The huge difference that rebranding a Squarespace website template can make
I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that when running your small business, time is the one thing we could all use more of (anyone got a time machine they wanna share? 👀)
Especially as women, I KNOW you know that life doesn’t stop around your business. If you’re in the start-up phase, you might be wondering how to establish a professional online presence without spending weeks or months on web design. One solution? Harnessing the power of Squarespace website templates – the secret weapon for busy women looking to create a stunning website with minimal time investment.
Why start with a template?
Website templates are pre-designed pages and layouts that provide the framework for your site's structure. You just need to plug your content in and go rather than try to come up with everything from scratch. Some benefits for new businesses include:
Efficiency: Templates significantly reduce the time required to build a website from scratch. They come with pre-configured layouts and features so you don’t have to learn web design just to get a site online.
Professionalism: Even if you're not a design expert, templates are designed by professionals who understand user experience and aesthetics. This gives your website an instantly professional look.
Cost-Effective: Hiring a web designer might be out of the budget while you get established, especially for small businesses. Templates offer an affordable alternative that still delivers a high-quality design.
Customisation: While templates provide a base structure, they’re suprisingly versatile. You can (and definitely should!) customise elements to align with your brand's personality and values.
The magic of a brand transformation
If you’ve been considering using a template for your website, you might be wondering how different it will actually look once you’ve got your content in it, because the last thing you want is to look like everyone else using it, right? Well you’d probably be surprised just how different the same template can look when you change it up with your branding and content.
Imagine a single template as a chameleon, adapting to different brand identities effortlessly. Swapping out branding details like fonts, colours and images can giving the same template a totally different appearance. Here's how:
Fonts: Typography sets the tone for your website. By changing fonts to align with your brand, you can create a feeling of elegance, playfulness, or professionalism. For instance, a template that appears casual with one font can exude sophistication with another.
Colours: Colours evoke emotions and convey messages - colour theory is a huge subject! Altering the colour scheme can completely change the look and feel. Transition from a vibrant, energetic palette to a calm, serene one, instantly shifting the user's perception.
Images: The images you choose have the power to tell your brand's story. Transform a template's look from corporate to creative or minimalist to dynamic by carefully selecting images that align with your vision and your branding.
Visual showcase: one template, multiple identities
I wanted to show you a few examples of a template-based branding transformation that I’ve quickly mocked up to give you an idea.
Take the Peach template - super bright, super pink, maybe the total opposite of your brand:
Now what if we switch up the colours and images - yep, not even the text:
SUCH a different vibe - it’s no longer bold and in your face but light and fresh.
Now let’s go in a completely different direction… this version below uses the EXACT SAME TEMPLATE BASE:
The main difference to the brighter versions? The header section text was moved to the left instead of the centre, and the section divider was changed to an angular shape instead of the soft curve. The rest is just colours, fonts and images.
THAT’S how easy it is to switch up a template and inject your own brand’s vibe into it.
