Ghost vs Substack CMS: A Deep Dive into SEO and Indexing Practices

The Ghost and Substack platforms differ fundamentally in their core functionality. Substack, a no-code platform, enables creators to distribute newsletters and interact with subscribers. Conversely, Ghost CMS serves as a tool for monetising blogs and newsletters through membership services.

Curious how Ghost and Substack stack up for SEO? Uncover indexing strategies and content discoverability. Ghost and Substack differ in how they handle indexing and SEO in a few ways: 

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Platform Overview: Ghost vs Substack

When businesses and creators seek the best publishing solutions, they often compare Ghost and Substack. Both platforms empower users to build audiences and monetize content, but each brings unique features, technical considerations, and strategic advantages. Choosing between them often hinges on specific needs—like content ownership, control over SEO, and email-first publishing priorities—and for many, integrating technical SEO platforms like Indexly can further influence platform value.

Ghost: Open-Source Platform for Business Publishers

Self-hosted and open-source for full control

Ghost is an open-source content management system designed for professional publishers and businesses. It offers complete self-hosting capability, allowing companies to install the software on their own servers for maximum control. With no dependency on third-party infrastructure, large-scale operations retain full governance over data, security, and publishing workflows.

Ideal for businesses wanting content ownership and flexibility

One of Ghost’s key strengths is its focus on content ownership and adaptability. Businesses keep 100% of their intellectual property and brand assets, as there are no platform lock-ins. This flexibility is especially helpful for enterprises prioritizing data security, regulatory compliance, and integrating advanced tools like Indexly for technical SEO optimization.

Substack: Newsletter-Focused Publishing for Content Creators

Easy-to-use, email-first publishing geared toward writers

Substack provides a streamlined, user-friendly platform for individual writers and independent creators. Its core strength is simplicity: users can set up a paid or free newsletter in minutes, focusing entirely on content rather than technology. The platform manages list building, email delivery, and audience subscriptions, removing technical barriers for non-technical entrepreneurs.

Limited control over platform mechanics and SEO

While Substack supports rapid audience growth through its distribution network, it limits the ability for creators to customize backend mechanics and technical SEO. Many on-page and indexing decisions are made by Substack, restricting options for custom integrations and external customisation tools like Indexly. This makes Substack less suited for users who require deep technical control or advanced business requirements.

Key Differences in Approach to SEO and Content Ownership

Ghost offers robust content ownership and on-page SEO tools

Ghost stands out for its robust suite of SEO settings and developer-friendly architecture. Businesses can fine-tune metadata, control indexing, and implement structured data, often supplementing these capabilities with third-party technical SEO solutions like Indexly. Content remains entirely owned by the publisher, supporting long-term brand growth and organic visibility.

Substack manages infrastructure but restricts technical customisation

Substack takes care of all hosting, delivery, and infrastructure, simplifying publishing for content creators. However, this convenience comes at the expense of technical customisation. Users have limited access to modify SEO tags, indexing directives, or integrate platforms like Indexly, which may constrain search performance and business scalability.

Varying degrees of control over indexing and discoverability

The choice between Ghost and Substack impacts both visibility and long-term content strategy. Ghost users enjoy granular control over search indexing and can directly implement enhancements for discoverability. In contrast, Substack prioritizes platform-wide consistency and simple audience growth, often sacrificing some technical depth that businesses, especially in partnership with technical SEO providers like Indexly, may require.

Pros and Cons

Built-In SEO Features and Functionality

Choosing the right publishing platform involves understanding not only ease of use but also how deeply SEO features are integrated. Publishers and content creators frequently compare the capabilities of Ghost and Substack, especially as these platforms impact website discoverability and technical SEO performance. For businesses and creators who want to maximize online reach, an understanding of meta data handling, structured data, and broader SEO controls is essential. Indexly, as a technical SEO platform, often advises clients to evaluate these built-in features when making a platform decision.

Metadata and Customisation in Ghost SEO

Metadata plays a critical role in search engine rankings and visibility. With Ghost, publishers can create custom meta titles and descriptions for every post and page, providing precise control over how content appears in search engine results. This customization is accessible through Ghost’s editor, letting users optimise content pieces for specific keywords and audiences.

