Substack SEO: How to Get Your Newsletter Found and Read By Many
Discover how Substack SEO helps newsletter writers grow their audience organically. Learn keyword strategies, optimization tips, and SEO best practices to boost visibility.
If you’re publishing a newsletter on Substack but struggling to grow beyond your immediate network, you’re likely missing one critical piece: Substack SEO.
Most newsletter writers pour energy into writing valuable content but never optimize it for search engines. The result? Their posts remain invisible to the thousands of people actively searching for exactly what they’ve written about.
Understanding Substack SEO changed everything for my newsletter growth.
Within six months of implementing basic search optimization strategies, my organic traffic tripled and strangers started finding my work through Google searches.
The content quality hadn’t changed dramatically, but my approach to making it discoverable had.
For writers, side hustlers, and thought leaders trying to monetize their skills through newsletter writing, Substack SEO isn’t optional anymore. It’s the difference between shouting into the void and building a sustainable audience that actually finds you when they need what you offer.
What Is Substack SEO and Why It Matters
Substack SEO refers to the practice of optimizing your newsletter content so search engines like Google can discover, index, and rank your posts.
Unlike social media platforms where visibility depends on algorithms and follower counts, search engine optimization creates lasting discoverability. Your best post from six months ago can still attract new readers today if it’s properly optimized.
Here’s what I’ve learned: most newsletter writers treat Substack purely as an email platform. They write for their existing subscribers and hope word-of-mouth will grow their list.
That’s not wrong, but it’s incomplete because every Substack post is also a public webpage with a unique URL.
That means it’s searchable, linkable, and capable of ranking in Google search results for relevant queries…. and that’s how you can leverage real growth.
The real benefit? SEO transforms your newsletter from a closed ecosystem into an open door. People searching for solutions to problems you’ve written about can stumble upon your work, subscribe, and become part of your community.
I think this opportunity is amazing. Think of it like this: social media marketing is renting attention, but SEO is owning real estate.
For coaches, consultants, and content creators trying to build authority and attract clients, this organic discovery is invaluable.
One requires constant effort to stay visible. The other compounds over time, working for you even while you sleep.
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Does SEO Really Work on Substack?
I am convinced that Substack SEO is one of the most underutilized growth strategies among newsletter writers. When I first started optimizing my posts, I was skeptical. Would Google really prioritize Substack content over traditional blogs and news sites?
I waited and hoped. But what I didn’t realise initally was that SEO takes time.
The answer is yes, but with nuance. Substack pages do rank in search results, often quite well, because the platform has strong domain authority and clean technical infrastructure.
However, your individual success depends on how you approach content optimization and keyword strategy.
Based on personal experience, I’ve seen single posts rank on the first page of Google for moderately competitive search terms. But the articles that rank best are the ones where I cover the topic in-depth.
That’s the power of search visibility and newsletter discoverability working together.
The key understanding here is that Substack SEO isn’t about gaming the system or sacrificing your authentic voice. It’s about making strategic choices that help the right people find your work.
When someone searches for a keywird in your niche, your optimized post appears in their results, that’s not manipulation. That’s service.
How to Optimize Your Substack for Search Engines
Optimizing your Substack for search engines begins before you write a single word. The foundation lies in understanding how search works and what signals matter most to Google’s ranking algorithm.
Choose a Keyword-Rich Title and Tagline
Your Substack publication title and tagline are among the most important SEO elements you control. These appear in your main domain URL, your homepage, and in search results whenever someone discovers your newsletter.
I think that a really powerful point to note is that generic titles like “Sarah’s Newsletter” waste valuable SEO opportunity.
A tip that perhaps beginners miss is to insert a keyword you want to rank for in your Substack name.
Instead, consider titles that clearly communicate your niche and include relevant keywords. If you write about leadership development for mid-career professionals, a title like “Elevated Leadership: Growth Strategies for Ambitious Professionals” signals exactly what readers will find while incorporating searchable terms like leadership development, growth strategies, and professional development.
Your tagline works similarly. Rather than something vague like “thoughts on life and work,” try “practical insights on career advancement, emotional intelligence, and building a life you love.” This approach naturally includes semantic keywords that help search engines understand your content focus.
Use Clean, Descriptive URLs
Every Substack post generates a URL based on your title. This slug becomes part of your post’s permanent web address and influences how search engines categorize your content.
Substack automatically creates URLs from your post titles, which is helpful, but you should still be intentional about title structure. A post titled “5 Things I Learned This Week” creates a meaningless URL. But “How to Build Resilience Through Daily Reflection Practices” creates a descriptive, keyword-rich URL that tells both humans and search engines what the page contains.
Quick tip: Keep URLs concise but descriptive. Remove unnecessary words like “the,” “and,” or “how to” if they make the URL excessively long, but maintain clarity about the post topic.
Optimize Your About Page
Your About page is one of the most visited pages on your Substack and carries significant SEO weight. This is where you establish authority, clarify your expertise, and explain who you serve.
