You settled on Squarespace for your website, fab choice friend!

Now you only need to ... you know, build the thing.

Hoping to see some example Squarespace websites for inspiration? Want to know what's possible with each Squarespace template?

I've got you gal! In comes the

I just wrapped up such a fun interview with the one half of the Bucketlist Bombshells, Shay Orlena Brown.

(Is doing interviews like this one my real job? Apparently yes it is. I know, sometimes I'm surprised by it too.)

Together Shay & Cassie make up the Bucketlist Bombshells. The Bucketlist Bombshells is the online destination empowering and teaching millennial women how to build a successful online service-based business that gives them the freedom to travel the world and live creatively.

When I came across the Bucketlist Bombshells on Facebook my first thought was 'no way, is that a real thing?'

Getting your website deigned is both an exciting move forward for your business, and a big undertaking. 

Every web designer you meet will have a different process, turnaround timeline, prices, payment terms, design style, etc. The list goes on and on. Understandably, it can be a long process to find a designer who is the perfect fit.

When I chat with potential clients, there’s a common list of questions that come up. 

With every aspect of my design studio, I try to make the process as simple, and headache-free for clients as possible. 

Ever been working on your website and thought to yourself ... 'hmm, wonder what the best way to arrange all of this content is?' 'What pages should be in my navigation, and which shouldn't?' 'Where should I place my opt-in gift so it's most effective?'

Website content strategy helps us with all of these questions. 

It helps give you a strategy for where everything on your website should go, and how to get visitors to navigate through your site in the way you want them to!

(*Ahem* That means getting those fine folks onto the pages which make you the dolla dolla bills!)

Ah yes, the Squarespace vs. WordPress debate. Which is right for you?

In this post we're going to get into specifics of whats different between the two platforms so you decide exactly which fits you best. If you want the spark notes version, which you ultimately choose mostly boils down to 2 things:

Your tolerance level for technology problems, and how much of a stickler you are for control & customization.

Oh and budget, budget comes into play a little too.

So, in this post I'm going to walk you through where Squarespace and WordPress are different, so you can get a clear picture of what using each will be like. I know, you're currently (naively) assuming; "they both build websites, how different can they be?"

Getting going with designing your own website? Don't really have a lot of experience or education on the matter? All good girl, I'm going to give you a quick & easy list of do's and don'ts when it comes to creating that fab website.

Within the web design community there's a generally known set of best practices to ensure your website is as appealing and effective as possible. I'll give you the quick run down here, so you can feel confident you're making decisions based on whats most effective, and not just personal preference.

Hate your Squarespace templates blog layout? No worries! We’re able to completely change the blog layout and design, no code involved. This takes a few minutes to set up in the beginning, and then in the future involved 5 seconds per post to keep it working.

We’ll be using the Squarespace summary block along with blog post tags to completely restyle the blog layout to your preferences.

Here’s two examples of a couple layouts you can master.

Have something on your website you want to bring attention to and draw a visitors eye towards? Maybe something you really would like your visitor to click on? Add some movement to that item!

"But isn't making stuff move on a website hard ... and involve coding?"

Well it could, but I have a super-simple method using just the regular Squarespace blocks to fake movement on your website.

Here's an example using portfolio pieces.

What is Squarespace?

Squarespace is, in the most basic terms, a website building platform. Squarespace has built a reputation on being an all-in-one system, that’s easy to use. Squarespace is well known for it’s designer quality templates, and modern features (all websites are mobile responsive, right from the get go).

Who is Squarespace good for? What about WordPress? Which is better?

There is no overall better, there is however, better depending on your specific needs and organization type.

I have two tricks to share with you today which are quick & super-easy to implement that will increase your websites Google rank!

You heard that right; quick, easy & improves Google rank! Not bad, eh?

I'll take some extra Google juice for something I can do in under a minute! You too? Okay great. Here's my two tricks.

Squarespace tags and categories may be used in many creative ways to display your website content in a variety of layouts and designs.

