31: How to set up a membership site using Squarespace
In this episode of Think Inside The Square, I'm excited to walk you through the process of creating a thriving membership site using Squarespace! We'll start by exploring the various types of content you can offer, like courses, video collections, or blog posts. As a Squarespace expert, I'll then show you how to leverage the platform's "member area" feature to create secure, password-protected sections for your valuable content.
Get ready to dive deep with me as we navigate a ten-step process, covering everything from planning your content and choosing the most effective format to setting up navigation, pricing, and finally launching your membership site. Along the way, I'll address some common questions you might have about Squarespace membership areas, like managing PDFs and integrating payments. We'll even explore some handy testing tips to ensure a smooth and successful launch.
By the end of this episode, you'll be armed with the knowledge and tools you need to build a thriving membership site using Squarespace and start sharing your expertise with the world! So, grab your favorite note-taking tool and let's get started!
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(Apologies for all the time stamps - i’m stil editing this content!)
Have you ever dreamt of sharing your expertise, building a loyal community,00:09and even generating some extra income all on your own terms?
00:13Well, guess what?
00:14A membership site can make that dream a reality,
00:16and Squarespace has all the features that you need to create a fantastic one.
00:21In this episode of Think Inside the Square, you'll learn about three unique member
00:24membership based business models and how to create them using Squarespace.
00:28Welcome to Think Inside the Square, a podcast full of tips and tricks
00:32to help you create a Squarespace website that you're proud of.
00:34I'm your host, Becca Harpane, Squarespace expert and creator of InsidetheSquare.co
00:39This episode is all about that magical recurring revenue model that
00:43you can create for your business using Squarespace member areas.
00:47We're digging into three real life examples of membership sites set up using Squarespace, and I'll
00:52teach you the step by step process of actually creating these on your own Squarespace website.
00:57We've got a lot to cover for a transcript of this episode,
01:00along with the links to any resources mentioned, visit insidethesquare.co/podcast
01:05The term Squarespace is a trademark of Squarespace, Inc. This content is not affiliated with Squarespace, Inc.
01:13I'm dividing this episode into three different parts.
01:16We're starting off by talking about those different membership sites that you can create.
01:20Then we'll talk about how to build them using Squarespace,
01:22and I'll finish up by sharing some of my best practices, answering common questions I've
01:27already received that can help you implement this magic for your business.
01:30My goal for this episode is to inspire you to think outside the box here inside the square.
01:36Okay, that was too cheesy.
01:37No more of that.
01:38Let's get into the overview, shall we?
01:40A squarespace member area.
01:42It's essentially a folder of content on your site that can only be accessed
01:47when someone logs in with an account that's associated with that membership.
01:51This account is created for a unique email, and it has a unique password.
01:55This is something that the user sets up on their end.
01:58You don't have control over what this password is.
02:01You can send them reset instructions if they need it,
02:04but as far as their account is concerned, it's their personal account.
02:08This isn't a password that everyone can use, and it's not an account that's used by multiple people.
02:13It's one person, one login.
02:15If you've used the Internet, member areas can be free or paid,
02:20and they can include all kinds of content.
02:23This isn't just an online course, which is a collection of lessons inside chapters.
02:28This isn't just a video collection that you pay to access
02:31this member area is a folder that can hold any type of page in your squarespace website.
02:37So no matter what you want to share with your audience, if you want them to log in
02:42for exclusive access to your content, I want you to create a member area first.
02:46If you're a yoga teacher who wants to share a collection of videos,
02:50I want you to create a member area first.
02:52If you're a handwriting analysis expert who wants to teach people how to do what you do
02:57in a structured, step by step course, I want you to create a member area first.
03:02If you're a personal chef who wants to share a new recipe every week with your subscribers,
03:07create a member area first.
03:09Remember these member areas?
03:11They're folders that can have all different types of content.
03:14So for that yoga teacher with a video collection, we add that collection to a member area.
03:19Then we can add other pages like affiliate links
03:22for recommended gear or a private contact form for student support.
03:26If you're offering a course, you probably have bonus
03:29content or additional resources that go with your lessons.
03:32Create a member area and then add a course inside that member area
03:37and add your bonus content as an extra page.
03:39And the personal chef who wants to share a new recipe every week,
03:43you can add a blog to a member area that has scheduled posts that you write in advance.
