Website Launch - Publishing Your New Website
Once your template is installed and styled as a new trial site, follow these steps to get it published 🎉
SEO Settings
! SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and AIO (AI Optimization) are very important for your website success. You’ll want to make sure you at least look at these settings before launching your site.
There are two ways to set the SEO/AIO for your site. You can use either one, or both.
Have AI apply your SEO. Click on ‘SEO/AIO’ under ‘Website’ in the left hand dashboard. This will take you to the area where you can use AI to optimize everything for you, including writing the page titles, descriptions, and image alt text. All you have to do is approve or edit what it supplies.
Adjust the SEO on each page individually. Click on ‘Pages’ under ‘Website’. Hover over the page name and click the gear icon that pops up on the right to access the SEO settings for that page. To add alt text to each image individually, double-click on the image in the website editing area, then click the pencil icon to edit its settings.
Legal Pages
Adding legal pages (like Privacy Policy or Terms of Service) to Squarespace involves creating hidden pages and linking them in your website’s footer.
If your template doesn’t have blank pages for this already, here’s how to add them. Click the link above for more detailed instructions and examples of what should go on the pages.
Go to your pages panel and add a not linked page to the pages section. Name the page clearly (e.g., "Privacy Policy" or "Terms and Conditions").
Add a section to the page, then add a text block and paste in your legal terms.
Add a text block to your footer, type out the page names and then link them: Highlight the text and click the Link icon (chain) in the text toolbar. Click the Gear icon (Settings) and search for your hidden legal page in the "Page" tab.
Subscribe to a plan
To subscribe to a paid plan once your website is ready, you need to upgrade the trial site (your newly styled template) from your Squarespace Account Dashboard.
If you do not see the promotional banner to upgrade your site, Go to the main menu, click Settings, navigate to Billing, and select Subscriptions.
In order for your site to work like the template, it’s recommended to be on a Core plan or higher. The Basic plan will still work, but you might lose some features and any custom code used for styling.
Connect your domain
If you already own a domain, or still need to buy one, starting the process is the same:
In the Squarespace Home menu, click Settings, then Domains & Email > Domains. Choose Get a Domain or Use a domain I own. Squarespace will walk you through the rest.
Use this guide for help: https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/205812418-Connecting-a-Name-com-domain-to-your-Squarespace-site
Changes typically take 24 to 72 hours to propagate around the world.
For more on Connecting and managing your domain with Squarespace: https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/205812088-Domains-basics
I’d love to see what you create!
Feel free to send a link to your new website when it’s live and I may show it off on my website. Send it to hello@carlysoperdesign.com