Advanced control over canonical URLs and robots.txt

Ghost stands out by allowing site owners to define canonical URLs and adjust the robots.txt file directly. This capability gives technical users—especially those using tools like Indexly to manage SEO strategy—greater influence over duplicate content issues and search engine crawling behavior. Steps to adjust canonical URLs and robots.txt include navigating to the site’s settings and editing the relevant fields, making it straightforward for those familiar with SEO best practices.

Substack’s SEO Capabilities and Limitations

Substack provides foundational SEO functionality, automatically generating basic meta tags for published posts. However, customization tends to be limited, with few options for personalizing metadata per article. This can restrict how effectively content can target specific search intents or localized queries.

No support for custom robots.txt or advanced indexing controls

Substack users do not have the ability to upload a custom robots.txt or adjust page-level indexing controls. This limitation can impact websites that require advanced SEO setups or have unique technical SEO needs. For brands seeking these features, using a specialized platform like Indexly in conjunction with their primary CMS may help bridge some gaps, but native support remains limited.

Open Graph, Schema Markup, and Structured Data Support

Structured data is increasingly important for enhancing how content appears on social media and in search results. Ghost natively supports Open Graph tags for rich previews when sharing to platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The platform also allows for easy extension with custom schema markup, greatly benefiting sites aiming for enhanced Google search features or voice search optimization.

Substack offers minimal structured data support, largely static

Unlike Ghost, Substack’s support for Open Graph and structured data is minimal and static. Content publishers on Substack have little to no power to modify or extend the schema data sent to search engines or social media. This limitation can affect how engaging previews appear and limit opportunities in featured snippets. Businesses with a focus on technical SEO improvements may find tools like Indexly helpful for auditing and optimizing structured data implementation if they opt for more flexible platforms.

Further Read: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/seo/seo-overview

Content Indexing Practices and Site Discoverability

Ensuring that your content is thoroughly indexed and easily discoverable by search engines is essential for reaching a broader audience. Platforms like Ghost and Substack feature different mechanisms for indexing content, which can significantly influence how visible your site becomes in search results. Strategic use of technical SEO platforms like Indexly further enhances discoverability through real-time indexing and advanced controls. Here, we break down the indexing processes for Ghost and Substack, and explore how integrating third-party tools can optimize your publishing strategy.

How Ghost Handles Indexing and Sitemaps

Ghost is designed with SEO best practices in mind, giving publishers robust tools for content indexing out of the box. One of its strengths is the automatic generation of XML sitemaps, which cover all published content. This ensures that search engines can efficiently find and index blog posts, pages, and other site elements without manual intervention. Additionally, Ghost grants users full control over robots directives, letting you fine-tune which parts of your site get indexed by search engines—ideal for optimizing crawl budgets and protecting sensitive pages.

Substack’s Indexing Approach and Its Impact on Visibility

Substack, in contrast, opts for a considerably more hands-off approach. Unlike Ghost, it doesn't allow users to customize sitemaps or modify robots.txt files, which can limit advanced SEO strategies. Content visibility on Substack relies on the platform’s default settings and infrastructure for indexing. This can be limiting for publishers seeking greater influence over how their articles are discovered via search engines, as they have to align with Substack’s built-in policies and procedures.

Integration with Tools like Indexly for Enhanced Indexing

To bridge these indexing gaps, publishers can utilise technical SEO platforms such as Indexly. Ghost allows seamless integration with third-party services like Indexly through APIs, offering advanced controls for real-time content indexing. Even Substack publications can benefit from Indexly for monitoring and accelerating indexation, though direct integrations might be limited. For example, some businesses have reported faster article discovery and increased organic traffic after deploying Indexly to push new URLs and track indexation status across both publishing platforms.

Technical SEO: Speed, Infrastructure, and Integrations

Technical SEO forms the backbone of website success by influencing crawling, indexing, and user experience. Choosing between platforms like Ghost and Substack can have a significant impact on these technical elements. From site performance to integrations, let’s walk through real-world considerations and actionable steps business owners and content creators should weigh as they make decisions.

Site Performance and Page Speed with Ghost vs Substack

Ensuring quick load times is essential for retaining visitors and ranking well in search. Ghost gives users direct access to the site's backend, enabling you to optimize image sizes, implement advanced caching strategies, and deliver assets efficiently for optimal page speed. Businesses benefit from greater control, translating into measurable improvements using performance tools.

