How To Set Up A Blog On Squarespace

If you're reading this post it'south probably because you're thinking nearly starting a blog. Merely you might be feeling overwhelmed with all the different platforms and things y'all should or shouldn't be doing. Fearfulness non! This blog post volition teach you exactly how to start a blog using Squarespace.

What is Squarespace?

Squarespace is a website platform that I dear and use myself and recommend to literally everybody. In that location'south a hundred reasons for this, and I've covered a few of them in my blog mail service why I chose Squarespace for my online domicile. It'southward so good because it'southward and then easy to get started, and information technology's elementary enough that anyone can learn how to use it. Different platforms like Wordpress, the learning curve is small and it's super quick to set up and get going.

I've been using Squarespace for a long fourth dimension and have used it for all my client websites. I know the platform actually well, so accept my word for information technology – Squarespace is the best choice for starting a gorgeous, piece of cake to use blog. If you lot need more than convincing, head over to these blog posts to learn a bit more:

Related post: Why I chose Squarespace for my online home

Related mail: Why Squarespace is the best platform for blogging

1. Pick Your Domain

A domain is the website address – for example, wolfandwild.co is my domain. The reason I recommend doing this kickoff is because you don't want to spend fourth dimension making your website to observe the domain proper noun yous wanted is taken!

Squarespace does offering a free domain IF you buy an annual subscription, only this only lasts for the first year. Depending on the domain you pick, you lot could stop upwardly paying upwards to £56 each year after, which isn't the best price you tin can get. Squarespace also offers a business email through a partnership with M Suite, which gets you a year'due south complimentary subscription to G Suite and (in my stance) is well worth the yr'due south investment.

But I also know that many people tin't afford to drib £100+ on a website subscription when it tin be paid monthly for around £10.

So if yous'd adopt to pay monthly for Squarespace, you'll need to buy your domain separately - and this is where Google Domains comes in.

Google Domains offers domains at super affordable prices. The major benefit of using Google Domains is how easy it is to connect to other Google services, like Yard-suite, Google Analytics and Google Search Console.

When you register a domain name, you have to provide your own personal information, like your address and phone number.

Past default, all this data is publicly available in the Whois registry, which leaves y'all open to spam or other abrasive/malicious activity.

Privacy protection changes that by hiding your data behind generic privacy information. Many domain registrars charge you for privacy protection. Google Domains, still, includes privacy protection for free equally part of your purchase.

You lot can admission Google Domains past using the aforementioned Google account yous use for other services, which is a huge timesaver!

1. To get started, caput to Google Domains and search for the domain that you lot desire to purchase. Any bachelor domains will display within a small tick!

2. Cull and checkout with your domain. Y'all'll get the option of unticking auto-renew and privacy protection, both of which I recommend leaving on.

3. Once yous've purchased your domain, feel complimentary to celebrate! You lot're 1 step closer to a beautiful new blog.

2. Sign Up to Squarespace

Click hither to sign up for Squarespace. The platform gives every user a 2-week trial, which is more than than enough time figure out if you like the platform (you will) and build a beautiful website/blog. Squarespace currently has two versions, vii.one and 7.0. Version 7.1 is the latest and I admittedly dear it! It'southward even faster to build a blog, and there's a lot of changes to the platform that accept improved information technology even more. If y'all're unsure, I recommend visiting my blog postal service virtually the changes in Squarespace 7.1.

When you sign up, you will be asked to selection a template. Choose the one you about feel fits your personal make or aesthetic – only call up that literally everything can be changed later! So don't focus too much on this step. One time yous've done this you lot'll be asked to create an account then yous tin can get started on your new blog!

Woohoo! You now take a blog.

3. Connect Your Domain

Your adjacent pace is connecting your domain to the new weblog.

1. From the Habitation Menu select Settings > Domains.

2. So click Use a Domain I Own, and type in your domain name.

3. Select Connect from Provider and choose Google Domains from the list of providers.

The last part requires you lot to login to the same Google business relationship you used for Google Domains - and voila! Your domain is now being continued. Squarespace also has a great breakdown of these exact steps - how to connect your Google domain to Squarespace.

Aaaand you now have a fully functioning web log! Information technology may wait like a template and have zero blog posts, but that will soon be fixed! Pocket-sized steps, people.

4. Adding Your Web log Posts

The template you lot chose may already include a weblog, but in instance yours doesn't, here'due south how to add a blog folio to your website and start creating blog posts!

1. In the abode menu, go to "Pages".

2. Click the plus icon nether Main Navigation and choose weblog.

From there you can choose a weblog layout you want for your main blog page. Don't worry too much about this now as information technology can be changed after – later on you could create a custom page for your blog posts that doesn't follow the standard layout that Squarespace offers. My main blog page is custom, and it collects all the web log posts as well as including additional elements like popular posts and who I am. More on this later!

For now, choose a blog layout that you like. My recommendation is Web log two, the filigree layout, because this one is the easiest to navigate and displays a lot of posts without the user having to scroll for miles! Once you've chosen your web log layout, Squarespace will get yous to confirm the name of the folio.

