Introduction

As we step into 2024, having a compelling and efficient online presence has never been more critical for entrepreneurs. Whether you’re launching a startup or scaling your small business, a website is often the first impression you make on potential customers. Squarespace, a popular all-in-one website builder, offers entrepreneurs a range of tools to build, design, and optimize their websites. However, to truly make your website stand out and convert visitors into paying customers, there are some essential hacks you need to know.

In this blog post, we’ll explore must-know Squarespace hacks that will take your website to the next level and help you thrive in 2024.

1. Leverage the Right Squarespace Template for Your Business

The template you choose lays the foundation for your website’s success. Not all Squarespace templates are created equal, and selecting one tailored to your business niche can impact your branding, usability, and conversions.

Key Hacks:

•   For e-commerce websites, the Brine family of templates is the best option because it offers flexibility in layouts, large product image displays, and powerful custom design options.
•   For portfolio websites, opt for templates from the Galapagos family, as they are image-heavy and designed to showcase high-resolution photos.
•   For blogs, templates like Five and Skye are ideal because they come with elegant typography and multiple blog page formats.
•   Hack: After choosing your template, head to Design > Template Tweaks and adjust features like padding, font sizes, and layout spacing to optimize the appearance.

Infographic Idea: Display key templates and their best use cases based on business types.

2. Optimize for Mobile First

With more than 50% of web traffic now coming from mobile devices, optimizing for mobile is no longer optional. Google also emphasizes mobile-first indexing, meaning if your site performs poorly on mobile, it could hurt your SEO rankings.

Key Hacks:

•   Use Squarespace’s built-in responsive design, which automatically adjusts to mobile screen sizes. However, always preview your design in the mobile view and manually adjust any content that doesn’t look right.
•   Compress images and reduce large video files to ensure fast loading times on mobile. Use tools like TinyPNG to reduce file size without losing quality.
•   Hack: Add mobile-specific CSS code using Custom CSS in Design Settings. For instance, you can reduce text sizes on mobile screens without affecting the desktop version.

Add an image of mobile vs. desktop performance metrics, illustrating how mobile traffic is dominating in 2024.

3. Master SEO on Squarespace

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is still one of the most effective ways to grow your website organically, and Squarespace makes it relatively easy to optimize your site without extensive technical know-how.

Key Hacks:

•   Use Squarespace’s built-in SEO features like page titles, descriptions, and URL slugs. Go to Settings > SEO and ensure each page has a unique title and meta description that reflects your keywords.
•   Optimize your images by adding alt text for better visibility in Google Images. Head to Image Block Settings and add relevant keywords for each image.
•   Install Google Search Console and Google Analytics to track your site’s search performance. Make sure to submit your XML sitemap (which Squarespace generates automatically) to Google Search Console for faster indexing.
•   Hack: Use structured data by adding JSON-LD markup to your site to give Google more context about your content. Go to Code Injection under Advanced Settings to add schema markup for local businesses, products, events, and more.

Link to a useful guide on JSON-LD markup and why it’s critical for modern SEO.

4. Utilize Squarespace’s E-Commerce Features

For entrepreneurs running an online store, Squarespace offers a host of e-commerce features, but unlocking their full potential requires some specific strategies.

Key Hacks:

•   Enable abandoned cart recovery to send automated emails to customers who leave without completing their purchase. You can customize the email’s message to encourage customers to come back.
•   Set up discount codes to boost sales during promotional events. Go to Commerce > Discounts and create automatic or manual discount codes that can be shared via email campaigns or social media.
•   Hack: Use third-party apps like ShipStation for shipping integrations and Square for payment processing to streamline operations.
•   Create customer accounts for frequent buyers and loyalty programs using Squarespace Membership. This encourages customers to return to your store and builds a sense of community.

Infographic idea: Showcase a comparison between regular e-commerce setups and a fully optimized Squarespace e-commerce experience, highlighting revenue and sales growth potential.

5. Enhance User Experience (UX) with Custom Code

Squarespace offers many built-in design features, but sometimes, a little custom code can add the extra polish your site needs. While you don’t need to be a developer, learning basic HTML and CSS or working with a Squarespace developer can help you achieve unique functionality.

Key Hacks:

•   Add scroll effects or parallax scrolling using the Page Settings. This will make your website more visually engaging without slowing it down.
•   Hack: Want more advanced animations? Use CSS3 animations. For example, adding hover effects on buttons to change colors or apply a shadow effect is simple yet effective.
•   Use code blocks to embed third-party tools like booking systems, review widgets, or dynamic content to improve functionality. You can find this feature under Insert Block > Code Block.

Link to a basic CSS guide for beginners looking to enhance their websites with custom designs.

6. Integrate Third-Party Tools and Plugins

Squarespace may be a powerful tool on its own, but to expand functionality, you can integrate various third-party tools and plugins. This is where you can go beyond the basic features and create a website that meets your specific business needs.

Key Hacks:

•   Integrate Mailchimp or ConvertKit for email marketing and lead generation. Simply head to Marketing > Email Campaigns, and connect your email provider to start collecting emails.
•   Use Zapier to automate workflows between Squarespace and other platforms. For example, when someone fills out a form on your website, you can automatically add them to your CRM, like HubSpot.
•   Hack: Add social media feed integration using a plugin to display your Instagram or Twitter feed directly on your site. This allows you to keep your site fresh and dynamic with new content.

Visual aid suggestion: Show an example of how social media integration makes a Squarespace website more dynamic.

7. Optimize Website Speed

Website speed is essential for both SEO and user experience. In 2024, slow websites are no longer tolerated by visitors or search engines, making it essential to prioritize speed optimizations.

Key Hacks:

•   Use smaller image sizes without sacrificing quality. As mentioned earlier, use image compression tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim.
•   Hack: Enable lazy loading to ensure that images load only when the user scrolls down to that part of the page. This is automatically available on Squarespace but should be enabled in the Settings.
•   Utilize Squarespace’s built-in content delivery network (CDN) to distribute your content across servers worldwide, improving load times for international visitors.

Link to a tool like Google PageSpeed Insights to encourage users to test their own website speed after reading this section.

8. Create a Blog That Drives Traffic

A blog is one of the best ways to improve SEO, establish authority in your industry, and drive organic traffic to your website. Squarespace’s blog feature is robust but often underused by entrepreneurs.

Key Hacks:

•   Plan an SEO-friendly content strategy. Use tools like Ubersuggest or SEMrush to research keywords and create content that your audience is searching for.
•   Hack: Use Content Blocks to break up your blog posts with images, videos, or quotes. This keeps readers engaged and improves readability.
•   Implement a content calendar to ensure consistent blogging. By consistently posting new content, you’re sending signals to Google that your website is regularly updated, which improves your rankings.

Conclusion

In 2024, Squarespace remains a powerful platform for entrepreneurs to build and grow their online presence. Whether you’re running an e-commerce store, a blog, or a portfolio, these Squarespace hacks will help you unlock the full potential of the platform and ensure that your website stands out in a crowded online space.

Start by optimizing your design, improving SEO, adding custom functionality, and making the user experience seamless to drive traffic and grow your business.

Ready to take your Squarespace website to the next level? Visit HelprSpace.com today to learn how we can help you design, develop, and maintain a website that drives growth for your business in 2024!