What is Substack and How Does It Works? A Guide for SEO and Growth

With the instant online publishing era of today, Substack has become a formidable platform for writers, journalists, and authors to build an audience and generate income from email newsletters. What is Substack, and how does it work? Most importantly, how can SEO practitioners and content marketers leverage the platform to drive organic traffic, rank on Google, and grow their audience? In this 2000-word guide, we’ll dive deep into what Substack is, how it works, its SEO capabilities, monetization strategies, and tips for optimizing content on the platform.

What is Substack?

Substack is designed directly for publishing email newsletters. Substack allows writers to write, publish, and monetize newsletters that deliver straight into readers’ inboxes. Substack stands out from the rest of blogging platforms because it is designed with instant reader engagement through email, and it is an excellent platform for building an active, committed audience.

Founded in 2017 by Hamish McKenzie, Jairaj Sethi, and Chris Best, Substack was an instant success with writers, journalists, and creators in a matter of very short time. Substack’s simplicity and monetization-focused design turned it into a overnight hit among writers who wanted to make money from their writings as a genuine alternative source of income.

How Substack works?

Substack simplifies writing and sending out newsletters. Here is the step-by-step analysis of how Substack works:

1. Sign Up and Create a Newsletter

You begin by signing up for an account with Substack. When you sign up for your account, you create your newsletter by deciding on a name, subject matter, and persona. Substack offers you a way to customize the appearance, logo, color scheme, and tone of your newsletter.

2. Publish Content

Once you have created your newsletter, you can publish. Substack has a simple editor where you can write and format your newsletters with a click. You can insert text, images, links, and even embedded media like videos or podcasts.

3. Free or Paid Subscriptions

Substack’s payment system is strongest. Your newsletter can be either free or for a subscription. Subscriptions can be yearly or monthly, and Substack takes 10% from your take (payment processing fees also apply).

4. Email Newsletters to Subscribers

After publishing your newsletter, it lands in readers’ inboxes. Substack does all of the technical heavy lifting of emailing so your labor ends up on your people easily.

5. Engage with Your Readers

Substack allows you to engage with your readers via comments and direct messages. This allows you to create a community around what you’re doing and get closer to readers.

Substack vs. Legacy Blogging: How They Differ

Although Substack is reminiscent of legacy blogging platforms, there are certain inherent differences behind that make it distinguishable:

1. Email Marketing Orientation

As opposed to search engine traffic or social media-focused blogging platforms, Substack is an email marketing platform. What it means is that your content ends up in your subscribers’ inboxes directly, and that translates into greater retention and engagement.

2. Monetization Ease

Substack’s built-in monetization feature also allows easy monetization for creators. You can create paid subscriptions with minimal clicks and start earning money.

3. Owned Audience

The largest advantage of Substack is that you own the audience. Contrary to social media where visibility is controlled by the algorithm, Substack allows you to have full access to your subscribers.

SEO Effect of Writing on Substack

Substack is both boon and bane to writers as well as to SEO professionals. Let us discover the effect of writing on Substack compared to conventional blogging platform like WordPress or Ghost.

1. Search Engine Crawl & Index Content

Substack blog entries are open-web readable, i.e., Google as well as other search engine spiders can crawl and index the same. There are certain positive SEO effects there.

✅ Indexed Public Newsletters: Indexed public newsletters are visible in search engine listings.

✅ Long-Tail Keyword Ranking: Substack entries can rank for individual, long-tail keywords.

There are some downsides as well, though:

❌ No Meta Title or Description Control: Substack doesn’t offer meta tag or structured data customization.

❌ Limited On-Page SEO: H1 tags, alt text, and canonical URLs don’t exist or aren’t available.

2. Subdomain vs. Domain Authority

Substack uses subdomains (yournewsletter.substack.com), so you can’t own domain authority as much. That’s quite less compared to a self-hosted blog, where you get to create domain equity over time.

3. Backlinking & Referral Traffic

Substack posts will not be as ideal, but there will be some backlinking and referral traffic:

• Shamelessly link back to your Substack on social media and forums.
• Use Substack to produce high-quality content that drives traffic back to your main site.
• Become part of a community of other Substack writers to build your audience.

