Can you make money with a Squarespace blog?

If your website isn't up to snuff and needs an overhaul then Squarespace is one of the top choices when it comes to building sites from scratch. However, did you know that they also offer templates specifically designed for bloggers?

In this article we'll explore whether you can actually make money by setting up a Squarespace site as a professional-looking personal online journal. We'll cover everything from what Squarespace offers in terms of design options and content management features, to how much income potential there really is.

Here's our definitive guide to making money blogging on Squarespace...

Is Squarespace good for a blog?

Squarespace has been around since 2003, so their experience managing webpages goes back some way. They have a reputation for reliability and speed along with great customer service (they're ranked #1 out of all major hosting companies). Their business model revolves around providing services rather than selling products, which means they're not going anywhere anytime soon.

They've got several plans available to choose from. If you only plan on using Squarespace to host your own blog, check out the Starter Plan ($8 per month) or the Personal Plan ($12 per month), both of which give you unlimited domain names. For more space to grow your audience, try a Business Plan ($25 per month) or Professional Plan ($45 per month). All these packages include at least 30GB storage and 1 GB monthly traffic allowance each month.

You might be wondering why anyone would use Squarespace over other popular platforms like Wordpress and Blogger. Well, if you simply don't need flexibility or customization, Squarespace provides plenty of reasons to consider them. In addition to being reliable and easy to set-up, they also boast lots of useful tools such as automatic social media sharing and integration with Google Analytics, Adsense, Facebook Ads Manager, Twitter Cards, Pinterest Pins, YouTube Videos, Open Graph, Disqus commenting etc.

All these factors help keep setup time down to just minutes, while offering access to hundreds of professionally designed themes. You won't find any limitations here, either – Squarespace doesn't apply usage restrictions based upon pageviews, number of posts/comments, domains registered, or anything else.

Most importantly though, Squarespace is great for blogs because its focus is on helping people express themselves through written words rather than trying to sell them something. This makes it ideal for those who wish to create a place where readers can come together and share thoughts and opinions.

For example, I run my own blog on Squarespace and I'm able to write about whatever interests me without worrying about SEO copywriting, product placement, adverts, affiliate links, spamming comments, link schemes, negative reviews, and so forth. It's nice knowing that all the work will get done automatically once every post gets published.

Another bonus is that you aren't restricted to publishing articles exclusively via email newsletters anymore. Nowadays, most smart phones allow users to read eBooks directly within apps too. That means you could potentially reach thousands of new subscribers every day by posting interesting articles onto your blog and sending short informative emails instead.

Can you make money blogging on Squarespace?

It depends entirely on what kind of blogger you aim to become. Let's take a look at various methods you could employ to earn extra cash with your Squarespace blog.

1. Affiliate Marketing

One option is to sign up to Amazon's Associates program and promote Squarespace branded items via your blog. Each sale made thanks to your efforts earns you a commission. To start off, click on 'Promote Products' in your dashboard menu bar and select "Create a Product". Then follow the instructions to add products to your store. Once you receive payment from customers, you pay a small fee to Squarespace, but you still retain ownership of the item(s).

2. Sell Your Own Merchandise

Your next step may involve designing your very own T-shirt. After signing up to Squarespace, head to the Design Center and click Create New Item. Choose between uploading photos and adding text, choosing colors and fonts, and selecting background images. When you're happy, hit Save & Continue Editing to proceed further. At this point, you should see a preview of your creation under Preview Mode. Hit Publish and wait for approval before moving on.

Now, let's say you wanted to launch a range of clothing items featuring designs created by yourself. How do you go about doing this? Firstly, you'd register a brand name and trademark with Companies House in order to protect your intellectual property rights. Next, visit Squarespace's Brand Store and search for relevant merchandise. Clicking on the logo icon underneath the image opens up the dropdown menu. Select Register A Branded Product From Within My Account.

When prompted, enter details including a legal description, company registration number, and VAT status. After submitting, you'll be given two different prices depending on whether you purchased a template or theme package. Finally, scroll down to the bottom right corner and choose Submit Order.

3. Become An Author

Writing is hard work. And even after years spent practicing, authors still struggle to perfect their craft. Fortunately, Squarespace allows you to publish books right alongside your blog. But first things first – you need to upload a book file (.docx format preferred). Head to your Dashboard and open My Library. Scroll down until you spot Books. Click Add Book and browse for the document you want to submit.

Once uploaded, you'll receive notification that your submission was successful. Keep an eye on your inbox as edits and corrections will arrive shortly afterwards. As long as you're following guidelines and formatting rules correctly, your publication should pass inspection.

