How to Become a Squarespace Designer

Note: This blog post contains affiliate links, however, I only recommend brands that I use and love.

Creating a custom website is a huge need in the design work for all types of business owners. There are multiple platforms out there for developing and designing a website, but to those of you who are new around here - Squarespace has always been my platform of choice. Becoming a Squarespace designer is a relevantly easy process, but there are a few steps to get you ready to release this service to the masses. Check out my tips below!

Join Squarespace Circle

One of the first things I recommend is becoming a part of Squarespace Circle. There are some really great perks involved in being a Circle member, but before you can join Squarespace circle you need to have at least three active Squarespace sites that you have built or are a contributor to.

Once you have become a member, you will receive a 20% discount on annual plans that you can pass onto your clients or use as an affiliate fee. Plus, you get an extended trial period for all of your new websites. Normally you get 2 weeks, with Circle you get 6 months. This is a huge plus for client sites. A major bonus is you will get priority for help inquiries. See more about the perks here.

Define Your Dream Clients

Discovering and defining your dream client is another part of the Squarespace Designer setup you need to complete. Bring in the types of clients you want to work with by showing the type of Squarespace projects you want to be attracting in your portfolio.

Also by narrowing in on a niche by industry and/or by style, you can get really clear with potential clients and find the right fit for you and them! Read more about finding your dream client in this blog post

Refine Your Service Offering

Getting clear on your signature service offering is key to a successful business! You can narrow in your offerings even more than just Squarespace.

Consider specializing in Commerce Squarespace Site, Membership Sites, Sales pages etc. Another idea is that you can narrow in on the type of industry and site that you build for them. For example, Yoga Studios that need online booking or business coaches that sell online courses. 

Get specific and narrow in! 

Price your Services

Next up, is pricing. For designers, there are a few ways you can structure your pricing but for the purpose of this blog post we will focus on two; project-based or hourly. Project-based or flat-fee is when you have a set or fixed price for an agreed amount of work. Hourly is when you track your time and bill for each hour that you work. Similar to when you work in house for an employer. 

When determining your pricing, you have to consider what value you are bringing to your client. Think about how much money they will make off of their website. If you’re helping them create a website that is going to make them $100,000/year, then investing $8-10k on a website is a great return on their investment!

Quick tip: Take payments based on date, not deliverable. This way if the client lags in getting you the content (which they often do!) you are not waiting around for payment. 

Get more help on pricing your services through this blog post.

Mockup Your Sites Before you Build Them Out

A big tip when it comes to becoming a Squarespace designer, part of the work has to do with the client process. A HUGE time saver for me has been creating mockups of client sites before building out the site within Squarespace. It can help with refining your process and it is a pretty easy option to outsource if needed as well. Read more about what I mock up my Squarespace site first here. 

Learn a little CSS or outsource development

Another part of the Squarespace designer world is learning some custom coding skills. If this is an area that you are interested in and wanting to learn more about, go for it. If you do not have the time or patience to work in the CSS window of a website, you may want to outsource. Learning to code is an option but you can also outsource your development to a developer. 

Squarespace is a template-based CMS but it’s also possible to completely customize the sites you build for your clients. You need to think outside the box (or Square!) and get creative, there are some really fun things you can do to go beyond a Squarespace template when you customize with CSS. 

Here are some developers that I recommend: Square Stylist, Inside the Square, Square Studio, Square Websites

Connect with other designers

Building a community is a great way to expand your knowledge and gain referrals. Your network can be your biggest advocate and source of income. Creating a strong network is a must. 

 Facebook Groups are a great way to connect with more people and are pretty active and accessible.

Groups and communities I recommend: Square Design Guild, Squarespace Customization Resource Group, Squarespace for Bloggers and Creatives

Add site credit to the footer of the sites you build

Adding site credit is pretty common among web design studios. Always verify with your client that they are ok with you adding it. Adding a site credit in the footer of the sites you build is a great way to refer people to your own website. It’s also great for SEO because Google likes it when there are websites that link back to your website (these are called backlinks).

I have it in my contract that site credit will be included and if they want it removed there is a fee to do so. Consider adding a clause in your contract as well. 

Transfer ownership and billing to the client

Once you receive the final payment you can transfer ownership to the client. This is where the handoff happens. If you paid for the first year of hosting you’ll also need to update the billing information to their own. You can offer ongoing tech support or maintenance for an additional fee. If you want to keep the relationship going with support, create specialty packages to offer when the site goes live. There are multiple ways to continue the relationship with your web clients. 

While there are a few components involved in getting started, you will be set up for success if you handle these items and get your name out there to share your services. 

Need more resources to get started? Check out my freebie library!