Should you DIY your Website, Purchase a Template, or Hire a Web Designer?
Alrightly, so you've finally decided that Squarespace is going to be your hosting platform and website builder (yay!) Your next question probably is: How do I actually build this thing?
I'm assuming that you chose Squarespace because it tend to be more design friendly than other website builders. However, maybe you've played around in Squarespace a little bit now, and you're still asking yourself, should I do this myself, purchase a template, or work with a web designer?
And honestly, the answer comes down to your most valuable resource: time.
What to Know about DIYing your Squarespace Website
Squarespace is great because it offers a ton of free templates for you to choose from. From the beginning of your design process, you can select a template that you like the look of or you can select to start with a blank slate and add in templated sections as you go.
However, the problem with this for many business owners is that you're troubleshooting the site as you're building it & you're making a bunch of design decisions as you go. When you build a site you have to take a large number of things into consideration:
Accessibility
SEO best practices
Design rules
Sales psychology
Third party integrations
So basically, not only are you trying to figure out how to work Squarespace and make your site do the things that you actually want it to do, you're also attempting how to make everything look the way that you want it to look.
I recently read a fantastic blog post by Katelyn Dekle at LTDT, and she explained it like this:
"You can skip through the headaches & heartaches by learning these 2 main points:
Just because you have good design instincts, doesn’t make you a good web designer because web design isn’t just aesthetics. It’s not just a pretty place on the internet, because if that’s all it is, you’re leaving money on the table!
Websites are primarily about usability and strategy –while looking attractive to your audience. You have to know your target audience in order to build something they will use, go to (search rankings), and want to interact with, which means you have to get clear on who you’re talking to & what you want your website to DO for your business."
The point?
Just because you're a tech savvy business owner, doesn't mean that you'll excel at building a website if you also don't have the design component to accompany it.
And it also goes back to the resource of time that I mentioned earlier. If you're spending all this time building & designing your site, that's time that you weren't able to spend on your area of expertise in your business. Unless you're also a web designer, knowing how to create a custom site in Squarespace probably isn't an extra hat you need to be wearing.
Purchasing a Squarespace Template
Personally this is the route I'd advise you to take if you're looking to create your website yourself & you don't want to hire a designer. Although a premium template can cost a couple hundred dollars, it should save you a bunch of time and headache in the long run.
What Good Website Templates include:
Tutorials: Most website templates for Squarespace come with tutorials for how you can customize that specific template. If you've never designed a site on Squarespace before, my advise would be to only consider a template that comes with tutorials. Although there's a ton of great Youtube videos out there that can teach you about the Squarespace platform, it's still not the same as having someone talk you through the actual template that you just purchased. If this is your first go with Squarespace, having a guide talk you through it is the way to go.
Support: Additionally, many templates also come with some kind of support. The amount of support will vary by business, but this is another thing to keep an eye out for before you make a purchase.
What Templates Don't Include:
Customization: With a template, what you see is what you get.
Part of what makes a template great is that you have a solid foundation for everything that you want to do with your business.
However, you have to fill in all of your own copy, photos, and brand colors. Even though you already have a foundation, it can still be extremely time-consuming to customize the template and make it your own.
Support: This probably seems contradictory to what I just said in the last section, but template sellers typically only provide support for if something is going wrong with the template itself. They won't reach out to Squarespace support for you and they (usually) won't help you customize the site.
Pro tip: Not to hate on Etsy, but many of the “best” Squarespace template designers aren't on there. Instead, I’d recommend getting a template from one of these three companies:
BigCat Creative
Applet
GoLive HQ
Hiring a Custom Web Designer
Not going to lie, but the range for what web designers will provide for you is vast. Each designer has a different process and will have different things included in their website packages.
However, here are a couple things to look for:
Check out their portfolio: Most website designers have a certain kind of design style or they work with a specific subset of industries. Finding a designer where you love their style can be a way to eliminate folks from your field and create a shortlist. If the specific industry experience is more important to you than the design style, then search for designers who specialize in your industry and know it like the back of their hand.
Is the designer an expert on one platform? This isn't necessarily a make or break thing! But if you know that you want your website to be built on Squarespace, and the designer you're looking at has never built a site in Squarespace before, then you might want to consider looking for a designer who has.
Pricing: Again, there's a wide range here, but typically website designers for custom websites charge from around ~$2,000 a site up to ~$15,000. Some of the factors that tie into how much a designer charges depend on the designer's experience, the size of the site, the amount of 3rd party integrations needed, and the customization level of the site.
The Bottom Line
When thinking about your website, keep in mind what you’re looking for your site to do for you. At the end of the day, your site should be showing people what your business can do while also generating leads.
Although Squarespace templates and web designers can’t guarantee that you’ll receive leads based on the look and feel of your site, your website is an investment. If it’s done well and connects with your audience, the investment should pay for itself.