Starting client websites in your Squarespace account (+ why!)
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I've been receiving a lot of questions about how to start a custom website in Squarespace using a template, so I'm here to cover that today.
In case we haven't met before though, my name’s Katelyn & I'm a Squarespace educator and graphic designer, slash web designer, with years of experience in the design industry so I know a thing or two about how to make the client processes in a design business work more efficiently.
Including, the answers to these related questions:
do I have to pay to hold onto this template (trial site)?
when can I use the template, or what type of project does it work best for?
how do I give it to the client when the project’s done?
and more!
Let's dive in!
Starting New Custom Websites from a Squarespace Template
First, I offer two basic options for website services: custom projects and VIP days, or design days. These two paths have different processes and requirements, so let's focus on custom projects first!
When NOT to use a template for client websites in Squarespace
For Design Days, or VIP days, starting from scratch with a template doesn't typically make much sense, because they’re over in a blink. In most cases, you don’t have enough time allotted to truly start from scratch unless you know Squarespace like the back of your hand, and you work really, really fast, without needing to look up how to do anything in the process.
Most clients who opt for these VIP days already have an existing website with specific problems they want us to address during their VIP day.
In this case, the only way I can protect myself is to collect the full payment in advance, before providing the services, which is a very common practice in the online service space.
Getting the payment upfront ensures I don't end up doing the work, but not receiving the payment when I’m done. Even if it's a 50-50 split payment, I still make sure to collect the remaining 50% before starting the work.
VIP days are so fast-paced, that it's more important than ever to have the payment secured before diving into the project, otherwise they could technically decide halfway through the work that they were happy with what you’ve done so far, remove your access permissions to the website, and split, ––skipping out on the bill.
Use a template to start building a custom website on Squarespace
Custom websites are ideally started from scratch ––yes, I know what I just typed is different than the header right above this sentence. 😂
Although Squarespace provides a basic platform to build with, you can absolutely create a website from scratch deleting all the demo content & resetting all the colors, fonts, images, pages, etc.
But what I realized over time, was that EVERY time I started a custom website in Squarespace, I was doing a handful of admin-related tasks exactly the same way, every single time. To make that process more efficient, why not just create a trial site with those things set, and just duplicate that trial site for each new client so I can skip that minutia??
🤯
If you want to learn more about what’s inside this template, find out what’s inside each area of the blank website template I start with.
Want a basic overview right now? You got it!
All the main pages are blank (About, Home, Services, Contact, etc), all the demo content has mostly been deleted (maybe a few lingering blog post demos, but that’s it), and then there are 5-10 pages in the Website Settings folder with pre-designed basic layouts for things like legal policies, instagram/social media landing page link, media kit, template style guide, thank you page, and more.
This way, the base level of what I’d do before I start to edit fonts, colors & add design elements, is already done ––and that’s creating the underlying structure, the URL slugs, etc.
Do we have to pay for the trial site we use as a template too?
Nope! As Circle Members there are a couple ways around the free trial time limitation (6-months for Circle Members, 2-weeks for average Squarespace users), without having to purchase a hosting plan for it.
You can manually request a renewal or trial extension every 6 months when the trial is close to expiring; just hop on live chat support & ask! They’re always happy to grant us this, and once you get a “real” person, it takes all of about 1 minute.
Duplicate your template every 6 months, …for yourself! Then delete the soon-to-expire version or let it expire & delete it later. The duplicate will contain everything the other duplicate had. You still have to duplicated it every 6 months, but this eliminates the need for contacting support to request an extension.
To become a Circle Member, if you’re not already, you just need to be a paid contributor on 3 different websites, ––all of which have to be on a paid plan. You can contact Squarespace support to get more information on that & where to apply if you want more info! Or click here to read more about it & apply.
Why start the website in our account?
When I start custom projects, I always start them in my own Squarespace account.
You might wonder why I do that, ––because I do not plan to manage it, maintain it, pay for it (or “resell” the hosting to my client every year, i.e. pay for the hosting plan myself & get reimbursed).
Here’s the big ‘ol honest truth:
As service providers, most of us solopreneurs, we have to protect ourselves from clients who could take our work without paying for it.
By starting the website in my account when I can, I create leverage to ensure my clients pay for the service rendered, and I can withhold that service until the payment is made as agreed in our service-agreement. It sounds mean, or negative, or like I’m being a hardass, –but it’s just honest. I don’t hide this fact, it’s in my contract! ––Okay, did not plan for that to rhyme. 😂
Plus, there are perks to this for our clients, which help sweeten the deal a bit.
