Why I use Squarespace to design websites for small businesses.
Discover the creative potential of Squarespace for your business website with our expert design services. Get more sales and get noticed with your online presence!
A few years ago, I was looking to redesign my website and I had been using WordPress for a while. I began to feel frustrated by the software and not being able to make images and text look the way I wanted to. I looked around for platforms that were easy to build, maintain and adapt. Squarespace had been around for a while, so I investigated it.
The elements that stood out were the templates. Ready to use with great designs – of course the stunning photography helped. You start with a base design, but you can implement your brand colours and fonts straight away. I enjoyed seeing my site come to life within minutes.
Another bonus to designing with Squarespace is its user-friendly tools and capabilities. You can save sections as a template to reuse elsewhere on your site. Plus, the draw for me was no coding involved.
Whilst reading this blog you will see JARGON DECODED boxes. Every industry has words or acronyms we don’t understand. Don’t go running off to Google just yet - hopefully I have explained a few for you.
Let’s have a closer look and uncover some of the other perks that make Squarespace my go-to when I'm designing a Squarespace website for my clients.
Introduction to Squarespace and its benefits
I get it, you are excited that you are ready to start working on your website and make an investment. Yet making that start can be exciting and can feel overwhelming at the same time.
Let’s think about why you might want a website for your business.
Is it to:
Showcase your portfolio
Sell a product
Create a blog
Promote your podcast
Communicate with your audience to send out newsletters
Any of the above?
All the lists above have built-in templates. Squarespace has the capability to create the above without creating any coding. Unless we delve into CSS coding – that is another topic for another day. This brilliant platform untangles the complex knots of crafting a site, where you don’t need to be tech-savvy to build it. Of course, it would be good if you had an idea of UI design.
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CSS
Cascading Style Sheets - is a stylesheet language used to describe the presentation of a document written in HTML or XM. Within Squarespace you have the option to code with CSS if you would like things to look a little different, than the provided templates.
UI
User interface – is a design process where designers create the look and style of an interface/screen for digital output, be it a website or an app.
In today’s ever growing online world, having a website is key — it's essentially your business's digital shop window.
In my role as a graphic designer is to help create your online presence to complement your marketing plan. Since building my site in Squarespace I've had experiences of building various sites for my clients. They came to me because they liked my site – happy dance!
The benefit of using Squarespace is that you could design it yourself, as the platform offers drag and drop elements that are easy to create. As mentioned, - no coding needed.
Colourful code displayed on computer screen. Luckily you don’t need to code with Squarespace.
But do you have time to set this up plus with my knowledge of design and marketing we can get your website up and running while you work on your business and get visitors to your site.
When your site is ready to launch, I will provide you with a handover video that explains how to make updates to your site as well as add new elements or pages.
Of course, if you don’t want to do that, I offer a maintenance option where you can carry on working in your business and I’ll make them for you.
How Squarespace can showcase your business creatively
Every company has its own tale to tell, and its own mission statement and values. You are unique!
Your story to be told using your tone of voice.
As well as using words your brand guidelines – your visual brand has an important part in your business.
A note to add here – this also includes having your copy and images ready to build your site.
If you have a brand in place – that is great. If you don’t this is something that you will need before build your site. Imagine building a house without foundations, we cannot design your site without no clue of how to incorporate fonts, colours, imagery and text. If you need a hand with the brand design, get in touch to see how I can help. See how I helped copywriter Robyn Santa Maria by creating her brand and website.
Website and brand designed by Lyons Creative for copywriter Robyn Santa Maria
Once we do have your text, images and the brand in place the fun begins. Squarespace has an excellent brand portal where we can select fonts and colours that will transfer across the whole site – without having to add it on each page. We can create different page designs and keep on brand seamlessly.
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Brand guidelines
Brand guidelines are a set of rules/standards that define the visual and verbal identity of a brand. They are placed within a document (I save them as a PDF).
It’s used to outline the proper usage of the brand's logo, colours, typography, imagery, and tone of voice.
These guidelines help maintain the brand's consistency across all forms of communication and marketing. You can use them internally withing your company or by external partners. Use the brand guidelines to maintain consistency across a website, brochures, social media – any marketing material.
As mentioned, it has a collection of tailor-made templates to choose and adapt.
If you are a copywriter, it is great to showcase your portfolio and your thought leadership via your blogs. Squarespace has an array of blogging pages design and layout you can choose from.
