If you’re a Squarespace user, you probably already love the ease of getting new content online. Whether you publish a regular blog or periodic portfolio updates, your site likely shows frequent updates.
As beautiful as the Squarespace templates are, there are times when a one-off design from your typical website template would be ideal. Usually this need arises for me in two scenarios: when I’m creating a custom questionnaire for client work, and when I hold some sort of presentation or live event. This can be accomplished on any website, and I highly encourage thinking about using a separate landing page to create more context and boundaries where appropriate.
For my clients, I brand the page for their project and host a form of questions that help us move forward. It gives them a simple, custom URL and highlights the focus on them. It feels like their own space, which also helps me to keep context as I immerse in their brand. It also allows me to collect information specific to that project in one place.
For events, a custom landing page allows me to share a short and easily-remembered URL for sharing materials and more information far after the event ends. It’s also a great way for attendees to share with others, and it gives me an opportunity to brand it for the event outside my normal website template. Typically, I match the look and feel of the presentation slides if there are any. Photos of the event also work well after it's complete.
Create a Cover Page inside Squarespace
Inside your Squarespace Pages section, you can create a new page pretty much anywhere. Automatically, any page gets added to your website's existing navigation unless you mark it as hidden in its settings. However, I recommend creating it under “Not Linked" or dragging it there after creation. This will keep your site navigation from being cluttered and preserve the ability to funnel users to this new direct page when you share the link. Users will need to go to the direct URL you set up to visit it, which also creates the feeling of an exclusive space just for them.
To customize the URL, hover over the page title and click on the gear icon (or, open the page and click settings). A panel on the right side will pop open to edit a few settings. the URL Slug is what you want the URL to be. I suggest a friendly word that is relevant and unique to other content and areas on your site.
There are a few different designs Squarespace has to choose from for what they call their Cover Pages. They are all customizable and many are set to serve specific purposes (product launches, business launches, content, etc). Don't forget to add your social media links and buttons for your newsletter sign up!
Keep these in mind the next time you want to gather materials into one place for a specific topic, event, or client. It's an easy resource to pull together and distribute fast.