4. Email vs. Organic Traffic: What’s Better?

Organic traffic is SEO better, but email is more conversion and engagement. Substack is retention, not acquisition:

• SEO Blog: High traffic, low engagement.
• Substack Newsletter: High engagement, lower traffic.
• A hybrid model—trip up traffic with SEO and convert readers into loyal subscribers on Substack—is very effective.

How SEO Experts Can Leverage Substack

Substack provides a few ways top SEO experts can become thought leaders, gain authority, and monetize their expertise.

1. Thought Leadership & Authority Building

Releasing great newsletters on a regular basis enables you to establish yourself as an authority in your niche. Substack enables you:

✅ To exchange industry news and SEO trends.

✅ To publish experiments and case studies.

✅ To offer actionable tips and expert guidance.

2. Lead Generation & Client Acquisition

Substack can be a lead generation machine:

• Provide a free SEO newsletter in return for email addresses.
• Provide high-quality content to paid subscribers, like in-depth SEO guides.
• Use your newsletter to sell your SEO services or consulting business.

3. Repurpose Blog Content for Email Audiences

You can repurpose content on Substack if you already have an SEO blog:
✅ Repurpose blog content in email formats.
✅ Include personal examples or case studies to make it more valuable.
✅ Redirect traffic back to your main website.

4. SEO Specialist Monetization Strategies

Substack provides numerous approaches to generating income for SEO specialists:

• Paid Subscriptions: Provide quality SEO guides, training, or facts.
• Consulting Services: Employ your newsletter to acquire and build clients.
• Affiliate Marketing: Sell SEO software and earn a commission.
• Sponsorships: Get industry names sponsor your newsletters.

SEO Optimization Tips for Substack Content

To get the most SEO value from your Substack newsletter, apply these best practices:

1. Optimize Titles & Headlines

Your newsletter title is your H1 tag, so make it keyword-rich and attention-grabbing:

✅ Use your lead keywords.

✅ Employ numbers, power words, and emotional triggers.

Example: “10 Tried-and-True SEO Strategies to Increase Your Website Traffic.”

2. Use Internal & External Links Judiciously

✅ Link your similar blog posts on your main site.

✅ Include some external authority links to add credibility.

✅ Employ CTAs to direct people to continue with your services or offerings.

3. Long-Tail Keywords

Substack blogs can be optimized for low-competing long-tail phrases. Some are:

“How to SEO-optimize Substack newsletters.”

“Email marketing vs. SEO: What is best?”

“Best content strategies for Substack authors.”

4. Republish Content Elsewhere

Make work more discoverable by reposting:

✅ Post quotes on Medium and LinkedIn with backlinks to your Substack.

✅ Syndicate posts in industry journals and forums.

✅ Repost in SEO communities on Twitter and Reddit.

Substack vs. Ghost vs. Medium: Which is Best for SEO?

Verdict:

• Go for Substack if you love email marketing and direct reader engagement.
• Go for Ghost if you want more advanced SEO tuning and site control.
• Go for Medium if you would like natively found readers and social shares.

Final Verdict: Do SEO Experts Need Substack

Although Substack is not an SEO-platform per se, it can also be a useful utility in your content marketing toolkit. As a second-order add-on feature to an existing blog or website, Substack must be used by the SEO professional. It is best suited for customer acquisition, lead nurturing, and thought leadership.

Substack SEO Strengths

✅ Build a direct audience irrespective of Google.

✅ Establish thought leadership and authority in your domain.

✅ Monetize via consulting, sponsorships, or subscriptions.

✅ Repurpose SEO content into email-friendly content.

Substack SEO Weaknesses

❌ Less on-page SEO flexibility.

❌ No full control over domain authority.

❌ Less discoverability than a self-hosted blog.

Final Tip: Mix Up Your Content Strategy

If you are an SEO guru with aspirations of expanding your content business, Substack is worth a shot. Obviously, it works best when you have a flagship website or blog. By balancing the power of SEO articles and email newsletters, you can develop a sound strategy that produces traffic, ranking, and income.

Saad Raza

Saad Raza is an SEO specialist with 7+ years of experience in driving organic growth and improving search rankings. Skilled in data-driven strategies, keyword research, content optimization, and technical SEO, he helps businesses boost online visibility and achieve sustainable results. Passionate about staying ahead of industry trends, Saad delivers measurable success for his clients.