SHOP PAGE: LESSON FOUR
Previewing, Publishing & Maintaining Your Shop Page
You’ve done the hard work of building your Shop page. now it’s time to make sure everything looks perfect before you hit publish, and to plan for keeping it fresh as your author career grows. A well-maintained Shop page doesn’t just look professional; it also keeps readers engaged and coming back for more.
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to preview your Shop on all devices, test your links, publish your polished page, and maintain your Shop over time so it continues to work hard for you.
Previewing Your Shop Page
Before publishing, take time to review every part of your Shop page carefully. This is your chance to catch small errors that could cost you sales or frustrate your readers.
What to check:
Text and Images: Look for typos, grammatical mistakes, or placeholder text left over from your template. Make sure book covers appear crisp and professional, with no distorted or blurry images.
Links: Click every purchase button or link to ensure they go to the correct retailer page or checkout. Broken or incorrect links are a top cause of lost sales.
Layout: Confirm that your Shop page layout looks clean and balanced, with products evenly spaced and aligned.
Navigation: Make sure your Shop page is easy to access from your site’s main navigation menu so visitors don’t miss it.
Testing on Desktop and Mobile
Your Shop page must look great and work seamlessly on all devices, since many readers will browse on phones or tablets. Squarespace’s preview tools let you see how your page displays across different screen sizes.
Tips for effective testing:
Switch between desktop, tablet, and mobile views in Squarespace’s preview mode.
Pay attention to image sizing, text readability, and button spacing — buttons that are too small or close together on mobile can frustrate shoppers.
Test links on your phone directly to confirm they open the right retailer pages.
Maintaining Your Shop Page
Publishing your Shop page isn’t a one-time task. keeping it up to date is key to maintaining reader trust and driving ongoing sales. Here’s how to keep your Shop fresh:
Regular Updates:
Add new releases as soon as they’re available so your Shop always reflects your current catalog.
Update prices if they change, especially if you run sales or limited-time offers.
Remove books you’ve pulled from distribution or that are out of print.
Review Links:
At least once every three to six months, test all purchase buttons to ensure they still direct to the correct product pages. Retailer URLs can change over time, especially if you update editions or distributors.
Refresh Images:
Update book covers when you release new editions or refresh your branding.
Replace outdated promotional graphics with current banners or announcements.
Seasonal Updates:
Consider adding seasonal promotions or limited-time offers to encourage repeat visits.
Highlight relevant books during holidays (e.g., holiday-themed stories) or events like Pride Month, Valentine’s Day, or NaNoWriMo.
Monitor Performance:
Use website analytics (Squarespace’s built-in analytics or Google Analytics) to track visits to your Shop page and clicks on purchase links.
Identify which books are getting the most attention and consider featuring them more prominently.
Action Steps
Preview your Shop page thoroughly on desktop, tablet, and mobile.
Test all purchase links for accuracy.
Schedule quarterly reminders to review and update your Shop with new releases, pricing changes, or seasonal offers.
Keep track of website analytics to understand what resonates with your readers and adjust your Shop strategy accordingly.
SHOP MODULE Wrap-Up
Your Shop Page is officially set up! You’ve now got a beautiful, functional space to showcase your books and make it easy for readers to buy directly from you.
If you’ve already published your site and just added this module later, feel free to head to the Resources Vault for extra tutorials and tips to elevate your shop even more.
If you’re building your site step by step, you’re ready to move on to Module 6, where we’ll walk through buttons and links!
