If you haven’t already done so, the first step is to create a Squarespace account. It’s important to use the same Squarespace Email Address that you provided to us at checkout. The template is linked to this email address and will only be installed in the Squarespace account associated with this email address.

Within 24 - 48 working hours, you will receive an email entitled Contributor’s Invite. This is an email requesting confirmation to be added as a Contributor to your new site. Click Accept Invite inside the email. As soon as you accept the invitation, your template is automatically installed inside your Squarespace account.

As soon as you accept the Contributor’s Invite, your template is automatically installed inside your Squarespace account as a new trial site. Squarespace offers all MARY+JOSEPH clients an extended 6-month trial in place of the standard 14-day trial. After the trial period has expired, you will require an active Squarespace subscription plan to access your site.

Upon logging into Squarespace, the first screen is referred to as your Main Dashboard. At the top left you can switch between your Main Dashboard and Domains Dashboard. At the top right, you can manage your Squarespace Profile including Language, Security, and Email notifications. You can access support by clicking Help at the top center. Below is a list of all your sites — trial and live. The hamburger menu on the right (three dots) of each site contains quick links to edit Permissions, Billing, and Settings.

To open your site, click on the site thumbnail. This will load the site in the Squarespace Website Editor so you can start customizing your site.

Upon opening your site, you will notice your Site Panel or Site Menu on the left and the website editor on the right. The Site Panel contains access to your website navigation. At the top, you will notice a search bar to quickly find what you are looking for. Below is your site navigation. If you scroll right down to the bottom you will find a “gear icon” on the right where you can access Website Settings. The icon on the left takes you back to your Main Dashboard.

Updating the built-in domain for your trial site overrides Squarespace’s quirky default domain name and allows you to preview your design on different devices without being logged into Squarespace. From your Site Panel type “domains” into the search bar. Select Domains & Email then select Domain. Under Built-In Domain, type a new name. Click Save. Your built-in domain appears as yourname.squarespace.com

Squarespace’s default site availability for trial sites is set to “Private.” This prevents you from viewing your design on different web browsers unless you are logged into Squarespace. To override this, from your Site Panel type “site availability”. Select Site Availability, set to Password-Protected and type a password into the text box. Click Save. You can now view your design on any browser using your temporary domain name and password.

Your website images are stored and bulk-managed under Website>Assets. We recommend creating a folder in your Asset Library called “Placeholder Images” and moving placeholder images into the folder. Upload brand images into organized folders in your Asset Library so you can quickly find them. Once all placeholder images on your site have been replaced, delete the “Placeholder Images” folder.

Click Website>Pages to access your Pages Panel. You will notice two sections, Main Navigation (appears in menu) and Not Linked. Below these sections, you will find Marketing Tools, Custom CSS, and Deleted Pages. To access individual page settings, hover over the page and click the “gear icon” that appears. Here, you will find options to edit General, Navigation, SEO, and Advanced page settings.

To start customizing a specific page, click on the page name and click Edit at the top center of the page. This will open the Squarespace website editor where you can start customizing the placeholder content.

Inside the Editor, you will notice different sections including the header (or main navigation), page sections, and the footer. At the top right, you will find 3 icons: Desktop View, Mobile View, and Site Styles (paintbrush icon). At the top left is your Save and Exit buttons.

Site Styles manages site-wide style settings such as fonts colors, buttons, and forms. Site Styles is accessed by clicking the “paintbrush icon” at the top right-hand section of the Editor. From here you can change Fonts, Colors, Buttons, and Forms. It’s important to note that changes made to site styles will update across your entire site. You may have to update your layout accordingly.

Each page consists of multiple sections that are used to organize content on a page. To insert a new section, click Add Section at the top or bottom of an existing section. The section editing menu appears at the top right of a section. To edit the section style, click the “pencil icon”. Here you can customize the format, background, and color as needed. Sections can be saved to your site for later use or used elsewhere on your site. You can move sections up and down to reposition them, duplicate sections, and delete sections.

Sections are made up of content blocks that arrange your content inside that section. Squarespace boasts an impressive library of pre-designed content blocks that can be styled and customized according to your needs. From inside the Editor, click Add Block. You can insert Text, Image, Scrolling Text, List Items, Social Links, Summary, Form, and Accordion blocks. To edit a content block, hover over the specific block and click the “pencil icon”.

