Squarespace for Beginners: 30+ FAQs Answered
As Squarespace designers, we’ve created 50+ bespoke websites, and we often see clients and new Squarespace users asking similar questions.
In this Squarespace for beginners guide, we’ve gathered all the essential Squarespace FAQs in one place, so you can find the answers to your questions as you get started building your website.
Please note: This is a guide for beginners, and we won’t cover advanced concepts here. We’ve included links to further reading where it might be helpful.
Affiliate disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links, marked with an asterisk (*). Studio Founded may receive a commission from qualifying purchases made through these links, at no additional cost to you. You can read our full affiliate disclosure here.
Squarespace for Beginners
Below are answers to some essential questions about Squarespace:
What is Squarespace?
Squarespace* is an all-in-one website builder. This means you can use it to design and manage your website, run an online store for physical and digital products, create blog posts, send newsletters, schedule clients, send invoices, and run a membership program, all from one platform. You can use it to build code-free, with an easy to use drag-and-drop editor.
Who is Squarespace for?
Squarespace is suited to any type of business, from creatives and freelancers to trades and online stores. However, it’s most often used by creatives, service providers, and small to medium sized businesses.
We most often recommend Squarespace to business owners who want running their website to be hands off and simple to manage. While larger businesses with more complex needs can run a site on Squarespace, they often want more granular control and the freedom to develop custom features, so a fully coded site or a site built on WordPress often suits them better. This comes with more development fees and upkeep, so the needs of a particular business should be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
You can visit our post on the benefits of Squarespace to learn more about the platforms features and whether they might be right for you.
Can I build on Squarespace with no website experience?
Yes, Squarespace is made for non-designers who want a simple way to build a website. Most of our template customers come with no prior experience and get to grips with the platform in a matter of days.
If building a site yourself without a premium Squarespace template or a Squarespace designer, there will be a learning curve, but this is true of any platform. However, we find Squarespace one of the easiest platforms for beginners to learn with.
What’s the difference between Squarespace 7.0 and 7.1?
7.0 is the older version of Squarespace, and 7.1 is the latest version that includes the drag-and-drop editor, Fluid Engine. It comes with additional features like custom font uploads, sections, and tons of new design features. We recommend that anyone starting a Squarespace website uses 7.1.
Does Squarespace have limitations?
Of course, there are limitations as there are with every platform. Squarespace manages a lot of the backend for you, which is great for saving you time and technical difficulty, but it means you don’t have granular control over every part of your site.
You may also find that there’s a particular feature you’d like, like advanced checkouts, which Squarespace doesn’t offer. However, there are often workarounds or third-party plugins that you can combine with your Squarespace site. For example, for e-commerce you can combine Squarespace with the Shopify Buy Button or ThriveCart*, for memberships you can use Circle, and for extra newsletter features you can use FloDesk.* So while there are limitations, you can add on third-party features.
The Kalina Squarespace template by Studio Founded.
Squarespace Pricing
How much does Squarespace cost?
Squarespace currently offers four plans (updated for September 2026), Basic, Core, Plus, and Advanced. You can explore the plans, their pricing, and each of their features on Squarespace’s pricing page.*
You can choose between monthly or annual billing, though we always recommend choosing an annual plan to save up to 36% compared to monthly.
Can I get a Squarespace Discount?
Squarespace offers discounts when you choose an Annual plan, saving up to 36% annually compared to monthly billing (you can explore Squarespace pricing here).
As Squarespace Circle Platinum members, we offer an additional 25% off your first year, which you’ll automatically receive at checkout when you purchase one of our Squarespace templates or work with us to build a bespoke website.
Squarespace Domains
Can I buy my domain through Squarespace?
You can purchase your domain through Squarespace, and it’ll be free for your first year with any annual Squarespace subscription. Purchasing through Squarespace is great if you’d like to manage your domain and website in one place.
You can go here to get your Squarespace domain.
Can I create a custom email address?
Yes, Squarespace partners with Google Workspace so you can create a custom email address that matches your domain.
Can I connect a third-party domain?
You can connect third-party domains from providers like GoDaddy. Squarespace have a collection of tutorials on connecting third-party domains.
Squarespace Templates
What free templates does Squarespace offer?
Squarespace currently offers 199 templates that come with your subscription at no extra cost, with options for portfolios, shops, services, and more.
Can I switch Squarespace Templates?
Squarespace templates are designed to give you a starting to build from that’s fully customize using Fluid Engine, Squarespace’s drag-and-drop builder. This gives you a lot of freedom, as you’re never locked into a specific template or layout. However, it does mean that you can’t switch between templates, and would need to manually make changes if you’d like a particular look.
What are premium Squarespace templates?
Premium Squarespace templates are designs created by third-party Squarespace designers and developers that give you additional features and functionality, or a professional layout. You can learn more about free vs premium templates in our post.
