Substack Tips: The Ultimate Guide To Setting Up Substack & Using It To The Fullest
Want to master Substack? Discover the best tips, hidden tricks, and essential set-up steps to use Substack to its absolute fullest potential
Whether you’re launching a brand-new publication or looking to optimize an existing one, this Comprehensive Substack Setup Guide covers the essential tips, hidden tricks, and advanced settings you need to use Substack to its absolute fullest potential.
Starting a newsletter is incredibly exciting. But while Substack makes it remarkably easy to hit “publish”… most writers barely scratch the surface of what the platform can actually do. If you only use Substack as a basic blogging tool, you are leaving subscriber growth, engagement, and revenue on the table.
Part 1: Substack Setup Guide Tips for Success (The Strategic Foundation)
A great newsletter doesn’t start with your first post - it starts with a rock-solid foundation. When setting up your Substack, avoid the default settings and apply these strategic tricks instead.
1. The Custom Domain Trick
When you sign up, Substack gives you a free subdomain (e.g., yourname.substack.com). While convenient, you are ultimately building search engine authority for Substack, not yourself.
The Trick: Invest the one-time $50 fee to connect a custom domain (e.g., yourname.com). By doing this, every backlink you earn and every post that ranks on Google builds long-term SEO equity for your brand. If you ever decide to leave Substack in the future, your audience and your search rankings come with you seamlessly.
2. Optimize Your “About” Page Like a Sales Page
Most new writers treat the “About” page as a dry, autobiographical resume. In reality, your About page is the second highest-trafficked page on your publication. It’s a landing page designed to do one thing - convert casual visitors into subscribers.
The Blueprint: Don’t just explain who you are. Clearly state what the reader gets, why they should trust you, and when they can expect your emails.
The Trick: Insert a dedicated subscription button right after your strongest value proposition, halfway down the page, and again at the very end. Don’t make people scroll back to the top to sign up.
3. Supercharge Your Welcome Email
The moment someone subscribes, Substack automatically sends them a generic welcome email. This email has an open rate of over 80% - the highest engagement any email will ever receive.
The Trick: Customize this immediately. Turn it into an onboarding experience. Welcome them, tell them what to expect next, and crucially, link to your top 3 best past posts. This instantly hooks new readers into your archive and trains them to open your emails.
Part 2: Advanced Tips to Use Substack to the Fullest
Once your foundation is laid out, it’s time to move past the basics and unlock Substack’s most powerful native growth levers.
1. Master the Substack Recommendation Network
The absolute best feature Substack offers is its internal recommendation engine. When another writer recommends your publication, Substack surfaces your newsletter to their new subscribers the moment they sign up. This feature drives over 40% of all signups across the entire platform.
The Strategy & How to Execute It
Organic Outreach: Find 3–5 writers in your niche with a similar or slightly larger audience. Read their work, leave thoughtful comments, and genuinely connect.
Reciprocal Recommending: Use the "Recommendations" tool in your dashboard to recommend them first. Reach out and ask if they’d be open to a mutual recommendation.
Cross-Promotion: Write a guest post or co-author an article with another Substack writer to actively share your audiences.
…if you want to go into more depth about recommendations, you can read more in my post here: How to Secure Substack Recommendations Without Being Spammy
2. Utilize “Sections” for Multi-Topic Writing
A common mistake writers make is creating multiple different Substack accounts because they want to write about different topics (e.g., tech trends and personal essays). This dilutes your efforts and splits your audience.
The Tip: Use Sections (found in your Settings panel). Sections allow you to run multiple distinct newsletters, podcasts, or comic streams under one single umbrella publication.
The Benefit: Subscribers can opt-in or opt-out of specific sections based on their interests, while you get to keep all your subscriber metrics and branding in one centralized dashboard.
3. The “Sneak Peek” Paywall Trick
If you choose to turn on paid subscriptions (which I wouldn’t right away, maybe after 100 free subscribers), finding the right balance between free and paid content can be tricky. If you put everything behind a hard wall, no one new can discover your work.
The Trick: Use the Paywall block inside the post editor. Write a compelling, highly valuable opening hook (about 30–40% of the article) that is accessible to everyone. Then, insert the paywall button right before the major revelation or conclusion. This creates a natural curiosity gap that drives free subscribers to upgrade on the spot.
Part 3: SEO Tips for Substack Writers
Substack handles a lot of technical SEO automatically, but if you want your specific posts to rank on Google and pull in passive, organic subscribers every single day, you need to manually optimize your content before hitting publish.
1. Customize Your SEO Metadata
By default, Substack uses your post title and subtitle as your Google search snippet. Often, a catchy title that works well for an email inbox doesn’t work well for a search engine.
The Trick: Before publishing, click on the Settings gear icon inside the post editor and scroll down to SEO Options. Here, you can manually rewrite your SEO Title and SEO Description. Ensure your primary keywords are right at the beginning of these fields so Google knows exactly what your page is about.
2. Formatting for Scannability
Google’s algorithm monitors “dwell time”, which is how long a user stays on your page after clicking it in search results. If a reader clicks your link and sees a massive, unbroken wall of text, they will bounce immediately.
Use short paragraphs (2–3 sentences max).
Break up your thoughts with clear, keyword-rich subheadings (H2 and H3 tags).
Use bold text to highlight key takeaways so readers can scan the article effortlessly.
…If you want to learn more SEO tricks, you can read my related article here: Why Google SEO + Substack SEO = Ultimate Growth
Here’s a Tip: Make Changes Today
Mastering Substack isn’t about writing more content - it’s about making the content you do write work harder for you. By implementing a custom domain, optimizing your high-traffic pages, and leveraging Substack’s built-in recommendation engine, you’ll build a sustainable, discoverable newsletter that grows even while you sleep.
What’s your biggest hurdle when it comes to growing your newsletter? Drop a link to your Substack in the comments below and let’s critique each other’s “About” pages!
Paul Arino
About: Substack Growth Tips | How To Grow
what a great newbie set-up guide, i was looking for one of these with tips on doing it right from the start. thanks.
If you want your Substack to succeed, you have to stop treating your "About" page like a dry, autobiographical resume.
Your About page is actually your most critical sales landing page. When a reader clicks it, they only care about one thing: "What is in this for me?"
Try structuring it with this 3-step formula instead:
- The Core Promise: What specific value do you deliver, and how often?
- The Target Audience: Who is this explicitly written for (and who is it not for)?
- The Social Proof: Why should they trust you? (Testimonials, credentials, or your best archive posts).
Don't let default settings bottleneck your growth. I just published a deep-dive setup guide breaking down the exact strategic foundation every writer needs to master the platform.