The Basics of Squarespace: A Beginner's Guide
Let’s start the New Year off with the basics! This blog post will walk you through the essential steps needed to design your website on the Squarespace platform.
Squarespace is a user-friendly and easily customizable website building platform that caters to both beginners and experienced designers. It is by far my favorite “drag + drop” website builder, but the amount of information can be daunting! It took me a full six months to complete my first website, so here are a few helpful steps to get you started!.
1. Setting Up Your Squarespace Account
The first step on your Squarespace journey is to sign up for an account. Head to the Squarespace website and click on the "Get Started" button. Follow the prompts to create your account, and you'll soon find yourself in the Squarespace dashboard, ready to start building.
Helpful tip: Make sure the email address you use for your account is the same email you use for your business!
2. Choosing the Right Template
Squarespace offers extensive template filtering options, so take your time to ensure you choose the right one that aligns with your website needs and business goals.
Helpful tip: All Squarespace templates are fully customizable, meaning that if you like elements of one template you can incorporate them into a different template of your choice.
3. Customizing Your Website
Once you choose a template, it's time to customize it to match your brand identity. Click on the "Design" tab in the Squarespace dashboard. This is where you can change your fonts, pick your colors, and other style elements. Squarespace has an easy breezy drag-and-drop interface, making customizing really easy for beginners. Experiment with different options until you achieve the look that matches your brand.
Helpful tip: Use up to two font styles - one for Headings and one for Paragraphs to ensure your website is streamlined. As for colors - I prefer Hex codes (ie #FFFFFF) because once you have selected your color codes, it’s really easy to keep that exact color shade for all brand marketing.
4. Adding Content to Your Pages
Now it’s time to add your website content in the Pages panel. Pages are the building blocks of your Squarespace website. To add a new page, click on the "+" icon in the Pages panel. You can create standard pages like "Home," "About," and "Contact”, or customize them to add “Services”, “Shop”, or whatever type of page you’d like! Adding content easily by clicking on a content block and typing or uploading elements (like images and videos) into place.
Helpful tip: Pages under the Main Navigation will appear in your website’s navigation panel, while pages under the Not Linked will need to be accessed by a button or a link.
5. Understanding Blocks and Sections
In Squarespace, your web pages are organized into sections. You’ll put your website content in blocks within those sections. Squarespace has a huge variety of content blocks which you can place virtually anywhere within those sections. Play around with different blocks to structure your content effectively and create a stunning layout that meets your website and business goals.
Helpful tip: If you’re not sure whether or not you like a section on your website, utilize the “Save Section” feature. This allows you to view your site with and without sections without losing all your work.
6. Previewing and Publishing Your Site
Before announcing the launch of your website to the world, take advantage of Squarespace's preview mode. This allows you to see how your site will look to visitors before publishing. Once you're happy with the preview, hit the "Publish" button to make your website live. Congratulations, you've officially launched your Squarespace site!
Helpful tip: Google’s search engine will eventually find your website and add it to their catalog, but to speed up this process make sure to index your sitemap to the Google Search Engine!
7. Exploring Additional Features
Don’t let these steps limit you in your web design process! Squarespace goes beyond the basics with a range of advanced features.
Their e-commerce functionality is on par with the Shopify platform, they have extensive blogging capabilities, email marketing campaign options, and integrations with third-party services.
Plus, the Squarespace support team and community forums are awesome resources if you ever need assistance or inspiration.
Conclusion
I hope this beginner's guide helps you in your Squarespace journey. Remember, building a website is a creative process, and can be very daunting! Fortunately, Squarespace provides the tools to turn your vision into a reality. Take your time to explore and experiment, and don't hesitate to seek support when needed. Happy designing!
Feel free to customize and expand upon this template to fit your writing style and any additional details you'd like to include!