We’ve created a list of the best places to buy premium Squarespace templates, and you can also explore our own collection of templates, which each include 15 pages, custom coded features and functionality, a tutorial library, and email support.
Squarespace Design Features
What is Squarespace Fluid Engine?
Squarespace’s latest editor is called Fluid Engine, and it’s included with all 7.1 sites. It’s a drag-and-drop editor, which means you can place, stack, overlap, and reposition blocks anywhere on the page.
What design features are included in Squarespace?
Squarespace comes with a collection of design features, including scrolling marquees, sliders, sticky text, image masks, galleries, lightboxes, and animations. For typography, you have access to Adobe Fonts and Google Fonts, as well as custom font uploads.
You can also use plugins from independent creators to add extra features and functionality. You can explore our curated list of the 7 best places to buy Squarespace plugins.
Squarespace experts also receive access to Finish Layer, an extra layer of design tools that include block animations, transforms, and responsive editing. If you’d like a more advanced site design, we recommend working with a Squarespace professional who has access to these tools.
Do I need to know code to use Squarespace?
No, you can build a website code-free with Squarespace.
Can I add custom CSS and JavaScript?
If you’d like to add custom code, every Squarespace plan supports custom CSS. Custom JavaScript requires the Core plan or above to access the Code Injection feature.
Can I upload custom fonts to Squarespace?
Yes, you can now upload custom fonts to Squarespace Site Styles.
Are Squarespace websites mobile-friendly?
You can customize mobile-view independently from desktop, moving them around and resizing them to better fit mobile layouts.
Squarespace E-commerce
Does every plan include a shop?
All Squarespace plans include online selling features for physical products and digital products, such as downloadables, courses, memberships, and gated content. However, different plans come with different features and transaction fees.
What payment processors does Squarespace support?
Squarespace integrates with major payment processors like Stripe, PayPal, and Afterpay. You can also use Squarespace’s own processor, Squarespace Payments.
Can I sell gift cards on Squarespace?
Yes, you can sell gift cards from your Squarespace site.
Can I sell services on Squarespace?
You can sell service products in your shop (these are typically used for things like in-person classes and events).
You can also use Acuity Scheduling to schedule and charge for 1:1 time with your clients (great for things like coaching or consulting), or use Squarespace Invoicing to manage clients, contracts, and invoices (best for services like graphic design or copywriting).
Marketing & Content
Does every Squarespace site include a blog?
Every Squarespace plan includes Squarespace Blogging*, so you can create and publish posts on your website. You can also offer gated blog posts, with members paying a subscription to access your content.
Is Squarespace SEO-friendly?
Yes. Squarespace auto-generates a sitemap for you to submit to Google Search Console, and allows you to set your heading structure, and image alt text, and write page meta data. It includes analytics and a Google Search Console integration so you can see how your site is performing in search results from your Squarespace dashboard.
That said, how you optimize matters more than the platfom. This means using the right keywords, adding alt text, and writing page meta data. As a guide, you can check out our Squarespace SEO Checklist to learn how you can optimize your site.
Does Squarespace offer analytics?
Squarespace offers built-in analytics* to track your website performance, and if you’d like more advanced tools, you can also connect a service like Google Analytics for more details on visitor behaviour and conversion tracking.
We also recommend connecting your Squarespace site to Google Search Console to find out which keywords your customers are searching for.
Does Squarespace offer email marketing?
With Squarespace Email Campaigns* you can send newsletters from your website without the need for third-party software. It includes automations, segmentation, and newsletter design templates.
Services & Portfolios
Can I use Squarespace to create a portfolio?
Yes, this is one of the most popular ways of using Squarespace. It offers a range of portfolio templates and portfolio page layouts that you can use to share projects, galleries, and case studies.
Can I use Squarespace to schedule bookings or appointments?
Squarespace Scheduling* is built for scheduling and appointments. With it, clients can book appointments, classes, or workshops from your site, and you can collect payment before the session.
Does Squarespace offer a CRM system?
With Squarespace Invoicing* you can manage clients and projects, send invoices, proposals, estimates, contracts, and take payments from your website without third-party CRMs and payment systems.
Squarespace Support
What support does Squarespace offer?
Squarespace offers 24/7 customer support via email and live chat during weekdays. They also have a Help Center with a library of tutorials for support with common issues.
You can also look to the Squarespace forum or independent Squarespace designers and educators for additional support.
Can I hire someone to build my Squarespace website?
Absolutely. We offer bespoke design, development, and SEO, and you can start a project with us, or explore Squarespace’s expert directory.
Squarespace Templates
If you enjoyed this guide to Squarespace for beginners and would like to try Squarespace yourself, you can start a 7-day trial for free*, and use our code STUDIO10 to save 10% on your subscription.
And if you want to get started but aren’t confident with design, explore our collection of art-directed Squarespace templates. Each comes with a complete collection of 15+ pages, an extended 12-month Squarespace trial, and a 25% discount on your first year of Squarespace with an annual plan.
