Should I Build My Own Squarespace Website or Hire a Web Designer? - Ep #55
If you’re running a small business, you’ve probably asked yourself:
“Should I create my own website on Squarespace, or should I hire a Squarespace designer?”
And honestly, there isn’t one right answer.
Squarespace makes it possible to build a website yourself without knowing how to code. That’s one of the reasons I recommend it to many small business owners.
But there’s an important difference between being able to build a website and building a professional, SEO optimised website that helps your business grow.
The real question isn’t just how much a website costs.
It’s also how much time, energy and opportunity it will cost you to build it yourself.
Let’s look at both options honestly.
Option 1:
Build your own Squarespace website
The biggest attraction of DIY Squarespace web design is obvious:
You save money.
You can choose a template, add your own photos and text, create your pages and publish your website without paying a designer thousands of euro.
For a new business or someone with a very small budget, this can be a perfectly sensible option.
But “free” doesn’t mean it costs nothing.
Your time is part of the cost
Before you start, you might think:
“I’ll just spend a weekend creating my website.”
Then you open Squarespace.
Suddenly you’re choosing fonts, resizing images, writing your homepage, figuring out navigation, connecting your domain, guessing your keywords, setting up SEO, adding forms and trying to understand why something looks different on your phone.
A weekend can easily turn into several weeks or months.
And those are weeks when you could have been:
attracting new clients
serving your existing clients
following up with potential clients
marketing your business
creating a new service
networking
taking a proper day off
This is the opportunity cost of DIY.
The website might not cost you €3,000, but if you spend 40–60 hours building it, what could you have earned or achieved during those hours? Or how many clients have you losts? What is the value of one client lost for you?
You’re learning everything yourself
A professional website involves much more than choosing a nice template.
You also need to think about:
Strategy – How does your ideal client find your website, what does she/ he need to see, and how does she/ he needs to feel before they contact you?
Copy – Does your website clearly explain what you do, who you help and why to work with you?
SEO – Can Google understand your website and match it with the people searching for your services?
User experience – Can visitors quickly find what they need?
Mobile design – Does everything work properly on a phone?
Calls to action – Do people know what to do next?
Technical setup – Are your domain, forms, analytics, email, online shop, online booking system and other integrations working properly?
This is where many DIY websites struggle.
They might look pretty, but the website doesn't do its job.
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Common DIY mistakes:
DIY mistake #1: Weak website copy
This is one of the biggest problems I see.
You know your business inside out, so it can be surprisingly difficult to explain it simply to someone who has never heard of you.
Your homepage might say:
“Welcome to XYZ. I provide a range of bespoke services designed to empower you…”
It sounds professional.
But your potential client is still wondering:
What do you actually do?
Is this for me?
Why should I choose you?
Good website copy isn't about using impressive words.
It’s the opposite. Your copy should be clear, direct and easy to understand, so visitors can quickly see that they’ve come to the right place.
DIY mistake #2: Poor SEO
Another common problem is leaving SEO until the end.
You might build a beautiful website but forget to properly consider and check what your customers actually search for. It’s not enough to describe your products and services. You need to do it in a way it’s compelling for your target group.
DIY website often miss:
page titles and descriptions
headings
URLs
image alt text
internal links
local SEO
Google Search Console
the content on each page
For example, if you're an Irish business offering physiotherapy in Dublin, simply putting “Welcome to my website” at the top of your homepage doesn't help Google understand what you do or where you work.
Good Squarespace web design should consider SEO from the beginning, not as an afterthought.
DIY mistake #3: Designing for yourself rather than your customer
Because you're building the website, it's natural to choose what you like.
Your favourite colours.
Your favourite fonts.
The photos you love.
The services you want to talk about.
But your website isn't really for you.
It's for the person who arrives on your website wondering:
“Can this business help me with my problem or achieve my goal?”
A professional website should make that answer clear quickly.
So, when does DIY make sense?
I'd consider building your own Squarespace website if:
You're comfortable learning new technology
You have plenty of time
You don’t have a budget
Your business is relatively simple
You enjoy design and writing
You don’t mind learning about SEO and doing the research, or you already have another strategy for attracting your ideal clients.
You have a clear idea of what your website needs to achieve
You're happy to keep improving it yourself
And there's nothing wrong with that.
Squarespace is designed to give business owners this flexibility.
But there comes a point when doing everything yourself stops being the best use of your time.
That's when hiring a Squarespace designer can make sense.
Option 2:
Hire a Squarespace web designer
When you hire a professional, you're not just paying someone to choose a template and move some text around.
You're paying for experience, strategy, design, copy guidance, SEO and time saved. All working together to create a website that attracts, connects with your people and sells for you.
A good designer should help you answer questions such as:
What should go on my homepage?
Which services should I promote?
What should my navigation look like?
How do I explain what makes my business different?
What will make someone trust me enough to enquire?
How can I make it easier for people to find me through Google?
And, of course, they should create a website that looks professional and feels like your business.
Look beyond technical skills when choosing a designer
Whether you choose a freelancer or an agency, don't look only at their technical expertise.
Make sure they can create the look and feel you're looking for.
A designer might be excellent at building websites, but that doesn't necessarily mean their design style will suit your business.
