Thinking of Hiring a Squarespace Designer? Here’s What to Expect.

With more and more of the world transitioning to online, there’s been a rising demand for website designers and developers. Businesses are quickly learning that a website is a great way to sell their goods and services without being face-to-face. If you’re here, it’s safe to assume that you’re interested in building your website on Squarespace. And that’s a great choice! Squarespace is one of the most popular website building solutions available today. They have several templates to choose from and it’s easy to get started. However, a lot of businesses contemplate hiring a Squarespace Designer, rather than going at it themselves. Maybe they don’t have time to put together a website, maybe they’re not confident in their design capabilities or maybe they’re looking for a custom design by a professional. Whatever the case may be, hiring a Squarespace Designer can take a lot of the stress out of building your online presence. This article outlines exactly what to expect when hiring a Squarespace Designer.

1. Introductory call

We’ll schedule a call to get to know each other. You’ll share your online goals with me and I’ll share my website design process with you. A typical, brand new Squarespace site takes about 2 weeks to fully design and build. I’ll explain, in detail, exactly what to expect along the way. Prefer communicating over email? That’s fine too! We’ll discuss your goals via email, I’ll send you more info and give you time to decide.

2. Secure your time slot

As I mentioned, a typical Squarespace site takes about 2 weeks to create. This means that when you book a Squarespace project with me, you’re booking a 2 week time slot with me. When you’ve decided you’d like to move forward with booking your web design project, you’ll secure your time slot by electronically signing your contract and paying your deposit.

3. Gather content + pre-build questionnaire

Before the project begins, you’ll gather all of the content needed to build your new website. This includes text content, images, videos, etc... You’ll send this over to me in whatever format is easiest for you (Dropbox, Google Drive, Word Doc). You’ll also fill out my pre-build questionnaire. This is a series of questions that are designed to provide me with a more in-depth look at your business. I learn more about your target audience, competitors in your industry, your preferred design style and much more.

4. SEO research

On day 1 of your project, I begin researching target keywords related to your industry. I’ll cultivate a list of high-performing keywords that I’ll later use to build your sitemap and optimize your website for Google rankings.

5. Design process begins

By project day 2-3, after SEO research is complete, I’ll begin designing the first page of your website (typically the home page). I’ll decide on colors, fonts and other style elements that will make up the design of your website. Using the content you’ve provided me with, I’ll build the homepage of your site. The homepage of a website is typically a summary of all other website pages, so you’ll be able to get a feel for the direction that I’m headed in for the remainder of your site. Once the homepage is fully designed and built, I’ll send you a password protected link for you to check out your website on Squarespace so far. I’ll also put together the core navigation for your website, so you’ll be able to visualize how the user will navigate through your site.

6. Building out all website pages

After I send you a link to check out the beginnings of your new website, you’ll be able to provide me with your thoughts and request any revisions to the design so far. You can ask to see different fonts, colors, page layout, etc… If you ask to see something done differently, I’ll typically send over a few options, whether it be for font combinations or layout of a section on the page.

I’ll continue designing and building the remainder of your website’s pages. I’ll send each page over to you as I complete it so that you can continue to stay involved in the process and ask for revisions. This really helps make the process more of a collaborative effort and allows you to be as fully engaged in the process as you would like to be.

7. Final revisions

Once the entire website is fully designed and built, I’ll give you with some time to take a look at the site as a whole and request any final revisions. At this point, the revisions are less design changes and more content changes (using different images in places or changing headlines).

8. Website launch!

Once final revisions are complete, I’ll connect your domain name and launch your new website to the public. I’ll also help you get set up with Google Search Console so that you can submit your sitemap to Google.

9. Video tutorials and instructions for maintaining SEO

Before the project officially ends, I’ll record several video tutorials that shows you how to make updates to your new website. I’ll also provide you with a personalized SEO document. This includes all of the keyword research that I’ve done for your website. I’ll outline exactly what you need to do moving forward to maintain the SEO that I’ve implemented.

10. Closing steps…

Finally, I’ll send along your final invoice and transfer full website ownership over to you. I’m always available for questions via email after the project ends. So if there’s anything you get stuck on while managing the site on your own, I’m here to help!