in Google results.
Beyond that, the best way to improve SEO is to write good headlines (and subheads) that contain keywords people are searching for, add captions and alt text to images, and try to get other publications (and websites outside of Substack, the bigger the better) to link to your Substack. Those backlinks, especially from larger, trusted sites, are golden.
And as I say all this, I must add, do as I say, not as I do, because I haven't really been paying much attention to keywords at all in my own pieces!
I likewise have Sub Pub in Google Search Console. I get the "blocked" error too, but only for subscription and account pages and alternate versions of some indexed pages.
Before using Search Console, I think some but not all of my pages were indexed. I'm guessing the indexed pages appeared in links on other indexed pages.
Yeah that's my guess as well. Google is greedy and will suck up all links it finds. So backlinks would certainly help when they exist but people aren't going to link to every one of our articles.
I suspect that there's something on Substack's end that is preventing Google from automatically indexing our newsletters (which is the only explanation I can come up with, because even a brand new blog on a new domain will get indexed). Whatever the cause, though, as long as Google doesn't index our newsletters automatically, then we have to tell Google we exist.
I am trying to register in Google Search Console. Thanks for the advice! How did you do the ownership verification? It says I should upload this html file it gave me to my website… not sure how to do that w/ Substack.
Someone suggested I reach out to Substack support to ask to have Google Site Verification enabled for me. The response was straight up nonsense. I’m going to be looking at Substack alternatives now.
The response:
For clarity, as we continue to improve our in-house SEO practices for writers, as well as prevent bad actors and spammers from misusing Substack, certain features may not be available to all publications.
Features like Google Search Console, indexing, etc. are granted after a publication meets a minimum quality standard set internally by our team.
While we are not able to disclose the exact requirements, actions like enabling paid subscriptions, growing your email list, and publishing regularly will greatly increase the likelihood of having access.
For more tips on optimizing SEO, please review this article on our Help Center: How can I optimize my Substack Publication for SEO?
I hope this helps clear things up! For further guidance on getting started, we recommend checking out these resources, but we're always here if you need any assistance.
This is incredibly helpful, thank you. I have had challenges growing my reach, even after investing in advertising. It seems that unless your motivation is to be culturally relevant, it is harder to gain the attention of the masses.
I write a specific version of my newsletter for another site with a larger audience. I get new subscribers each week from that and it’s a minimal time commitment from me.
Sacrifice small mammals by the light of the full moon? Clearly, I can use the guidance of a pro.
In my view, the tough question is: Which small mammals? (And does the sacrifice work if your newsletter is about vegan cooking or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals?)
Curious to hear if anyone else has used a custom domain in tandem with substack.
I’m using a custom domain. Any specific questions you have on how it works?
I’ve got a custom domain for mine as well.
Sounds like you’re talking about SEO. I know a few marketers/SEO people on Twitter; I can reach out to them and see what they have to say!
I set my newsletter up in Google Search Console and it's being indexed properly, but they sent me an email saying there was the following error: "Indexed, though blocked by robots.txt" and even though I posted in the Office Hours thread today, I didn't get any actionable responses. So I don't know if this is actually something to worry about since it is being indexed now.
For me, setting it up in Google Search Console was essential, as none of my content had been indexed after writing for several months. After I did it, though, it was like magic - about a week later I was showing up in Google results.
Beyond that, the best way to improve SEO is to write good headlines (and subheads) that contain keywords people are searching for, add captions and alt text to images, and try to get other publications (and websites outside of Substack, the bigger the better) to link to your Substack. Those backlinks, especially from larger, trusted sites, are golden.
And as I say all this, I must add, do as I say, not as I do, because I haven't really been paying much attention to keywords at all in my own pieces!
I likewise have Sub Pub in Google Search Console. I get the "blocked" error too, but only for subscription and account pages and alternate versions of some indexed pages.
Before using Search Console, I think some but not all of my pages were indexed. I'm guessing the indexed pages appeared in links on other indexed pages.
Yeah that's my guess as well. Google is greedy and will suck up all links it finds. So backlinks would certainly help when they exist but people aren't going to link to every one of our articles.
I suspect that there's something on Substack's end that is preventing Google from automatically indexing our newsletters (which is the only explanation I can come up with, because even a brand new blog on a new domain will get indexed). Whatever the cause, though, as long as Google doesn't index our newsletters automatically, then we have to tell Google we exist.
I am trying to register in Google Search Console. Thanks for the advice! How did you do the ownership verification? It says I should upload this html file it gave me to my website… not sure how to do that w/ Substack.
There’s a second option. Use the alternative one.
I promote it on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, on my website blog, and via Mailchimp
Someone suggested I reach out to Substack support to ask to have Google Site Verification enabled for me. The response was straight up nonsense. I’m going to be looking at Substack alternatives now.
The response:
For clarity, as we continue to improve our in-house SEO practices for writers, as well as prevent bad actors and spammers from misusing Substack, certain features may not be available to all publications.
Features like Google Search Console, indexing, etc. are granted after a publication meets a minimum quality standard set internally by our team.
While we are not able to disclose the exact requirements, actions like enabling paid subscriptions, growing your email list, and publishing regularly will greatly increase the likelihood of having access.
For more tips on optimizing SEO, please review this article on our Help Center: How can I optimize my Substack Publication for SEO?
I hope this helps clear things up! For further guidance on getting started, we recommend checking out these resources, but we're always here if you need any assistance.
This is incredibly helpful, thank you. I have had challenges growing my reach, even after investing in advertising. It seems that unless your motivation is to be culturally relevant, it is harder to gain the attention of the masses.
Hi Scott. (I build websites, and implement SEO).
On page SEO works with SubStack articles and accounts.
I've outlined what we can do as we write our articles to increase our chances of climbing up the Google search ladder. Free and easy:
https://pau1.substack.com/p/6-steps-for-more-substack-subscribers
Unfortunately, there is only so much control we have with a closed system like SubStack.
I enjoyed running across your newsletter today. I'm signing up!
I write a specific version of my newsletter for another site with a larger audience. I get new subscribers each week from that and it’s a minimal time commitment from me.
Tips on signing up with Google-I'm Michael Sisson-write Michael's Newsletter-check me out! How you doing Scott Frey! Would love some advice!
You can check whether this is working again:
https://rsilt.substack.com/p/how-i-got-my-substack-to-be-google. (Last I checked, I think it was. But I need to check again and write a post about searchability.)