03:48You can also add a video collection to that member area
03:51to share cooking technique videos for your subscribers.
03:53I would absolutely need that if I signed up for your content.
03:57So you can see here these member areas.
03:59They are ideal for holding all kinds of content.
04:02So instead of starting with a course,
04:05I want you to create a member area first and then add course content to it.
04:09I made up those three examples to explain why I think anyone and everyone who wants to share
04:15paid content with their members should start a member area, not a course or a video collection.
04:21I want you to have the ability to add any type of content that you want at any time.
04:26Now, there's one other style of membership that I want to bring up, and that is a community,
04:31like an exclusive forum or a group where people get to interact with each other.
04:35Squarespace is not designed for that, at least not at the time of recording this.
04:40There are third party apps or programs that you can embed into squarespace to make that happen.
04:46But in this episode of Think Inside the square, we're focused 100% on squarespace only features.
04:52So the best option you've got would be a blog inside a member area.
04:56Your members, they can comment on this blog to interact with each other, and you can moderate
05:01the comments, but that's about all you can do to foster any type of community connection.
05:06Again, embedding a different program or providing an external link
05:10to something like a private slack channel or discord.
05:13Totally possible, but you'll need to use a program
05:16other than squarespace to have that level of interaction for your members.
05:21So let's recap before we move on.
05:23No matter what you want to offer for your memberships, start with the member area.
05:27This member area acts like a folder of content on your site that
05:31can only be accessed when someone logs in with their account.
05:34You can have an online course inside a member area and other resources too,
05:38like a video collection or a portfolio of projects.
05:41That's my setup of choice.
05:42You can have members only blog content with scheduled posts,
05:46and if you want people to connect and interact with each other,
05:49and you only want to use squarespace, your only option is a blog with comments.
05:54And let's be real here, it's really not that great of an option.
05:58So I want you to consider adding a link to some kind of third party program,
06:01like Discord or Slack or embedding that program.
06:04Because Squarespace isn't built for that kind of membership yet, it's not ideal for a community.
06:10Now that you get the concept, let's talk about the step
06:13by step process of creating this membership site together.
06:16A quick reminder before we dive in, I've got a transcript of this episode and links
06:21to related resources on my blog at InsidetheSquare.co/podcast
06:26This is episode 31, so that's Insidethesquare.co/podcast/31
06:32Okay, cool.
06:33On with the process here.
06:35How to set up a member area in Squarespace we've got ten steps to go through together.
06:39Step one, plan your content.
06:42We are getting into some details here, but we've got to start with that high level planning.
06:46What kind of content do you want to share with your members?
06:50Do you need videos?
06:52What about transcripts for those videos?
06:54And how about pdfs, downloadable content that your members will want to use?
06:58I also want you to think about how you'll deliver this content.
07:01Do they get it all at once, or do you need to schedule things in advance?
07:06This kind of information helps you figure out what you need
07:09to create and how to share it using Squarespace.
07:11Step two is to create a folder in the not linked section
07:15of your site where you'll be adding all of your membership content.
07:18In the not linked section, click that plus sign and select a folder,
07:22and inside that folder is where you're going to add all of your membership content.
07:26To be clear, we haven't enabled member areas yet,
07:30and here's why I recommend we do this for step two.
07:32I want you to be able to access all of the content that's going to go
07:36into your membership without actually having to create a membership.
07:40That's because you'll need to test this on multiple devices.
07:44As a Squarespace designer, I will never actually launch content before
07:48I've reviewed it on different devices to make sure my website looks great,
07:52and I strongly recommend you do this for the members as well.
07:55Now, inside this folder is where you're going to be adding all of your content,
07:58which takes us to step three, creating your own template.
08:02Most people who are sharing membership based content will have specific
08:06page layouts that you'll need to duplicate,
08:08lessons that look relatively the same, articles, recipes, resources, you get the idea.
08:13I like to design my own template inside my squarespace site
08:18that I can then duplicate to use throughout the member area.
08:21In my latest training series, I have two portfolios of projects.
08:25One of these projects is a video based lesson, and the other is resource articles.
08:31The video based lessons.
08:32They all have the same layout.
08:34It starts with the title, a description, a video block, and a transcript in an accordion drop down.
08:39Then after that I have a section with three links,
08:41the resource guide for the lesson, the secondary resource I include for every lesson,
08:46and a link to other supporting articles inside the member area.
