So, you’ve launched your site – how can you tell if anyone is coming to it? While many websites use Google Analytics (including us!) Squarespace actually provides some analytics tools of their own. The best part - they are built into your site by default! If Squarespace Analytics looks overwhelming, you’re not alone. Don’t worry, we’ve been there too and will help you start with confidence!

Why Analytics Matter

These days, having a website isn’t enough – you need insights to drive your strategy. That’s where analytics come in. Squarespace’s built-in analytics tool offers small business owners, creators, and DIYers a quick way to understand audience behavior, spot trends, and make smart decisions without extra tools. Let’s break down the essentials and see how Squarespace Analytics can elevate your site. 

Getting Started with Squarespace Analytics

Whenever we are learning something new, it’s important to understand the terminology that will be used. Here are some key definitions you’ll need to have:

Helpful Definitions

Pageviews — The number of views a specific page has received in a given time frame.

Visits — The number of times visitors have visited your site in a given time frame.

Unique Visitors — An estimate of how many unique visitors have come to your site in a given time frame.

Bounce Rate — The percentage of visitors to your site who navigate away from the site after visiting only one page. The goal is for this percentage to be as low as possible.

Time on Page — The amount of time a visitor spends on a specific site page before navigating away.

Exit Rate — The percentage of visitors who navigate away from your website after viewing a particular page.

First things first—let’s find your analytics dashboard. Head to Analytics in your site’s main settings, where you’ll find a range of metrics at your fingertips. The dashboard is organized to give you an at-a-glance view of your performance. The main categories – Traffic, Engagement, and Sales – are easy to navigate, so if you’re not a “numbers person,” rest assured this tool is as user-friendly as it gets.

Key Metrics in Squarespace Analytics

To get the most out of your dashboard, set your time range first (top right corner) and check out these key metrics.

Traffic

Under the traffic tab, there are a number of subheadings: traffic, Traffic Sources, Search Keywords, and Geography. Let’s look at each!

Traffic

Here, you’ll see stats like visits, bounce rate, unique visitors, pageviews, and more! Think of these as a pulse check for your website. Pageviews show the total number of times pages are viewed, while unique visitors indicate the number of individuals visiting your site. Visits tell you how many times people return. Monitoring these can help you see patterns in your reach and overall popularity. If you aren’t sure what a term means, you can always hover your mouse over the term and Squarespace helpfully tells you what it means!

Traffic Sources

Understanding where your visitors come from can help tailor your outreach efforts. Are they coming from social media, search engines, or other websites? This data is your guide to knowing which channels drive traffic—and which ones may need a little boost.

Search Keywords

Search Keywords can help you to know what search terms your website is showing up for. At the top is this handy chart telling you how many clicks your site is getting, how many people are seeing your site when they search on Google, and your average position on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page). In order to use this page, you will have to have Google Search Console set up for your site. Here’s a great video by Henry Purchase on how to set up Google Search Console for your Squarespace site!

Geography

The geography section shows an interactive map of where your site visits are coming from. When you scroll down you see a list version of the same information from the map. This is helpful for Squarespace Analytics also provides location data, showing where your visitors are located globally. For small businesses, this can be invaluable for checking if you’re reaching your target market. Maybe you’re a local business hoping for customers within your region, or perhaps you’re expanding internationally—either way, this insight helps you understand your audience’s geographical reach.

Engagement

This section reveals your site’s top-performing pages, so you know what resonates with your audience. If a particular blog post or product page is getting a lot of attention, you may want to create similar content or update it to keep it fresh. There are a number of subpages here as well. You probably won’t use all of these when you’re starting out, but it’s helpful to know they’re there.

Site Content

This is one of my most used analytics tools. It tells you which page on your website is performing the best. It also might tell you what blog posts are persforming well, so you can make a series out of them. Further down on this page, it will tell you how much time people are spending on a page. The longer someone stays on a page, typically the more engaged they are and the more information they are gaining from you. One often-overlooked benefit of analytics is how they can guide your SEO strategy. If you see popular content or search terms that visitors use to find your site, consider updating related pages or creating new content around those terms. These insights give you a shortcut to knowing what your audience wants more of, helping you create targeted and optimized content that resonates.

Activity Log

This is a detailed list of exactly when your site was visited and by what IP address including what page they visited. This is probably more detailed than you will need at first.

Form & Button Conversions

The form & button conversions will tell you who is clicking on your forms and submitting forms. This can be helpful to know who is accessing yoru website and clicking on the forms, but maybe not submitting anything. It’s good to know exactly where the breakdown may be occurring. 

Site Search Keywords

The Site Search Keywords panel shows how visitors to your site search internally on your site. If you don’t have a search feature on your site, this wouldn’t apply to you. This section will show the top 100 queries on your site. There’s a really helpful Squarespace article on this specifically if you’d like to learn more about this section.

RSS

RSS tracks the number of subscribers you have on your site. It takes the IP address information we saw under the “activity log” section and analyzes it. The RSS data here is just an estimate.

Sales

The sales section of Squarespace analytics is particularly useful if you have an ecommerce site or do the majority of your business through your website. 

Sales

The first section shows your website’s overall revenue and where it came from. It shows the number of checkouts on your site and your conversion rate.

Sales by Product

This section organizes your sales information into product specific sections so you can see which products are performing well. 

Purchase Funnel

The purchase funnel tracks your purchases from site visits, to viewed products, started checkouts, and purchased. This allows you to see where you are losing potential customers.

Abandoned Cart

This final section allows you to see who has abandoned their cart. You know those “you left something in your cart” emails you get from other retailers? This is where you can get that data! Sending a follow up email or creating an automation to get in touch with this potential customers could help close a gap in your business! 

Setting Up Goals and Making Data-Driven Decisions

To get the most from Squarespace Analytics, set specific goals like increasing monthly visitors, boosting sales, or lowering bounce rates. Regularly reviewing your data (once a month works well) will help you make small but impactful adjustments to your strategy. Maybe you need more engaging calls-to-action or to revamp underperforming pages—either way, consistent monitoring lets you keep your site aligned with your goals.

Squarespace Analytics vs. Google Analytics

From a user experience standpoint, we strongly prefer Squarespace Analytics—it’s simple, streamlined, and gives you the key insights you need without complexity. However, Google Analytics does offer some advanced tracking features that Squarespace doesn’t, allowing for more granular data collection, like detailed visitor flows and in-depth e-commerce tracking. Google Analytics is also free, making it a worthwhile addition for added insights. Our recommendation? Use Squarespace Analytics for your regular check-ins and quick performance overviews, but consider installing Google Analytics for access to those deeper tracking features when you need them.

Take Charge of Your Site’s Success

Squarespace Analytics gives you the data-driven power to improve your site’s performance. By exploring visitor patterns, top-performing pages, and traffic sources, you can take meaningful steps to engage your audience and grow your brand. Dive into your analytics today, and start turning insights into actions that make a difference.

Questions about what you read or want to talk to someone on our team? Go to www.beknown.nyc/discovery to book a free call with us!