Being a Squarespace Circle Member, I can provide the client with a 20% discount on their first year's subscription, and a six-month free trial which is about 5.5 months longer than they’d get without my Circle perks. The trial comes in handy if your client wants a little extra time to go through the new website, add some events or blogs, set up their inquiry form processes with their CRM, etc. before they “launch” or publicize & announce it to their audience.
So, starting the site in my account benefits my client and protects myself.
A lesson I learned the hard way!
Before I called them VIP Days and charged a flat rate for the time, I was sorta-kinda doing this with hourly work & a list of pre-determined website edits the client wanted me to work on. I’d give them a rough estimate of time I thought it’d take, I’d do the work & send a final bill for the time worked along with a timesheet/log of my tracked time via Toggl export + invoice in Dubsado.
It worked well that way, …until it didn’t. 😬
One time ––and it only took ONCE–– I quoted a small amount of time for a small amount of work, the rate that would cost, and sent the paperwork. My client signed the service agreement, then I did the work, and afterward I sent the bill.
The work I’d been doing was revamping an existing sales page right before the product/service/program launched.
The client quickly responded that she liked my changes so I sent the invoice, confident that there wouldn’t be more time worked on revisions.
At that point, the client ghosted me. The invoice sent multiple payment reminders, then applied a late fee automatically.
I contacted the client after the last ‘late payment reminder email’ had been received, and said if she could pay the original amount by X date, I’d remove the late fee, ––otherwise, I’d have to send her to collections.
It didn’t matter that, at that time, I didn’t have any idea how to actually do that.
It only mattered that it was “the principle of the thing” and I had her signed service agreement to back me up and the work had been done, which I’d taken full-page screenshots of, before & after (which I’d thought I’d use in my portfolio, but was beginning to wonder if they’d be a form of legal backup to use if it came to blows, so-to-speak).
It only mattered that I’d edited her sales page for a thing she had sold & could make thousands of dollars on, but had literally skipped out on the bill with no explanation and no apology.
The next day, she had paid the invoice in full, late fee & all! STILL with no comment on why it was so late.
That was 3 years ago, and it only took once for me to learn that lesson the hard way.
Now, I do not do ANY work until I receive some kind of payment first, and if the client can’t pay in full at that time, I set milestones in the project where the payment can align with measurable progress that I’ve made in the work they’ve hired me to do.
How to transfer ownership of the website
Now, let's talk about the process of passing off the website to the client. I wait until we've hit the final milestone, where the site is fully done, revisions are complete, and the client has paid in full. At this point, I schedule a launch call with the client.
During the call, I guide them through the process of transferring ownership.
Once they accept the permissions, I can transfer ownership, making them the owner and myself the admin contributor. This way, they have full control over their website, and they can decide whether or when to remove my access. It's essential to communicate these details with your clients, so they know what to expect.
Secrets of my blank ‘starter kit’ template
Now that we've covered the ‘why’ and then ‘when,’ let's take a closer look at my blank, yet not blank, Squarespace template.
I always start with my own blank template –not someone else’s– which I created from scratch by starting a website with one of Squarespace’s templates and deleting most/all the demo content.
While you technically can start with someone else’s template, please be sure that the template you purchased has the multi-use or business/commercial license which allows this; not all template shops do & you should respect the designer who created it.
Basically, I create the 4-5 basic pages that I think all websites need, then set the page titles & URL slugs, basic website settings, code/plugins I prefer to use, etc.
Once that’s done, the template is fully customizable as a blank starter kit of sorts!
Setting it up once, and being able to duplicate that initial setup prevents me from spending a significant amount of time at the start of a project, on creating the damn thing from scratch for each client, even though those first few steps are exactly the same for everyone & don’t need to be done differently between each client.
I’m able to ensure that each website remains truly custom, by customizing the blank template’s pages to fit the client's needs and preferences after the basics structure is already in place.
How to duplicate the template
To get started, I duplicate the template in my Squarespace account. This creates an exact replica of the base template as I designed it, minus a few pieces like the folders in the Asset Library (as that organization doesn’t follow the copy), including all the code and pre-set pages.
Remember to make a copy before making any edits, otherwise you’ll have to recreate your template again next time!
