CHOOSING A SQUARESPACE TEMPLATE

Picking which template you should build your site on used to be a very complicated situation.

Certain features were only available on certain templates, so if you thought you might want to add that footer, sidebar, or other feature down the road, you had to make darn sure you picked the right template the first time to avoid having to totally rebuild your site.

People would research and research to the ends of the earth, generally pulling their hair out in the process.

Thankfully, our friends over at Squarespace heard our cries, and with the release of their new version they did away with most of those complicated decisions and with template-picking-induced hair loss in general (read: no more comparison chart needed).

So if you’re currently stressing because you’ve heard through the Google grape vine that you need to pick the exact right template the first time in order not to shoot yourself in the foot down the road, I have good news you. When it comes to template shopping in version 7.1… (Note that there are currently limitations as 7.1 was born to simplify things even further).

In 7.1 every - single - template - is - the - same!

Or at least, they have the same features and functionality, meaning you’ll never have to worry about template switching again (in fact you can’t in this version) because every last one can achieve the exact same thing.

Now that the pressure is off, you can have a little fun while shopping for your template! (Shopping is supposed to be fun right?)

Still, there seem to be a lot to choose from, so how shall you decide?

HOW TO PICK A TEMPLATE IN VERSION 7.1

Squarespace has tried to make it easier for you to choose your template by asking you what you will be using your site for, and showing you templates specific to your industry.

There’s just one problem with this…due to crazy ease of use, Squarespace is a popular platform for people who don’t plan to devote too much time DIY’ing their site.

These same people don’t tend to do a lot of customization, so if you’re a restaurant owner and every other restaurant in a 50 mile radius lands on Squarespace and picks only the templates that Squarespace told them are for restaurants, suddenly you and your competition are starting to look pretty dang similar to your site visitors.

Don’t feel like you have to limit yourself to the templates that Squarespace highlights for your industry, as there is no benefit feature-wise to choosing one that has been set aside for your specific type of business.

So if your business needed a site, like yesterday, reach for a template that you really love in terms of site styles instead (colors, buttons, fonts etc.), regardless of who it was made for. If you love where it’s starting off, you won’t need to do as much work to customize it!

SQUARESPACE 7.0 TEMPLATE FAMILY COMPARISON CHART

Chart updated on March, 2020

This Squarespace template comparison chart will be your go-to when deciding on the perfect template for your new website. This chart enables you to see all of Squarespace template abilities side-by-side, making your choice as simple as possible.

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Key: 

  • Overall flex. = Overall flexibility of the template

  • Mobile flex. = Mobile design (phone & tablet) flexibility

  • Commerce flex. = Commerce (online store) flexibility

  • Fixed nav. = Fixed navigation (also called a 'sticky navigation')

  • Addt. Nav. = Additional navigation

  • Search in nav. = Search in navigation

  • Social in nav. = Social icons in navigation

  • Banner imgs. = Banner images

  • Sidebar = Sidebar

  • Special blog feat. = Special blog features

  • Index pages = Index pages

  • Special functions = special functions

*Banner images: 

  • Bedford family - Yes + slideshow + text & buttons

  • Brine family - Yes + slideshow + any block

  • Five - Yes + page title & description or logo & tagline

  • Montauk family - Yes + page title & description

  • Pacific family - Yes + page title & description

  • York family - Yes + page title & description

*Special blog features

  • Brine family - Custom share buttons

  • Farro family - Infinite scroll, author profiles, custom share buttons, related posts

  • Pacific family - Blog category navigation

  • Skye family - Infinite scroll, author profiles, custom share buttons, related posts

  • Tremont family - Custom share buttons

  • York family - Custom share buttons