Google Can’t Find Your Substack. (Neither Can Anyone Else.)

If you've been dipping your toes into Substack, you may want to hit pause and read this eye-opening piece: Google Can’t Find Your Substack. (Neither Can Anyone Else.). This article nails a critical flaw in Substack. Substack has terrible Search Engine Optimization (SEO), much worse than I realized.

Substack's setup basically walls off your content from Google crawlers, meaning all that brilliant writing you're pouring out might as well be invisible to anyone searching for your topics. It's a wake-up call for building sustainable audiences without relying on viral luck or paid ads.

Don't get me wrong, Substack still has killer perks like owning your email list and ditching the algorithm drama, as I broke down in A Nonfiction Author's Guide to Substack and Substack for Authors: An Exciting Opportunity or Just Hype?. But in terms of raw performance, nothing beats a WordPress website connected to Kit for email.

As this post from Ryan Williamson spells out why SEO is such a weak spot and how it could hamstring your growth if you're not strategic.