Text blocks are used to display headings and paragraphs on your website. To maintain the integrity of the layout and style of placeholder text, paste your copywriting over the placeholder content. Important: do not delete the placeholder text as all empty text blocks default to Paragraph2. We recommend using the same amount of text as the sample text to preserve the layout.

Images improve the visual aesthetic of your website. Images can be added with the Image Content Block from inside your editor. To edit images, click on the image block and select the “pencil icon”. For accessibility, we advise adding Image Alt Text to all images. For SEO, replace generic image titles with keywords or phrases. To improve your page load time, we recommend compressing images.

Your site’s Header is responsible for the Main Navigation of your website. In the Header, you can update your Site Title, Main Navigation, Social Links, and Call-to-Action. You can also customize the design by clicking on the “pencil icon” inside the Header. Here you can add borders, drop shadows. You can also fix the header to stay in place when visitors scroll your website.

The Footer contains important links to information that is not available in your site’s Header. Every MARY+JOSEPH template comes with a strategic footer design for all your important links. You can find it under your Saved Sections.

Every MARY+JOSEPH template includes a pre-designed blog layout. Feel free to delete the demo posts and add your own. Alternatively, keep one demo blog post as a template from which to create new posts for a consistent blog post layout. Under Blog>Settings, add Tags, Categories, and a Blog Thumbnail for each individual blog post.

Every website is subject to the local and international laws that govern how websites function. This includes Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, Disclaimers, etc. You can add your legal information into the pages provided in your template and link to them in your Footer. Also, update the Copyright section at the bottom of your website.

Squarespace offers an unparalleled mobile responsive experience. Content edits can happen seamless between desktop and mobile. When updating content, however, ensure that changes reflect properly on the mobile site. You can customize your Site Title, Header, Content Blocks, and Footer to look as visually appealing on mobile as it does on desktop. Toggle between Desktop and Mobile view with the icons at the top right of your Editor. Similar to the desktop view, you can add, move, edit, and delete content in the mobile view.

Once you have replaced all the placeholder content on your site, it’s time to link your buttons to the relevant pages. On each page, select each button and create a link by clicking the "pencil icon”. You can link buttons to a page, email, phone, or URL.

Forms are used to engage website visitor and collect important information. Squarespace’s native forms can be styled in Site Styles, added by clicking Add Block in the top left corner of your Fluid Engine section, and edited by clicking on the form and selecting the “pencil icon.”

SEO is essential in boosting organic reach and helping Google understand what your business is about. Squarespace offers important SEO essentials to get you started in optimizing your site for SEO. Under Page Settings, you can update relevant SEO Titles and Descriptions. Under Image Settings, update Image Alt Text. Under Website Settings, update Site Meta Description.

Relevant Business Information can add further credibility to your website. Under Website>Settings, you can further update Language, Regional Settings, Favicon (your browser icon), Social Links, and Pinterest Sharing Buttons. You can also block Crawlers from crawling your website and add Squarespace’s built-in Cookie Policy.

Once your site is ready to go live, you will need an active Squarespace subscription. To start, go to your Site Panel and type “billing” in the search bar. Click Billing and follow the prompts. Choose between annual (20% off first year’s fees for Mary+Joseph clients) or monthly (10% off with code GIMME10).

You will also need a domain to link your site to. Every Squarespace subscription plan comes with a free custom domain that you can access at squarespace.com/domains. Alternatively, we recommend GoDaddy. From your Site Panel, type “domains” into the search bar and click on Domains and Email. Follow the prompts to connect your domain.

Prior to going live with your site, we highly recommend performing a pre-launch checklist of your site. Check that all pages, images, text, buttons, links, header, footer, and forms are functioning as they should. Disable unused pages, permanently delete unwanted pages, and delete unwanted images and content from your trash.

Once your domain and SSL certificate is active and you are ready to launch your live site, set your site visibility to public. From your Site Panel type “site availability” into the Search Bar. Select Site Availability and select Public.

Squarespace offers built-in analytics to make tracking site visitors and activity simple and easy. From your Site Panel, type “analytics” into the search bar and click Analytics. Here you can view and monitor your site activity.

Once your website is live, you can now start marketing your business. By creating relevant, engaging content you can improve visibility, drive brand awareness, and start driving traffic to your website. It’s important to continue monitoring and refining the efficacy of your marketing efforts until you find what works best for your individual business and objectives.

Launching a new website is an incredible achievement in your overall marketing strategy. Despite the rush to get things done, remember to celebrate this milestone.