How I use Loom in my Web Design Business
Like most solopreneurs, I’m always keeping an eye out for tools that can save me time. Because time equals money. I’ve mentioned the video messaging tool Loom before in my post on Chrome Extensions Every Squarespace Designer Needs, but I use it so often and in so many ways, I felt it was worthy of its own post! Loom allows you to record your screen, camera, or both, then lets you share that recording through a link, a download, or an embed. Loom makes it easy to create an interactive learning guide for your design work, a walkthrough of how you create something, or anytime you want to share something without typing it out.
Here are the top 5 ways I use Loom video as a Squarespace web designer:
1. Client Walkthroughs
If we aren’t able to have a live call, I’ll record a Loom video walking clients through their website changes. This gives me an opportunity to talk about the WHY as well as WHAT changed, which cuts down on back and forth and helps educate the client on best practices going forward.
Clients love getting these walkthroughs instead of just a list of bullet points via email. Plus, it’s so much faster to talk through changes and feedback than to try to type it all out. If you do want a typed version as well, you can use the transcription tool on the Loom Business plan and include that in an email along with a link to the Loom video.
Having a video instead of text also addresses the problem of tone in emails. It’s much clearer to recognize intent in a video of you talking than when you are typing in a hurry. It also feels more personalized and elevates the client experience. Plus, it’s a huge timesaver to talk out loud as you record instead of typing out all your thoughts.
2. Custom Website Support
When I offboard custom website clients, I provide them with customized videos on how to make common updates to their website. These range from editing text or images to adding portfolio items and blog posts. Really, anything the client has requested a walkthrough on or anything I think they might need to do on their own in the future.
The Loom videos are perfect for this because sometimes it’s weeks (or months) before the client needs to make a change to their website. The video shows them exactly what they need to do, step by step, so they don’t need to rely on written notes or memory. They can also slow down or speed up the video and pause as needed.
If I’ve used custom CSS on the site, as I almost always do, I also record a custom code walkthrough in case I’m back to work on the site later and need a refresher on what code was used and why. It’s like an external brain for me.
If clients have questions during their support period, I answer these questions in a video as well.
All the Loom video links live on a hidden page on their website (a disabled page in the Not Linked section), so they always know where to find them. This saves the client time in the future (they don’t have to wait on a response from me if their question is answered here) and it cuts down on extra support emails for me.
3. Template Shop Videos
In addition to providing custom Squarespace services, I also offer premium Squarespace templates for sale. Each template comes with a short course in Teachable walking customers through how to update the templates to add their own text and images, and then launch their new website.
These lessons are video walkthroughs recorded in Loom and then added to Teachable.
4. YouTube Videos & Blog Posts
I use Loom videos to create free resources as well. You can check out my YouTube channel for beginner videos on how to use Squarespace, as well as some more advanced tips and tricks like installing useful plugins.
Here’s a blog post on adding different social icons to Squarespace that has one of those YouTube videos embedded. And yep, I used Loom for recording. For now, I download the videos from Loom and then add an intro and outro in IMovie before uploading to YouTube. But stitching videos together in Loom is in beta at the moment, so I may be able to skip the iMovie step soon!
5. When I Need Help
Occasionally, I’ll come across a bug when I’m using Squarespace and need to reach out to them for help. It’s so much easier to send a video of what’s happening to Squarespace support than try and type out an explanation.
I always send them a Loom video link when I have a problem so they can see exactly what I’m seeing on my end. Oftentimes I’ll even get a video back!
How to share Loom Videos
You can start recording a Loom video in seconds and share it instantly via its link. Or you can share and embed your videos in email, chat, or on your website.
Adding Loom Videos to Squarespace
In Squarespace, you can use the Embed block and paste in the Loom video link to quickly add the video to your website. But for even more control, you can use a Code block with the Loom embed code. Here’s a walkthrough (you guessed it, a Loom video!) showing you how:
To control what is seen on the player, you can make adjustments to the code. Here’s a list of things you can change and the code for those changes. Viewers can adjust the speed of playback as well as turn on closed captions.
Here’s an example of the start of the copy & paste transcript. Not bad!
“And this video, I wanted to walk you through how to best embed loom videos in Squarespace. So once you've recorded your video in loom, you'll see it here.
You can, before you're ready to send it off into the world, you can trim it. You can also add clips if you're in the stitching beta, if not you'll just see trim here.
So you could trim up your video. You can change the video preferences here. You can remove the loom branding, if you would like the ability for people to record replies, leave comments, all of that good stuff.
Oh, I'm going to turn on reduce background noise. That one's new to me. So it's in beta right now. You can also review your transcript and it's going to tell you if it found any filter words like and if you'd like, you can remove those from both the text and audio.
If you have this available in the beta, if not, you can just go ahead and remove it from the text.
And then if you wanted to copy and paste your transcript, you can do that….”
Loom Chrome Extention vs. Desktop App
If I just need a quick video to send to Squarespace support, I’ll often use the Loom Chrome Extention. But most of the time, I prefer using the Desktop app because it can record in a much higher resolution and has additional features.
With the Loom Chrome Extention, you can start recording in two clicks. Choose from recording the camera (you), the screen, or both (as long as you are recording inside Chrome).
With the Loom Desktop App, you can record your camera bubble and the screen across any browser or application. It allows for high-definition recording (perfect for when you’ll be using the video on YouTube), along with other features like the drawing tool and highlighting mouse clicks if you are on the Business plan. You can also set up customized keyboard shortcuts for common functions to make your life even easier.
There are also mobile apps for iOS and Android. I haven’t had a need to use those yet, but if you would like to do some recording from your phone, you may want to try out a mobile Loom app.
How to get started with Loom
First of all, Loom is free to start using. New users get a 14-day free trial of the Business tier which is the plan I use or you can stay on the Free plan forever.
With the Free plan, you get:
Screen recording & camera bubble
Viewer insights
Instant editing
Team Workspace
Privacy controls
The Business plan at $8/month gives you everything in the Free plan, plus:
Unlimited Creators
Unlimited videos
Unlimited recording length
Transcriptions & closed captions (You can copy and paste the transcriptions)
One-click filler word removal (I say “UM” enough that this is a lifesaver)
Custom branding
Engagement insights
Embed links in video
For me, the Business plan is well worth the price.
You can see the full breakdown of pricing and options here.
Click here to get started with your free 14-day Business plan trial. I hope you love using Loom as much as I do!
