Why I love hosting my online courses on Squarespace

[@iamashleylbrown]

Kerstin, I just started screaming. THIS video is GOLD! I'll be sharing with my list next week and also my clients who are having a hard time deciding on SQS as a course / membership platform. Thank you for this gem!

[@stepfantaylor391]

Very happy that I clicked on this video. Thank you for sharing !

[@3dchick]

I'm not ready to sell courses yet, but this video is a goldmine! Thank you so much!

[@zrienkersh1475]

THIS IS AN AMAZING RESOURCE! Thank you!

[@borisvdovine5226]

fantastic content, thank you for this video, it really helped me make a decision to go with squarespace!

[@brookesusan]

Awesome video, you’re so helpful! Thank you!🎉

[@jeffreythemeditator]

I reaaaallly like you now. your generosity here is helping me so much. you have done such an intelligent, simple breakdown that I am too lazy to do. thank you so much, K.

[@musicsoulmusic11]

This was excellent! Thank you!

[@tracie7806]

THANK YOU KERSTIN!! I'm building my business and all the tech decisions gave me a migraine! Your video made it so easy to compare.

[@KerstinMartin]

So glad it was helpful! xo

[@qweend3160]

Thank you Kerstin!! EXTREMELY helpful!! 👏🏽

[@soulandbrand]

Thank you so much Kerstin! I have been thinking and over thinking for months - trying to figure it out. Your video is the most helpful content I've watched. Your website is so well designed and inspiring! And, thank you for the spreadsheet! What a gem!!

[@KerstinMartin]

Thank you so much for this lovely feedback, Renee! I am glad that this was helpful and especially that you appreciate the spreadsheet ;-) All the best for your course xo

[@RelateGREAT]

Thank you! Quick question: If I understand what you said, are you saying that each Member Area = One course? So I can have a max of 10 courses? Right now that's not a problem, but I do anticipate converting 10-20 of my live workshops into online courses. I REALLY want to use my existing SQS site this way if at all possible for ALL the reasons you suggested. This could be the one hang-up. I wonder if they might expand this limit at some point??? I was just getting ready to finish my first course on Podia, which I like. I didn't realize SQS had an online course feature until just now.

[@KerstinMartin]

Yes, I use one member area per course which means I cannot currently have more than 10 courses. However, SQS are working on updating this and also adding a new feature specifically for courses which will launch some time this summer and which looks awesome!

[@RelateGREAT]

@@KerstinMartin Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. That's very encouraging news. I'll keep my eyes peeled. Also, I've been watching your videos. Very informative and helpful. Thank you for your work and for your time.

[@bythao]

Love the spreadsheet! Thank you for posting and sharing this!

[@cathyangellcommunications4019]

Your video was so helpful! Just what I was looking for as I plan to start offering on-demand classes. Thank you!

[@giselljames]

Thank you so much for putting this together! You are always so generous with your knowledge. I do think one thing that was missing from this cost assessment with regards to using SQSP is the TIME COST of having to implement and monitor so many other tools to run your course effectively. Being a SQSP designer myself I love SQSP but for now, I will have to use another platform for courses. Thanks again!

[@KerstinMartin]

Thanks, Gisell! I think that's why I like using SQSP for my courses, it's much easier to implement and use and therefore less time consuming than learning and managing a new platform.

[@RyanBustamante]

Thank you for taking the time in putting this together! Very helpful!

[@shaninepilsona]

very useful. Thank you! I downloaded the spreadsheet!

[@deylawheagar]

Thank you so much Kerstin!

[@IngridFontana]

Great video! So useful and I love how looks your website and member areas! Thanks for this information 🙏🏻

[@KerstinMartin]

My pleasure, Ingrid! Glad it helped :)

[@RajNaraine]

Great video! Love the analytics you did for each option, well done. This is very helpful.

[@DarrenM]

Hi and thank you for this. It’s exactly what I needed. Is there a benefit of using Vimeo over an unlisted video on KZbin? My guess is YT might put ads on a video.

[@KerstinMartin]

Thanks, Darren, glad it was helpful! I love Vimeo because it has better privacy and styling options for embedding. Also, since recording my video Squarespace have added the ability to upload videos directly to your website! That's a game changer. There is a fee but you get a lot of watch hours included with the Member Areas membership.

[@rebeccapackardlivefree]

Keratin this is literally everything I’m look for! I just created my membership and I have been creating courses but you make them look sooo amazing. Do you have other videos or a course on how you created that?

