10 Tips and Best Practices for Publishing Both on Substack and Your Brand Website

Small BusinessMarketing
Written By Carolyn Delacorte
Publishing on Substack vs. Your Website Best Practices for Founders, SEO, Google Discover & AI

Founders Can Build Smarter Visibility Across Google, Google Discover & AI-Powered Search, Here’s How!

Why Should Brands Publish on Both Substack and Their Website?

At one time publishing on more than platform used to feel like tons of unnecessary work. Today? It’s a visibility necessity.

Platforms like Substack, Medium, Beehiiv, Ghost, ConvertKit, MailerLite, Patreon, Gumroad and even Linkedin all offer ways to maximize your digital reach. At the same time your brand’s website based blog is crucial for fetching traffic and optimizing your relevancy overall.

For the purposes of this post we’ll focus on Substack since the platform has grown significantly in 2025 and offers the most straightforward benefits to most consumer brands.

Lifestyle brands and founder-led businesses can (and should!) treat Substack and a brand-owned blog as two sides of the same content coin: one builds community and intimacy; the other builds authority and long-term discoverability.

Here are 10 tips/best practices to do it without burning yourself out or confusing search engines like Google, Google Discover, and AI-powered discovery tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and SGE.

How Does Google Treat Your Substack vs. Your Website Content?

1. Your Company’s Website Is Your Brand’s “Source of Truth”

Think of your website as the home base. The permanent address. The house with good bones.

Why this matters:

  • Google indexes your domain.

  • Google Discover pulls from high-quality, original content on your website, not your Substack.

  • AI agents (ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.) increasingly prefer brand-owned sources for accuracy signals.

Best practice:
Publish the canonical version of your content on your website first.
This is your authoritative, SEO/AEO-optimized version.
Your Substack? That’s where the relationship-building version goes.

2. Substack Gets the Conversational, Community-Forward Edit

Substack isn’t Google’s playground, it’s a people powered social media platform.

So give the Substack version a looser fit:

  • More personality

  • Founder POV moments

  • Community updates

  • Calls to reply, share, and discuss

Think of your website post as the polished article, and your Substack version as the fireside chat about that article.

(Same core idea, two completely different vibes.)

3. Internal Linking Helps Google (and AI) “Understand” You

On your website version, add:

  • internal links to related blog posts

  • links to your services or lead magnets

  • navigation breadcrumbs

This helps Google understand what your brand is “about.” And here’s the 2026 twist: large language models use these signals too.

If you want ChatGPT to pull from your content in answers, clarity and interlinking matter be sure to include links and navigational breadcrumbs.

4. Use Outbound Links in Substack to Push Readers Back to Your Website

Your Substack version should include:
🔥 “Read the full guide on my website”
🔥 “See the resources page here”
🔥 “Discover more examples in the article on BoxwoodCo.com”

These links tell AI discovery engines (and humans) that your website is the source. That’s what we want.

What’s the Best Publishing Order for SEO and AI Ranking?

5. Create a Consistent Publishing Cadence Across Both Platforms

There’s no need to publish simultaneously, in fact, don’t.

Use this winning cadence:

  1. Publish the full, canonical article on your website.

  2. 24–72 hours later, publish the Substack edition (the conversation about the article).

  3. Link back to your site inside Substack.

This gap gives Google time to crawl the original version first, establishing authority.

How Should Your Website Version Differ From the Substack Version?

6. Optimize Each Platform for Its Native Strengths

On your website optimize for:

  • SEO (title tags, H1/H2 structure, alt text, meta descriptions)

  • Google Discover (fresh, newsy, timely angles; emotional hooks; high-quality images)

  • AEO/GEO (clean, structured layout that’s easy for AI to parse)

On Substack optimize for:

  • Open rate

  • Click-through rate

  • Community growth

  • Shares and recommendations

  • Direct reader engagement

Different scoreboards, different wins.

Should You Repurpose the Same Blog Post for Substack and Your Website?

7. Repurpose Without Duplicating

You can absolutely reuse content but you should transform it, not copy/paste it.

Example workflow:

  • Website post: The full strategic guide

  • Substack post: A founder anecdote + key takeaways + link to the full article

  • Instagram: Carousel

  • Pinterest: Long-form pin

  • Email newsletter: Highlight one tip from the article

Same idea. Different packaging. Search engines applaud. Subscribers feel seen. Everyone wins.

Do Duplicate Images Hurt Google Discover Performance?

8. Add Unique Images to Each Platform When Possible

This is a shocker to most founders, so brace yourself:

Google Discover heavily weights original, high-quality images. AI engines notice visual distinctiveness, too.

Your website should always get your best images. Substack can have secondary images, behind-the-scenes shots, or more personal visuals.

What Role Does AI-Powered Discovery Play in Content Strategy Today?

