41: Uncovering Hidden Gems: Lesser-Known Squarespace Features You Should Be Using
EPISODE SUMMARY
Launching your Squarespace website is a big accomplishment, but there are a few key details that can sometimes get overlooked. These settings might not be essential, but they can elevate your site from good to great, making it feel more professional and polished.
Brand Your Browsing Experience with a Favicon
Ever noticed the little icon next to your website title in your browser tab? That's your favicon! By default, Squarespace uses a generic gray cube. Not exactly a reflection of your brand, right?
Head over to Settings > Favicon to upload a small, square image (ideally a PNG) that represents your brand perfectly. Think of it as a tiny logo for your website. Keep it simple and avoid text or complicated designs.
Turn a "Mistake" into a Moment: Customize Your 404 Error Page
Have you ever landed on a boring "Page Not Found" message after mistyping a URL? That's your 404 error page. Squarespace offers a basic one, but you can easily create a custom page that reflects your brand personality.
In the not linked section of your site, you can design a fun and informative 404 page. Include a friendly message explaining the error, offer a search bar to help visitors find what they're looking for, or even link to your latest blog post.
Double-Check Your Social Media Links
Having social media icons on your website is a great way to connect with your audience. But make sure those links are pointing to your actual profiles, not Squarespace's default ones! Double-check the links in your header, footer, and any other pages on your site.
Upload Custom Share Images
Whenever you share a link to your Squarespace website on social media, a preview image often pops up. This is your social share image, and you can customize it for each page, blog post, or product!
Go to the page, post, or product settings and look for the social image option. Choose a captivating image (ideally with a 9:16 aspect ratio) that accurately represents the content. Remember, social media platforms display images in different sizes, so center your content horizontally and vertically.
Personalize Your Contact Form's "Thank You" Message
When someone fills out a contact form on your website, Squarespace automatically displays a simple "Thank You" message. But you can customize this message to add a warmer welcome and show your appreciation!
Go to the content tab while editing your form and look for the "Post Submit" option. Use this space to offer valuable resources, a discount code, or a call to action (like subscribing to your newsletter or scheduling a consultation).
Squarespace allows basic HTML code within the form's message, opening doors for creative customization. Explore the world of HTML to add flair to your thank you message, but remember to keep the code simple and functional. Here is an example template you can use:
<h2>Thanks for Reaching Out!</h2> <p>We appreciate you getting in touch. We'll be sure to respond to your inquiry within 24 hours. </p> <p>In the meantime, check out our latest blog post on [topic of your latest blog post] by clicking <a href="[link to your blog post]">here</a>.</p>
By implementing these simple tips, you can take your Squarespace website from good to great, creating a more professional and polished user experience!
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Launching your first Squarespace website is an exciting time, but with so much to focus on, it's very easy to miss a few key details. In this episode of Think Inside the Square, I'll be sharing the top five settings that new Squarespace-ers often overlook to help you polish your site and make it truly feel professional. Welcome to Think Inside the Square, a podcast full of tips and tricks to help you create a Squarespace website that you're proud of. I'm your host, Becca Harpain, squarespace expert and creator of InsideTheSquareco. In this episode, I'm telling you about the five most commonly overlooked Squarespace settings that I think everyone should know about. If you're about to connect your domain or you've already launched, this is important information to know. For a transcript of this episode, along with the links to any resources mentioned, visit insidethesquare.co/podcast. The term Squarespace is a trademark of Squarespace Incorporated. This content is not affiliated with Squarespace Incorporated.
Before we jump into this list of the top five Squarespace settings that often get overlooked, I want to be clear that none of these are necessary for a functioning Squarespace website. These are the little touches that take your website from amateur to professional, so let's dig in. The first on my list of five is the favicon, or browser icon. Have you ever noticed that little icon next to the website title or page title in your browser tab? That is your favicon and by default, squarespace throws in this little gray cube. Not exactly a reflection of your brand, right? It's also a dead giveaway that it's a Squarespace website that wasn't created by an experienced Squarespace designer, and it's so easy to update. Head over to settings and select favicon. Here you can upload a small one-to-one square ratio PNG images that can perfectly represent your brand. Think about it like a tiny icon for your website. This should be about 100 pixels in height and width and it's not a good place for text or complicated images. Again, think icon here. Okay, you also have the option to upload an alternative version for dark mode. This means you can upload a darker tone favicon for a lighter browser tab and a lighter version for a darker tab. Totally optional and not necessary, but I wanted to mention it.
