Squarespace Web Design: Crafting Irresistible Site Styles
The goal: craft a storefront and Squarespace eCommerce website experience so captivating, shoppers won't be able to tear their eyes away. I'll help you style up shop experiences that stop scrollers dead in their tracks. Consider yourself the next Squarespace web design pro!
My Take on Squarespace Web Design & Style
Stunning yet conversion-focused ecommerce design is both an art and a science. The goal is to craft a visual experience that gets people paying attention while also removing any friction standing between desire and purchase. Don’t worry, it’s not as tricky to balance as it sounds!
To me putting this into practice just means that eCommerce website owners need to pay attention to both the obvious things we think about when it comes to design & style… and the not so obvious. What do I mean by that?
Well, obvious things are things like which template to choose, how to design your brand, or using code to customize your site so it feels special.
Not so obvious things are those that generally seem to fall into the category of user experience and might impact how we design sites to be more accessible or empathetic.
Design also encompasses things like site navigation and one of my favorite tips to help level up basic eCommerce sites is to simply change your navigation! It’s easy to fall into the trap that your site needs to feature links to pages like About Us, Our Story, Our Blog and Contact Us. These are all good pages to have (and they’re perfect for your website footer) but by simply changing your site navigation to be more customer-focused you’ll instantly see an uptick in interaction. The easiest way to do this is to simply turn your shop categories into your main navigation items!
When it comes to selling online, some of the best design advice is to just not overdo it! Create a brand that allows your beautiful products speak for themselves. In 2024, consumers are on to gimmicks and crave real-ness and authenticity. If you do want to trick things out just a bit, there are some plugins that I often use to just add a few special touches to sites here and there. Just don’t go crazy with them!
Keep product page layouts simple to help keep things focused on that all import Add To Cart button. Write product descriptions that focus on your customer’s motivations and benefits to them. Unify your product photos in style and in composition so that they feel like your brand.
The end result is a Squarespace eCommerce site experience with substance behind the style—a website equipped not just to attract dream customers, but convert them into loyal, repeat buyers. This means crafting accessible, frictionless journeys that guide customers seamlessly from discovery to purchase.
Ready to turn site visitors into lifelong fans? Discover how custom design can help you better connect with customers and grow your business or keep reading for more favorite tips and resources.
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Common Squarespace Web Design & Style FAQs
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Yes and no. You can (and should!) definitely style your checkout page so that the style matches the rest of your site. You can find your checkout page by going to WEBSITE and scrolling down to SYSTEM PAGES > CHECKOUT.
However, aside from adding a custom order form, you cannot make any changes to the cart page itself (the one where people enter their information + credit card info). This is for security reasons and helps make sure that people can shop safely on your site knowing their info is secure.
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This really depends on your own goals and situation. If you’re ready to get going ASAP and don’t want to waste any time, a paid template can help you get to launch day super fast while still ensuring designer-level results on a budget. Some of my favorite templates are always from either Ghost or GoLive.
If you have a little more time on your hands, starting from one of Squarespace’s free templates can be a good way to learn how things work. This is also a way to help control the cost of Squarespace website setup. I have several posts with some of my top template picks here, here and here.
The last option is actually my preference is actually to skip both of the above and design your own template! All the details on that here.
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When it comes to choosing design assets like fonts and colors for ecommerce sites like a pro Squarespace site designer, stick with options that appeal to a wide demographic rather than niche stylistic tastes. Why? Research shows that customers make subconscious judgments about a brand’s trustworthiness and quality within just 50 milliseconds (!!) based only on visual factors like color and typography.
Web Design Font Tips - Clean, simple sans-serif fonts tend to test best for conversion across sites. They have a modern, minimalist look and feel that aligns with strong brands. Try font pairs like Open Sans or Lato for an accessible option.
Web Design Color Tips - Neutral, desaturated palettes lend an air of sophistication while still allowing accent shades to stand out. Composed schemes also align better with photography. And unless they are part of your (carefully curated) brand color palette, avoid jarring choices like neon hues and that may land as unprofessional or loud.
The goal is maximizing universal appeal through design choices backed by data and trends. Select assets that reflect the style and quality customers expect from reputable ecommerce brands selling desirable products - like yours!
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When it comes to ecommerce design, rookie mistakes can cost you sales. Steer clear of these blunders that even some seasoned site owners make:
Choosing a template based only on looks - make sure it also aligns with your brand and has space for key pages and content.
Overloading every page - keep it clean and minimum. Fancy animations and effects often distract more than dazzle.
Blocking ADA accessibility - ensure your site works for all visitors through standards like alt text, color contrast, and useful image alt text.
Ignoring mobile - most shopping happens on phones now. Test for responsiveness and slim menus/content.
Forgetting the footer! - place essential secondary pages like Contact and FAQs down there to keep prime real estate for spotlighting products.
As always, the key is balancing visual flair with utility and conversion. When in doubt, minimal is best!
Top 3 Squarespace Web Design & Style Resources
Accessibe
Did you know that the vast majority of digital accessibility lawsuits in 2023 targeted eCommerce businesses? The solution to ensuring legal compliance is Accessibe. Of course, it's also my absolute favorite tool to ensure sites can be viewed by shoppers of all abilities! (More on designing for accessibility in this post.)
Ghost Plugins
Whenever I’m looking for a little code snippet to spice things up, Ghost is my first stop. In addition to the free plugins, they also have really high quality paid plugins for more advanced tweaks and sleek, modern Squarespace templates.
Use code KRISTINENEIL for 10% off paid plugins & templates.
SquareKicker
Custom design without code? It’s easy - and fun - with SquareKicker to create visually interesting layouts with special effects that layer seamlessly on top of Squarespace’s built-in capabilities.
