this post contains affiliate codes – this means I get a benefit at no extra cost to you!
Have you ever found yourself making decisions based on the shiny new syndrome mixed with a little (or a lot) of FOMO?
Yep. I’ve been there too.
But sometimes, the FOMO can lead to great decisions, and today, I wanted to share a little more about my most recent FOMO find.
Because that’s totally a thing.
If you’ve been around the Hygge Design Co blog for a hot minute, you’ve heard me rave about MailerLite as my go-to email marketing software. I still stand behind MailerLite, and I think it’s a great, free platform for those just starting out with email marketing. But, I’ve recently been testing out Flodesk, and I must say, I’m very impressed.
Flodesk is the new kid around, and after seeing several other creative entrepreneurs switching over to the platform, I decided to see what it’s all about.
Oh, before I keep going, if you’d like to try Flodesk for free for a month (and then get 50% off your first year – use this link to sign up*!).
Since Flodesk is such a new platform, there aren’t that many resources out there yet, so today I wanted to share everything you need to know to set up Flodesk with you Squarespace website.
In today’s post I’ll share how you can authenticate your domain, and set up your forms so your visitors can sign up for your email list!
Why Flodesk
In the ultimate guide to email marketing for the creative entrepreneur, I shared some of the reasons why you need an email list for your creative business, and also walked you through the step by step process to get started.
I have previously tried a couple of different email marketing softwares, because that’s what you do if you’re above average passionate about email marketing, and Flodesk is different.
Flodesk is very intuitive, there are tons of options to create beautiful emails, and the templates are just drop dead gorgeous. Oh, and they’ve partnered with Jenna Kutcher to bring some excellent resources, so you know it’s pretty legit.
Flodesk helps you create emails that are fun to design and receive, and the overall consensus in the insider Facebook group is that they generally have higher open rates than other platforms.
Ready to see what Flodesk is all about? Test it out for a month for free!
Authenticate your domain
The first step to setting up Flodesk with Squarespace is to authenticate your domain. This process allows for greater deliverability of your emails because you’re telling your subscriber’s inboxes that you’re legit!
I’ve seen a couple of questions about how to do this in Squarespace, but it’s actually pretty simple, just follow the steps below:
-
In Squarespace, go to your domain settings by going to Settings -> Domains -> Click on the domain you’re trying to authenticate -> Advanced Settings
-
In Flodesk, go to Domain Setup by clicking on the profile icon in the top right-hand corner.
-
In Flodesk, click View the records to get the CNAME records we need to set things up.
-
In Squarespace, under custom records, select the drop-down menu (that displays the A), and change this to CNAME.
-
In Flodesk, copy the Host record from the first row, and paste this into the www spot all the way to the left in Squarespace.
-
Go back to Flodesk and copy the Value record and paste into the Enter alias data spot in Squarespace.
-
Click add in Squarespace.
-
Repeat steps 4-7 for the remaining two rows (you should end up with 3 total CNAME records in Squarespace).
-
Your Flodesk account should now be showing Pending or Authenticated as long as everything was entered correctly!
Placing the signup forms on your website
The number one way to grow your email list? Having forms on your website where people can sign up!
The first step of this process is to create your form in Flodesk. They have pre-made templates that make it super easy to set these up in no time. To create a form that you can place in your blog posts or on your Squarespace website, choose the inline option in Flodesk.
Customize the form to fit your brand and website, such as editing fonts, colors, and deciding whether or not you’d like to capture last names.
Once you’re done designing the form, click next, and answer the quick questions Flodesk has for you! Then you’ll get to the embed section of the setup.
Flodesk will provide you with two different codes. Let’s start with the first one!
The first piece of code is a Javascript code, and needs to be pasted into the Page Header Code injection for your Squarespace site. The easi
est way to do this is by going to Settings -> Advanced -> Code Injection.
Paste the code from Flodesk into the Header section of your Squarespace site!
You only need to do this step once, even if you’re creating a couple of different forms for your website.
Inserting the form
Once the Page Header Code Injection part is done, it’s time to actually place the form on the website.
Rather than using the newsletter block in Squarespace, which would seem like the logical option, we’re going to use a code block to place the form on the site.
Place a code block where you’d like your form to show up, and paste the code from the second box in Flodesk.
And just like that, your form is now on your website!
Feel free to repeat this throughout your site (like blog posts, etc.) if you’d like the same form throughout your website!
Placing a Flodesk pop-up on your Squarespace site
If you’d like to place a Flodesk pop-up on your Squarespace site, you can easily add this once you have completed the previous steps.
By making sure that you already have your inline form working, you know that everything is set up correctly, which will make placing the popup form on your Squarespace site a breeze.
First, head into Flodesk and create your pop-up form. Once you have created the form and answered the questions from Flodesk, you’ll get an embed code to use for your Squarespace site.
You have two choices when it comes to placing the Flodesk pop-up on your Squarespace site – you can either embed the pop-up form across the entire site, or embed the pop-up form on individual pages (this is actually what I have done). If you go with the latter, you will actually be able to have different pop-ups on your site, if needed, to better serve different audiences or interests! Super cool.
Placing a Flodesk pop-up on your entire Squarespace site
To place the Flodesk pop-up across your entire page, go to your Squarespace menu, then select Advanced, and from there chose Code Injection.
In the page header code injection section, below the Flodesk code, you have already placed there as part of your inline setup, paste your pop-up form specific code. Click save, and you should be good to go!
To test that your pop-up form is working as expected, visit your website in incognito mode to test!
Placing a Flodesk pop-up on specific Squarespace pages
If you’d like to only place the pop-up form on specific pages on your Squarespace page (if you don’t want people on your Contact page to get bothered by a pop-up, for instance), make sure the embed code from the Flodesk pop-up form is copied to your clipboard.
Go to your Squarespace page menu and click the gear icon for the specific page you’d like the pop-up to appear on (you can repeat this process for multiple pages!). Click on Advanced, then paste the embed code in the Page Header Code Injection section and click save.
Once you have repeated this process for all pages you need the pop-up on, head to your Squarespace site in incognito mode to make sure it works as expected!
Ready to get your email marketing going with Flodesk? Try it out for free for a month (and get 50% off your first year if you decide to stick with it!).
You may also like:
-
The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing for Creative Entrepreneurs
-
Is it time for a rebrand? When and how to decide if your brand is ready for a refresh or overhaul!
Are you looking for a new website for your creative business? You’re in luck. I’m a Showit and Squarespace web designer and would love to help you get the website of your dreams (and maybe an email list) set up so you can keep chasing your big goals! Learn more about the website and branding services below!
