If you’re looking to grab your visitors’ attention, grow your email list, or highlight an important message, adding a pop-up on your Squarespace website is a smart move. In this guide, we’ll walk you through exactly how to add a promotional pop-up in Squarespace, how to customize it for your brand, and best practices to make sure it enhances—rather than disrupts—your user experience.

Step-by-Step Guide to Adding a Promotional Pop-up

Squarespace offers a built-in feature called Promotional Pop-Up, which you can find in your site’s marketing settings. This feature is available on most plans and provides a simple, no-code way to add pop-ups for announcements, promotions, or newsletter sign-ups.

Here’s how to activate and create your first pop-up:

Log in to your Squarespace account and select the website where you want to add the pop-up.
In the left-hand panel, navigate to Pages > scroll down to the bottom to Marketing Tools > Promotional Pop-Up.
Toggle the pop-up feature to ON if it's not already enabled.
Select a layout: choose between Newsletter, Announcement, or Custom to decide the purpose of your pop-up.
Input your content: this can include a headline, subheading, descriptive text, a call-to-action (CTA) button, or a form.
Configure the CTA: link your button to a specific page, download, or newsletter signup.
Click Save, and preview the pop-up to ensure everything looks and functions as expected.

Tip: After saving, refresh your live site in an incognito window to test the pop-up behavior without cache interference.

Customizing Your Pop-up Design

Once your pop-up is active, it’s time to customize the design to match your site’s aesthetic. This step is crucial for keeping the user experience seamless and on-brand.

Fonts: Match your site’s typography by adjusting the headline and body text fonts through the Style panel.
Colors: Select background, text, and button colors that harmonize with your brand. Avoid high-contrast color combinations that can strain the eyes.
Layout & Spacing: Ensure there’s enough breathing room around your text and images. Use padding and alignment settings to control how elements are spaced.
Images: You can optionally include an image on the side of your pop-up for visual impact—just make sure it's optimized for fast loading.

You want your pop-up to draw attention, but not in a way that disrupts the browsing experience. Clean, minimal design often works best.

Display and Timing Options

Triggering your pop-up at the right moment can mean the difference between engagement and annoyance. Squarespace gives you several display options to fine-tune the user experience:

Delay Timer: Set how long to wait (in seconds) before the pop-up appears after a user lands on the page.
Scroll Trigger: Choose to show the pop-up after a visitor scrolls a certain percentage of the page.
Exit Intent (via third-party tools): While not built-in, you can use integrations like Privy or Poptin for more advanced triggers.
Frequency: Limit how often the pop-up appears to returning visitors. Options include once per session, once per day, or once per week.

It’s best practice to avoid showing pop-ups immediately—wait at least 5–10 seconds or use a scroll trigger to time them with genuine engagement.

Advanced Pop-up Features

Action Settings

Pop-ups can serve many functions, depending on how you configure the call-to-action (CTA):

Newsletter Sign-Up: Connect the form to Squarespace Email Campaigns or another email marketing service like Mailchimp or ConvertKit.
Drive Traffic: Link the button to a product, blog post, or landing page.
File Delivery: Offer a downloadable freebie (PDF, guide, checklist) in exchange for an email.

Make sure your CTA text is clear and specific, such as "Get the Free Guide" instead of a vague "Click Here."

Optimizing Pop-ups for Mobile Devices

Mobile responsiveness is essential, especially since over half of web traffic now comes from mobile devices. Here’s how to ensure your pop-up works on small screens:

Keep Copy Concise: Limit character count and use short sentences.
Readable Fonts: Stick to a minimum of 16px body text for readability.
Clickable CTAs: Make sure the button is large enough to tap with a finger.
Avoid Large Images: Large or poorly cropped images may break layout on mobile.

Always test your pop-up in mobile preview mode and on an actual phone before going live.

Tracking Pop-up Engagement

Measuring the effectiveness of your pop-up helps you optimize over time. While Squarespace doesn’t offer native pop-up analytics, you can track engagement through these methods:

Google Analytics: Set up Event Tracking to monitor button clicks or form submissions.
UTM Parameters: Add UTM tags to links in your CTA so you can track visits from the pop-up in Google Analytics.
Email Sign-Up Metrics: Monitor your list growth before and after enabling the pop-up.

