What is Squarespace?
Ok, so you are a small business owner - maybe you already have a business running. It could be a bricks and mortar business already or you provide services to an established customer base.
Or maybe you are at the very start of your entrepreneurial journey. Either way - you have come to the (correct) assumption that you should acquire an online presence for your business.
Chances are, you have stumbled across Squarespace as an option - but what exactly is Squarespace?
Well, it is an all in one Saas (Software as a Service) that can be used to design websites with an intuitive drag and drop system. When we say all in one, we really do mean it. Squarespace includes an impressive list of features, allowing you to manage everything from one place.
Squarespace Features Include:
Selling Products and Services
Selling Memberships
Events behind paywalls
Selling courses
Streaming video
Visual portfolio displays (think photos and videos)
Email functionality for staying connected to customers (Email marketing and 1 to 1 emails)
Manage inventory and shipping
Payment processors (in house and external that integrate easily
SSL built in (security certificates that indicate to visitors your site is safe)
Domain registration
Blogs for educating
Calendars
Booking system (in house and external that integrate easily)
And what’s really cool about Squarespace (esp when you aren’t a web designer)
The truly great feature of Squarespace is that you see what your editing in real time before hitting save. What does that mean? It means that you never have to worry about wrecking the look or function of your website because you can see exactly what you are doing before it is live to website visitors. No more panicking about what edits you are making.
Which is perfect for those who don’t have a lot of experience with editing websites. Especially when you get a professional web designer to create your website initially. You get all of the great design, functionality and strategic flow of an expertly built website that you can edit yourself after launch to keep content fresh (and not pay monstrous monthly maintenance fees to a web design agency).
Making it mobile friendly for you, the on the go business owner……
Another great feature of Squarespace is the ability to edit on the go via the mobile app. So if you have a new product you can’t wait to get live - no need to wait for access to the desktop version. Tasks you can complete on the Squarespace App include:
Edit products or services
Add products
Manage orders
Access your analytics
Some layout and design changes can be made (although more advanced and complete changes should be done on desktop.
But when you have a product layout already designed and established, then the app gives you the flexibility to add on the go - perfect for busy business owners who rely on those little pockets of time in their day to get ahead of their ever-growing to do list.
And for your website visitors……
Speaking of Mobile - let’s discuss the brilliance that is the mobile responsible design of Squarespace websites. This feature allows the user to look at their website in mobile view and make the changes necessary to make their website look just as great on mobile. Considering that over 60% of internet users view websites on their mobile - it is a necessity to be able to get the mobile version of your website just right.
Cost and Value of Squarespace websites
Inevitably, the cost of a Squarespace website for your small business will vary depending on what you need on it. But lets have a quick look:
Squarespace prices for annual plans:
Basic - £12 a month
Core - £17 a month
Plus - £29 a month
Advanced - £79 a month
Fancy a Discount?
Oh and if you were to hire me as your website designer, I can grab you an extra discount on top of these fees as Squarespace Circle partner, starting at 10% - head on over to my squaresquare designer UK page to find out about my packages that have a whole host of benefits included that I have made truly very inclusive of the whole process from start to finish - beyond the web design on Squarespace itself.
A little tip on your website address (Domain)
Something to keep in consideration - with domains (your actual web address), if you want to keep them separate that will be an additional charge - but don’t panic, generally speaking it isn’t very costly and something I find most small business owners don’t understand is that if your domain is up for renewal, you can shop around and transfer it to another hosting company.
Will it work for your Business?
Because of the wide and varied functionality, combined with the great capabilities to create something truly unique (when you know how to), Squarespace is a great option for many different types of businesses including:
Service based businesses
Charities
Small boutiques/stores
Course providers
Photographers/videographers
Hospitality
Alternative health providers
Bloggers
Bakeries and artisan food suppliers
Community groups
Beauticians
Hairdressers
Pet services
And so many more!
Squarespace and SEO
Squarespace absolutely works for creating SEO optimised websites - the trick? Well, it’s like any platform really. You have to understand SEO strategy. That is universal. It a vital component of any website for it’s structure to be based around great SEO techniques both front and back end.
Throwing together content, page names etc without factoring in what people are actually searching for is a sure fire way of making sure your website NEVER gets seen organically. And your website should be seen! It is supposed to get traffic and get your business leads or generate revenue directly.
There are a number of techniques and tools as a web designer that I use to create a SEO strategy for any website that I create and I have proven experience at getting the websites I design into the top results on page 1 of Google (where you need to be).
Want to know more?
So now you have a good idea of what Squarespace can offer you, what do you do next? If you don’t have the time or you know that you would simply be overwhelmed with design then I can help with designing your website from start to finish.
And when I hand over websites to clients, it isn’t just a website they are getting. They are reassured that all relevant technical elements have been dealt with properly including link to your domain, to google analytics, google my business and google search console.
And a truly important element - I provide step by step video tutorials that you can use forever to keep your website content fresh and up to date. No guesswork required and certainly no panic. You get to a fully professional website, designed to convert visitors into customers and yet you won’t have to fork out huge sums of money each month to keep it right. You can check out my work here.
If this sounds like something you would be interested in, check out my Squarespace offers and everything included in my packages here. Once you have had a look, let’s chat (for free) - and you will truly understand whether its worth your time.