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Building Business Websites with Squarespace 7
Building Business Websites with Squarespace 7

Building Business Websites with Squarespace 7: Master the Squarespace platform to build professional websites that boost your businesses , Second Edition

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Building Business Websites with Squarespace 7

Chapter 1. Setting Up for Success - Your Website Toolkit

Making a website using the Squarespace platform is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to create a professional, polished website in a short amount of time. However, starting any website project without doing the groundwork can lead to confusion, missed deadlines, and just plain bad websites. This chapter covers everything you need to do before you even sign up for Squarespace to ensure that your website project is successful. We will cover the following topics in this chapter:

  • The right way to make a website
  • The different components of a website
  • How to create an effective Website Toolkit, which includes the following:
    • Writing your website plan
    • Creating idea boards
    • Creating your sitemap
    • Gathering your raw materials

Understanding the process of making a website


Constructing a website is a lot like a building, and many of the steps and processes are similar conceptually. To construct a building, we first need to consider what type of building it will be: a hospital, shop, house, office, or any other building. Who will use it? What functions will be performed there? This will tell us what shape, size, and structure the building needs to take. We then need to gather our raw materials before the construction can start. Once we have put together the shell and framework, we can start installing the core elements, such as plumbing and fixtures, which make the building operational. Finally, we apply the paint and furnishings and are ready for the opening day.

These are the same steps we will use in this book to construct your website. First, we will set the main objectives for your site, its purpose, your audience, and the types of functions that visitors will perform there. Next, we will gather the materials needed to create your site, such as text, images, and graphic elements. We will then select a site template, fill the template with your content, and customize the site's appearance, thus making it ready for launch.

This chapter focuses on the first two parts of the process: defining your site and gathering references and materials. These two parts make up your Website Toolkit, and you will refer back to the Toolkit time and again throughout the project. You might find it tempting to skip ahead to the hands-on parts of the book. This is understandable, but be warned; every building needs a solid foundation, and every successful website needs a solid Website Toolkit. Starting here and spending time getting your foundation right will really pay off later.

Note

A good Website Toolkit will make the rest of the project easier and quicker, keep you focused, and help smooth the road when things get bumpy (and they will get bumpy). Don't rush through this part of the process.

You might also be tempted to jump around and perform the steps in a different order. Just remember: you wouldn't paint the walls before installing the electricity in a building. Likewise, it doesn't make sense to focus on font sizes and fine-tuning colors before you have a site framework with some content in it. Now, if you have ever worked with a design agency on a website project, this may sound different to the order of their process. This book is laid out in this way because you are probably not a web designer by trade, and you don't need to impress your client with pretty visuals to win the contract.

If you are a designer, feel free to use this book in the manner that makes the most sense to your business model. However, for all the non-designers out there, following the order laid out in this book will make it far more likely that you launch your site on time, in full working order. It's easy to get bogged down in design details, so we'll leave this until the end, ensuring that all the major elements are sorted first.

Understanding website concepts


Before we dive into your Website Toolkit, let's start by breaking down a website into components so that you can better understand how to make one. Each component is distinct, but some are closely related to one another, and it's easy to mix them up. The total sum of all the components put together makes up the process of designing and building a website, which is the final goal of this book.

Structure

Structure refers to the in which the different elements of a web page or website are put together. In the web industry, we often use such as sitemaps and wireframes to a site's structure. A sitemap is simply an outline that shows the hierarchy of web pages in terms of navigation. You can think of a sitemap like a table of contents in a book, or an organizational chart.

A wireframe is a schematic of a web page, showing where the main elements of the page sit. Wireframes show only the relative size and position of content and functions; they do not include visual elements such as color or images nor do they contain real blocks of text. You can think of a wireframe like a pencil sketch.

The following is an example of a wireframe:

Functions

A function is an action-oriented part of a website, for example, a shopping cart, inquiry form, or downloads. Functions always relate to that we want our website users to perform, and it's important to know from the beginning what these are and what each function has. Functions are enabled and restricted by the technology we use. So, in our case, the set of functions available to us is defined by what is possible using the Squarespace system.

Content

This one is pretty self-explanatory. The content of a website to the text and other media (such as PDFs or videos) that sit within each web page. Sometimes, the will be provided by someone other than you, such as a marketing or communications staff member, or from a third party, such as a photographer, stock photo agency, or copywriter. Often, the content will need to be reformatted or reworked in order to make it suitable for use on a website.

Aesthetics

Many people would refer to aesthetics as design. However, other such as structure (the size and placement of things) and content (photographs or length of text) also play a role in design. Therefore, it's easier to keep things distinct if we avoid this term, which can be broadly interpreted, and instead narrow our focus down to the way things look and feel. This means we are talking about colors, fonts, and graphic elements such as lines and patterns, not content or structure. The feel part of look and feel is quite important but harder to define. This is the tricky bit: it refers to how the website appeals to your emotions. Authoritative, refreshing, playful, vibrant, or Zen are just a few examples of emotive words that can describe a site's feel or overall impression. These words will be critical in helping you choose colors, fonts, and other visual elements to fit with your desired impression. They will also play a role in content choices such as types of photography, tone of voice, and writing style.

