Using (or Thinking About Using) Squarespace? Here’s How to Make It So Much Better
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This is Blog Post 1 in a 4-part Building Your Business series. Read them all here:
Post 1: Using (or thinking about using) Squarespace? Here’s how to make it so much better
Post 2: These branding assets will help you create a website that feels put together
Post 3: Your website looks great. So where are all the inquiries?
Post 4: 8 systems & tools that protect your business & simplify your day-to-day
If you're here, you're probably ready to build that website you've been thinking about.
I've built dozens of websites over the years, and I've learned that your platform choice can literally make or break your sanity.
The thing I see most: People spend weeks researching every option, get overwhelmed by choice, then either never start, OR pick a platform that requires skills or time they don't have.
The platform I use: Squarespace.
Not because it's absolutely the most perfect (more on that below), but because it handles the technical stuff well (hosting, security, updates), is constantly working on making it better and better for users, and actively works on making it more responsive and accessible than a lot of other platforms.
Here's why most small business owners decide on Squarespace:
Building your site is easy with its intuitive drag-and-drop editor
There's a lot of built-in design capabilities already included
You don't need to know how to code, but you CAN code if you'd like to make some custom design changes
Wide range of free templates you can customize
Built-in blogging, scheduling, invoicing, emailing, e-commerce, and forms
No worrying about plugins breaking your site (I'm looking at you, WordPress 👀)
Great platform for small business owners and creators who aren't super techy and don't want to spend a ton of time working on their website without a ton of hassle or learning curve
But like I said, Squarespace isn't perfect and their templated sites can sometimes appear more basic. Custom code & plug-ins can help you zhuzh up your site and make it look and work EXACTLY how you like.
When you want to make your Squarespace site do more than the basics, here are some of the tools & plugins I reach for:
Ghost Plugins (aff. link, get 10% off) for extra functionality and customization. A library of free and premium code snippets and templates made specifically for Squarespace. They let you add things Squarespace doesn’t do out of the box... like hover effects, custom buttons, styled summary blocks, video play icons, or custom fonts.
The free options cover lots of quick visual tweaks, while the paid “Super Plugins” and templates offer deeper customization.
Some of my favorites:
Text Highlight Color (Free)
Move Over Hyperlinks (Free)
Confetti Pop Buttons (Paid)
Come Back Tab (Paid)
Copy to Clipboard (Paid)
SQSPThemes SQSP Themes is run by a great guy named Omari, and sells code snippets that add all sorts of necessary features to Squarespace websites that aren't built-in but seem like they should b.e You buy the plugin once and paste the code into your site. There are a lot of great ones that I use on my own site. Two of my favorites:
Related Posts Plugin (See it in action! Scroll down to 'You Might Also Like' on any of my blog posts)
Sidebar Add a sidebar to your blog (like on WordPress)
Will Myers for easy and accessible Squarespace plugins and extensions. In addition to the 87,000 plugins I've bought from him, he also has a code membership that seems cool if you get really into this kind of thing (or if you're a web designer). Some of my absolute favorites:
Pinned Page Nav Bar (great for sales pages!)
SEOSpace for search optimization. It's been called the Yoast SEO for Squarespace; it's a Chrome extension that scans your site and tells you exactly what SEO stuff needs fixing. It gives you a simple checklist of things to do, tracks how you're ranking on Google, and helps with keyword research.
I wrote about all the pros and cons (yes, there are cons) in my Honest Squarespace Review, shared specific Squarespace tricks in my Website Hacks Guide, and covered the setup basics in my How to Use Squarespace walkthrough.
If you're comparing platforms (like WordPress vs Showit vs Shopify vs Squarespace), check out my Website Platforms Breakdown. If you're DIYing your own site, read 5 Reasons Why Your DIY Website Fails (And How to Fix It).
Ready to give Squarespace a try?
Start your free trial here and get 10% off your first year when you're ready to go live.
This blog post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