If photography's your passion and showing off your work in style is what you're after – you can showcase your portfolio.
Or perhaps you are running a boutique filled with eye-catching displays—Squarespace showcases many creative businesses out there. The easy-to-navigate interface empowers you to build not just any site but one that captures the essence of who you are as a business.
Will people find my Squarespace website online?
Yes, but with a little work. Have you heard of the line from the Kevin Costner film Field of Dreams ‘Build it and they will come’? Search engines will find you, but you have to do a little work.
SEO and regular updates to your sites will see your site appear on search engines. Squarespace has great in-built tools to help you get ranked in search engines. Also, regular blogging will increase your rankings. Using alt text on images will increase your chances in ranking. Also, it’s best practice to do this for those who are visually impaired.
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SEO
Search Engine Optimisation is the process of improving your website to increase its visibility on search engines like Google. By using relevant keywords, creating quality content, this can help your site rank higher in search results. Higher rankings lead to more traffic and better chances of reaching your target audience.
Note – I’m not an SEO expert there are brilliant ones out there and if you need help with this, I can point you in the right direction.
Alt text
Alternative text is describing the image with – you guessed right – text. Include the meaning and what the context of the image, giving as much written description as possible. Used on websites, apps and social media platforms. Particularly beneficial to those who are visually impaired, where they may have a screen reader to decode a screen.
Another top tip is to tell people that you have a new website is to do this via social media. Also, if you or if you publish a blog, Squarespace gives you the option to share it on your social media platforms. As soon as you hit publish - share it. Drive people towards your website. Tell them… they will come.
Why using Squarespace makes sense financially for small businesses
Are you running your own venture? Every pound, dollar, euro matters, doesn't it? And sometimes, splashing out on a website can seem like pure indulgence.
I do understand that – I’m a business too where decisions have to be made on where you invest your time and money. Your website is your online business card that sells your services. It also tells potential customers your brand values and why they should work with you.
Creating your website in Squarespace can offer value for money. As well as being and aesthetically pleasing website builder, it hosts your site, offers domain name registration, google email integration (currently first year free - 2024), it also offers secure SSL certificates.
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Domain
That word sounds like you are ready to control the world! Well in your corner of the internet you are. A domain name is a distinctive and memorable web address. Without being too techy we use names instead of numbers, so it is easy to find… unless you are 123 reg.com.
Once you have a name you like and want to use for your business see if it is available - check to see that no one else has it.
Also then decide which extension you may want. An extension looks like this:
.com
.uk
.org
There are hundreds more but check which ones would suit your business.
SSL
Secure Sockets Layer - in plain speak Security certificates
Eh? Well - it is a security technology that is used to establish an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. So that link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browser remain private and integral. No data is lost or intercepted during the web server and browser talking to each other. Depending on your web browser you use – you can see a padlock symbol in your navigation bar. Ok check the front of the URL, if it has https - you have this in place.
Growth is on your mind too, right? Squarespace scales up as you do. If you are product-based Squarespace offers shop/cart facilities. Also, they offer the option to sell digital products.
Are you wanting to create and sell a course? Squarespace also now has that option integrated into its platform.
Still need more convincing that Squarespace is the one for you?
Can you see the ‘Squarespace Circle member at the bottom of my website footer? This means that I am a Circle member. This membership includes a supportive Squarespace forum community where designers talk and help each other if any arising issues – also a place to celebrate each other’s achievements. But the benefit to you for using Lyons Creative as your website designer is that you get 20% off your subscription for your first year using Squarespace.
Whether you have been in business for years or you are starting out – a Squarespace website and alongside working with me, will help you stand out. I design a lot of brands and clients now want the website to showcase their work.
If you require a website for your business – tell the world who you are, look at my services and please get in touch.
If you are thinking about creating your site and need a few prompts – download my website checklist.
Let me know if it helped, one of my brand values is to be kind – I will always answer you.
Hi! Thanks for reading!
My name is Angela Lyons, and I am the founder and graphic designer at Lyons Creative. I specialise in both print and digital design. I aim to help businesses enhance their visual appeal by creating compelling and distinct designs. I am also a Squarespace web designer in the UK.
If you are interested in learning more about my services and how I can assist your business, please feel free to contact me via direct message, and we can discuss your design needs further. Hit the button below!
