Substack SEO Audit: How I Get Dream Clients Through Google
My dream clients find me through Google. Here's the exact Substack SEO audit I ran on myself.
When did you last Google yourself?
As a deliberate check. The way a potential client would, someone who is ready to hire and wants to see who comes up.
I did it last month as part of my own Substack SEO audit. I already knew my content was ranking. Posts on the first page of Google, clients finding me through search without ever seeing my Notes or being recommended by anyone.
But I wanted to see the full picture.
So I searched properly. And then I went to Perplexity and searched for Substack audit services.
A Slow Living Path is on the first page of Google for "Substack audit." And on Perplexity, I came up fifth across all Substack audit services.
I’m sharing this because I want you to see what’s possible. This is what consistent writing, combined with intentional SEO, actually looks like.
A slow living path on the first page of Google for Substack audit.
So how did I do it?
When I started on Substack, I came to write. To think out loud, share what I was learning. SEO was the last thing on my mind. Even though I knew it mattered.
Around month seven I started applying it properly, just to a few posts. By that point I already had around 1,000 subscribers, so I knew the writing was working. But I also knew I was leaving something on the table.
Here's the thing about my situation, and maybe yours too. I don't have a massive network. I don't have an assistant or a manager. No one is passing my name around in group chats or recommending me at industry events. It's just me, my writing, and the two platforms that do the work quietly in the background: Substack and Google.
So last month, when I built a new website, I invested in working with an SEO coach to make the most of it. Because if Google is how people find me, I want to make sure I'm showing up as clearly as possible for the right person at the right moment.
I know some of you don’t want to hear about SEO right now. It sounds like another thing to optimise when you’re already trying to just keep writing. I understand that.
But if you’re looking to bring in more clients and build a brand that works for you online, even while you sleep, this is worth twenty minutes of your time.
A simple Substack SEO audit that shows you what your potential clients actually see when they search for you, and what you can do about it this week.
That’s what this post is built around.
Before you read on, if you'd rather skip the DIY and have me audit your Substack for you, that's available here. You'll see exactly what's missing, what to fix, and how to make your newsletter findable by the right people.
What is a Substack SEO audit?
A Substack SEO audit is a structured way of checking what Google and AI platforms currently know about your newsletter, and whether that’s enough to send the right readers to you.
It works in two directions.
First, you look inward. You check what signals your Substack is currently sending to Google: your post titles, descriptions, URL slugs, and homepage copy. These are the details Google reads first. Most writers have gaps here they’ve never thought about.
Then you look outward. You search for yourself on Google and run a set of prompts across AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity to find out how your work is being described, whether you’re showing up as a credible voice on your topic, and whether you’d be recommended to someone searching for exactly what you do.
Together those two layers give you a complete picture of your current online presence, from the outside in.
Why your Substack needs this
Think about the last time you needed something specific. A wedding planner in Seattle. A nutritionist who works with busy mums. A coach who helps women leave corporate.
You opened Google. You typed it in. And within seconds Google gave you the most relevant person it could find.
That person could be you.
When someone is ready to hire, they search. They don’t scroll Instagram hoping to stumble across the right person. They go to Google and they type exactly what they need. And Google’s entire job in that moment is to match them to the best answer.
So the question is: are you the answer?
Because right now, someone is searching for exactly what you do. They’re typing it into Google, into ChatGPT, into Perplexity. And if your Substack titles are vague, your descriptions are blank, and your homepage doesn’t clearly say who you help, Google can’t connect you to them. All that writing, all those posts, all that thinking, stays invisible to the exact person who needs it most.
The best part is Substack already has authority with Google. It’s much easier for your posts to appear in search than you might think. If you’re already writing, you’re already halfway there. You just need to make sure Google understands what you’re writing about, and who it’s for.
A Substack SEO audit shows you exactly where the gaps are.
(Upgrade to access the full Substack SEO audit below)
What paid subscribers find below
The paid section walks you through the full Substack SEO audit step by step.
Inside, you’ll find:
The internal audit: what to check inside your Substack
The external audit: how to Google yourself properly and what to look for
The AI search prompt: the exact prompt I use to assess discoverability, clarity, authority, and trust
It takes about twenty minutes. The changes you make from it keep working for months.