4. Offer Consulting Services

Are you passionate about photography, graphic design, programming, marketing, writing, teaching -- perhaps something else? Why not teach others how to achieve similar results using your knowledge? With Squarespace, you can easily establish an interactive educational platform for students to learn about a particular subject area.

To begin, navigate to the Learning section of your dashboard. Under the heading Teach Others, type in your chosen field of expertise. Enter keywords related to the course you intend to offer, and tap Search. Pick a suitable template and fill in the necessary information about your classes. Then, move forward by clicking Start Teaching.

5. Run Paid Advertising Campaigns

What if you already have a sizable list of loyal followers who love reading your blog entries? Maybe you've developed a reputation for creating quality original pieces that resonate well with a specific target market. Can you leverage this into a profitable side hustle?

Well, you certainly can. Squarespace gives you complete control over advertising sales. There are dozens of paid advertisement types you can utilize, ranging from banner ads and sponsored stories to video and display advertisements. Simply log into your account settings to customize your campaign preferences, then pick the ones you think would benefit your blog the most.

6. Promote Other People's Work

As mentioned earlier, Squarespace doesn't restrict you from using third party plugins to boost your blog's functionality. One such plugin worth exploring is Social Sharers. While it's primarily used for driving engagement among existing visitors, it also functions perfectly fine for promoting other people's material. By installing it, you can add a button to your sidebar which displays featured works from across the Web.

Simply locate the Social Sharers Plugin in your Plugins panel, install it, and activate it. Next, enable the feature Show Related Content. This lets you configure exactly what shows up when someone clicks on the Social Sharers button. Set it to show excerpts from pages matching certain criteria, such as title, author bio, tags, category, and date posted.

7. Sell Your Photos Online

Do you fancy turning your passion for taking pictures into a full-time job? Perhaps you already maintain a portfolio of celebrity portraits, landscapes, family moments, sporting events, and more. Or maybe you're hoping to build one eventually. Either way, Squarespace makes this possible.

Head to the Gallery section of your dashboard and click Upload Images. Navigate to whichever folder contains your desired media files. Find the highest resolution photo, drag it into the window provided, and resize accordingly. Remember to tick Enable Image Cropping, otherwise images will remain unscaled. Hit Upload, confirm the process completes successfully, and repeat as required.

Next, head to Settings > Media Management and adjust the maximum dimensions allowed for gallery submissions. Note that larger resolutions tend to result in higher fees due to bandwidth costs incurred by displaying high quality images. On the bright side, Squarespace does provide free cloud backup facilities, meaning you shouldn't lose precious originals forever.

Is WordPress or Squarespace better for blogging?

There's no clear winner when comparing the two main players in the blogosphere. Both WordPress and Squarespace have pros and cons to draw from, and neither excels above the rest. Ultimately, however, it's completely subjective. What matters far more is finding a solution that suits your individual requirements and goals.

WordPress vs Squarespace - Which Is Best For Writing?

Blogging has never been easier than it is today thanks to platforms like WordPress and Blogger that provide free tools for creating content in your own voice. But what if you're looking for something more professional-looking or maybe you just don't know how to create an effective blog without writing every post yourself?

If this sounds familiar, then Squarespace may be the right platform for you. It's easy to use, offers tons of themes and layouts, and makes publishing new posts simple. Plus, Squarespace comes with some cool features that help bloggers earn income from their site. Let's take a look at these options so you can see if they work best for you.

Can a blog actually make money?

Yes, but not all blogs will make enough money to replace full time employment (or even pay for hosting). If you're serious about building a long term business out of your website, expect to write lots of original quality content over time. This means you'll need to invest plenty of hours into each article -- which could mean spending as much as $500-$1,000 per hour depending on your topic.

That being said, there are many creative ways to earn revenue off of your blog once you get past the initial setup process.

What percent of blogs actually make money?

A recent study by HubSpot found that only 1% of websites generate any type of profit. And when we say "profit," we really mean "enough money to cover costs." Only 3% of sites bring in enough money to cover hosting fees, while another 8% come close to covering those expenses. In other words, most people who start a blog aren't going to become millionaires through it unless they go back to school.

But still, even though almost no one makes money online, this doesn't mean everyone shouldn't try. You might find success running adsense on your site or selling ebooks or services. Or you may decide to focus solely on affiliate marketing. Whichever route you choose, remember that earning money should always be secondary to providing value to readers first. That's why I recommend starting with Squarespace anyway — it gives you everything you need to run successful blogs with ease.

Here are seven different methods you can explore to turn your blog into a source of passive income.

Sell advertising space

Squarespace lets users sell ad spots on their pages. These spaces vary in size, location, color scheme, etc., allowing you to customize them however you'd like according to your brand identity. For example, if you're using Squarespace to promote an event, you could offer sponsorships to businesses based on certain criteria such as category or audience.

