How to Create a Cover Page in Squarespace
Squarespace cover pages are different from regular pages, and they can be used for many different purposes on your website. They can be used:
As freebie opt-in pages
As thank you pages (after opting in)
To promote an event
To showcase a “coming soon” page or “under construction” message
As your homepage directing site visitors to two different sections of your website
Click here to for examples of 6 different uses for a Squarespace cover page.
One thing to note about Squarespace cover pages is its limited customization. This is purposeful so that the pages appear clean and concise.
In this post, I’m breaking down the 8 steps to creating a cover page.
You can click below to watch the video instruction or keep reading to view the written directions.
1. From the Pages panel, add a cover page
It’s best to keep the page hidden when designing it. Then once it’s completed and you want to add it to your top navigation, you can drag it up top.
For now, scroll down to the not linked section and click on the + symbol.
Scroll down through the options, and click on cover page.
2. Name the page and add a page description
Click the gear icon under the page settings.
Under Basic, Insert a navigation title, URL slug, and page title. I would recommend making all of these the same.
Under SEO, add an SEO description. It is unlikely that your cover page will rank in the search results, but this will give people an understanding of what the page is about.
Note that this section does not impact ranking, so there is no need to be strategic about keywords. Instead, explain in plain English what the page is.
3. Change the layout
The default layout is automatically presented when you create a cover page. If you’d like to change this or view the different options, you can click on Change Layout.
Use the dropdown to filter what you’re looking for or just scroll down to view the different layouts.
You can click on a layout you like to preview it. Hover over the left hand corner of the viewing area and click the arrow to enlarge the page. This will show you how the page will look in full view.
Once you decide on a layout you like, click Save in the upper left hand corner.
Squarespace has more than 30 cover page layouts. You can click through each of them below.
4. Add a logo, headline and body text
Click on Branding & Text.
You can add your logo design or a text version of your logo.
Below that, you can insert your headline and body text. Remember to keep these short and concise.
5. Add images or a video
Click on Media.
Your Squarespace cover page image size should be no smaller than 2500 x 1500px. Sometimes I can get away with an image being only 2000 px wide, but anything smaller will definitely make the image look blurry.
You can add one or more images. Use the focal point (the circle placed over the image) to change how the photo will appear. Remember to use the arrow in the upper left hand corner of the page to see the full view.
If you add a video, you can edit how it appears and its playback settings.
6. Add an action
Click on Action.
For the action type, you can choose to have one or two buttons linking to external links or to pages in the navigation.
Otherwise, you can add a form or connect a newsletter signup.
If you choose a form, there are a few steps to follow:
Under Build, give your form a name, and add the areas you want a site visitor to fill out
Under Storage, choose where you want the information to go. It can be sent to an email, populated in Google Drive, connected to Mailchimp, or integrated with another platform through Zapier.
Under Advanced, you can change the submit button label and add a disclaimer. You can also add a post-submit redirect (to a thank you page if this cover page is a freebie opt-in) or a post-submit message.
The newsletter signup has very similar options, except for the Zapier integration.
7. Add social links
Click on Social Links.
You can add as many social media profiles here as you’d like. If you don’t want to showcase your social media links, you can either leave this area blank or uncheck “display social icons.”
8. Adjust the style of the fonts and colors
Click on Style.
You can scroll down through all of the different style options and edit them one by one. Or you can click on the different elements of the page to edit them directly - their individual settings will automatically appear on the left (see photo below).
Note that these style settings are separate from the style settings you’ve already established on regular pages. Therefore, you have to manually update the fonts and colors to match the rest of the website.
Make sure you keep the bra
There you have it! Those are the 8 steps to take in setting up a cover page on Squarespace.
To recap, you want to:
Add the cover page to the backend of the site
Add a page name, edit the URL and add an SEO description
Choose a layout that fits your needs
Add a logo, headline and body text
Add an image or video
Add a call to action to an external link, navigation page, add a form or connect to a newsletter signup
Add social media icons if you want them to appear on the page
Alter the style of the page to match your website colors and fonts and make any other aesthetic changes
Have questions or comments? Drop them below!