The second overlooked setting is a custom 404 error page. Have you ever typed in the wrong URL and landed on this generic page not found message? That is a website 404 error page and Squarespace provides a basic one, but when I say basic, I really mean it. This default page is so boring boring and it doesn't have to be. It is super easy to turn this mistake into a moment that shows off your brand's personality and you can showcase content that you want people to see. In the not linked section of your pages menu, you can create a page that will serve as your 404 error page. Here you can include a fun message about why they're seeing the error, maybe a search bar to help visitors find what they're looking for, or even a link to your latest blog post. I have a full podcast episode with creative ideas for your 404 error page and I'll link to it in the show notes.
Next up on our list of overlooked settings are the social links on your website. You can have social media links as an element in your website header, maybe in the footer of your website or on additional pages where it makes sense that people will want to click on those links and interact with you on a social media profile. Now, when you add those social links to Squarespace, there's a default link that they go to. Some of them link directly to Squarespace's profile, and if you've updated the links in your website header, you still need to double check to make sure that all of them are, in fact, linking to your profiles. You want to make sure your visitors land on the right page to connect with you and not with Squarespace.
The fourth setting on our often overlooked list is also about social, but specifically your social share image. Whenever you share a link to your Squarespace website on social media, a preview image often pops up, a little thumbnail image. This is your social share image and guess what? You can customize it for every individual page, blog post or even individual products. Head on over to the settings for that page, post or product and inside that settings menu you'll see a social image option. Here you can upload an image that truly represents that unique content on your website. I recommend uploading an image that's a 9 to 16 aspect ratio for best results here, but I want you to keep in mind that social media platforms display images in different sizes, while a 9 to 16 ratio works well for a lot of them. Make sure that your content is centered horizontally and vertically and don't leave important information near the edges. There's also no need to add a URL here either. This image will be displayed with the active link, so think of it like a book cover and not a billboard. I also want to mention that if you add a new social share image for a link that was already shared on a meta platform like Facebook, you'll need to update their database so it knows about the new image. Otherwise it will keep using the old one. I'll share a link to their free debugging tool in the show notes.
We are on to tip number five, an often overlooked opportunity to connect with people who want to connect with you. When someone fills out a contact form on your website, squarespace automatically displays a simple thank you message, but you can customize this message and even use HTML to add different text types or active links. Go to the content tab while editing your form and look for the post submit option. Here you can add your own basic text. Maybe consider a warmer welcome, like we're so glad you reached out. Here's something you can expect to hear from us. But you can also use this space to offer valuable resources, maybe share a free downloadable guide or a discount code for someone's first purchase. Squarespace allows you to add basic HTML code within this post-submit message. This opens the doors for creative customization, so you can use headers or display links to other content. I'll share an example of some basic HTML in the show notes for episode at insidethesquare.co/podcast. Again, to customize this post-submit message, all you need to do is click on the post-submit option in the content tab of your form, add a custom text message or any HTML you want to. You can also redirect people to a completely different page after a post submit, but that's not always necessary. A quick custom message is usually enough to create a unique experience for your website visitors. I hope you found these five tips helpful for your Squarespace project.
Here's a quick recap on the five most overlooked settings that are technically optional but make a really big impact on how professional your site looks to the rest of the world. The first tip I shared was to customize your browser icon with a branded touch. I want you to upload a one-to-one ratio PNG image. That's a simple icon-like design that represents your brand. To add this image to your Squarespace website, select Settings and then select Favicon or Favicon However you decide to pronounce it. That's where you add that image. The second setting I talked about was creating a custom 404 error page so you can direct people to content you want them to see, not just a generic, boring message. I've got a lot more info about that in the show notes for this episode. After you've created that page, head on over to your pages menu, select system pages, click on 404 page and here you can assign your own custom page to overwrite the default 404 error page that Squarespace wrote for you.
The third, often overlooked setting is your social media links. You need to make sure that all of them and I mean all of them point to your profiles and not the default ones. Please double check that information. Now, speaking of social, the fourth tip that I shared in this episode was to add a custom social share image to every individual page, post and product on your site. That image will display when a link is shared on social platforms like Facebook or LinkedIn. Keep this image to a 9 to 16 ratio, but center the content, because different platforms will display this image at different sizes. The last tip that I shared in this episode was to personalize the thank you message for your contact forms. You can customize this text and even add some creative HTML if you want it to be really special. Those five settings can help you polish up your new website in a very professional way, and I hope you're inspired to hop into Squarespace and give them a try.
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Think Inside the Square. If you enjoyed it and want to learn more about all the cool things Squarespace can do, be sure to subscribe to this podcast, wherever you happen to be listening to this episode. Thanks again for tuning in and, most importantly, have fun with your Squarespace website. Bye for now. To learn more about how to make a Squarespace website that's uniquely yours, visit insidethesquare.co/start
That’s insidethesquare.co/start -
404 Error page tips: insidethesquare.co/resources/404-page
Meta debugger tool for updated social images: developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/
Squarespace for beginners: insidethesquare.co/start
