Substack SEO for Beginners:
What to Actually Worry About (And What to Ignore)
So you ran an SEO report on your Substack and panicked. 1,100+ issues? 900+ warnings? Your heart sank.
Take a deep breath. For Substack users, this is completely normal.
Most of those scary-sounding errors are not problems at all. They’re just how the platform works. This guide will cut through the noise and show you the four things you actually need to fix and the long list of stuff you can confidently ignore.
Part 1: The “Errors” You Should IGNORE (Seriously)
Your Substack handles most technical SEO for you. The following “issues” appear in every report and are harmless.
“Noindex” Pages (e.g., 21 pages): These are your comment sections. Substack correctly tells search engines not to index them, as they are not standalone articles. Action: Ignore completely.
“Page Has Links to Redirect” (e.g., 1,114 pages): This is Substack’s internal redirect system at work, managing old URLs and archives. It’s a sign of a healthy platform. Action: Ignore completely.
“Meta Description Too Short” (e.g., 966 pages): Substack auto-generates descriptions from your first paragraph. You have limited control here unless you manually write an excerpt. Action: Ignore. Focus on writing strong openings instead.
“Double Slash in URL” (e.g., //): A minor quirk of the CMS. Google understands and handles it perfectly. Action: Ignore.
The Bottom Line: If you fixated on these, you’d waste hours “fixing” Substack’s normal, functional architecture. Don’t.
Part 2: The 4 Issues You SHOULD Fix
Now, let’s focus on what matters. These issues affect your readers and your site’s health.
4XX & 404 Errors (Broken Pages): Your report might list a handful of these (e.g., 8 “4XX” and 1 “404”).
What it is: A link on your site points to a page that doesn’t exist (anymore). This frustrates readers and looks unprofessional.
The Fix: Click the broken URL in your report. If it’s an old post you deleted, see if you can restore it. If it’s a typo in a link you added (like to another website), edit the post and correct the link.
“Page Has Links to Broken Page” (Broken Internal Links): This is a specific version of the error above (e.g., 33 pages).
What it is: You linked from one of your posts to another one of your posts, but that target post is missing.
The Fix: This is crucial for keeping readers on your site. Find the broken link in your old post and either update it to a correct URL or remove it.
“HTTPS/HTTP Mixed Content” (Security Warning):
What it is: Your secure Substack page (
https://) is trying to load an image or script from an insecure source (http://). Browsers may block this or show scary warnings.The Fix: Find the image or resource with the
http://URL in your post editor and change it tohttps://. Always usehttpslinks when embedding.
The “Email Protection” 404 (A Common Gotcha): You might see many 404 errors for a link like
*/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection.What it is: This is not your fault. If you use Cloudflare with a custom domain, its “Email Obfuscation” feature breaks on Substack. It tries to hide your email (
[email protected]) with a script that doesn’t load.The Fix: Log into your Cloudflare dashboard, go to Scrape Shield, and turn OFF “Email Address Obfuscation.” This will instantly clear all these fake errors.
My website ranks number 2 when this term is searched, even ahead of Reddit.
Your Simple Action Plan
Week 1 (30 minutes):
Fix any 4XX/404 errors and broken internal links.
Update any HTTP images to HTTPS.
Week 2 (5 minutes):
If you use Cloudflare, disable Email Obfuscation as shown above.
Forever After:
Ignore the noindex, redirect, meta description, and double slash “errors.”
When editing old posts, do a quick link check.
Where to Really Focus Your Substack SEO Energy
Since Substack manages the technical backend, your best SEO strategy is human-centric:
Brilliant Headlines & Content: Write compelling, valuable posts. This is your #1 ranking factor.
Smart Internal Linking: When you mention a past topic, link to your older post. This keeps readers engaged.
Promotion: Share your posts on social media and in your newsletter. Direct traffic signals popularity to search engines.
Final Word: Your Substack is probably healthier than that first SEO report made you think. Stop worrying about platform quirks. Start fixing the few real issues, then get back to what you do best: writing great content.
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