How to Blog with Squarespace
Starting your own blog as a web designer can be a great way to showcase your expertise, share industry insights, and attract potential clients. However, the initial hurdle of taking that first step to get started can often feel daunting. By committing to consistent content creation, you can overcome this challenge to establish yourself as a thought leader in your field and build a valuable online presence.
Why you should start a blog
Having a blog on your website can bring various benefits. It provides a platform for self-expression, enables you to connect with a diverse audience, and fosters engagement. Additionally, a blog can enhance your online presence to improve visibility and open doors to new opportunities. Regularly updating your blog with compelling content can help you establish yourself as an authority in your field by showcasing the breadth of your expertise.
A blog can serve additional purposes, such as:
Boost search engine optimization (SEO), and drive traffic to your website, helping more people to find (and book) your web design services
Position you as a thought leader in your field and set you up as an industry expert. You can use this to give talks, appear on podcasts, and generally share your knowledge on a larger scale (again, helping clients find you and keeping you top of mind)
Serve as an additional income stream for passive income for affiliate marketing or writing sponsored content for brands
Save you time answering common client questions. Rather than explaining something over email to each client, you can point them to blog posts
Why you shouldn’t start a blog
Writing blog posts can be incredibly helpful for your work, but it’s not the only way to grow your web design business. If you dislike writing, find creating blog content frustrating, or have more pressing concerns (like building websites for clients that will yield a definite paycheck), then starting a blog may not be for you—at least not right now. Consider coming back to the idea when you have more time or a clearer focus. If it feels aligned with your goals a few weeks or months down the line, great! If not, don’t force yourself to start a blog just because you think you should. That’s not why you became your own boss as an independent web designer.
Choosing a platform
If blogging sounds like something you’d like to try, don’t look any further than Squarespace. The user-friendly interface and visually appealing editor make it possible to create and customize blog posts. Squarespace also ensures fast loading times and a seamless user experience so visitors can find what they’re looking for when they land on your site.
With built-in features like social media integration and SEO tools, Squarespace provides everything you need to promote and grow your blog. There’s no need for extensions or integrations, you can start blogging right on your Squarespace website with any hosting plan. Learn more about the reasons professional web designers love using Squarespace for themselves (and their clients).
Finding your purpose
When you’re ready, use the example reasons we shared above to identify your purpose for starting a blog. For instance, if you want to position yourself as a thought leader in web design, start writing posts that offer opinions drawn from your experiences and tell compelling stories. Perhaps you want to start by saving time answering client questions. Begin with a list of those common questions and answer each one in a post.
Not sure what to write about? Here are a few tips to help you get started:
Ask your audience. If you already have an established client base, ask them what questions they have and answer those in your blog.
Use online research tools to see what common themes emerge.
Ask AI. These apps can be most helpful when you treat them as a “second brain” to aid in brainstorming or outlining a topic.
Creating compelling content
When you decide on your blog’s purpose, you can plan out your posts and content strategy. You may work best with a definitive content calendar that details which posts to write and when to publish them. You may prefer a more relaxed approach, setting aside time to write and deciding which topic feels best from the list you keep on your phone. There’s no wrong way to set yourself up for success, but it's important to dedicate time every week to growing your blog.
To write a compelling blog post, create an outline to guide your writing. This is a great way to stay on track and ensure you don’t miss important points. The outline hierarchy can also help you create headings and subheadings that help visitors skim and quickly read your content. Write a clear and compelling title that will capture your audience’s attention and encourage them to click through to read the entire post.
Add photos, videos, or graphics to your post to break up the text and provide additional context to your words. Images and videos help to explain complex topics and keep readers engaged.
Check your grammar and spelling and, if possible, have a trusted source read for clarity. The Circle Forum is a great place to find collaborators and copy editors.
Not yet a Circle member? Join today.
Writing tips
When you're ready to begin your first post, start with a “messy” first draft. Get all your thoughts down. Then, go back and clean them up. If staring at a blank page isn’t helping, try speaking your thoughts using a voice-typing tool.
As you write, you may find your own voice showcasing your brand’s personality. If this doesn’t come naturally, give it some practice—it gets easier over time to make your writing sound like your brand.