What’s inside the template
Inside the template, I’ve pre-created blank pages for the main ‘meat’ of the website, like the About, Services, Contact, Home, Blog, and FAQs pages. These pages serve as a blank slate structure or foundation, so that when I’m ready to design each of those, I can dive right in & not have to create a new page, set the page’s settings, etc first.
For collection pages, such as blogs, events, portfolios or case-studies, shops, opt-in libraries, and ads, I already have 1 of each created in this blank, just waiting to be used. The rest can be deleted if not needed, quicker than they can be created if they are needed. This saves time and allows me to focus on tailoring each collection page to the client's specific needs, personality & business model.
In addition to those pages, I will also create organized folders in the Asset Library to help clients manage all their imagery & videos in a more organized way. Unfortunately this folder system doesn’t follow in the duplicate, so I have to recreate them each time, but here are the folders I tend to make for most websites:
Pictures of Me
Logos
Patterns & Textures
Designed Graphics
Background Designs
Stock Photos
Videos
Blog Imagery
In the Hidden or Not Linked section of the Website pages menu, I create folders to group similar page-types together for larger websites, and one of those folders will have ‘back-end pages’ inside. That back-end folder usually has a Private Resource Hub page, a Media Kit page, the Thank You page, the Legalese (website policies) page, the social media landing page (ie: the Linktree replacement), Template Style Guide page and a blank Sandbox page.
The Private Resource Hub empowers clients to maintain and update their websites independently once the project is complete, or gives them longterm/easy access to my Support Ticket system if they need it help down the road.
The Media Kit is a newer option I’ve been providing more recent clients, especially those who are content creators & find themselves networking, guest speaking, podcasting or YouTubing, etc. It’s a super handy page to have around when you get tired of answering the same questions over and over again, because it can provide quick & easy access to a bio, fast facts, name pronunciation, copy/paste social links, headshots, logos, topics you speak on, where you’ve been featured recently, and more.
I also have collection pages for the website’s legalese, which includes empty placeholder pages for privacy policies, cookie policies, accessibility statements, disclaimers, and various terms and conditions. This allows me to house ALL policies in one container, allow them to paginate to the policy listed before or after the one a viewer might be looking at, and make sure each policy has its own page analytics just in case I need that information later.
Additionally, I have a pre-existing Error 404 page and an instagram Bio Link page, both of which have a standardized base layout already in each of them, ready to be customized quickly. The Instagram bio link page serves as a convenient hub for various links to important & often-updated areas of the client’s new site, such as the blog, testimonials, store, and events page. The Error 404 page doesn’t need to be crazy custom for each person, so I stick with the basic layout & customize it after I’ve designed the rest of the site & know how to liven it up & make it fun!
To ensure confidence & room for my clients to play, I also have a Sandbox page that is disabled (not published) where I can add copies of Saved Sections from other pages of the site, specifically so the clients can practice editing that feature or design layout without affecting the live page which uses it. This gives clients the freedom to ‘play’ knowing they can’t screw anything up, because that seems to be one of the most common fears!
How to transfer ownership of the client’s website
At the end of a custom project, when it’s time to hand it off to the client, this is how I do it.
Inside our account, go to that website.
In Settings, go to Permissions
Invite Contributor, and send the invitation to the email address associated with the Squarespace account the client wants to access the website in (if they don’t already have an account with Squarespace, which email you invite won’t matter as much.)
Give them Admin permissions when you send the invitation.
Tell them to go check their email & click the black Accept Permissions button, or whatever it says.
This makes THEM an Admin on “our” website, in our account. Now we have to transfer ownership to them.
Click on their Contributor profile
from there, in the top of their profile, somewhere it will say “Transfer Ownership” –click that.
In the pop-up, choose the contributor you want to transfer ownership too, it’s re-confirming. (It may also ask you to log into Squarespace again to make sure you are the current owner & have permission to do this.)
Click Ok/Save/Done, whatever, then double check the Contributors list.
You should now be listed as a Contributor with Admin permissions, and the client should be listed as the Owner.
Now, you walk the client through picking a hosting plan with Squarespace, putting in their payment information, etc.
Once the site is on a paid plan, then go back to Settings → Site Availability → select Public or Publish
Voila! The only step left is to connect or transfer a domain, but that’s another topic for another day. 😉
final thoughts
If you're interested in learning more about my client’s private resource hub or delving into the details of my blank template setup, be sure to check out my other videos where I cover these topics in more detail.