Before you hire someone, spend some time looking through their portfolio.
Ask yourself:
Do I like the websites they've created?
Could I imagine my business looking like this?
Have they created websites with the kind of feel I'm looking for?
If you want a warm, personal and airy website but their portfolio is mainly bold, corporate designs, they might be a brilliant designer, but perhaps not the right designer for you.
Look for examples that show:
the style you like
businesses similar to yours
clear, easy-to-use websites
websites that look professional without feeling generic
Your designer doesn't have to have designed your exact type of business before.
But their portfolio should give you confidence that they can create the look, feel and experience you're after.
Choose someone you trust and be open to their expertise
Once you've found a designer whose work you love, there's another important part of the process:
Trust them.
You’re hiring a professional because they have experience you don't.
A good web designer should bring a fresh perspective to your business. They should look at your website through the eyes of your target audience rather than simply doing what you ask for.
For example, I always start my projects with target audience analysis and keyword research.
Before thinking about colours, fonts or layouts, I want to understand who the website needs to connect with, what they are looking for and what will make them feel that they've come to the right place.
That's because a website can look beautiful and still miss the mark if it doesn't connect with the people you're trying to reach.
So, when your designer suggests a different layout, image, colour or way of presenting your services, don't automatically dismiss it because it's different from what you imagined.
Be open to their ideas.
They may see things you can’t because they’re looking at your business from the outside, just like your target audience would - and that can be priceless.
At the same time, hiring a designer doesn't mean you should stay quiet if something doesn't feel right.
Your website project is a collaboration
A good website is a collaboration between you and your designer.
Your designer brings strategy, experience and a fresh perspective.
You know your business, your clients and your story better than anyone.
Both are important.
So if you don't like the direction your designer is taking, don't be afraid to say so.
Be clear about what you're not sure about.
Ask questions. There’s usually a reason behind design decisions.
Explain what doesn't feel right.
Most designers include one or two rounds of revisions in their website projects, so use them.
Don't sit quietly thinking: “I'll change it myself later”
If you aren't entirely happy with something, say it.
Giving clear feedback isn't being difficult.
It's part of creating a website that you feel confident sharing with the world.
What does hiring a designer actually look like?
This is another question worth asking before you hire someone.
A good website project shouldn't start with:
“Send me your logo and I'll start designing.”
There should be a process behind it.
For example, with my Squarespace web design projects at Ella Web Design, I use a structured onboarding process before the design begins.
I start by getting clear on your business, your ideal clients, your goals and what your website needs to do.
You work through a workbook and copy template so we have the information needed for the website.
Then we have a strategy call to make sure we’re on the same page.
From there, I do a keyword research, work on the strategy, copy, and design before moving into the technical SEO setup, 3rd party integrations, mobile optimisation and testing.
My standard website projects take around two weeks to build, once I receive all the content (copy and images).
The point isn't simply to create your website quickly.
It's to give you a clear process so you're not spending months wondering what to write, where something should go or whether your website is actually doing what it needs to do.
How much does a Squarespace website really cost?
This is where the comparison gets interesting.
DIY website
You might spend:
€250–€500+
depending on your Squarespace plan, domain, template cost, photography, branding and other tools.
But you'll also spend your own time learning, writing, designing, testing and fixing things.
Professional website
A professional Squarespace website might cost:
€2,500–€5,000+
depending on the designer and complexity of the project.
That's a much bigger upfront investment.
But you're buying back your time and getting professional expertise instead of learning everything yourself.
Neither option is automatically better.
It depends on where your business is right now and what your time is worth.
Ask yourself these 5 questions
Before deciding whether to DIY or hire a designer, ask yourself:
1. Do I have the time?
Not “can I find the time?”
Do I genuinely have the time?
2. Do I know what my website needs to achieve?
If you're not clear about your goals, pages, messaging and customer journey, building the site yourself can become frustrating very quickly.
3. Am I confident writing website copy?
If writing isn't your strength, don't underestimate how long it can take.
4. Do I understand SEO?
A website that looks good but can't be found by the right people isn't doing its full job.
5. Would I rather spend those hours growing my business?
This is probably the most important question.
Because your website isn't the only thing you could be working on.
So, should you build your own Squarespace website or hire a designer?
If you're starting out, have a small budget and genuinely enjoy doing it yourself, DIY can absolutely make sense.
But if your business is established, you're busy serving clients and your current website doesn't reflect your expertise or is not enticing to your target group, professional Squarespace web design can be a worthwhile investment.
Especially if you're thinking:
“My business has grown, but my website is outdated and I truly dislike it”
You don't necessarily need a bigger website.
You need a website that makes it easier for the right people to understand what you do, trust you and take the next step.
And that's where the value of a good Squarespace designer goes beyond making your website look nice.
It's about creating a professional website that connects with your people and encourage them to buy from you.
If you have time and you'd like to create your website yourself, Squarespace gives you the tools to do it.
But if you'd rather save yourself tons of time and frustration and have someone take care of the strategy, design, SEO and technical details while you focus on your business, that's exactly what a professional designer is there for.
The best choice is the one that makes sense for your business, your budget and your time.