[@KerstinMartin]

Thank you, Rebecca! And yes, I do have a course on Member Areas and the whole cycle from pre-launch to post-launch. Check it out here (I currently have a 30% sale until the end of October): kerstinmartin.com/squarespace-classroom xo

[@malibuman6160]

Loving all your videos! This helped me decide to host my course on Squarespace. Would love to know how you designed your website - the template, colors, etc. please do a video on this!

[@KerstinMartin]

Thank you, so glad this is helpful! I actually have a course that teaches how to build a website in 7.1 and that's based on the way I design :) Feel free to check it out here: kerstinmartin.com/squarespace-express 🙂

[@RestorativeHypnosis]

This was absolutely incredible. Thank you for your work!

[@milenandco]

Thank you Kerstin, very helpful ! Is it easy to suggest customers an upsell at the check-out with Squarespace? And is it mobile friendly when you host your videos on Vimeo?

[@KerstinMartin]

There is no upsell option in SQS check-out. But if you use Commerce products to sell your video course then you can use 'show related products' at check-out. I also use email Campaigns to send upsell emails after a purchase was made.

[@aglaiaruffinojalles2244]

This was super helpful, thank you so much for sharing! I really want to have quizzes and assignments for my students in the courses, do you have any suggestion of a third party plug-in that could be added to my online courses on squarespace for that?

[@KerstinMartin]

The quiz software that I see most people use is Interact so maybe check that out.

[@moutonadvisory]

Great info! Thanks

[@OtherRecordLabels]

This was a fantastic video! I love hosting my courses on Squarespace too, but haven't yet moved over to member areas. You site looks beatiful and this was such a great video! My question is... Does members area have grandfather pricing? If members sign up for $15/month and then a few months later I wish to change the price for new members to $20/month, does that change the price of the original members or only new members?

[@KerstinMartin]

That's a good question! Price changes only affect new subscribers, existing subscribers keep their rate.

[@apogeogroup5928]

It seems to me the real benefit of Kajabi, for example, is that your whole Website can be hosted there. Do you know of a spreadsheet that shows total cost -- including if the Web site is hosted via the service? It seems to me Squarespace functionality just doesn't make sense.

[@KerstinMartin]

You can download my spreadsheet in my blog post and then tweak it to play with different scenarios. I looked at Kajabi as a whole solution but unfortunately not only did the website builder fall flat (it’s much easier to build a website in Squarespace and you have a lot more styling options) but it also lacks important blogging features. You cannot, for instance, import a blog into Kajabi which is an absolute dealbreaker for me. With Squarespace I get the best website builder out there plus email marketing plus memberships plus commerce shop (for my physical product) plus scheduling, so for me it’s the best all-in-one solution.

[@WeronikaSalach]

Thank you so much for this video! I’ve watched it a few times :) I got stuck with one thing - how to report the VAT tax? 😬 I’m based in Germany. I’ve read that every country, depending where the customer is located, pays a different VAT tax. I’m not sure how to report it. I’d be so happy if you could share some feedback on that ❤❤❤

[@KerstinMartin]

Thanks Weromika! Yes, taxes can be complex and I think it also depends on how you teach whether you are liable to pay. You can add country specific VAT in Squarespace, here is a good article about that: support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/215074868-Collecting-VAT-or-GST. I definitely recommend to talk to a tax specialist about how to best set this up.

[@ElliotScottDating]

Does your course show how to do all this, style it, and make it look pretty damn close to this? I'd love to do that.

[@KerstinMartin]

Hi Elliot, yes I teach these things in my course, provided you already know how to build pages and add blocks in Squarespace. Check out my sales page for more information on what's included: kerstinmartin.com/squarespace-classroom

[@cindydavila234]

Hi Kertin, Great information thanks for sharing. What squarespace membership plan (Personal, business, commerce) should I have to integrate the Squarespace Member Areas? Thank you.

[@KerstinMartin]

Any plan works with Member Areas! But if you have a business I usually recommend the Business Plan as that has advanced features.

[@cindydavila234]

@@KerstinMartin Thanks for the recommendation.

[@maetagrace]

This is amazing! I'm setting up my member's only page now, but I can't figure out how you have the modules and lessons listed out so nicely in the menu. Mine just shows the main modules, not the lessons within.

[@KerstinMartin]

Thanks, Maeta! I am using a mega menu for my course navigation. I explain all about navigation options in my courses that teaches Member Areas :)

[@agymayachelonia8381]

So one member area = one course?

[@KerstinMartin]

Yes. However, this is an older video, watch my most recent one on the new Courses feature that Squarespace launched, it’s specifically designed for courses.

