Choosing the right template

The Squarespace template store offers a variety of starting points for creating a site that best presents your style, brand, and vision to the world. No matter which design you start with, your site will have all the same fonts, colors, and style tweak options as other designs.

Tip: In our previous version of Squarespace, version 7.0, some features were only available on specific templates. Learn more in the section below. 

This guide explains how to choose your starting design and how to start customizing the look of your site.

Browse designs

Visit our template store and click Preview on any design to see its demo site. Each demo site uses sample content to show an example layout and provide inspiration for your design.

Tip: Find inspiration for your site from Björk, our current Squarespace Icon. You can start your version 7.1 site with Mycelium, a template created drawing from her creative choices.

Compare layouts and colors

Rather than focusing on the demo content, look for specific colors and layouts that appeal to you. You can change the style and layout of your site at any time, but you may find it easier to start with a design that's already close to how you want your site to appear. For example, the Dario demo site is designed for a wedding, but you could adapt it to accept RSVPs for a different type of event, or to gather pre-orders for a new product launch.

All sites share the same template, with the same features and style options. No matter which design you start with, you'll have access to every design feature on your site.

Personalize your template

To change the look of the demo site you started with, change your site's design and layout:

• Change the colors, fonts, and other global styles for your site in the Design panel.
• Add new pages with different pre-built page layouts.
• Add new sections to change a page’s layout. For example, you can create a page banner by adding a section with a background image to the top of a page.
• Use section styles to override site-wide styles and give individual sections distinct looks.
• Create custom layouts for blog posts or product items with summary blocks.

If these edits still don't change your site enough, consider starting over.

Tip: If you prefer to start a site without demo content or preset design settings, start with a blank template in your language: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish.

Build your own template

To start personalizing your site immediately, you can build your own template in our template store. You'll design your homepage, add any other pages you need, and finally select a color palette and font pairing. This is a great option if you already have a strong idea for how your site should look.

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Starting with version 7.0

You might be more familiar with our earlier version of Squarespace, version 7.0. In 7.0, every template is customizable, but each template is a part of a template family with unique style rules and features. If you're new to Squarespace, we recommend using the steps above to start with our newest version, 7.1. 

In 7.0, some features are only available in certain template families. To achieve a different look or use a specific 7.0 feature, you might need to switch templates. Switching templates in version 7.0 involves many steps, including reordering pages and re-adding banner images.

To start with a 7.0 template, visit the version 7.0 template store. Use the table below to see which templates we recommend for different types of sites. To learn more about specific template features, review the template comparison charts.