The 7 Must-Have Plugins for Your Squarespace Blog
Squarespace is a fantastic platform to build a blog on! WordPress used to be the best platform for blogging, but it is no longer is the only good option. In fact, I have found Squarespace to be just as good, or better then WordPress for blogging. If you are serious about blogging on Squarespace, there are 7 must-have plugins you should consider.
These plugins will help you get the most out of Squarespace and will match many of the WordPress features we know and love, including related posts, sidebars, global sections, affiliate links, banner images (on top), and SEO. Read on to learn more about the specific plugins I recommend (and use myself) to help you create a blog that converts and ranks on Google!
Table of Contents
Essential Squarespace Blog Plugins
Related Posts Plugin
By SQSP Themes
Squarespace doesn’t come with a built-in related posts feature, but you can easily add one. A related post carousel at the bottom of your blog page will help encourage visitors to read more content and stay on your website. The more content they read and the longer they stay on your website, the more likely they will take a conversion action.
You can use the Summary Block to create a related posts section, but it won’t be global. This means you’d need to edit it, you’ll need to do so for each blog post.
I recommend the Related Posts plugin by SQSP Themes. You install it once and it automatically applies to all current blogs. It will generate related posts based on categories or tags, and there several other ways to customize the look.
If you already have a ton of blog posts, this plugin will save you time! You install the code via the code injector and it will apply to all past and future blogs—no need to manually go back to all of your previous blog posts!
Requires Business plan or higher.
Sidebar Plugin
By SQSP Themes
If you already have a large blog, adding in a sidebar is an easy way to increase conversions without editing all of your blogs manually. You can add a newsletter opt-in, author bio, call to actions, featured posts, and more. You install this plugin once via the code injector and it will automatically apply to all current and future blogs.
I’ve used many blogs over the years with and without sidebars. You can configure the sidebar content to show up on the top or bottom on mobile, depending on your needs.
Requires Business plan or higher.
Section Loader Supreme Plugin (global sections)
By Will Myers
This is one of my all-time favorite plugins. One of the areas where Squarespace is still catching up to WordPress is with global elements. This plugin fixes that!
First you create a page with your content—newsletter, contact form, product information, author bio, etc. Then, you paste a snippet where you want that block to go. It can be placed on any page or plugin. In the future when you want to make an edit, you change the content on one page and that change reflects everywhere the block was placed.
I use this in my blogs for the author bio, newsletter CTA, and you can use it for an affiliate disclaimer too!
Bonus—This plugin allows you to design eye-catching content in Fluid Engine and place it in your blog. At the time of writing this article blog posts use the old editor, not Fluid Engine, so this gives you some extra design capabilities.
Works on all Squarespace pricing plans.
Affiliate Genie Plugin
By Will Myers
If you are monetizing your Squarespace blog, this plugin is essential. It gives us a way to mark links as “no follow” or “sponsored”, just like you would do on a WordPress blog.
Marking affiliate links as “sponsored” is not only legally required, but it will keep you in good standing with Google.
You simply install a little code in the code injector, and then anytime you have an affiliate link, you just place a tag at the end of the link—and you are good to go!
Works on all Squarespace pricing plans.
Blog Post Banner Images Plugins
If your website uses a lot of banner images and you’d like to apply that style to your website, there are two great plugins for this.
Blog Post Banner Image Plugin
Blog Post Banner Image plugin by Ghost plugins is a great way to go. It works with the thumbnail image and has animation options and sizing options. This plugin requires a business plan or higher. Use code KHARAWOLFDESIGN for 10% off your purchase.
© image credit ghostplugins.com
Blog Post Banner Image Styles Plugin
The Blog Post Banner Image Styles plugin by Will Myers works on all plans, including personal, and offers 6 different banner styles to choose from.
© image credit will-myers.com
SEO Space Plugin
SEO Space is an SEO plugin specifically for Squarespace. If you are blogging, you probably are trying to rank better on Google. This plugin is a must. It will audit your website, tell you what you need to do to improve your SEO, help you choose the right keywords, help you find missing alt tags and meta descriptions, and so much more. You can try the plugin for free or upgrade for only $10/month. I recommend this plugin to anyone wanting to rank on Google (which is pretty much everyone!).
More Plugins
Want more suggestions? Here is the complete list of all of my favorite Squarespace plugins and tools that I use on my own website, on client websites, and recommend to Squarespace website designers and DIY enthusasists.
