Abby B. Have a ready digital product to sell? Or planning to make one and sell it on Squarespace? Here’s my step by step guide on how to use Squarespace to sell digital products.
If you’ve been thinking of making a digital product for a while now but unsure where to sell these products, Squarespace might be the solution for you. It is super easy to learn and use by beginner online marketers from all industries. Anyone can start with a free trial just to test it out!
In this article, I’ll be explaining my thoughts on selling digital products on Squarespace, with a step-by-step guide on how to start in just 8 steps.
*This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission (at no cost to you) if you sign up for a program or make a purchase using my link!
Who Should Use Squarespace To Sell Digital Products?
- Influencers
- Content creators
- Digital artists
- Coaching gurus
- Music owners
- Bloggers
- E-Commerce sellers
- Online marketers
- Photographers
How To Use Squarespace To Sell Digital Products
1. Sign up for a Squarespace account
Creating a Squarespace account is super easy and only takes less than three minutes – give it a try. You can sign up using email or link your social media account like Facebook, Google or Apple. I recommend the latter as you don’t have to remember any passwords.
2. Create a website and choose a template
Once you’re signed up, head onto your dashboard and click on “Create Website”. You will need to choose a template for your site – choose one based on your nature of business and what you think will appeal to your customers. If you’re out of ideas and unsure, just browse through templates and filter out based on your needs.
I recommend choosing a clean white template with a proper flow from top to bottom like the Clarkson website template. Your digital product will be the last item seen at the end for customers to make a decision, based on all the info they read in the beginning. So there’s a real sales funnel for customers to explore and get convinced!
Click on “Start with this design” and you’ll be prompted to your new site. You’ll have to name your new site before anything else.
3. Subscribe for the Commerce package
For you to create an inventory or listing for a digital product, you’ll need to subscribe to the Business package. You can do so after the 14-day free trial ends or before it does. Users are still able to create a listing during the free trial period. I’ve included a step by step guide down below!
4. Add a digital product listing
Click on “Add Product” at the top right corner to create your digital product listing. Choose “Digital download” as the product you want to sell which should cover any eBooks, PDF templates or audio files. Alternatively, you can import your existing products from Etsy – this is much easier to do!
Read: How to sell digital art on Etsy
You’ll be prompted to add a store which is basically adding a page to your site that will hold the products you want to sell. Fill up the details needed for the digital product which includes the following:
- Digital product title
- Description of digital product
- Images for the product landing page
- The file that contains the digital product (PDF, PNG, ZIP)
- Original selling price and the price if it is on sale
- Category the product belongs to with product tags
For a step-by-step visual guideline on how to complete the digital product listing, you can view the video below from Louise Henry. It’s super clear and guides even the newest beginners to start listing their Squarespace digital product.
5. Customize your Squarespace digital product listing
To make your individual listings stand out, you can make changes to each of them.
Few things you can customize on Squarespace listings are:
- Custom forms – collecting customers’ info with a form that appears when they add a specific product to their cart
- Related products – show collection of products related to the current item they’re seeing (only do this if you have a few products to offer)
- Customized “Add To Cart” button – you can change the words that appear on the add to cart button to something more creative like “Add To Basket” or “I Want To Buy This!”
Don’t worry too much, you can always delete the listing or duplicate them to edit a similar one!
Everything you see in your Squarespace site is customizable – from the font size, font type, color palette etc. You should also add an express checkout option to every product listed to maximize conversions – I’ve explained why down below.
6. Include common FAQs in the product description
A lot of beginners overlook the importance of a detailed product description. This is especially important for digital products because it does not involve any physical item your customer can hold. They have to be super convinced that your product can solve their problems and get them to where they want to be.
Ideally, a good digital product description should include the following:
- The non-physical nature of the product
- How the digital product is delivered to a customer
- Time taken for the product to be delivered e.g. 24-48 hours after purchase
- Refund and cancellation policies
- How to reach out for help if there’s any issue
- Your shop’s response time should a customer emails for support
Listing these details in product description can help you manage a customer’s expectations. This way, they will ask you less questions before and after purchase. Returns and cancellations are significantly reduced when your customers are satisfied. Plus, most sellers do not offer refunds, returns or cancellations for digital product due to their digital nature.
You shouldn’t be the first one to offer that!
7. Optimize your Squarespace store for SEO
One of the most important aspects a lot of people overlook or perhaps, unaware of, is optimizing their Squarespace listings for SEO. As a lover of SEO, I can only tell you that it works! And it’s free!
You just have to do these things to ensure your Squarespace site can easily be found by search engines:
- Connect your Squarespace site to Google Search Console
- Fill up the SEO site description of 400 words with target keywords. Ensure that it covers the overview of the site and is keyword rich
- Ensure your Squarespace pages and collections have their own SEO description age and collection SEO description
- Turn off “hide page from search results” so search results can find you
Any extra traffic from search results is a new opportunity for sales so take this seriously, just like your morning cup of coffee.
Do you want to miss it if it’s free? Not me!
8. Market your store to bring in traffic
A Squarespace website or store isn’t like a Facebook page or an Etsy shop where traffic can come in without you doing anything. You’re in charge of the site and you’re in control of where the traffic comes from.