'How do I properly use tags and categories?' is a frequent question I hear, so I thought a complete guide was needed. You'll find in the video below I go deep into all the many ways to use them, to solve some common Squarespace struggles.

If you're looking for a specific answer, here's the video jump-to points.

Here and there when desining your Squarespace website you might run into something you'd really like to create, but aren't quite sure of how to make it happen. Thankfully, some ingenious bloggers have come up with some fabulous workarounds to many of the common issues Squarespace users face.

This list compiles the very best of them.

Facebook groups, blog comment sections and Quora are all stocked full of questions about Squarespace.

Squarespace websites are the talk of the town these days, and for good reason! It's easy to create a truly stunning design, they're easy to launch, and the websites produced are indeed very powerful.

It's a big decision to choose or switch your website system, so I wanted to be the one to lay out all the most frequent questions and the answers to them in order to set things straight. 

I have no intention of getting into the WordPress vs. Squarespace battleground as that horse had been beaten to death a million times over. But I DO want to let you know what Squarespace is capable of, in one convenient location.

You walk into a restaurant. Every seat is empty, two staff at the grimy counter are deep in conversation, scrolling through their phones, ignoring you completely. The furnishings are a mish-mash of disorderly rickety tables and spindly chairs, complimented by fraying posters on the walls hung slightly askew.

Would you eat there?

Nope! You’d be afraid your chicken might actually be mystery meat.

After choosing Squarespace, and before actually beginning to design a website, people often look at the Squarespace templates page with a blank stare.

'Uhhh ... which template do I choose? How do I decide? Can I see more examples?'

This is generally followed by intense Googling.

Whether you're DIYing or getting a designer to create your new Squarespace website, it's good to have some inspiration to get the creative juices flowing and see what's possible with Squarespace.

If you're just beginning to blog with Squarespace or are currently fence-sitting, not sure which blogging platform to choose, I have a perfect video just for you!

Watch the video below for a complete beginners guide and intro to blogging on Squarespace. I cover 

0:17 - A look at the post editor
0:36 - Adding text
1:21 - Adding image
1:41 - Naming image for SEO & Pinterest
2:17 - Adding text headings & text links

Today I'm going to walk you through something which I see clients and friends get wrong all the time.

It happens right at the start when they go to set up their Squarespace website and blog. Later down the line this mistake is a colossal pain to fix, so I want to be sure that you dear friend don't make the same one. Because you know, your hair is pretty and I really don't want you to spend days a few months into the future pulling it out while trying to work your way back out of this mess.

I've run into a few people who have made this mistake and honestly their thought process makes logical sense, so the mistake can be very easy to make.

When people ask 'what is the best Squarespace template,' there really is no one, overarching correct answer. There are however answers for 'this template would be best for this type of site.'

Each template is designed with a specific type of website in mind (eg. blogger, photographer, business, e-commerce, etc), so there are some templates that lend themselves better than others to the type of website you're creating.

After using a great number of the templates between my own sites and sites made for clients, I now have a set of favourites which I'll share with you. I also have some worst/definitely don't use this template if you're looking for X, tips too.

If you don't quite yet have the budget or a hard-in-stone direction to justify hiring a website designer, not to worry, these 10 steps will help you up your website game significantly. 

Each one is super-actionable, your site can come out looking modern and sleek by the end of the day with these simple changes.

1. LESS FONTS & COLOURS ARE MORE

Pick a maximum of 2 font styles and 2 colors. Eliminate all the rest and make everything consistent with these fonts and colors.

So you're new to Squarespace? Perfect. Let the initiation begin! .... Ahem, I mean, 'Welcome!'

I know you're going to love the simplistic and design-focused platform. But let's get you a little informed so you can begin to learn just how to use this amazing tool and uncover a few secret options as well as workarounds you didn't know existed.

These 10 articles written by some fellow Squarespace-loving entrepreneurs are the best on the web. They're perfect for those just beginning with their new Squarespace site.