Tip: Choose a simple name for this page since information technology's going to be the place where your users will spend the most time. "The Blog" or "Blog" works fine – don't overcomplicate information technology. A title similar "periodical" isn't so obvious and your users may struggle to find information technology.

Also brand certain your "slug" – the URL of that page – is named the same as this is going to be the first part of every web log post URL. You don't want people clicking on your web log post with the URL: www.yourwebsitename.com/my-blog-72536/weblog-post-championship considering they'll probably be put off.

Squarespace gives you 4 blog post drafts to play around with, simply you can edit these past hovering over the title and clicking "edit." To add a new weblog post, click the plus icon.

A petty box pops up and this is where y'all tin can write your weblog postal service, besides as adjust all the settings. Blogging with Squarespace is bully because everything is so simple and easy to navigate. Enter your title and write your post in the space where is says "write here." Y'all're not limited to text either, you can actually add images, videos and almost any other element you can think of! Simply hover over the text box and click the grey droplet to choose other elements.

I besides go into this concept in my free guide to blogging on Squarespace. This 14 folio blueprint gives y'all the exact method I used to setup my web log (as detailed here!) plus a few extras - including some design tips I wish I'd known when I was starting time starting out. Grab it for free below!

Adjust Your Settings

There are a couple things you'll demand to consider and adjust in the settings when you're writing your web log posts in Squarespace – here'south a list of the near of import things to remember.

Tags and Categories

E'er make sure you add these. It makes your blog posts much easier to organise in the future. For example, if yous've written a blog mail service on hair products, you tin display other posts nearly hair products at the lesser of the page, because all those types of blog posts would be categorised under "Pilus products." You can likewise display posts past tags. The main difference is that categories should exist much broader, and you should take fewer of them. Tags can be much more specific – instead of "Hair products" yous could employ "Men'southward curly pilus products".

Comments

Unless you really don't want to, I would recommend making sure these are turned ON. Allowing comments ways your audience can engage with you and it helps your Squarespace blog rank college on Google as a result.

Thumbnail Image

This is super of import to add because it displays above your title on the weblog page and whatever other folio y'all choose to display posts. Calculation an prototype means the blog posts looks more interesting and will get clicked on more than oft than a simple text title.

You can run into beneath my blog posts display with the thumbnail image at the summit – each ane with the image I chose for the thumbnail! Simples.

Post URL

Make sure this is pretty! No one likes the await of a blog post similar with numbers splattered through it. Brand certain you name it something that makes sense every bit a written phrase, this helps with SEO and lets your reader know they're in the correct place. For example, y'all could use "best-mens-hair-products" as your blog postal service URL.

SEO Title and Description

Fill in the SEO description. This is what shows upward in Google search underneath your title, right earlier people click into your Squarespace website.

It needs to be eye catching and relevant.

If you go out information technology blank, Squarespace will pull a judgement from your blog post to use instead, but information technology'due south non e'er relevant and often look strange out of context. I ordinarily re-create and paste a sentence from my mail that describes the content and makes sense on its ain.

The Blog Folio

At present you know how to add and write individual weblog posts, you tin can besides alter your primary blog page once you take some posts published. Squarespace has settings for the blog equally a whole.

You can access these by clicking the cog icon at the tiptop of the menu. But make sure your URL and SEO settings are adapted as I take described above!

Blogging with Squarespace is super simple because information technology automatically lays out your weblog posts in a prissy format and makes sure the folio looks great without much aligning! This is expert for when you're outset getting started with blogging, but if you're looking for more than customisation for Squarespace, it'south worth creating a new page and calculation your blog posts using a Grid Summary Block .

This is what I practise and I love it considering it means I can use additional elements on the same page – the default Squarespace blog page can be limited if you lot need extra things, like a featured posts section. Keep an middle out for a future blog mail service on exactly how to exercise this!

Adorn Your Blog

I besides used some Custom CSS to accommodate the manner my blog looks to my personal taste. Custom CSS ways adding a little fleck of "code" to my website to make it look the way I want.

I honey using CSS because information technology means I can literally bring my visions to life! It's besides useful in helping my weblog look professional, because this helps build trust with readers and establishes my web log every bit a valuable source of information.

If you're not sure what Custom CSS is, I have a weblog post all nearly the basics! It covers the foundation of simple CSS also as where to put information technology in Squarespace.

Related: A Beginner's Guide to Squarespace Custom CSS

I likewise have a super exciting freebie to offer yous! CSS is my favourite matter which I why I love beingness able to share it with other people. My free guide breaks down the steps to writing your own CSS in fifty-fifty more detail and walks your through inserting it into your weblog. Download it below.

In that location we get! That's exactly how to start a weblog with Squarespace in 2022. Remember, you tin can sign upwards for a free two week trial of Squarespace hither! I hope yous enjoyed this postal service, and please let me know in the comments if you lot have whatsoever questions. Good luck with your blogging endeavours!

Build and launch your new website in nether a week with our new class!

waitlist

Other posts you might similar

Source: https://www.wolfandwild.co/the-blog/start-a-blog

Share this post