Steps to move a class or workshop on another platform to Squarespace Courses.

If you have a course on another platform, like Thinkific, Teachable, or Skillshare, you can move it to to your Squarespace site. It’s not currently possible to import your text content or students directly.

This guide outlines our recommended process and strategies for encouraging your current students to make the move. You’ll build a course page, create a pricing plan, and invite existing participants to your new course.

Before you begin

To move a course to Squarespace, you need the following:

• A Squarespace website to host your course. If you don't have a website yet, a selection of templates were created specifically for courses. You can find them using the “Courses” filter on the templates page.
• A custom domain for your students to locate your course online. If you already have a custom domain, you can transfer or connect it to your Squarespace site.
• An active billing plan for your site, so your visitors can view your site’s content and sign up for your course.

Step 1 - Build a course page

Add a course page to your site’s pages panel. Your course page has a variety of tools to help you share your expertise and engage your students:

• Course overview page - The landing page for your course. Students find a description of the course and a visual outline of the chapters and lessons. A progress bar encourages students to complete your course.
• Lesson page - A page about a specific topic in your course. You can break up your curriculum into smaller sections to help students learn and keep your course organized.
• Chapters - A grouping of lessons with a theme. Placing your lesson pages into chapters creates context for the larger concepts of your course.

To learn more about the structure of a course page, visit Course pages.

Tip: We suggest building something new into your course to entice your students to follow you. Consider adding a new lesson, an exclusive interview, or a free download.

Step 2 - Move images and videos to a course page

Use the asset library to upload your images and videos all in one place. You can then add those images and videos to your course lessons.

Keep in mind:

• Every site comes with 30 minutes of video storage. If you need more video storage, you can purchase a Digital Products plan.
• If you prefer to host your videos elsewhere, like on YouTube, you can embed videos on your course page.

Step 3 - Move text to a course page

It’s not currently possible to import text content to your Squarespace site. You can copy and paste the text into each lesson or the course overview page. We recommend reviewing our tips on fixing text formatting when copying and pasting text.

Step 4 - Set up pricing plans

Pricing plans are how your visitors sign up for access to your course. You can offer free pricing plans and collect email addresses, or charge for access to your content. To learn more about pricing plans, visit Paywalls and pricing plans.

If your students purchased access to your content on a different platform, you can honor the price they’ve already paid a few different ways:

Temporary free access

If you used subscription payments on your previous platform, you can offer students temporary free access to your new course. This acknowledges the monthly or annual fee they paid prior, giving them time to move to the new course before charging subscription payments again. 

To grant your students temporary access to your new course for free, use a 100% off discount code. Students can sign up using the code to make the move to your new site for free. You can create a subscription pricing plan that renews either monthly or annually. Ensure that you limit the discount code for use on only the first payment.

Permanent free access

If you previously charged a flat rate for permanent access to your content, you can offer your new course for free.

To grant permanent free access to your course, use a free pricing plan. If you only want some of your students to access the course for free, hide the free pricing plan on your paywall. Then build a password-protected page with a digital product block displaying the free plan. Send a link to the page and the password to the students.

Discounted access

If your new course includes added content, or if you’ve built a new curriculum, consider offering your existing students a discount. This encourages them to make the move to your new site with you.

To offer your students a discount on the cost of a new pricing plan, use a discount code. Send your students the code via email. To learn more about discounts, visit Creating discounts.

Step 5 - Invite students to the course

Tip: If you created a new site, review our site launch checklist to ensure you’re fully set up, and ensure it's live before inviting new students.

Now that your site is ready, contact your students to invite them to sign up for the course in its new location. We suggest importing your student email addresses as a contacts list to your new site. Then send your students an email campaign, which matches the look and theme of your site.

Step 6 - Promote the course

Encourage new students by promoting your new course. Try these steps to promote your course:

• Review our tips for maintaining your SEO ranking when moving to Squarespace.
• Send email blasts with Squarespace Email Campaigns with links to your course overview page highlighting the features of your course.
• Visit your course on your phone to take screenshots. Then post the screenshots on your social media accounts to invite visitors to view your hard work.
• Build a Bio Site to host links to your new course.
• Add a form block to your site to collect email addresses from potential students.

For more tips, visit Marketing your Squarespace site.

More help

If you need more help while moving your course: 

• Register for a free webinar to learn how to build your site, start selling online courses, and more.
• Join the Squarespace Forum to read posts and ask questions.
• Hire a Squarespace Expert to help move your course.