How to onboard a Squarespace web design client.
The first week of a project sets the tone for the rest of it. A clear onboarding process means fewer surprises, faster content and a client who knows what happens next. Here's one that works for Squarespace projects.
Start With a Signed Agreement and a Deposit
Don't start design work, or even a detailed kickoff, until two things are in: a signed agreement and a deposit. The agreement should cover the scope (pages, features, integrations), the number of revision rounds, the timeline and content deadlines, what happens if content is late, and how changes outside the scope are priced. If those terms are clear on day one, most of the hard conversations later are already settled.
A deposit of a third to half the project fee is common. It commits the client and protects your schedule.
Send a Welcome Email That Sets Expectations
Right after the deposit arrives, send a welcome email. Keep it short and practical:
- The timeline, with the key dates: kickoff, content due, design review, launch.
- How you'll communicate, and where change requests go.
- Your working hours and usual response time.
- What you need from them first, with a date.
- A link to book the kickoff call.
The communication part matters more than it looks. Clients use whatever channel you don't rule out. If you want everything in one place, say so in the first email, not after the tenth text message.
Run a Focused Kickoff Call
Use the kickoff to fill the gaps the agreement leaves: who their customers are, what the site needs to do for them, sites they like and why, and anything they're worried about. Confirm who on their side gives feedback and who has the final say. Projects stall when three people each think they're approving the work.
End the call by agreeing the sitemap, or a date for it. The sitemap is the first thing the client approves, and every later stage builds on it.
Take notes during the call and send a short summary the same day: the goals you agreed, who approves the work, the sitemap or its due date, and the next three dates in the schedule. The client gets a clear record of what was decided, and you have something to point back to if priorities shift halfway through the build. It also shows the client, early, that you follow through on what you say.
Set Up Squarespace Access
Decide who will own the site, and set up access to match. If you're building under your own account, start the trial yourself (Squarespace trials are 14 days with no card needed, and Circle partners get longer ones) and invite the client as a contributor once there's something to see. If the client already has a Squarespace site, ask them to invite you as an administrator rather than share their password.
Check the plan early. If you plan to add custom code or tools that install through Code Injection, the site needs a plan that includes it: Core, Plus, Advanced or some legacy plans, not Basic. See how to give a client access to Squarespace for roles and limits.
Collect What You Need to Start
Send a content and access checklist straight after the kickoff, with dates on every item: logo files, brand colors, homepage copy, photos, the domain registrar login (shared safely), and accounts for anything you'll connect, like email marketing or booking. How to collect content from clients covers how to ask for each one so it arrives usable.
Ask for the homepage copy first. It shapes the design more than any other content, and you can start building around it while the rest comes in.
Plan the First Two Weeks
Clients feel most uncertain between paying the deposit and seeing the first design. Fill that gap with small, visible progress so they never wonder whether anything is happening. A typical first two weeks on a Squarespace project:
- Day 1: welcome email sent, kickoff booked.
- Days 2 to 4: kickoff call, sitemap drafted and sent for approval.
- Days 5 to 7: content checklist sent with due dates, Squarespace trial started or access granted.
- Week 2: design direction shared for review, first content items due.
Send a short update at the end of each week: what's done, what's next, and anything you're waiting on from them. It takes five minutes, and it heads off most "just checking in" emails before they're written.
Make Onboarding Repeatable
Write your onboarding down as a checklist and use it for every client: agreement, deposit, welcome email, kickoff, sitemap, access, content list. Save the welcome email and content checklist as templates. After each project, change one thing that caused friction. After a few projects you'll have a process that clients notice, and that quietly prevents scope creep before it starts.
Where Bridge Fits
Bridge covers the communication part of onboarding, not the paperwork. It has no proposals, contracts, e-signatures, scheduling or deposit invoices, so you'd use other tools for those. Once the project starts, you add the client's site as a project, paste the Bridge Code into its Header Code Injection (setup takes a few minutes), and invite up to three people from the client's side as members by email.
They sign in with an emailed link, no password, and from then on the project has one chat, one task list and one Files tab. Your welcome email can simply say: "Send everything through Bridge." Clients can use it from the widget in their Squarespace editor or from the project's chat page if they don't have editor access. For what clients look for in that kind of space, see what a client portal needs.
Common Questions
What are the steps to onboard a web design client?
Signed agreement and deposit, a welcome email with the timeline and communication rules, a kickoff call, access setup, and a dated content checklist.
What should a web design welcome email include?
Key dates, how and where to communicate, your response times, what you need first and by when, and a link to book the kickoff call.
Should I build a client’s Squarespace site on my account or theirs?
Either works. Building on your account gives you control of the trial and, for Circle partners, referral credit; you then transfer ownership at launch.
How long is a Squarespace trial?
Squarespace trials last 14 days and don't need a card. They can be extended by seven days, and Circle partners get longer trials.
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