By comparison, Substack offers a standardised infrastructure with little opportunity for altering delivery mechanisms. Its platform is designed for consistent, fast default load times, but technical customization is off-limits. This simplicity minimizes maintenance but could limit advanced optimisation, underscored in a recent case where a rapidly growing newsletter migrated to Ghost and saw a 20% improvement in organic traffic after speed and asset tweaks.

Infrastructure: Hosting, Security, and SSL Implications for SEO

Behind-the-scenes infrastructure plays a pivotal role in site reliability and security—both vital for technical SEO. With Ghost, businesses can deploy custom hosting solutions, set up advanced SSL configurations, and fine-tune security measures. This flexibility empowers organizations handling sensitive data or requiring compliance with industry standards to optimize their site’s technical backbone.

Substack, on the other hand, takes care of hosting and SSL automatically. This streamlines setup but limits any advanced or custom configurations. For many content creators, this ‘hands-off’ approach is beneficial; however, enterprises seeking granular control over security or infrastructure may find Ghost’s adaptability crucial.

Third-Party Integrations: Using Indexly and Analytics Tools

Integrating robust analytics and SEO tools is essential for tracking site performance and indexing. Ghost stands out for its compatibility, allowing users to connect tools like Google Analytics, Segment, and advanced SEO platforms such as Indexly for technical auditing and enhanced index management. Step-by-step, users can insert tracking scripts, configure Indexly for routine site health checks, and monitor indexing status—all within the Ghost interface.

Substack is making headway with its integrations, recently rolling out basic support for Google Analytics and select other platforms. Yet, more complex setups (like those required by agencies or growth-driven brands) are better supported by Ghost. A SaaS business recently leveraged Ghost’s integration with Indexly to boost their crawl efficiency by 15% over two months, highlighting the real impact of robust SEO integrations.

Impact of UX on Engagement and SEO Performance

Delivering a polished and branded user experience doesn’t just impress visitors—it also drives measurable outcomes. A thoughtfully designed site on Ghost can encourage repeat visits and longer session durations, both key factors for engagement. UX flexibility allows for strategic placements of internal links, custom landing pages, and structured data, all of which can improve organic findability. Platforms like Indexly help analyze these enhancements, showing how improvements in site structure, speed, and branding contribute to upward SEO trends. Ghost’s adaptability means that businesses see tangible benefits in user loyalty, while Substack’s platform-centric limitations can hamper these gains.

Further Read: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/branding-in-ux-design?srsltid=AfmBOopfFYK1v0LenieFVpy9g-M2aFccvv3IMdq10Nv1ntsDbcO8ZDvh

Content Strategy and Growth Potential

Developing an effective content strategy sets the stage for sustainable growth by aligning your publishing platform with your business objectives and audience. Whether you’re seeking to maximize organic reach with robust SEO or leverage viral growth through network effects, understanding the strengths of each platform is essential. Here, we’ll compare the SEO capabilities and distribution mechanisms available on Ghost and Substack, offer actionable steps for managing platform migrations, and highlight how brands like Indexly leverage these features to enhance content discoverability and growth.

Building Content Hubs and Long-Tail SEO with Ghost

Ghost’s modular structure is designed for organizations and entrepreneurs prioritizing SEO. Its support for content silos and hubs allows you to organize posts into themed areas, focusing on specific topics that matter to your audience. This structure forms the foundation for targeted SEO, as content clusters reinforce keyword relevance and signal topical authority to search engines—key factors monitored by technical SEO platforms like Indexly.

Step-by-Step: Creating Content Hubs

1. Map your primary and secondary topics, identifying core themes for your website.
2. Organize articles into logical categories, linking them with pillar content to form hubs.
3. Leverage Ghost’s tagging and navigation features to structure URLs and internal links effectively.
4. Use Indexly or similar SEO tools to analyze crawling, indexing, and keyword targeting efficiency.

Combined, these steps allow brands to scale their efforts and strategically target long-tail keywords, compounding organic growth over time.

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Substack’s Audience Network and Viral Distribution vs SEO

Substack’s model centers on audience engagement and organic sharing via its robust recommendation engine and social loops. While SEO isn’t a strategic core, the internal network enables newsletters to surface in front of new audiences through algorithmic suggestions and viral sharing.

