01: What Squarespace template should you start with? 🤔
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00:00 The term Squarespace is a trademark of Squarespace, Incorporated. This content is not affiliated with Squarespace, Incorporated.
00:12 Welcome to Think Inside The Square, a podcast full of quick tips and tricks that will help you create a Squarespace website that you're proud of.
00:19 I'm your host, Becca Harpain, creator of Insidethesquare Co, and in this very first episode, I'm going to explain why it is so important that you pick the right template to start with. Or is it?
00:31 For a transcript of this episode, along with the links to any resources mentioned, visit insidethesquare.co/podcast.
00:41 When you're creating a brand new Squarespace website and you visit Squarespace.com, you are going to see so many templates to choose from. They all look amazingly unique.
00:50 Some are for different types of businesses. Some have stores, some have blogs. Some are full of text, and others are full of images. How do you know which template to start with?
01:01 A lot of people will initially just click on their industry at the top of that page and say, okay, I want to find more templates that are designed for restaurants because I want a restaurant.
01:10 But the truth is, every single one of those templates for Squarespace version 7.1 can do the exact same thing.
01:19 Every single one of those can have a blog or not. You can have a store or not. You can link it to a menu or not. You've got all of the exact same options for every single template.
01:33 Now, back in version 7.0, we would select different templates that belong to different theme families. And sometimes you would lose functionality that you wanted.
01:42 You might have heard somebody talk about a brine site or an index page. Those are legacy sites built on version 7.0 where the template made a big difference in what the features and functionality would be for that specific website.
01:55 Now, Squarespace caught onto that and realized, whoa, we need to give everybody the exact same content so they can create something amazing no matter what template they start with.
02:04 And their answer to that was version 7.1. So if it doesn't matter which template you start with, how do you know which one to pick?
02:12 Do you just start from scratch? I honestly don't think you should.
02:16 This is what I want you to think about when picking out a template for your brand new Squarespace website.
02:21 I don't want you to worry about whether or not this template has a blog or a store.
02:26 I want you to look at that main menu. What do you think of the layout?
02:29 Do you like the way that the logo is centered compared to the other links on there? Do you like the fact that it has a button or doesn't have a button?
02:37 Take a look at the header and see what you think. Do you like the layout of this particular template?
02:42 Now I want you to take a look at the actual demo site itself and think about the way images and text are placed.
02:48 Are you going to have a lot of images on your site? Choose one that's a little more image heavy so that it's already designed to handle that type of content.
02:57 Are you going to have a lot of text on the pages on your site? Then take a look at the fonts being used on that templates and the difference in their sizes.
03:05 Are headers, like, really dramatically big, or are they kind of close in size to the actual paragraph text?
03:11 What's the contrast you're looking for?
03:13 And does this template kind of mirror the design that you want to go with?
03:17 I also want you to take a look at some of the buttons. Do the buttons have a unique shape to them that you like? Or maybe you want something with 90 degree corners, or you want super rounded, pill shaped buttons?
03:28 You've got different options there, but see what the template is already working with.
03:32 Now, I'm pretty sure you can pick up on where I'm going with this, but what you're really evaluating is the Vibe.
03:38 All of these templates can do the exact same thing, but if you pick something that is designed in a style that you already like, all you really need to do is change the images, change the text, and then get a little creative with embellishing the layout.
03:52 You're going to save yourself so much time if you don't start from scratch.
03:57 So if you own a restaurant, don't take a look at the restaurant templates.
04:01 Take a look at the templates that maybe focus on images. If you've got really great, beautiful photos of your food.
04:06 Or maybe you are a photographer, take a look at the websites that they have for weddings.
04:12 A lot of those are going to be very heavily focused on images, and one of them might be perfect for your design even if you're not promoting a wedding.
04:20 So again, all of the Squarespace 7.1 templates can do the exact same thing.
04:25 If you're ready for a blog, you can add one.
04:28 If you're ready for a store, you can add it.
04:29 If you want to have three stores, you go for it.
04:32 Sky's the limit.
04:33 Just rest assured that whatever template you start with, you're going to be able to customize it to match your colors, your fonts, your imagery style, and have any of the features and functionality that you want.
04:44 So why is it important to pick the right template?
04:47 You're going to save time if you focus on the vibe.
04:50 I hope that you feel a lot less pressure about picking the perfect template after listening to this episode. Rest assured they can all do the same things.
04:57 And I know that paired with your creativity, you're going to create an awesome website.
05:02 Thank you so much for listening to this very first episode of Think Inside the Square.
05:06 I have a lot more tips and tricks to share with you about making an amazing Squarespace website that is uniquely yours.
05:13 So be sure to subscribe to my brand new podcast wherever you happen to be listening to this one.
05:17 Thanks again for listening and most importantly, have fun with your Squarespace website.
05:22 Bye for now.