08:50For each one of those articles, I've created a different template,
08:53a different style of project in that portfolio.
08:56This has a title, a download as PDF button, an icon for the resource, then the text based content.
09:02Again, I designed this, so now I can duplicate it for every additional resource I need to create.
09:08So I'm using the term template fairly loosely here, but the idea is I want you to design
09:14the layout for most of the content you'll be sharing,
09:16and then when you're ready to add your content to squarespace, all you have to do is duplicate it.
09:21Duplicate the project, duplicate the page, duplicate the posts.
09:25It'll save you a ton of time because you're not having to redesign every individual page.
09:30Make yourself a template and while you're working on this template,
09:34there is a key question that you need to answer.
09:36Is there information that you need to link to on every page?
09:39This is an important question because of a setup trick of mine that you can totally steal.
09:44If there's information you want on every page, like a footer that's unique for your member area,
09:49you can add this to your template.
09:52I have a unique footer.
09:53For this footer.
09:54It has my site title, terms and conditions, privacy policy,
09:58a link to the main course, and a contact form.
10:01Underneath that I have my little disclaimer.
10:03This content's not affiliated with Squarespace.
10:05Blah blah blah.
10:06This is the footer that I want on every single page inside my member area, my main website footer.
10:12It has links to different parts of my blog.
10:14It has an option for people to sign up for my newsletter.
10:17I don't want that inside my member area.
10:19So in this unique page section in my template, I design a footer specifically for the member area.
10:26Then I add a code block that says hide the regular footer on my website.
10:30Now this section is a part of my template for my member area.
10:34So I know that unique footer and not my regular footer will be
10:37displayed on every page that I duplicate using this template.
10:41A cool workaround that I wanted to share with you.
10:43All right, that was the big step.
10:45I've got a lot more to share with you.
10:47Step four, this is actually the biggest step of them all.
10:50Actually create your content inside Squarespace.
10:53You know what you want to share.
10:54You've created a folder in the not link section of your site,
10:57and in that folder you have your content templates.
11:00That was steps one, two and three.
11:01So it's time to roll up your sleeves and get to work, my friend.
11:05Now I want to make sure that you understand.
11:07When I say create your content, I mean it.
11:10I'm not talking bullet points here.
11:11I'm talking word for word.
11:13When I created my latest membership area here at Insidethesquare Co.
11:17I knew that I wanted to have all my lessons inside a portfolio
11:21to make it easy for my students to navigate from one module to the next.
11:24Each lesson has a video, but it also has a transcript of that video.
11:29It also has a little blurb introduction, and it has a related icon.
11:33There's also a pdf guide and a related resource.
11:36And this project page has multiple page sections.
11:39So I was able to create a unique and flexible design.
11:42So I created this and I added every single piece of content for every single lesson,
11:47duplicating that project template over and over until it was ready.
11:51Now, again, you might be better off creating a blog,
11:54especially if you want to schedule content to be released at different times.
11:58You might want to create an event or an individual lesson for your content.
12:02The only way to know for sure is to get clear on what you have to offer, figure out how to offer it,
12:08and then create your template that was already steps one, two, and three.
12:11We're in step four, actually create your content.
12:14All right, we've got the content done.
12:16Let's move on to step five.
12:18Enable member areas to use the membership feature in Squarespace.
12:22You have to turn it on.
12:23I need you to click on selling, then products, then digital products.
12:27And here you'll see three options.
12:29You'll see course listed as a guided series of lessons to teach a skill or educate on a topic.
12:35You'll also see video on demand, a full library of videos.
12:39You can organize into categories, and then you'll see member site,
12:42an area of your site with members only pages and content.
12:46Remember what I said at the very beginning of this episode.
12:49Even if you're creating a course or you're only offering videos, I want you to pick member areas.
12:55These member areas inside Squarespace have a lot more options than the other two.
13:00And yes, you can add a course to your member area.
13:03You can add a collection of videos on demand to your member area.
13:06So don't be fooled by those other two options.
13:09Member area is what you want to select.
13:11All right, we're on to step six.
13:14Actually create the member area.
13:15Now that you've enabled it, you literally need to make it so.
13:19In your pages menu, you'll see a new section for member areas.
13:23Click a plus sign to create one.
13:25Inside this member area, you have a few settings that we need to talk about.
13:28So let's move on to step seven.
