5 Must-Have Squarespace Plugins For Content Heavy Websites
One of the most challenge aspects of building modern websites is organizing large amounts of content. Visitors are spending less and less time reading content on websites. It is more important than ever to build a website with a friendly user experience.
This means minimizing the number of times a visitor needs to click, giving them small pieces of key information, and providing an easy-to-use navigation. I have created this guide with 5 must-have Squarespace plugins for content heavy websites to help you build a better user experience on your website or your clients websites.
As a Squarespace designer, these are plugins I use on my own website and on my clients websites to organize large amounts of text and content. Get some best practices for user experience, learn about what each plugin can do, and get specific use cases of when you might want to use it.
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Some Design Best Practices
I wanted to mention a few best practices for user-friendly website design and navigation. In general, visitors aren’t going to click more then a few times. They will land on a page and click once or twice. If they haven’t “converted”, aka made a decision or taken some kind of action, within a couple clicks, they probably won’t.
Here are some helpful tips to minimize the amount of clicks and increase your website conversions:
Keep your top navigation simple
Visitors will get overwhelmed by several choices. The less they have to choose from, the more likely they will choose the “right” page. As an example, you’ll likely want to be driving traffic immediately to your money-making pages. This will probably be a service page or e-commerce store page. Keep your navigation simple so that the user goes straight to that page in 1-click and doesn’t get distracted by other pages.
Avoid “nested” drop-downs
Having sub-pages in your drop-down menus are a thing of the past. They are difficult to navigate (because they easily disappear when you hover), and they provide too many choices (see the first tip above). You don’t need to show your entire site page in your top navigation. Simplify your website page structure to have everything a user needs on your main pages. If you do have a complex website, use a mega menu. Mega menus are one dropdown with a ton of links. This is often used for large e-commerce stores, but could have other use cases. Continue reading this article for my suggested mega menu plugin for Squarespace.
Minimize the front-facing conversion goal for your website
Your website can serve as the hub for a number of conversion goals. However, they don’t all have to be front-facing. You can have several landing pages (sales pages) that you promote through other channels, such as email or social media, but they don’t have to be linked on your top navigation.
Chances are, most visitors coming to your website are searching for one thing in particular. This may be a product or service you are selling. Make sure that is front and center and easy to get to in a click or two. If you are promoting other products or services on the side, keep those pages hidden and just use them through other channels.
Avoid back-clicking navigation
If a visitor has to click the “back button” to get back to the main page to keep going, they aren’t going to do that for long. When designing the user experience of your website, think about how you can simplify your content and provide clear call to actions on each page so the visitor can keep moving foward.
Think of your website like a GPS—you don’t want your visitor to have to “reroute”! If you have a ton of content that needs to be on one page, use accordions, tabs, or popups to provide more information without leaving the page.
5 Must-Have Squarespace Plugins for Content Heavy Websites
To Minimize Sub-Pages: Lightbox Anything
Dropdown menus with sub-pages and multiple click-through points are a thing of the past. Visitors don’t spend as much time reading content as they used to. It is best if your visitors can find the information they need and decide (conversion) in about 2 clicks.
This 2-click conversion process might be a homepage or other landing page, a click-through to more information (a service page), and then filling out a form to contact you or adding something to their cart.
Visitors that must click to read more, then back-click, and click again, and back-click…. Are going to be GONE!
How do we resolve this? I use the Lightbox Anything plugin by SQSP Themes to build popup information on a page. This allows the visitor to quickly browse the page, click a popup box for quick bites of info, and continue scrolling without leaving the page.
You can also use this plugin to build popup team member bios, a popup Calendly scheduling page, sizing information or additional information for e-commerce stores, and much more.
This is one of my most-used plugins—check it out!
Shop Lightbox Anything ⟶
Save money and buy it in the plugin bundle ⟶
For Content Heavy Collections: Universal Filter
Squarespace is currently a little limited when it comes to filters. There is a sort filter option for collections, but for content-heavy websites, this is not robust enough.
The Universal Filter plugin by Square Websites is a go-to solution in the Squarespace community. It allows you to build extensive and complete filters. This is ideal for large e-commerce stores, event pages, databases, and/or large blogs.
I also run into clients asking if they can sort their blogs in alphabetical order. This plugin finally allows us to work around that issue as well!
For Re-Occurring Content: Section Loader Supreme
If you have content that needs to be placed in multiple locations, the Section Loader Supreme plugin by Will Myers is a must. It allows you to create “global sections” in Squarespace.
I use this plugin all the time on my own website, and often with client websites. Once you create a section and place it throughout your website, you only need it edit it ONCE going forward.
This is particularly handy when building out CTA sections for blogs. I place one “cta section” in my blog and I can edit it or completely change it anytime without editing dozens (or hundreds) of blogs.
I also use it on client websites when they have information that needs to be updated regularly in more then on place. This way, they can just update it in one location and it saves the business owner and staff a ton of time!
For Blogs, Portfolio, and Stores: Related Posts and Products Plugin
When it comes to user experience, it is always a good idea to give the visitor some direction. There is a reason most blogs and e-commerce stores on the internet have a “related posts” or “related products” section.
By placing related posts or products at the bottom of the page, it encourages users to stay on your website. It also gives them some direction of where to go next (if they make it all the way down to the page and are deciding what to do).
The Related Posts and Products plugin by SQSP Themes allows us to build this into our Squarespace websites!
Pro-Tip: You can customize it on multiple blogs and stores by adding the code into the individual page Header Injection. This allows you to customize how the related posts/products are displayed, as well as the size, orientation, thumbnail, number of posts, and more.
Shop Related Posts/Products ⟶
Save money and buy it in the plugin bundle ⟶
For Large Navigations: Mega Menu
One of the easiest ways to provide better navigation on a content-heavy website is through a mega menu. Instead of nestled drop-downs or a busy top navigation (all of which will frustrate users), a mega menu is one big “drop down area” where you can easily place unlimited links!
The Mega Menu plugin by Will Myers gives you the ability to build out custom drop-down mega menu sections in Squarespace. This type of menu is perfect for large e-commerce stores, but can also work well for informational sites such as non-profit organizations or corporate websites.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need plugins for Squarespace?
No, you do not need any plugins for Squarespace. The Squarespace platform comes complete with everything you need to build a beautiful, professional website. However, you can extend the functionality of the platform by utilizing some of the fantastic plugins on the market! Learn more about my favorite recommended Squarespace plugins ⟶
What are the Squarespace extensions?
Squarespace extensions are third-party applications that Squarespace has partnered with. These tools extend the functionality of the platform by integrating third-party applications and software directly through the participating companies. Learn more about Squarespace extensions ⟶
What is the table of contents plugin for Squarespace?
The table of contents plugin for Squarespace is a plugin that automatically generates a table of contents for blog posts. My personal favorite (that I use on this blog), is the Table of Contents plugin by Adlytic Marketing (not affiliated, just a fan).
Must have Squarespace plugins for free & Free Squarespace 71. Plugins
The best resource for must have Squarespace plugins for free and free Squarespace 7.1 plugins is Ghost Marketplace. They have an extensive library of free plugins you can use on your Squarespace website!