Here a few ways you can bring in traffic to your standalone website:
Organic
- Blog
Creating a blog on your Squarespace site and writing content that relates to your digital product is one of the ways of bringing in traffic. What’s great about this is that it convinces your customers even further after reading a full article on the benefits of your digital product or how to use it. They are ready to make that purchase at the end of the page. Just don’t forget to implement SEO for Google to find your articles.
You can also promote your Squarespace site on other blogs and forums. Works in the long run!
- Social media
For faster results, social media like TikTok, Twitter and Pinterest can do the trick. Of course, this depends on the type of digital product you’re selling and its ideal audience. I find Instagram to be the best when things are more visual. This is great for building your brand in the long term too.
- Newsletter
If you have a ready email list to promote to, it is almost free to sell your new digital product to them. A newsletter is something people sign up to on websites, blogs and even Twitter to stay updated. A lot of people still read emails!
Paid advertising
- Facebook ads
This is one of the preferred ways of small or big companies to increase brand exposure. Even if you’re a solopreneur with a budget, Facebook ads is something you would want to test out. Best option if your front product is low ticket and not too expensive since most people are on Facebook for entertainment anyway.
- Google ads
A slightly expensive digital product? Google ads is the way because of its high search intent. People who see your advertisements are most likely people who searched for it in Google’s search bar. So they were ready for what’s coming!
- TikTok ads
TikTok ads might be the newer way compared to the two above. It is fast and targets the younger generation compared to Facebook. If you love short clips yourself, you can easily make them as ads for your digital products!
Types of Digital Products You Can Sell On Squarespace
There’s a lot of digital products out there for you to make and sell on Squarespace. Basically, all you need are files made in the form of PDF, PNG, JPG or ZIP. Below are some of the common ones I’ve seen!
- eBooks
- Planners
- Social media templates
- Vector images
- Digital art
- Done-For-You templates
- Swipe files
- Audio files
- Coloring pages
- Instructional guides
In case you’re flustered on how these digital products will be delivered to your customer. Here’s how it works upon a successful purchase:
- The buyer will get a confirmation email thanking them for making a purchase
- Buyer will also get another email with the digital download link for 24 hours expiration
- Seller (you) will get an email on the new order and you don’t have to do anything
Squarespace lets you edit these emails to your preferred way to suit your brand. Everything is pretty passive and gets done automatically while you enjoy evening tea with friends.
Increase Chances Of Selling Digital Products On Squarespace
Every ecommerce platform has its own pros and cons. When using Squarespace to sell digital products, below are some key things you should consider!
1. Avoid analysis paralysis caused by too many products
Depending on your focus and type of product you’re selling, your store should not have too many items. Ideally, it should have a maximum of three to five and each should have its own landing page. Seeing too many similar options will make it hard for the average customer to decide which they should purchase. They may not buy any!
2. Include testimonials and guarantees to improve conversions
No one likes to purchase something without reviews or testimonials. This is especially the case for digital products! Include these additional elements into the product’s landing page – refer my tips above.
3. Reduce pages to check out
Try to reduce the number of pages or clicks your customer has to go through before arriving at the payment page. That’s one of the reasons why I recommend using a clear top bottom landing page with one “Buy Now” button at the end. Ideally, that button should lead directly to the checkout page to avoid customer abandoning their cart.
4. Find creative ways to upsell
I’ve been a customer myself and trust me, checkboxes for product upselling at the checkout page works. Think about the additional $10 to $20 you can make by offering a complementary product to your main one. Too bad, at the time of writing, it’s not possible to include these checkboxes at checkout on Squarespace. A lost opportunity!
So, the video above might be coming from a competitor or Squarespace alternative for selling digital products. But I find their points to be extremely important in improving conversion of any ecommerce or online business. Especially digital products because there’s no real product in hand. Do watch!
Best Squarespace Alternatives in 2022 (Some are free!)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Question: What is Squarespace’s pricing?
Answer: Squarespace’s pricing plans separates into four main packages, personal, business, commerce basic and commerce advanced. Prices starts at $15 per month and goes up to $49 per month depending on plan chose. Customers enjoy extra savings of up to 31% with annual plans compared to monthly ones.
Question: Can you sell digital photos on Squarespace?
Answer: Anyone can sell digital photos on Squarespace as long as you own the rights to the photos. Squarespace is great for photographers as it allows them to build a photography website and use it as a digital portfolio. Links to download the digital photos are emailed to customers instantly for use up to 24 hours.
Question: Is Squarespace good for selling art?
Answer: Squarespace is good for selling art, be it physical or digital ones. It supports high resolution images and multiple presentation styles to give the best art experience to your audience. While physical art must be processed for shipment, digital art is sold as digital downloads where links are shared via email upon successful purchase.
Bottom Line
So, maybe you’ve thought about having your own website to sell digital products. You’re bound to achieve great success only if you take your first step today. Here are the steps you should take to use Squarespace to sell digital products:
- Sign up for a Squarespace account
- Create a website and choose a template
- Subscribe for the Commerce package
- Add a digital product listing
- Customize your Squarespace digital product listing
- Include common FAQs in the product description
- Optimize your Squarespace store for SEO
- Market your store to bring in traffic
Don’t fret if it sounds all too complicated now because it really isn’t once you get the hang of it. If you’re looking to sell on a simpler platform, I recommend Etsy. Check out my list of 18 cool digital products you can sell on Etsy! If you already have a digital product to sell, head on to my step-by-step guide on how to create a digital product listing on Etsy.
I’m sure it helps!
Photo by Marek Levak