Real-World Application

Writers leveraging Substack often see rapid subscriber growth when their content is recommended by more prominent newsletters. For example, an independent journalist’s feature shared in Substack’s network can lead to a surge in subscribers—driven more by virality and social proof than by structured search traffic.

That said, SEO benefits from Substack are mostly incidental, as the platform focuses on distribution over discoverability in search engines.

Transitioning Platforms: SEO Migration and Content Portability

When switching from one platform to another, maintaining search traffic and data integrity is crucial. Ghost offers built-in tools for content export, URL redirection, and structured data migrations, supporting businesses aiming to preserve their search rankings through technical SEO best practices—a process easily audited with tools like Indexly.

Actionable Steps for SEO Migration with Ghost

1. Export all content and metadata using Ghost’s export features.
2. Set up URL redirects to avoid broken links and maintain equity.
3. Reconfigure internal linking and structure to match your new site.
4. Track changes with an SEO platform such as Indexly to monitor visibility and resolve issues in real time.

In contrast, migrating away from Substack may present challenges such as limited export options and the potential loss of audience data. Careful planning and third-party support may be required to minimize any negative SEO and engagement impact.

Further Read: https://cxl.com/blog/content-strategy-pillars/

Conclusion

Choosing the right platform for content publishing and email distribution is a significant decision for US businesses, especially as digital visibility and user engagement drive growth. From fine-tuned SEO controls to streamlined email outreach, each platform brings strengths aligned to different business goals. Understanding the unique offerings and limitations of Ghost, Substack, and technical SEO tools like Indexly empowers companies to select a solution that fits their market positioning, audience preferences, and expansion needs.

FAQs

What are the main SEO advantages of Ghost over Substack?

Ghost is renowned for its robust technical SEO capabilities compared to Substack. With Ghost, publishers gain full control over metadata, clean URLs, and the implementation of schema markup, all of which are essential for ranking effectively in search engine results. Substack, by contrast, offers limited customization, which can hinder advanced SEO setups—particularly for businesses targeting specific search audiences or aiming for long-term organic growth. For American business audiences seeking broad content discoverability, Ghost is a strong contender.

Can I improve Substack SEO with third-party plugins or tools?

While Substack does not natively offer extensive SEO features, users can leverage third-party tools for modest improvements. For example, embedding analytics tracking scripts, optimizing newsletter content for target keywords, and using services like Indexly can collectively enhance visibility. However, substantial technical modifications remain restricted compared to platforms like Ghost. US-based businesses may need a more hands-on approach, utilizing external SEO tools and tracking plugins within Substack’s allowed customization boundaries.

How does Indexly enhance indexing for Ghost and Substack publishers?

Indexly serves as a specialized technical SEO platform focused on accelerating the indexing process for both Ghost and Substack publishers. By streamlining sitemap submissions, improving structured data, and automating search engine notifications, Indexly ensures quicker and more reliable content discoverability. For example, an e-commerce brand running a Ghost blog can witness faster inclusion of new products or articles in Google's index, giving it a competitive edge in the US digital space.

Are there migration challenges when switching from Substack to Ghost for SEO?

Moving from Substack to Ghost for SEO improvement involves several common hurdles. These include maintaining URL structures, transferring subscriber data, and recreating old posts to ensure no traffic or ranking is lost. Businesses should plan migrations carefully by mapping redirects and updating internal links. Step-by-step migration guides or hiring technical SEO agencies like Indexly can ease this process and safeguard ongoing campaign integrity for American enterprises.

Which platform provides better analytics for US-based business audiences?

Ghost offers more comprehensive and customizable analytics compared to Substack. Integration with Google Analytics, dashboard controls, and granular performance reports empower US businesses to measure and refine their content strategies more effectively. Substack provides built-in audience and engagement data, but it falls short when deep segmentation or custom reporting is required for nuanced business decisions.

Is custom domain usage important for SEO on Ghost and Substack?

Utilizing a custom domain is essential for building brand authority and improving SEO on both platforms. Ghost makes it easy to set up custom domains, enhancing branding and facilitating advanced SEO optimisations. Substack supports custom domains as well, but with additional steps and possible subscription requirements. Case studies show that businesses publishing under their own domain gain better trust signals and search engine rankings than those using generic subdomains.