[@ameliap413]

Hi Kerstin! I love your video. I have been looking into Member Areas but have some concerns about it. I noticed on your website that created the ability to add your courses to the shopping cart almost like a product. I thought this was not possible with member areas? Also, I thought that customers have to create a new sign-in for each member area...has this been your experience?

[@KerstinMartin]

Hi Amelia, glad you like it! Re your questions: 1) I am actually using Commerce products to sell my courses (coupled with a Campaign automation that sends a link to the Member Area), that's why my courses appear in the cart. I do this because I have bundles and bundling is currently not possible with Member Areas. 2) No, there is no separate sign-in for each Member Area. The customer has ONE account on your website for all Member Areas that they purchased or signed up for.

[@ameliap413]

@@KerstinMartin thank you so much for responding and so quickly! I will definitely continue to watch your videos and give Member Areas another chance :)

[@Finewoodworkingofsc]

Great video, but I still don't understand the $18 website charge on each platform. I have Squarespace, too, but Podia looks real attractive on your spreadsheet. For my courses, deciding between Squarespace Members Area and Podia will be a tough choice.

[@KerstinMartin]

The $18 is the subscription fee for your website, everyone who has a Squarespace website needs to pay that. It's just an example, too, as there are different payment plans for Squarespace websites. Member Areas is a separate Squarespace product and thus charged separately. Hope this makes sense!

[@dralalust]

Thank you so much Kerstin! This is an incredibly valuable video. Question: You said there's a 10 member area limit. I'm not using member areas yet so I'm not sure what that means. Does that mean you can only host 10 courses at a given time? Or can you host multiple courses within one member area? Thank you!

[@KerstinMartin]

Thanks, Chase! You'd use one member area per course so yes, a limit of ten courses. If you need more than definitely check out one of the teaching platforms.

[@JaiSequoia]

Hi Kerstin! this was so wonderful thank you. You0 are obviously a fan of sqsp member areas. I’ve been researching this for a client and wa s leaning towards teachable but now with your clear spreadsheets I’m not so sure! Your menu in your member area has been coded yes? That’s not out of the box is it?

[@KerstinMartin]

Hi Jai, glad this was helpful! Yes, I use the Mega Menu plugin from Chris Schwartz-Edmisten for my Member Area navigation. You can check it our here (not an affiliate link) and use code KERSTIN20 to save 20%: schwartz-edmisten.com/shop/squarespace-mega-menu-plugin

[@kplicanic]

This is so great! I'm a little confused with what I read about member areas on square space.... Do I need a different member area for each class? Or do I create the classes as digital products, and a single member area allows members to access their purchases?

[@KerstinMartin]

Hi Khara, what kind of classes are you offering? If each is a product on its own that people have to purchase separately then you'd need a member area for each class. But if you offer for instance yoga classes and someone can subscribe to a membership then you'd only need one member area and use the subscription option. There is also very nice video page that can be used for video classes, and you can have multiple video pages within a member area.

[@kplicanic]

@@KerstinMartin Thank you! This is very helpful! :)

[@angelainglismusic]

Please correct me if I'm wrong... It appears that, since you made this video, Squarespace no longer differentiates between Courses and Member Areas and now has one price for both. The unfortunate thing about this is that Member Areas were available to people on 7.0 (like me) and now I have to upgrade to 7.1 and pay a very high monthly digital add-on fee, just to add a Member Area and one course.

[@KerstinMartin]

I think you can still use Member Sites (formerly Member Areas) with 7.0, just not the new Courses features. Try it out, see if you can add a Member Site on your 7.0 website.

[@tracie7806]

It's important to me that I build a community around my membership. Is that something I can achieve with Squarespace or do I still need a third party like a Facebook group or Mighty Networks?

[@KerstinMartin]

Squarespace does not have a forum and I don't think that's in the works anytime soon, either. I use Facebook and that actually works really well. Most people are on FB every day anyway so this makes it also very easy for my students.

[@tracie7806]

@@KerstinMartin Thanks so much for replying!

[@HollyMcMurter]

Thank you so much!

[@crystalhealingme]

Have you looked at roku?

[@KerstinMartin]

No, I have not.

[@naturalwitchery]

Squarespace now charges 9% for. Courses!!!! Crazy rediculous

[@KerstinMartin]

That's only if you're not on a Digital Products plan. It's for people who want to test the feature. Here is a post that breaks down Squarespace pricing, including Digital Products: kerstinmartin.com/blog/2023-squarespace-pricing