You do need to set up a separate page to display your adverts, but since you already have a Squarespace account, adding this section isn't too complicated. We've written before about making money with Google Ads here, and Squarespace also works well with Google's program.

Affiliate programs

Promoting products via links embedded throughout your articles allows companies to track sales data, giving them insight into popular topics and items. When someone clicks on one of these links, you receive a commission. There are two main types of affiliate programs available: One-off commissions or recurring payments. Recurring ones tend to garner higher rates because they eliminate the risk involved in offering visitors a chance to buy now instead of later.

To sign up for either type of affiliate program, simply visit the relevant link at the bottom of the product description page on Amazon or wherever else you plan to partner. Once you register, your chosen company will send you information on how to maximize your earnings. They usually include instructions for setting up banners, popups, text links, and more.

Create an ebook

An eBook is basically a digital version of a book. Since its inception, books have served as both entertainment and educational resources, helping us learn about history, philosophy, science, art, literature, religion, politics, economics, sociology, psychology, medicine, mathematics, geography, anthropology, music, and more. Now, imagine if anyone could access this knowledge whenever and wherever they wanted through an interactive web app. Enter Squarespace.

In addition to the fact that Squarespace provides great templates for various genres, it includes several powerful functions that enhance your ability to publish and distribute eBooks. First, you can embed hyperlinks anywhere within the document itself. Second, you can add notes and comments below chapters, sections, and paragraphs. Third, the system automatically detects images and videos and replaces them with thumbnails. Fourth, you can enable live updates that let viewers download new chapters as soon as they finish reading current ones. Finally, Squarespace enables users to highlight important passages and export documents as PDFs. All of these features combined give your eBook a polished appearance and feel.

Now, whether you're planning to release a single title or multiple titles, you'll have complete control over your pricing structure. Unlike traditional publishers, you won't have to worry about markups, royalties, printing costs, distribution channels, etc. However, keep in mind that you'll need to spend additional time editing your files after they go live on the servers.

Offer consulting/services

Another way to build a client base is to offer paid consultations or services related to your field. As mentioned above, Squarespace makes it easy to advertise and promote whatever you wish. You could even opt to put signs around your neighborhood encouraging passersby to schedule appointments for coaching sessions. Alternatively, you could consider doing freelance design work or teaching workshops in exchange for compensation.

Just search for job listings on LinkedIn under the "work" tab and filter results by "job type." Look specifically for openings that involve designing websites, mobile apps, newsletters, presentations, promotional materials, logo designs, social media graphics, etc. Many places require prior experience, although others are open to self-taught individuals. Then apply to jobs that interest you and follow the directions provided until you land one.

Donate unused domain names

One nifty thing about Squarespace domains is that you can transfer ownership of existing domains to the platform for free. This option appears in the Domains & Sites section of your settings. Simply select Transfer Domain(s) and click Continue. Next, enter your desired price, payment method, and email address associated with the domain name. Afterward, Squarespace will notify you when the transaction goes through. At this point, you can log into your account and change the status of the domain to Registered. To view your list of domains, head to My Sites > Manage Sites.

Once transferred, you'll retain 100% ownership of the domain. Keep in mind that if you ever stop paying for your hosting, Squarespace will reclaim it. Therefore, make sure you budget accordingly. Also, note that you cannot renew or purchase new domains directly through Squarespace. Instead, you must contact your registrar separately.

This trick can also prove useful if you ever want to migrate away from Squarespace for whatever reason. Just delete your current account, deregister the domain, and register it again through your preferred service provider.

These tips should help you understand how Squarespace domains work and how to use them effectively. Of course, the possibilities are endless. Try experimenting with different avenues to figure out what fits your style best.

You've got your website up and running but now what do you do to keep the cash flowing in without having to work for someone else? A Squarespace site costs $8 per month if you sign-up as an individual or $12 monthly if registered as part of a business. You'll also have access to templates to help design your own professional looking blog.  If that's not enough, there's plenty more to choose from including themes which range from minimalist to quirky.

But does being able to create beautiful websites mean it should be used as another way to generate income? In this article I'm going to talk about how you can build your online presence using your new Squarespace account and turn it into a lucrative side project by creating passive streams of revenue through affiliate marketing, Google AdSense, selling eBooks, and even offering freelance writing services.

Why you shouldn't use Squarespace?

Squarespace has been around since 2003 and originally offered premium domain registration options only available to those who purchased their hosting package. This means they had no choice but to offer good quality service at a reasonable price. But today, anyone can buy a Squarespace hosted website (i.e. one where the content isn't written by them) for just $8/month. That’s half the cost of buying web space elsewhere.

