How I Made SEO My #1 Traffic Source on Substack

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Last month, my Substack analytics kind of surprised me.

Search became my biggest traffic source. Not social, not email, not Medium, not Notes. Google search traffic.

And honestly, it wasn’t luck. It was a system I experimented with. A simple one. Nothing nerdy. No SEO hacks. I like writing how I want. Not for SEO.

But by connecting the right tools, reading the data like a story, and writing more of what clearly works, I did what I wanted to do.

Here’s how!

1. Step One: Connect Google Search Console

I’ve said that multiple times. Connecting the Google Search Console to Substack is very helpful for SEO and other things.

I’d say it is the most important thing I’ve done for my Substack since I switched to a custom domain.

Google Search Console is how we:

see what posts get found in Google
check which queries people used
see impressions, clicks, rankings
notice rising keywords
spot sleeping topics that could explode
understand how Google sees the entire publication

Connecting GSC to Substack takes 2–3 minutes.

Here’s the simplest way to do it.

How to connect Google Search Console to Substack

Go to Google Search Console (just search for it).
Add a new property.
Choose Domain or URL prefix.
Enter your Substack domain (or custom domain)
GSC will ask for verification. Choose DNS for custom domains or Google Analytics/Tag Manager for Substack subdomains.
Follow the steps as described.
Go back to GSC and hit verify.

Done. GSC will start collecting data in a few hours, but the good stuff comes after 3–7 days.

This is the tool that changed a lot for me, because it shows me exactly what posts Google already likes.

Not what I wish would rank.

What actually does.

2. Step Two: Connect Google Analytics

GA4 is the tool most people avoid because it looks complicated. And yes, it somewhat is.

But for Substack, we only need a tiny part of it:

where readers come from
which posts get returning traffic
which posts pull traffic from Medium
which posts quietly climb in Google
how long people stay
which posts convert best

That’s it.

GA4 turns into a very simple compass when we ignore the noise.

How to connect GA4 to Substack

Go to Google Analytics → Admin → Create Property.
Name it whatever you want.
Choose “Web stream” → add your Substack domain
GA4 will give you a Measurement ID starting with G-XXXXXX.
Copy it.
Go to Substack → Settings → Analytics.
Paste the Measurement ID into the GA4 field.
Hit save.

That’s it.

GA4 starts tracking almost immediately.

GA4 gives me the context, GSC gives me the intent.

Together they tell me what to write next.

3. Step Three: Read the Analytics Like a Story

Once GSC and GA4 are connected, I analyze the data.

Every number is the beginning of a story.

Here’s what I look for.

1. Which posts get the most search impressions

Impressions tell me Google sees the post as relevant, even if clicks are low.

That means:

update it
improve the intro
add one small context paragraph
add internal links
tidy the structure

This often moves rankings within days.

2. Which keywords I rank for accidentally

This is the jackpot.

Example: I wrote about Substack growth, but I accidentally ranked for “how to rank Substack posts on Google.”

So I wrote a dedicated article on that.

Then I linked them together. Google rewarded it quickly.

3. Which posts perform well weeks after publishing

GA4 shows me which posts get steady traffic even when I don’t promote them.

These are evergreen posts.

I turn them into bigger posts:

longer
cleaner headings
updated insights
link out to related posts
link from newer posts back to them

These posts become SEO biggies.

4. Which topics perform best per platform

Medium, Notes, social, email, search. Every platform has its preferences.

If:

Medium readers love storytelling
GSC loves tutorials
Substack readers love personal essays

…then I build posts that mix those elements. And still publish them on all platforms.

4. Step Four: Write Based on Data (Not Guessing)

Once I know what Google likes, I write more of it, but from different angles. Ideas could be:

• Deep dive angle

A long, structured, evergreen piece.

• Micro-answer angle

A short post that answers a very specific question related to the topic.

• Commentary angle

A quick take on news or trends tied to the same theme.

• Experience angle

A personal story that supports the bigger topic.

• Comparison angle

Two related things side-by-side. Google loves comparison posts.

• “What I’ve learned so far” angle

These rank well. They create clusters. Connected content.

If Google already thinks I’m the right person to answer one question, it will trust me on ten around it.

Bonus: Redirects From Medium That Actually Move the Needle

Medium is a good SEO tool if we use it as a feeder.

What I do:

I republish posts on Medium
But I set the canonical link to my Substack custom domain
And I link to topic pages on Substack inside the Medium article
Medium’s domain authority pushes juice to the Substack version

This pipeline doubled search traffic for two articles last month alone.

Bonus: Answering Questions People Search For

This is the “other”” thing I do.

In GSC I check which questions I’m already ranking for at positions 10–25.

Then I answer those questions directly in a short new post.

Something like:

“Can paywalled Substack posts rank on Google?”
“Does Substack work with Google Analytics?”
“Is it worth having a custom domain on Substack?”

These answers make great articles. Many of my recent ones came from those questions.

The Bottom Line

SEO became my #1 traffic source on Substack because I started really working with analytics.

I connected GSC and GA4, watched what Google already liked, and wrote more of that, from different angles and in smarter formats.

Medium feeds the ecosystem.

Clusters beat standalone posts. And answering real search questions quietly builds authority.

It’s not too technical.

It’s still writing I like.

And that’s what makes it work for me.