13:31Deciding on the appropriate settings for your membership site.
13:34Click on the gear icon next to the member area and pick one of three navigation options.
13:39You can replace the main navigation so when members are logged in,
13:43all they're going to see are the links in the member area.
13:45You can select show in customer account panel option
13:49and that means people will be able to navigate the pages in the member area when
13:53they open their account info that shows up kind of like a sidebar.
13:56Personally, that's a little disorienting because it's not
13:59the way they're used to interacting with a Squarespace website.
14:02So I don't recommend selecting that one.
14:04And then we have last but not least, you can select don't show member navigation.
14:08If you choose this option,
14:10you'll just have your regular website header shown at the top of your screen.
14:14I actually select don't show member area navigation and then I actually
14:18create a secondary navigation myself, but that's some advanced stuff.
14:21If you want to learn a little bit more about that,
14:23check out the show notes for this episode at InsidetheSquare.co/podcast/31
14:29All right, so you need to set your price for the member area as well.
14:33You can set this to be free weekly, monthly, one time recurring.
14:37You've got a lot of different options there.
14:39And if you don't have commerce set up on your site, make sure that you link to stripe,
14:43PayPal or squarespace payments, whatever payment processor you're using before you launch.
14:49All right, that was step seven, deciding on your settings.
14:51Step eight, this is an easy one.
14:54Drag all the content you created into the member area folder.
14:57You already created it, you already tested it.
15:00It's time to move it to the member area and remove the password
15:03for all of those pages that you created under the page settings.
15:07That way members can access your content.
15:10All right, step nine, test it.
15:12All you need to test the login process before you launch.
15:16You can set the price to free just for a few minutes to see what it's like to sign up.
15:20Or you can create a discount code for 100% off.
15:24That's what I do when I'm testing my member area.
15:26I create a discount code and I practice the whole login sign up process
15:30to make sure it's easy to access the content and that all of my navigation works.
15:34And step ten, add a member sign up block to your site.
15:38I recommend creating a sales page focused on getting people to sign up for your new member area.
15:43But you do you wherever you decide to encourage people to enroll in your new member area,
15:48you can add a join or enroll button
15:50to any page on your site using a content block known as the digital product block.
15:56Select the specific member area and then choose to display the title description,
16:00the price, and of course, the sign up button.
16:02Customizing the text and the alignment right there in the block itself.
16:06Okay, that was a lot of info today.
16:08You ready for another recap?
16:09Let's do it super fast overview here.
16:12Step one, decide what you want to offer and how.
16:15What type of content are you sharing, and do you release it all at once or do you schedule it?
16:20Step two, create a folder for all of your new content in the not late section of your site.
16:25It's going to make it easier to test your layout and links later on.
16:28Step three, design your own template inside that folder.
16:32I want you to create a project,
16:33a page, or a blog post that you can duplicate for your member content.
16:37I have two portfolios full of projects in my newest member area.
16:42One of them is a template for video based content and another is written article based content.
16:47Just to give you a little perspective there.
16:49Step four, actually create the content inside squarespace and I mean all of it.
16:54All of the things I want you to add, all the videos, the buttons, the pdfs, everything.
16:59Step five is to enable member areas in your settings.
17:03Under selling products, digital products, you'll see member site.
17:07It's listed under course and under video on demand.
17:10That's what you want.
17:11Member site no matter what you're going to be sharing with your membership area.
17:15Step six is to create the area,
17:17click into your pages menu and select the plus sign next to the new member area section.
17:21This is where you name the member area.
17:24Step seven is selecting your navigation settings and setting
17:27up the pricing player that you want to go with.
17:29Step eight is the easiest step of them all.
17:32Move all of your content into the member area.
17:35You already created it inside the folder in your not linked section,
17:38so now all you have to do is drag that content to the member area inside your page's menu.
17:43Step nine, test it all I want you to test the login process,
17:47make a coupon code that's a 100% discount, and interact with your content on multiple devices.
17:53Click every button, submit every form, go from lesson to lesson, test it all.
17:57And step ten, create a place for people to sign up.
18:01I like to make a sales page specific for the member area, but any place you can add
18:05a content block to, you can add a digital product block, which is how people will sign up.
18:09And there you have it, the step by step process of creating a member area in Squarespace.
18:14I've been talking about this feature for a while, so I actually have some
18:17common questions that I wanted to answer before we call this episode a wrap.