While Squarespace offers some great tools for designing sites, it doesn't come close when comparing its product features to other platforms such as WordPress. As well as limited customization options, you're unable to add images, videos, music files, galleries etc. If you want to display photos and videos then you need somewhere like Tumblr. Likewise, you cannot upload mp3 audio tracks to a Squarespace page – instead you must convert them first.

The lack of built-in SEO tools is also a big problem. It simply won't rank high in search engines like Wordpress will.

So why would you pay so much less than others for something that lacks basic functionality? Well, because Squarespace provides an easy to follow step-by-step guide to building your very own site. They provide all the code snippets needed to complete each task along with detailed instructions for beginners. And while it might seem time consuming, actually setting up a Squarespace site takes minutes compared to hours spent trying to figure out how to configure a WordPress theme.

In short, Squarespace makes it easier to start making money online, especially if you don't know anything about coding.

Can you get paid on Squarespace?

One advantage of working within Squarespace is that you can find products you think people searching for information related to your niche may be interested in. For example, let's say you run an internet marketing course. Instead of promoting your own products, you could promote Amazon products via links inserted directly onto your pages. All visitors click these links and you receive commissions each time.

This strategy works best with Squarespace's Templates. A template allows you to change the text and replace any image you wish, giving you flexibility over everything except the name of the blog itself (which remains "Your Name" unless changed). There are many useful free ones to pick from, covering topics such as photography, fitness, lifestyle, crafts & hobbies, food, travel, health, home decorating, fashion, pets, gardening, weddings and much more.

For instance, if you wanted to sell books relating to gardening, you'd select Gardening Template from the list of preloaded ones. Once chosen, you can edit the title of your blog, remove unwanted sections of the footer, insert your personal details in place of placeholder info, and finally enter your link at the bottom of every post. When you publish changes, the preview window appears automatically showing what your final page looks like. Click Save Changes once happy.

Now go to Manage Your Site > Content Types and look under Pages for Garden Blog Posts. Select Add New Post and fill in the fields. Scroll down to Page Information and alter the Title field to whatever you want, maybe Gardens With Love. Then copy paste your link into Link box. Next, go back to the previous screen and select Edit Permalinks. Finally, hit save changes again, and voila - you've created your garden blog posts ready for publishing. Note, however, that you must manually enable this feature before seeing fresh posts appear on your site.

To share your passion for flowers, try selecting Flowers Template from the available choices. From here, you can add your bio, contact details, portfolio, gallery, testimonials, and links to social media profiles. When finished, click the Publish button and watch your flowery masterpiece gradually show up on your site.

Another option for getting started is to check out the Marketplace section. These templates already contain ads displaying relevant products. To see examples, visit mysquarespace.com/marketplace. You can either opt-out of specific adverts or block all of them altogether. However, you can still earn a commission if someone clicks on the links embedded on your page. Just remember to set your default currency as US dollars to avoid confusion.

Lastly, you can also embed YouTube, Vimeo and SoundCloud video clips on your blogs, provided they meet certain requirements. Check out the official documentation [No Longer Available] for further details.

Note that unlike with most other places, you don't need to worry about installing scripts or plugins. Squarespace includes a widget called Links Manager that lets you easily update existing blog posts, adding additional calls to action buttons, banner advertisements, and more. Simply drag and drop the Links Manager across your blog sidebar, and customize it according to your preferences.

Does Squarespace take money from sales?

Yes, you can indeed make money with a Squarespace blog. Unfortunately, however, the method outlined above involves placing advertising onto your site. Although this approach has proven successful for several users, we recommend against doing this due to possible legal repercussions. We advise taking care to adhere to all applicable laws regarding usage rights.

What this essentially means is that you should always ask yourself whether you really trust advertisers with your data, and whether you feel comfortable sharing your credit card details with companies you aren't familiar with. After all, if you were to purchase a standard domain name from GoDaddy, for example, you wouldn't expect them to hold on to your sensitive financial information.

Instead, consider signing up for an annual plan. Under this model, you don't pay until 12 months after joining (instead of paying annually), allowing you to test drive the platform completely risk free. Additionally, you can focus solely on growing your readership rather than worrying about processing payments.

Once you decide to accept donations, the next question becomes how exactly you intend to collect them. PayPal is certainly the easiest way, although you can use other methods too. Most importantly, ensure that you comply fully with local laws and regulations wherever you live. Failure to do so can result in fines and penalties.

We hope you found our tutorial helpful, and remember that regardless of whether you choose to pursue any of these ideas, Squarespace remains a fantastic resource for anyone wanting to learn about starting a blog or improving their current one. Best of luck!

Have you tried earning money with a Squarespace blog yet? What did you achieve? Let us know below.