When it comes to actually writing the article, you can write in a text document and then paste it into Squarespace. Or, you may want to dive “write” in and work directly on the platform in draft mode. There’s no wrong answer, so do what feels right for you.
Customizing the blog design
With Squarespace, you can create a beautiful blog in minutes. If you’re working on an existing Squarespace site, your template’s fonts and colors will automatically be applied so you can hit the ground running.
Select the layout of your blog landing page and choose a look that matches your brand. Do you have a minimal, modern style? The basic grid layout might be a good choice. For a more editorial style, try changing the aspect ratio of your blog thumbnails to a vertical look. Want something more whimsical? Experiment with the masonry layout. With several flexible layouts, you’ll find at least one that aligns with your brand. Learn more about effective content layouts.
As you consider how your visitors will use your blog, decide if you’d like to use categories to organize your posts so readers can quickly find other similar information. You can showcase these on the main blog page and each post so readers can navigate your site and discover additional content. Learn more about using categories and tags on Squarespace.
Pro tip: Whatever layout you choose to work with, select thumbnail images thoughtfully. You’ll want images that work well for each post and feel harmonious on the blog’s landing page.
Optimizing for SEO
Squarespace has built-in features to help you optimize your posts for SEO. Your keywords will often fall in your title, headings, and subheadings, which is important for SEO. Squarespace automatically uses your title to create the post’s URL slug, but you can change this in your post’s settings as needed. Some other things to consider are:
Setting up an SEO title and description for your post through the post’s settings
Optimizing images for both file size and file name before adding them to the website
Creating alt text for images to inform search engines about each image and to make the site more accessible
Using a thumbnail image for any embedded videos to help pages load faster
Adding links to other relevant articles on your site and highly-ranked sites to keep readers engaged and signal trust
Integrating social media
You need to do a little legwork to get your blog posts traction. Social media can help increase the visibility and reach of your blog. By sharing your content on platforms your readers frequent, you can tap into a wider audience and attract new readers to your blog. Secondly, social media makes it convenient for readers to share your content and spread the word about your blog to their own networks. This can lead to increased traffic and engagement.
Additionally, sharing blog content on social media helps to establish your brand and build credibility. You can showcase your expertise and connect with your audience on a more personal level.
Lastly, social media platforms often have built-in features like hashtags and sharing buttons that can further amplify the reach of your blog content. Copy your post’s URL and share your content in-feed or add it to your social media bio.
Engaging with your audience
Another great way to engage your audience is by turning on comments for your blog posts. You can do this blog-wide or on a post-by-post basis. This gives readers permission to comment directly on your post to ask questions, share how your post helped them, or offer additional context.
You can also use the comments to reply and answer questions or suggest resources they might find helpful. You may even receive questions that are worthy of their own blog posts. Write a post to answer and then guide the commenter to the new content.
If you are using Email Campaigns, you can add recent blog posts to your newsletter with just a couple of clicks. Keep your subscribers updated on recent blog posts and encourage them to reply or comment for added engagement.
Monetization options
As your blog grows, you might consider ways to monetize your work. This includes writing sponsored posts for brands that pay you per article, featuring affiliate links to your favorite products you share on your blog, or gating content behind a paywall. You can create a members-only blog with Member Sites, where you offer posts to subscribers who pay for your expertise.
Analyzing performance
Once you have a solid lineup of blog posts, use Squarespace Analytics to track performance. Learn which posts have the most visits and engagements, and you may start to see clear patterns emerge over time. When you see a certain kind of post or topic performing well, consider delving into the topic further or replicating the format. If a post isn’t doing so well, try adjusting the title, updating portions of the post, or refreshing keywords. These tactics inform search engines that your blog is up to date and help signal trust, increasing opportunities for visibility and domain authority. Remember, blog content is flexible.
Getting started with your blog
Blogging can feel overwhelming when you begin. But if you take it step by step, the practice can add a welcome dimension to your work. Don’t stress about all the minute details of blogging right now (e.g., keyword research, target audience, optimization, etc.). Focus on getting words on the page. You can always come back and level up your content later.
Want more?
Check out Squarespace Circle, Squarespace’s program for professional web designers, developers, digital entrepreneurs, and creatives. Along with exclusive content, discounts, and other perks, Circle brings professionals together from across the globe to exchange advice while connecting with new clients and collaborators.
