Common Mistakes When Building Your Own Website
Congrats - it’s time for you to get a new website! Maybe you’ve grown enough that it’s time to upgrade your web platform to Squarespace. Maybe you’ve had a more complicated website in the past, and now realize that recreating your site on Squarespace would allow you to maintain the site yourself. Either way, it’s an exciting milestone for you and your business.
When it comes to building a new website, I love Squarespace and recommend it to most of my clients. It’s easy to use (easy for your audience to use, and easy for you to update yourself), their template designs are beautiful right out of the box, and Squarespace gives you flexibility to build what you want and room to grow with your business. Plus, you get a 14-day trial period before you have to commit to paying Squarespace for hosting.
Because Squarespace is so easy to use, most computer-savvy people can build their own websites on Squarespace. In fact, I designed the Website In A Weekend Guide to help you do just that!
In the past few years, I’ve worked with a few clients who tried to build their sites themselves before they hired me to help. Here are some of the main problems non-professional designers bump into when attempting to build their own site on Squarespace:
No Streamlined Process
These clients tried to write and organize their content while building their site. In the end, their audience was confused because they landed on a chaotic homepage. Ultimately this lowered the business’s online sales, since it was so difficult for customers to find what they needed on the website.
My tip: Write the content, then organize the content. Then start building your site.
Altering The Template Design
These clients came to me because they were frustrated that their Squarespace Template couldn’t do exactly what they wanted, like displaying images in a row instead of a grid.
My tip: If you’re unfamiliar with the limitations of Squarespace, stick to the Template designs. Simplify your messaging, then replace the placeholder content in Squarespace with your own images and text.
Attempting Complicated Functionality
These clients came to me because they spent a lot of time trying to figure out something they knew should be easy, or something they used to know how to do - like how to add tags to a blog post.
My tip: Squarespace has a superb knowledge base with support articles and videos that walk you through every detail of using their platform. If you can’t figure something out within 5-10 minutes, give it a Goog and you’ll find what you need!
So can you build your own Squarespace site? Of course! But is it the best use of your time and energy? It will certainly be easier and faster for you to work with a Squarespace designer to redo your site, even if you're just copying content from one place to another. I use a 2-week web design process so you can expect to launch your new site with my streamlined process, customized design and functionality, and one-on-one Squarespace training all within a 2-week turnaround!
If you decide to go that route, I’d love to help! You can learn more about my web design packages and process , and fill out my Inquiry Form when you’re ready to get started!
Thinking of creating your own website?
Sign up with your email and I’ll send over my Website In A Weekend PDF to guide you.
