A Quick Guide to Mobile-Friendly Squarespace Design
Nowadays, your website is accessed not only on desktops but also on phones and tablets.
If your Squarespace site doesn't look good on mobile, you may be losing visitors, trust, and sales. The good news is that Squarespace offers tools to ensure your site works well on all devices — if you know how to use them. Here are some simple tips to ensure your Squarespace site looks great on any device.
1. Start with a mobile-responsive template
Squarespace templates are designed to be responsive, but some work better on mobile than others. If you're creating a new site, choose a template known for its good mobile layout, such as Rally, Paloma, or Clune in Squarespace 7.1.
Tip: Use Squarespace’s device preview tool in the page editor to see how your site appears on desktop, tablet, and phone screens.
2. Keep it simple
On mobile, space is tight. Avoid cramming too much text, images, or buttons on the first screen. Focus on:
A clear headline
A single call-to-action (CTA)
A minimal design that invites scrolling
Clear communication is always better than being clever, when space is limited.
3. Use mobile-friendly fonts & sizes
Text that looks great on desktop may be too small or squished on a phone. Aim for:
Body text at 16–18px
Headings scaled appropriately
Line height (spacing) set to at least 1.4
Avoid script or decorative fonts in key areas — they often don’t scale well on small screens.
4. Stack your content strategically
Squarespace arranges content blocks one on top of the other on mobile. This means that layouts that are side-by-side will change to a vertical order.
Keep this in mind when planning.
Use spacer blocks and section padding wisely
Keep key messages at the top
Avoid relying on side-by-side columns to deliver meaning
5. Use custom mobile styles
Squarespace doesn't provide complete mobile style control by default, but you can use custom CSS to adjust padding, font sizes, or layout specifically for mobile screens. This approach ensures that your headers and buttons remain easy to read and convenient to click on, enhancing the overall user experience for your visitors.
6. Mind your navigation menu
Squarespace employs a hamburger-style menu for mobile devices, but an excess of links can lead to a cluttered or overwhelming experience. Here’s what you can do:
Limit your top-level navigation to 5–6 key items
Use folders and dropdowns strategically
Consider adding a CTA button that stays visible
7. Test often on real devices
It’s easy to think everything looks good in preview, but testing on real phones and tablets often shows hidden problems.
Be sure to check:
Loading speed (especially on mobile data)
Clickability of buttons and links
Spacing between elements
How quickly your CTA appears
Bonus tip: Use Chrome’s DevTools (right-click > “Inspect” > toggle device toolbar) to test your site on various screen sizes.
8. Optimise images for fast mobile loading
Big image files can make mobile pages load much slower. Instead, try using:
Squarespace’s built-in image compression
File sizes under 500KB when possible
JPGs for photos, PNGs for graphics
Consider lazy-loading for image-heavy sections.
Your Squarespace website may look great on a laptop, but if it's hard to use on mobile, you could lose visitors. By improving the layout, text, images, and navigation, you can make your site easy to use on any device.
Mobile-first is a standard, not just a trend—and with Squarespace, it's never been easier to achieve.