9. Don’t Forget AI-Powered Discovery Is Already Watching

Gone are the days when SEO alone did the heavy lifting. Today you’re optimizing for:

  • Google Search

  • Google Discover

  • ChatGPT

  • Perplexity

  • Bing Copilot

  • SGE (Search Generative Experience)

-Your website helps you show up in all six.
-Substack helps your brand personality show up in all six.

Your website content needs to be:

  • clear

  • factual

  • well-structured

  • linked

  • properly formatted

  • readable by humans and machines

If Google was your English teacher, AI engines are the nerds in the front row double-checking your sources.

What CTAs Work Best on Substack vs. a Website Blog?

10. Always Include a Call to Action on Both Platforms

A simple CTA turns visibility into brand growth.

On your website offer:

  • Download a free guide

  • Join a Membership Suite or Sign up for Emails

  • Book a discovery call

  • Take a quiz

  • Peruse your products or shop a special sale

On Substack encourage:

  • Share this post

  • Leave a comment

  • Forward it to another founder

  • Upgrade to paid

Never leave a reader wondering what to do next. Humans need breadcrumbs. So do algorithms.

TL;DR Best Practices Checklist

Website gets:
✓ Canonical version
✓ SEO/AEO optimization
✓ Long-form, evergreen authority content
✓ Best images
✓ Internal linking

Substack gets:
✓ Conversational version
✓ Founder personality
✓ Community engagement
✓ Links back to your website
✓ Timed secondary release

Both get:
✓ Clear structure
✓ Strong headlines
✓ CTA
✓ AI-friendly formatting

FAQS: Substack vs. Website Publishing

1. Should I publish my blog post on my website or on Substack first?

Publish on your website first. This establishes the canonical source for Google Search, Google Discover, and AI-powered tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Then publish a conversationally edited version on Substack 24–72 hours later.

2. Does Google Discover index Substack posts?

Not reliably. Discover heavily prefers brand-owned domains, fresh content, and original images — all things your Substack can’t guarantee. Your website should always be the “source of truth” version if you want Google Discover visibility.

3. Will posting the same content on Substack hurt my SEO?

Not if you transform the content.
Best practice:

  • Website = polished, SEO/AEO-optimized, evergreen authority post

  • Substack = conversational, founder-led version with clear links back to your website

This signals to search engines which version is the authoritative one.

4. How does AI (ChatGPT, Perplexity, SGE) decide which version to surface?

AI tools prefer:

  • original sources

  • structured content

  • clear internal linking

  • consistent topical authority

  • brand-owned domains

Your website checks all those boxes. Substack is the community engine, not the source-of-truth engine.

5. Should I change the tone between platforms?

Yes.

  • On your website: polished, educational, keyword-rich, formatted for scannability.

  • On Substack: founder POV, stories, personality, asides, community calls-to-action.

This duality keeps readers engaged and algorithms confident.

6. How often should founders publish on both platforms?

A healthy rhythm looks like:

  • Website: Weekly or biweekly long-form articles

  • Substack: Weekly letters, commentary, or reflections

You can publish Substack entries more often — but keep your website as your evergreen library.

7. Do internal links on my website matter for AI visibility?

Absolutely. Internal links help:

  • Google understand your site architecture

  • AI engines map your topical expertise

  • Your articles feed each other authority signals

Think of internal linking as SEO meets “Share of Model” optimization.

8. Can I reuse images across my website and Substack?

You can — but here’s the kicker:
Google Discover performs best when you use original, high-quality, unique images on your website. Substack can use alternates, behind-the-scenes shots, or more casual imagery.

9. Should I include CTAs on both platforms?

Yes, but tailored:

  • Website: lead magnets, quizzes, service pages, downloads, courses

  • Substack: comment prompts, share buttons, upgrade-to-paid, community asks

One is transactional; one is relational.

10. What’s the biggest mistake founders make when using Substack and a brand blog together?

Publishing identical versions without:

  • adjusting tone

  • linking back to the website

  • setting the canonical source

  • optimizing for structured search & AI

Your platforms shouldn’t mirror each other, they should amplify each other.

More to Explore:

Carolyn Delacorte

I’m a publicist and brand strategist specializing in PR for lifestyle brands—including beauty, wellness, home, and gifting—since 1997. Through my agency, Boxwood Press, I help creative and consumer-focused companies grow through strategic media outreach, product placement, and compelling brand storytelling. With a journalism background at CNN, NPR, and KTVU, I understand exactly what editors and producers are looking for. My work has been featured in House Beautiful, Town & Country, Well+Good, Refinery29, Vogue, and Architectural Digest. I’m passionate about helping lifestyle brands get seen, shared, and talked about—in all the right places.

https://www.boxwoodco.com
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