You can also A/B test different pop-up copy or designs over time to see what resonates most with your audience.

More Built-In Marketing Tools on Squarespace

While pop-ups are a powerful way to grab attention, Squarespace offers a few other built-in tools that can help you connect with your audience and promote key content.

Announcement Bar

The Announcement Bar is a simple, site-wide banner that appears at the top of your website. It’s perfect for:

Sharing limited-time offers or seasonal promotions
Directing users to a new page or product
Displaying urgent updates like changes to hours or availability

You can customize the text, button link, and colors directly from your site’s Marketing Tools > Announcement Bar settings. Unlike pop-ups, announcement bars are more subtle and persist across all pages unless manually dismissed, making them ideal for evergreen or high-priority messages.

Squarespace Email Campaigns

If you're using your pop-up to collect email addresses, consider linking it directly to Squarespace Email Campaigns. This tool allows you to create branded emails that match your website’s design and send newsletters, product updates, or welcome sequences without needing an external platform.

With built-in automation features and performance analytics, Squarespace Email Campaigns helps turn subscribers into loyal customers—all without leaving the Squarespace ecosystem.

Together with pop-ups, these tools create a seamless experience for marketing directly from your site, saving time and maintaining consistent branding across all touchpoints.

Best Practices for SEO-Friendly Pop-Ups

Although pop-ups can enhance conversions, they can also negatively impact user experience and SEO if not implemented correctly. Here are a few key guidelines:

Avoid Intrusive Pop-ups on Mobile: Google penalizes full-screen pop-ups that block content.
Use Timed or Scroll-Triggered Pop-Ups: Don’t show pop-ups immediately upon page load.
Keep Content Relevant: Align the pop-up offer with the page content.
Easy Exit Option: Make sure the close ("X") button is clearly visible.

Pop-ups should support the user journey—not interrupt it. Always prioritize usability and value.

Troubleshooting Common Pop-up Issues

Pop-up Not Displaying as Expected

If your pop-up isn’t appearing:

Double-check that the feature is toggled ON under Marketing > Promotional Pop-Up
Confirm that content and a display trigger have been set
Clear your cache or test in a private/incognito browser window

Resolving Scrollbar Appearance in Pop-ups

A visible scrollbar inside your pop-up may signal too much content or excessive padding:

Trim down the text or reduce line breaks
Adjust padding in the design settings
Limit the number of form fields to 2–3 max

Improving Pop-up Load Times

A slow-loading pop-up can frustrate users or fail to display at all:

Optimize image file sizes before uploading
Avoid embedding third-party scripts
Keep your form simple and lightweight

Conclusion

Adding a pop-up to your Squarespace site is a simple but powerful tool to drive conversions, increase engagement, and capture valuable leads. When done right, it seamlessly integrates into your site’s design and supports your goals—whether that’s growing your email list, announcing a promotion, or guiding visitors to a key page.

With built-in customization options and thoughtful implementation, pop-ups can be both effective and user-friendly.

FAQs

Can I Create a Pop-up on Squarespace?

Yes. Squarespace offers a built-in promotional pop-up feature accessible under the Marketing tab—no plugins required.

What is the Pop-up Form Page?

It’s the confirmation or redirect page users see after completing a form within a pop-up. You can redirect them to a thank-you page or downloadable file.

How Do I Prevent Pop-Ups From Being Blocked by Browsers?

Use Squarespace’s native pop-up tools, which comply with modern browser standards. Avoid custom JavaScript pop-ups that mimic system alerts.

Can I Use Multiple Pop-Ups on the Same Page?

Squarespace currently only supports one global pop-up per site. For more targeted messaging, rotate content or use third-party pop-up integrations.

What Are the Best Times to Trigger a Pop-Up?

After 5–10 seconds on a page
After 50% scroll depth
Before exit (if using third-party tools with exit intent features)

Build Your Dream Site!

Need help creating a beautiful, high-converting Squarespace website with strategic tools like promotional pop-ups? Explore our Squarespace templates or get in touch for custom design support.

How to Add a Pop-Up on Squarespace: A Complete Guide