23 Steps to a Published Squarespace Website…
Dreaming of creating your own website but don’t know where to start?
Trust me when I say that with the new Squarespace Fluid Engine Editor it is now EASIER. THAN. EVER.
Image Source: www.squarespace.com
Let me take you through the 23 steps it takes to establish your brand and build and publish your very own Squarespace website using the new Fluid Engine Editor, starting from the VERY start!
01. Brainstorm and decide on your business name
If you are wanting to build a personal brand then you could consider using your own name
If you have plans or dreams of expanding your business in the future you could consider a name that isn’t too personal or indicative of you being the only person behind-the-scenes
02. Check the availability of your chosen business name
Here is a great website for checking the availability of Australian business names
03. Register your business name and apply for an ABN (if you don’t already have one)
Here is a great website for registering your business name and ABN
04. Purchase your domain name from GoDaddy.com/en-au
If available, purchase both the ‘.com’ and ‘.com.au’ domain extensions and set up a redirect for whichever extension you don’t connect to your website. ‘.com’ domains have a high level of awareness internationally, so it can be useful for Australian businesses to register the .com extension on top of ‘.com.au’ if you are wanting to service clients overseas. It is also a way of preventing competitors or rogue parties from purchasing and using the domain/s associated with your business.
05. Invest in professional branding for your business
If you are a graphic or brand designer and have the skills, yay! If not, I cannot recommend enough that you invest in hiring a professional designer for your branding. Not only will it help you to stand out in your industry, it will also help to build trust and seriously make a world of difference when it comes to the success of your new venture!
06. Invest in professional photography
See how I have said ‘invest’ twice now? It might seem like a huge outlay or commitment for someone just starting out in business but trust me when I say this is going to uplevel your brand immediately! People buy with their eyes! Using quality imagery throughout your website will not only catch your reader’s interest but also improves your visibility online. Think about it… If you stumble across a website and see someone’s home job, DIY, photography does it make you stop for a second and think, “Do I actually trust this person with (whatever it may be)”? It is so important to build that trust and connection with your audience as soon as they land on your site, so make sure you have beautiful photography ready to go, no matter the industry you are in!
07. Decide on the pages you need for your website
You don’t want to be making things up as you go.
If you are completely unsure, I recommend starting with:
Home
About
Services
Contact
You can watch my free masterclass on my ‘Foolproof blueprint for a high converting website’ which helps you to map out your website blueprint in a way that makes sense. I take you through identifying your starting point, end objectives for when people land on your website and mapping out ideal pathways to get them to where you want them to be, e.g. how to lead your audience from your starting point (home page) to your ideal site objectives (getting in contact with you or downloading your services guide).
08. Create your Squarespace account
If you are just wanting to get your toes wet to begin with, Squarespace offers a 14 day free trial so you can create your account and start to get familiar with the platform before you commit to a subscription
09. Select your desired website template or start from scratch
This is completely up to you! I recommend starting with a Squarespace template if you are not familiar with the platform and/or comfortable designing your own website sections
10. Upload your brand logo
If you invested in professional branding your designer should have provided you with an array of logo layouts, colour combinations and file formats (don’t freak out if you have no idea what the heck you’re meant to do with each of them!!!). Whichever logo variation you choose to use on your website, I recommend ensuring your file has a transparent background (PNG file). This will allow you to experiment with different header colours as you build your site without having to go back and edit/re-upload your logo.
11. Choose your desired desktop and mobile header layout settings
In your Squarespace editor screen when you hover over your Squarespace header navigation and click ‘edit site header’ a panel will appear which will allow you to edit your site header and navigation settings. In the top right of this panel you will see icons: Globe (which stands for global header and navigation settings), Desktop (which stands for desktop header and navigation settings) and Mobile (which stands for mobile header and navigation settings), these different tabs allow you to set your header layout, turn navigation links on and off, set your navigation padding and so much more! Play around here until you are happy with the layout of your site on both desktop and mobile views.
12. Add your brand colours
If you invested in professional branding your designer should have provided you with a style guide outlining your brand colours or at minimum a list of your brand colour codes. In your Squarespace backend navigate to Design > Site Styles > Colours > Edit Palette. This is where you enter your brand colours which then edits your site colour settings and ‘themes’ globally. I recommend adding the colours from lightest to darkest respectively from left to right in the palette editor as this will influence how your section themes appear. After adding your brand colours you can then click back into ‘Colours’ and edit each ‘Theme’. These are labelled ‘Lightest 1’, ‘Lightest 2’ etc. and when clicked into you can customise things further (if you are comfortable doing so). This isn’t at all compulsory as Squarespace customises things automatically quite well!
13. Choose your desired fonts or upload your custom brand fonts
Squarespace has quite a large library of fonts to choose from and if you aren’t comfortable with adding a little bit of custom code to your website, you are best off choosing fonts from their selection that best matches your brand fonts. If your brand heading font is a sans serif font, scroll through what they have on offer and choose the font most similar to what is used in your branding.
Alternatively you can upload custom fonts to your website using a little bit of code. This is slightly more advanced and something I cover in depth and take you through step-by-step in my Squarespace Web Design for Beginners course.
14. Format your font, button, spacing and site settings to your liking
Go to Design > Site Styles and format things as you like
15. Create and name your website pages and organise how you would like them to appear in your site header (up the top of your website)
You can move them to be under ‘Main Navigation’ (which will make them visible in your site header) or you can move them to be under ‘Not Linked’ (which will hide them from your site header but still be available to view)
CLICK BELOW TO CONTINUE READING
If designing your website has been on your to-do list or it has maybe been on the back burner for a little while…
I have some great free resources for you to get started, below!
💸 Start Converting more Clients with these 10 Homepage Must-Haves - Free Guide
💸 My Foolproof Blueprint for a High-Converting Website - Free Masterclass
And if you are someone who is ready to invest in your new Squarespace website but needs a little extra help with bringing your ideas to fruition, I have the PERFECT course for you…
Squarespace Web Design for Beginners Course
Perfect for service-based businesses who are ready to take control of their online presence and design and publish the website of their dreams. The course is a start-to-finish rundown on the Squarespace platform, from logging in and choosing your site template all the way through to designing and publishing your site with a custom domain.
Beautiful brand and website design that evokes feelings and tells your unique story is what sets the foundation for a successful business!
