5 common mistakes to avoid when building a Squarespace website
It’s no secret that we LOVE using Squarespace to create our tempaltes. Its user-friendly interface empowers just about anyone to quickly get up to speed and create the website of their dreams.
However, like with all things, it's easy to overlook some of the finer details that make a site look truly professional. But don't worry – we’re here to help you navigate these potential pitfalls.
In this blog, we’ll walk you through five common mistakes people make when building their Squarespace sites and share how you can easily avoid them. Let’s dive in and make sure your website stands out for all the right reasons!
5 common mistakes to avoid
Neglecting mobile optimization
With so many people browsing on their phones, mobile optimization isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s essential. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, you might end up with overlapping text, misaligned buttons, and tiny touch targets, which can frustrate users and increase bounce rates.
Squarespace makes this easy with its “Device View” feature, letting you see how your site looks on mobile devices while you edit. Just click the mobile view icon in the top-right corner of the site preview frame to check things out. If something looks off, you can tweak the mobile layout separately from the desktop version.
Ignoring image optimization
Large, slow-loading images can really drag down your site’s performance and user experience. Search engines consider page speed a crucial ranking factor and faster-loading pages are more likely to rank higher in search results. What’s more is that studies show that users typically wait only 3-5 seconds for a website to load before they lose patience and leave. Yikes!
To keep both your users and Google happy, make sure your images are properly sized and compressed. Our go-to tool for this is jpegmini.com, which is a paid tool offers a 14-day free trial if you want to give it a spin before committing.
Overlooking URL customization
Generic URLs like “yourwebsite.com/new-page” can look unprofessional and hurt your SEO. Instead, make your URLs descriptive, relevant, and easy to read. For example, “www.example.com/favorite-seo-tools” is much clearer than a generic URL.
Keep URLs short and simple, around 60 characters or fewer, and use hyphens to separate words for better readability. Avoid unnecessary stop words (like “and,” “the,” and “of”) and make sure each URL is unique to avoid confusion and duplicate content issues.
Cluttered navigation
A complex or overcrowded navigation menu can overwhelm your visitors and make them leave your site. Aim to keep it straightforward with 5-7 primary options. If you have more content, use dropdown menus to organize related pages.
Prioritize your most important pages or calls to action, and use clear, concise labels to help visitors find what they’re looking for quickly.
Not using a custom favicon
A favicon, short for "favorite icon," is a tiny graphic that represents your website and shows up in a few key places—like your browser’s address bar, tabs, bookmarks, and history lists. Usually just 16x16 pixels in size, favicons act like a visual badge for your site, making it easy for users to spot and remember it among a sea of open tabs and saved bookmarks.
The default Squarespace favicon can make your site look generic and less memorable. Customize your favicon to reflect your brand and give your site a more professional touch. It’s a small detail that makes a big difference in branding and user experience.