From my perspective, the About page should read like a conversation with your ideal reader while strategically incorporating relevant keywords.
Describe your background, your unique approach, and the transformation you help people achieve. If you’re a career coach specializing in helping people transition from corporate roles to entrepreneurship, say that explicitly. Use terms like career transition, entrepreneurship coaching, professional development, and personal growth naturally throughout your About page copy.
This is also the place to build trust. Share your story, including setbacks and victories that demonstrate you understand your audience’s struggles. Authenticity resonates with readers and time-on-page metrics matter to search engines. The longer someone stays engaged with your About page, the stronger the signal that your content provides value.
Structure Posts with Clear Headings
Search engines use heading hierarchy to understand content structure and topical relevance. A well-organized post with clear H2 and H3 headings performs better than a wall of text, even if the actual writing quality is identical.
I look at the enitre newsletter as an opportunity for SEO.
For example, the heading structure serves two masters: readers scanning for relevant information and search algorithms parsing content themes.
Every post should have one H1 title that includes your primary keyword, followed by H2 subheadings that cover major subtopics using semantic keywords and related phrases.
For example, a post about Substack growth strategy might include H2 headings like “Building Your Substack Email List Organically,” “Content Optimization for Newsletter Writers,” and “Converting Readers into Paying Subscribers.” Each heading signals a distinct topic area while incorporating keywords people actually search for.
Use Relevant Keywords Naturally in Your Posts
Keyword optimization is not about cramming search terms awkwardly into every paragraph. It’s about understanding what language your ideal readers use when seeking solutions and mirroring that language authentically in your writing.
Here’s what I’ve learned: the best keyword research starts with empathy.
Then use keyword research tools to gain your advantage. Ahrefs, Ubersuggest, AnswerThePublic, and Google Trends.
What questions keep your target audience awake at three in the morning?
What frustrations do they type into Google when seeking answers?
If you’re writing for side hustlers trying to monetize their skills, they’re searching for terms like “how to make money from writing,” “newsletter monetization strategies,” “passive income for coaches,” and “building an audience online.”
Integrate these phrases naturally into your content. Don’t force them. If “Substack organic traffic” fits organically into a sentence about growth strategies, include it. If it feels awkward, rephrase or skip it. Search engines have become sophisticated enough to understand context and semantic relationships.
Writing for humans first and search engines second produces better results than the reverse.
Add Alt Text to Images
Alt text serves dual purposes: accessibility for visually impaired readers and SEO value for search engines. Every image you include in a Substack post should have descriptive alt text that explains what the image shows and, when relevant, connects to your post topic.
If you include a graphic illustrating “the content creation cycle for newsletter writers,” your alt text should say exactly that rather than generic labels like “image one” or “graphic.” This practice improves your content’s discoverability through image search while making your work more inclusive.
Link to Related Posts Within Your Substack
Internal linking is a great hack for improving both user experience and SEO performance. When you reference topics you’ve covered in previous posts, link to them. This keeps readers engaged longer, reduces bounce rates, and helps search engines understand the relationship between your content pieces.
I love this strategy because it compounds over time.
As your archive grows, each new post can link back to relevant older content, creating a web of connections that strengthens your entire publication’s authority.
A reader who finds one post through search might discover five more through your internal links and decide to subscribe based on the depth of value you provide.
Include Backlinks from External Sites
While internal links matter, external backlinks from authoritative websites carry even more SEO weight. When another site links to your Substack post, it signals to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy enough to reference.
Building backlinks requires relationship-building and content quality.
How?
Write exceptional posts that people naturally want to share and cite.
Guest post on other platforms and include links back to relevant Substack articles.
Participate in online communities where sharing your expertise makes sense.
The more high-quality sites that link to your work, the higher your content climbs in search rankings.
SEO Best Practices for Substack Writers
Beyond individual post optimization, several broader strategies influence your overall Substack search performance and newsletter visibility.
Consistency and Publishing Frequency
Search engines favor websites that publish fresh content regularly. A Substack that publishes weekly demonstrates active engagement and authority in its niche more effectively than one that posts sporadically every few months.
I agree with the hype; consistency matters more than volume. Publishing one quality post weekly beats publishing three mediocre posts one week and then nothing for a month.
I would really advise choosing a schedule you can maintain long-term and stick to it. Setting yourself too high a bar can be a real slog to keep up with and you’ll be tempted to give up.
This reliability builds both search engine trust and reader loyalty simultaneously.
Leveraging Tags and Categories
Substack allows you to add sections and tags to organize your content. Use these features strategically to create topical clusters that strengthen your SEO. If you write about personal development, career advancement, and monetization strategies, create separate sections for each theme.
Another great tip I like: organized content helps readers find relevant posts more easily, which improves engagement metrics that influence search rankings.
It just keeps your content easier to digest by both humans and the Google crawlers.
Someone interested specifically in your thoughts on leadership development can browse that section exclusively rather than scrolling through unrelated content.