18:21First question that I get asked the most often how do I share pdfs inside a member area?
18:27You can upload them to Squarespace, but I don't and I'll tell you why.
18:31I host my pdfs on Google Drive, and I set them up so that anyone with the link can see the PDF.
18:37Now I add that link inside Squarespace and I set it up to open in a new tab.
18:41I do this because I make spelling mistakes all the time.
18:45Squarespace changes all the time, and I know my content is going to need to be updated.
18:50Inside Google Drive, I can upload a new version of the PDF and the link stays the same.
18:55It's the easiest way for me to manage updates.
18:58Usually after that question people ask me, is sharing a PDF link via Google Drive super secure?
19:04And the answer is no, it is not.
19:06My students could totally share the pdfs with anyone they wanted to, but you know what?
19:11They trust me to teach them cool stuff and I trust them not to give my stuff away.
19:15Mutual respect is a pretty awesome thing,
19:17so I don't worry too much about my students sharing my content.
19:21Another question people ask me a lot is what about Kajabi
19:24or podio or any other membership website out there?
19:27The truth is, those programs are great.
19:29They're designed for memberships, and they have a ton of different metrics
19:33and other bells and whistles that you can use to launch a great membership site.
19:36But I don't need that stuff.
19:38Plus, I thought it would be super weird to teach people how
19:41to create and customize squarespace using a program that isn't Squarespace.
19:45So yeah, I'm a little biased, but I stick with Squarespace because it has all I need,
19:49a way to deliver my content to people who log in to access it
19:52does squarespace member areas integrate with squarespace campaigns?
19:56Yes, they absolutely do.
19:58You can set up an auto email sequence right inside Squarespace campaigns.
20:02That's members only.
20:04Pro tip do this.
20:05It is a great way to reach out to new members with important information once they sign up.
20:10Then you can also use a third party email program
20:12to reach out with more ongoing content, which is what I do.
20:15I do a mix of both.
20:16Another question I get asked often is how do you collect payments?
20:20I use the squarespace payment integration on my site.
20:23I've also used stripe in the past.
20:25They do charge a transaction fee.
20:27Both of them do, depending upon what pricing plan you go with, and sure, a percentage of every sale.
20:32It adds up, but they handle the security of the site and the security of my membership information,
20:37and I am Aok with them charging me a fee to handle that kind of security.
20:41That's the price of doing business, and I will gladly pay it.
20:44The final question that people love to ask me about setting up a member area
20:48in Squarespace is if they can import data from a different membership site.
20:52Let's say you've already run your website on Thinkific or teachable or one of those other platforms.
20:57Can you import that data into Squarespace?
20:59And the answer is no.
21:01At the time of recording this, squarespace doesn't have that feature.
21:05But I don't work for Squarespace, and that's subject to change.
21:08So definitely check out the support articles at support
21:11squarespace.com or reach out to their support team to see if they have an answer for you.
21:15That might change in the future, but as of right now,
21:17we don't have the ability to import member data into Squarespace.
21:21Well, there you have it, my friend.
21:23Probably my longest episode to date how to create a membership site using Squarespace
21:29I have some rad resources for you in the show notes I've got my free guide
21:33for creating a course, a tutorial on making a sales page or a landing page.
21:37So much good stuff.
21:38Insidethesquare.co/podcast this is episode 31, so Insidethesquare.co/podcast/31
21:45thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Think Inside the Square.
21:51I hope you learned something new and that you're inspired
21:54to set up your own membership site using Squarespace.
21:57If you enjoyed this episode, please leave me a review.
21:59I'm still learning how to do this podcast thing, and I heard that reviews can
22:03help me reach even more squarespacers, so I'd really appreciate your support.
22:07Now, I've got a lot more tips and tricks to share with you about making
22:10an amazing Squarespace website that's uniquely yours,
22:13so be sure to subscribe to this podcast wherever you happen to be listening to this episode.
22:18Thanks again for listening, and most importantly, have fun with your Squarespace website.
22:22Bye for now.
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Beyond the Basics: Advanced CSS for Squarespace: insidethesquare.co/beyond
Episode: 30: Blog vs Portfolio: insidethesquare.co/podcast/30
Free course on Squarespace courses: insidethesquare.co/course
Creating a landing page in Squarespace: insidethesquare.co/tiny/landing-page
