Squarespace website: hire a designer or do it yourself
OK, so you’ve decided Squarespace is the best platform for your business website… your next question is should you design it yourself or hire a Squarespace designer to do it for you?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, but there are a few factors you should take into consideration to decide if the DIY option or hiring a designer is the best option for you. Budget is obviously a consideration, so too are time, skill level, creativity and the complexity of your requirements. Dive in below and hopefully it will help you decide what’s best for you.
If you answer ‘yes’ to the these 4 questions, doing your site yourself might be a good option for you:
Are you creative? Do you have a good eye for design and layout? Starting from a blank page, can you visualise how to organise information in a way that will capture attention and engage with your audience. If you feel like creativity is one of your strong points, and you have a strong overall vision for how you want your website to look, then doing your site yourself is a good way to retain control and get exactly the result you want.
Are you good with tech and/or happy to roll up your sleeves and learn? You don’t need to know how to write html or css with a platform like Squarespace. The templates make it pretty easy to achieve a nice-looking site even at beginner level. However as with any software, there is a learning curve, and you might find yourself wondering how to achieve a specific effect or layout and the answer won’t always be immediately obvious. But, if you are someone who likes to learn and who knows how to find solutions when you stumble into challenges, then DIY-ing may be a fun challenge for you. And the more we do something the better (and faster) we get, so you will too.
Do you have time? This one is closely related to the point above. If you’re coming at web design with zero experience, it will take a proportional amount of time to figure it out. It’s not just the technical aspects of how to use the design tools - you’ll also need to brush up on usability, user experience, writing copy for web, search engine optimisation and digital marketing.
Are you on a tight budget? If you have more time than money, DIY can be a good way to get your business online at minimum cost. Just beware of the potential for false economy on this one. All the time you spend DIY-ing your website is time you could be spending on generating income from your own area of expertise. Outsourcing to someone who knows how to do something and is good at it, sometimes saves you money in the long run. (oh, and if what you need is a very affordable starter website for your business - check out my one-page website package here).
If you answer ‘yes’ these questions, hiring a Squarespace web designer may be a better option for you:
Are you ready to invest in your business so it can grow? If you’ve been in business for a while and you have a few clients already (or lots of clients even) - you’ve probably figured out the value of having a strong brand and digital presence. Do you have some money to invest and do you want to help your business grow faster? Getting a professionally designed site could be right for you.
Have you been down the DIY route and now you’re ready for a more polished website? This one is common and I do a lot of websites for client who’ve ‘made do’ with a DIY site for a year or two, but are now ready for a high-impact, strategic website. A professional designer can bring years of design, marketing, copywriting and behavioural psychology expertise to the table, so your website becomes a hard-working machine that brings in leads and turns them into paying customers.
Are you time-poor and juggling many priorities? If you’re busy with clients, delivering your services, and engaged in all the additional activities that go alongside being an independent business owner, designing your own website is unlikely to be the best use of your time.
Do you want your website live sooner rather than later? Let’s face it, if you’re teaching yourself web design as you go along, it will probably take you quite a while to get your website up and running. Maybe you’ve already had it on the long finger for a few months. Hiring a designer to do your site for you - while you may have to wait a few weeks to get on their schedule - will probably be quicker in the long run.
Want to talk about your website?
