Building a Squarespace Website: DIY or Outsource?
can DIY impact your business?
When it comes to building a successful online digital universe, Squarespace is a popular choice. Its user-friendly interface and stylish templates make it easy for businesses of all sizes, to create a professional-looking website. However, while Squarespace provides a solid foundation, there's a significant difference between a good website and a great one. That's where calling on the knowledge of a web designer comes into play. Depending on your skill level DIY can be a bit of a roll of the dice, as you might not even realise the ways that your business is being impacted.
The DIY Dilemma
Many business owners are taking a DIY approach to their Squarespace website. After all, the platform is designed to be intuitive. But the truth is, building a website is more than just dragging and dropping elements. It's about crafting a digital experience that reflects your brand, engages your audience, and brings in results.
Here are some common challenges faced by those who attempt to build their Squarespace websites themselves:
The tech skills just aren’t quite there
While Squarespace simplifies the process, there are still technical nuances that can be challenging for non-designers. From optimising images to ensuring mobile responsiveness, getting your text and images in the right order and understanding all of the jargon can be a steep learning curve. These details can significantly impact your website's performance.
Do you have time to dedicate and learn?
Building a website from scratch takes time, whatever you think it’s going to take - probably double or triple it. As a business owner, your time is valuable. Trying to balance website design with your other responsibilities can lead to a rushed and subpar result.
Leaning into your brand and style
A cohesive brand identity is essential for building recognition and trust. Without a professional eye, it's easy for design elements to become mismatched or inconsistent, diluting your brand's message. This might include things like fonts or colours that don’t work together. Incorrect page structure or images that aren’t optimised for web. At its worst, this can make your website sluggish and unattractive to customers and clients.
SEO oversights
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is crucial for attracting organic traffic. DIY website builders often lack the in-depth knowledge and tools to optimise content effectively, hindering your visibility from Google Gods. Afterall, no one is looking on page 20 of their Google search.
Cookie cutter design
While Squarespace offers a variety of templates, they may not perfectly align with your unique vision. A professional designer can customise your website to create a truly one-of-a-kind experience. The aim is to bring your brand personality to life in a unique and fun way that reflects the kind of work that you do.
I’m firmly of the belief, that if you know and understand the challenges you take clear steps to avoid these common pitfalls. But if you’re feeling a tad overwhelmed by the thought of banging out a website then maybe (respectfully) you’re not it, when it comes to undertaking the project. So let’s have a look at the value of outsourcing the project.
The Value of outsourcing your Website
This Squarespace website was created for Tailorbird Studios, read more about this project here.
There’s so much know-how that goes into building a website. It can literally take years to learn all of the ins and outs to create a good one. A web designer brings a wealth of expertise and skills to the table. Here's how Stitch can help you elevate your Squarespace website:
Strategic planning
Before even touching a template, we will work with you to understand your business goals, target audience, and brand message. This ensures that your website is aligned with your overall strategy. We’ll consider the use of colour, fonts, images and copy to build you a website that speaks to your target audience.
Looking the part
With a keen eye for aesthetics and user experience, Stitch can create a visually stunning and functional website. We’ll pay attention to details like typography, colour schemes, and layout to create a cohesive and engaging experience. If you’ve worked with a brand designer in the past it cam be a very powerful process to build this work into the overall result. We love working with designers.
Get the tech stuff right the first time around
From ensuring fast loading times to optimising for mobile devices, the images are optimised Stitch will handle the technical aspects of your website to ensure it performs at its best from the get go. We’ll help you get your brand-new website indexed on Google so that you can start to build your digital universe around it.
Best practise SEO
Stitch understands the impact of SEO and how it relates to your business’s visibility online. We’ll optimise your website's content, structure, and metadata to improve your search engine rankings, which over time will help to drive your organic traffic.
Ongoing support
Stitch doesn't just build your website; we also provide ongoing support and maintenance. This includes updates, adding new pages, adding acuity scheduling, troubleshooting, and ensuring your website stays secure.
is there any harm in learning as you go?
Learning is great! But just like anything it’s a commitment and one that many business owners don’t have the time to dedicate to it. The truth is many of your learning experiences can cost in the long run. A professionally designed Squarespace website can have a profound impact on your business. Here are some of the benefits:
A well-designed website gives your business increased credibility by having a professional and polished appearance. This can help build trust with potential customers and clients instantly that this is a brand that they can trust.
A website that is easy to navigate and visually appealing is more likely to keep visitors engaged and provide a great user experience. This can lead to increased conversions and sales.
A website that is optimised for search engines is more likely to appear higher/rank higher in search results. This can drive more traffic to your site and generate leads.
A consistent and compelling brand identity can help you stand out from the competition. A professionally designed website can reinforce your brand message and create a memorable impression.
While investing in professional web design may seem like an upfront cost, it can actually save you time and money in the long run. A well-designed website can help you attract more customers and generate more revenue.
Optimising images and video on your website is a game changer in terms of performance.
While Squarespace offers a user-friendly platform for building websites, the truth is that a DIY approach most often falls short. This is often at the great personal expense of the business owner’s time and energy. By investing in digital support to build your Squarespace site, you are more likely to hit the ground running with a well-thought-out and considered website from the get-go. Some things to consider are:
Save time and effort
Create a consistent and compelling brand identity
Start your website's performance and SEO right from the start
Create a great user experience (UX)
Drive more traffic, connections and conversions
There is something to be said for learning as you go - but a great website handover from can have the same type of empowerment. You’ve just got to have the right fit in the person that you work with. If you're ready to start a conversation about building a successful digital presence, consider partnering with a digital professional like Stitch who can help bring all your visions to life. Book a discovery call today and let’s have a chat about bringing your website dreams to life. Or if you’re keen to DIY your own website and learn along the way - consider a Strategy Consult to understand the must-haves in your new build. Good luck out there and happy building your new website.