Promoting Posts Outside Substack
SEO doesn’t exist in isolation. Promoting your Substack posts on Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms generates initial traffic, shares, and backlinks that boost search performance over time.
Smart promotion creates a growth flywheel effect... that’s where leverage happens.
Social media drives immediate traffic to a new post. Some percentage of those visitors link to your content from their own platforms. Those backlinks improve your search ranking. Higher search ranking brings organic traffic. Organic visitors become subscribers. Subscribers share future posts…. and the cycle continues.
Substack SEO Tools and Analytics You Can Use
Effective SEO requires measurement and refinement. Several tools help Substack writers understand their search performance and identify optimization opportunities.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console is essential for monitoring how your Substack content performs in search results. This free tool shows which queries bring people to your posts, your average ranking position for different keywords, and which pages receive the most search traffic.
Reviewing Search Console data monthly helps you identify your highest-performing content and understand what topics resonate most with organic searchers.
Then my advice? Double down on what works.
Tools for Keyword Research
Keyword research tools like Ahrefs and Ubersuggest help you discover what terms your target audience actually searches for and how competitive those keywords are. Before writing a post, research relevant keywords to ensure demand exists for your chosen topic.
Based on personal experience, focusing on long-tail keywords with moderate search volume and lower competition gives you more traction and gives you better results.
I’ve found this especially true for newer Substack publications than chasing highly competitive head terms.
Instead of targeting “productivity tips” with millions of competing pages, try “productivity strategies for new entrepreneurs” or “time management for side hustlers with full-time jobs.”
Substack’s Built-in Stats
Substack provides analytics showing subscriber growth, email open rates, and post views. While these metrics don’t directly measure SEO performance, they provide valuable context about which content resonates most with your audience.
Combine Substack stats with Google Search Console data to see the complete picture of content performance across both email subscribers and organic search visitors.
Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid on Substack
Even writers committed to optimization often make preventable mistakes that limit their search visibility and audience growth.
The biggest error? Treating every post like a personal journal entry without considering whether anyone would actually search for that content.
I think that balance matters most here. Some posts can be personal, timely, and written purely for existing subscribers. But if every post falls into that category, you’re missing growth opportunities.
Another mistake involves keyword stuffing, forcing awkward phrases into content in ways that damage readability. Search engines penalize this approach now. Write naturally first, optimize second.
Finally, many newsletter writers neglect their About page and publication description, treating them as afterthoughts. These foundational pages carry disproportionate SEO weight and deserve strategic attention.
In Conclusion
The tension between optimization and authenticity is real. I’ve felt it countless times, staring at a draft and wondering whether including one more keyword phrase would help or hurt.
The best Substack SEO strategy serves your readers first and search engines second. Write about topics that genuinely help your ideal audience. Choose keywords based on questions they’re actually asking. Structure your content to be scannable and useful. The optimization tactics matter, but they’re meaningless without substance underneath.
For those of you building coaching businesses, monetizing your expertise, or establishing thought leadership through newsletter writing, Substack SEO isn’t about manipulation. It’s about ensuring the people who need your message can actually find it.
Your knowledge, experience, and unique perspective deserve an audience. SEO simply helps you reach the people already looking for exactly what you offer. Start with one post. Implement these strategies. Measure what happens. Refine and repeat.
The newsletter you’ve been building has more potential than you realize. Sometimes the difference between obscurity and influence is just making your work visible.
FAQs
How long does it take for Substack SEO to work?
SEO results typically take three to six months to become significant. Search engines need time to crawl, index, and evaluate your content against competing pages. Consistency matters more than speed.
Keep publishing optimized content regularly and you’ll see organic traffic grow steadily over time.
Can I rank on Google with a free Substack account?
Yes, absolutely. Your Substack plan doesn’t affect your SEO potential. Free and paid accounts have equal opportunity to rank in search results.
What matters is content quality, keyword optimization, and building topical authority in your niche through consistent, valuable publishing.
Should I focus on SEO or email subscribers?
Both matter, but they serve different purposes. Email subscribers represent your owned audience with direct communication access. SEO brings new people into your ecosystem who can then become subscribers.
The most effective strategy combines both: optimize content for search discovery while nurturing your email list relationship.
What’s the best keyword density for Substack posts?
Forget strict keyword density rules. Instead, use your primary keyword naturally in your title, first paragraph, one or two subheadings, and a few times throughout the body. Focus on semantic keywords and related phrases that provide context.
If your content reads naturally to humans, the keyword usage is probably appropriate.
How do I find keywords for my Substack niche?
Start with questions your ideal readers ask. Use tools like Ubersuggest, Answer the Public, or Google’s autocomplete suggestions to discover related searches. Look at what terms bring traffic to your existing content in Google Search Console.
Then pay attention to language your coaching clients and audience use when describing their challenges and goals.
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Substack Growth Strategy: Build, Engage, and Monetize
Next Steps
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