SquareSpace have a good reputation for their stunning templates. But more than just having this reputation, I wanted to delve into SquareSpace’s templates a little deeper.
It turns out that SquareSpace had been nominated for several awards in the past and has won various Webby awards for best visual design. This made me even more curious. I wanted to look at the variety of SquareSpace templates available, covering what they’re good for, and if there were things our readers should know about.
In January 2021, SquareSpace published information about their move from SquareSpace version 7.0 to SquareSpace version 7.1. The update slightly affected how SquareSpace’s templates worked, though you can use whichever version you prefer.
Table of Contents
SquareSpace Templates: Version 7.0 vs Version 7.1
If you’re a new SquareSpace user, you’ll automatically be presented with the version 7.1 templates. If you’re an existing customer, you can trial version 7.1. You’ll need to move your site to version 7.1 and recreate the design, then move your domain.
When you first sign up to SquareSpace, you’ll be presented with the version 7.1 templates. You can browse through all of the templates and filter by category or website type.
If you’d prefer to view the version 7.0 templates, simply scroll to the bottom of the templates page where you’ll see “these templates are on the latest version of SquareSpace. Looking for templates from an earlier version?“. If you click this link, you’ll be taken to the version 7.0 templates.
You probably won’t notice much difference in the templates. Both versions offer high-quality templates that will suit most websites and online stores. However, functionality does differ slightly, and this is something you should be aware of.
Note: SquareSpace 7.1 templates are all the same in that they use the same base template. Regardless of which template you choose, you’ll have the same layout and styling options when compared to another template. There are over 100 pre-built sections that you can add to any page on your site.
Features | SquareSpace V7.0 | SquareSpace V7.1 |
Templates | You can switch between templates at any time, even once you’ve started creating content or when your site has gone live | You can’t switch templates but you do have a lot more flexibility so can overhaul your design completely |
Style | Fonts and colors, etc. are defined by the template, so customization options are limited. You can use HTML/CSS on SquareSpace’s Business plan | All templates follow the same style so there’s more freedom to customize how you like. You can make adjustments per section and use HTML/CSS on SquareSpace’s Business plan |
Responsiveness | All templates are mobile-responsive | All templates are mobile-responsive |
Online Store | Product Pages can contain a maximum of 200 products | Store Pages can contain a maximum of 10,000 products |
Blog | Options are limited to the layout you choose | More control over the layout |
Images | Uses Gallery Pages and offers two layouts | Uses Gallery Sections so you can add them to any page |
Development | Build a custom site from scratch | No development options available |
How Many SquareSpace Templates Are There?
There are currently around 110 templates to choose from, whether you’re using SquareSpace v7.0 or v7.1. All of the templates are mobile-responsive and can be filtered by the following types:
- Online store
- Portfolio
- Memberships
- Blog
- Launch page
You can also search by topic and favorite any templates you love:
- Popular
- Art and design
- Photography
- Health and beauty
- Personal and CV
- Fashion
- Professonal services
- Local business
- Community and non-profits
- Food
- Entertainment
- Travel
- Restaurants
- Media and podcasts
- Events
- Wedding
- Real estate and properties
SquareSpace Template Families
Template families are a term you might be familiar with if you’ve been using SquareSpace v7.0. It simply refers to a group of templates that share the same structure.
For example, 3 templates could be part of the same family and include the following features:
- Logo size is static
- Site header can’t be fixed when scrolling
- Sidebar not supported
SquareSpace Version 7.1 Templates
Now that we know what version 7.1 is, it’s worth seeing how this applies to SquareSpace’s templates. Remember, you can make any of the SquareSpace 7.1 templates look how you want, or the same if you really felt like it.
You could take the Pulaski template from version 7.1, which is a text-based portfolio template:
And make it look the same as Almar, which features a large header image and bold header text:
The point is, it doesn’t really matter which template you start with as you can completely customize it to make it look the way you want it to. With SquareSpace 7.1 templates, you can adjust the following elements:
- Fonts
- Colors
- Buttons
- Animations
- Spacing
- Custom CSS
How To Choose A SquareSpace Template
There’s no doubt that SquareSpace’s templates are hard to choose from. Not because there’s too many, because they are all really well-designed. My advice here would be to choose a template that best fits the purpose of your website, so you don’t have to spend too much time customizing it.
For beginners, this is a much simpler perspective as there’s no point in choosing a template that you want to look like another (as we saw is possible with SquareSpace 7.1 templates).
Make sure you use the filters available on the templates page via SquareSpace. This will help you to narrow down the templates that best suit your website or business requirements. If you can’t find something you want, all templates use the same underlying structure. You can preview any template before you commit to it, allowing you to see how it works on multiple devices.
SquareSpace Mobile-Responsive Templates
All of SquareSpace’s templates are mobile-responsive, whether you’re using version 7.0 or 7.1. However, in version 7.0 there are a few more options if you want to make changes to how your mobile site is displayed. In some cases, there are websites that have an entirely different design for mobile when compared to desktop.
To ensure your website is mobile-responsive, check out these following tips and tricks:
- View your site on a mobile device or use SquareSpace’s Device View to preview on different devices
- Limit your website pages to under 5MB so they load quicker
- Set letter spacing to 0px so the text doesn’t overlap on mobile devices
- Don’t use Spacer Blocks for mobile
- Enable AMP to improve loading speed
- Make sure Mobile Styles is enabled under Template Settings
SquareSpace Templates Conclusion
Understandably there’s quite a lot to digest about SquareSpace templates. Hopefully now you understand the differences between SquareSpace v7.0 and v7.0. If you’re still unsure whether SquareSpace is right for you, you can read our SquareSpace review which goes in-depth about their services and features.
Pros of SquareSpace templates:
- Stylish, beautiful designs
- Mobile-responsive
- Good selection and filters
- Flexibility and customization
- Add custom code
- Futher customization may require a higher plan
- Heavily reliant on large, good-quality images
SquareSpace Template FAQs
Nothing! All of the templates you find on the SquareSpace website are free to use. You can purchase templates through external designers or developers but these will be priced accordingly.
You can purchase SquareSpace templates from third-party websites and developers. Many existing templates will use the v7.0 developer platform, so you will need to check this before proceeding.
You can cancel you SquareSpace subscription at any time, so you won’t incur any fees or charges for doing so. SquareSpace offer a 14-day free trial, so it’s worth signing up to that to make sure you’re happy before paying for a monthly or annual subscription.