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Key benefits

  • ? Discover time-saving tricks and best practices, and avoid common pitfalls while creating a website
  • ? Create visually stunning Responsive Design templates for your website with Squarespace 7
  • ? Understand how to monitor, measure, and manage your website after launching it

Description

Squarespace is a web-based tool that allows non-technical people to create and manage professional-looking websites quickly, without needing to write any code. It empowers business owners to take total control of their own websites, without needing to pay someone to design or maintain it. This book covers much more than just how to use Squarespace. It covers all aspects of creating a successful business website, from developing your brand identity, to writing and structuring content to match your target audience's needs, and dozens of other other valuable tips that will help your website shine. Most importantly, you'll learn the correct steps to follow in order to ensure your project is smooth and stress-free. The book starts by helping you plan your website project and gather all the raw materials you'll need. Next, you'll set up your account and become familiar with the terminology and tools that you'll be using. Once you've learned the basics of how the Squarespace interface, templates, and different page types operate, you will create the framework of your website, ready for you to insert content and functionality. Then, once all the core elements are in place, you'll apply the aesthetic fine-tuning needed to bring your website in line with your brand. After the aesthetics have been honed and all functions tested, you will launch your website and drive traffic to it, monitor it, and improve it.

Who is this book for?

This book is ideal for anyone who wants to learn how to use the latest version of Squarespace to create a website from scratch and take it through to go-live. You don't need any prior experience with Squarespace, HTML, or CSS, or building websites in general as everything is done using Squarespace's simple, browser-based interface.

What you will learn

  • ? Develop an essential Website Toolkit that will act as reference and materials for your entire project, ensuring you stay on-target to meet your objectives
  • ? Set up your Squarespace account, learn how the interface works, and select the correct template for your website s purpose and goals
  • ? Create your website framework, fill it with content, and arrange your pages using Squarespace s easy drag-and-drop tools
  • ? Customize your site s look and feel to match your brand, and create a stunning visual impact for your website on all types of devices, including mobiles and tablets
  • ? Configure the core functions your business needs, whether connecting to social media, promoting events, showcasing your work, or selling goods and services online
  • ? Learn time-saving tricks and how to avoid common pitfalls from an experienced professional with years of Squarespace experience
  • ? Gain valuable insights about search engine optimization, communicating effectively online, and other e-marketing advice
  • ? How to monitor, measure, and manage your website post-launch

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Publication date : Oct 26, 2017
Length: 454 pages
Edition : 2nd
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781788395496
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Publication date : Oct 26, 2017
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Table of Contents

14 Chapters
Setting Up for Success - Your Website Toolkit Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Getting Started with Squarespace Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Working with Squarespace Templates Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Creating Your Site Framework - Pages, Items, Collections, and Navigation Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Adding, Editing, and Arranging Content in Your Web Pages Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Using Blocks to Add Functionality, Rich Media, and Special Features Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Selling Online or Taking Donations with Squarespace Commerce Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Tailoring Your Site's Look and Feel Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Going Live with Your Website and Driving Traffic to It Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Managing Your Squarespace Website Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Moving Beyond Standard Squarespace Tools Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Getting Help with Squarespace Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Squarespace Templates in a Nutshell Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
List of Online Resources Used in This Book Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

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4 star 11.1%
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2 star 11.1%
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Richard Vito Jun 17, 2020
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Exactly what i needed.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
ER Doc May 13, 2019
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Excellent and accurate information for building website.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Laura Perrotta Jul 21, 2019
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This is an excellent book. It's very nicely written and well organized (i.e., easy to read and follow). Prior to trying to launch my new business website, I had zero experience with web design. I know Squarespace is user friendly compared to many other platforms but I was still pretty overwhelmed. This book was a huge help. I read every page and followed all of the steps outlined by the author and I'm pretty happy with the results. Actually, I'm very happy with the result. Of course, it's always a work in progress but not too shabby for my first try (lauraperrotta.com). I highly recommend this book.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
R. Johnson Sep 05, 2019
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I don't often write reviews, but I like this book so much I thought I'd put in a good word for it.I'm computer-confident, but making webpages is new to me. I'm taking over responsibility for our organization's webpage that someone else created in Squarespace.I don't like watching Squarespace's tutorials. It takes too long to find the material I want.I looked at the Squarespace for Dummies book, but found it confusing and - once again - hard to find the specific info I needed.Along came this book. A breath of fresh air. Well-organized, clear. I took a chance on buying it - I'm glad I did.
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C. Lebowitz Jun 09, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
The book is an excellent companion to the website and the links to additional online materials are a bonus. It's probably easier to read in paper format but the ebook works well. (I like to annotate in my own handwriting and I would have to move it out of Kindle to do so.) It is helpful to go through the Squarespace videos, first.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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