How to Choose a Squarespace Web Designer

Without Ending Up Beautiful and Invisible

“Why can’t anyone find my website?” Karen repeated for the thousandth time as we stood in her apothecary.  I worked with her a couple of days a week and this is not the first time I’d experienced this statement.  I had recently started my web design business and this was the first time I knew I could help her.  I replied to her, “Let me see what’s going on behind the scenes”.  Once I got in I could see it: beautiful site, not listed with Google, heading hierarchy a mess along with other accessibility issues, loading problems, no meta titles or descriptions, the list went on and on.  

Slowly, I started changing the pages one by one and her website became more visible.  

You find yourself staring at your potential website, knowing what it could be in your mind, but wondering who could help you create this inspiration.

Do you need a designer or someone who specializes in SEO? Is there such a thing as someone who does both, or do you have to choose? What if you pay for a site and it can't be found?  How do you choose a Squarespace web designer who can meet all of your needs?

Personal and findable are not opposites

If personal and findable feel like opposing forces, I get it. They’re really not. Here’s why: your website can feel personal and findable.

We're not keyword stuffing your website. We're building your brand, wholly you, and adding in what needs to happen for you to be found naturally through search.

Funny thing is, these are not separate things. Who you are as a business and what you do is searchable, we just need to make sure it doesn't sound robotic, that your personality comes through.

Lots of images on your website is great!  We use images and words to tell the story, but there has to be balance.  The words tell the story of your business, what you do.  The images show the story of your business: what you do, how you do it. Search engines can’t read the images, they need words.

For example, like Karen, if you own an herbal apothecary.  Those words, herbal apothecary, need to be carefully woven throughout the website so search engines (Google in particular) knows who you are and what you do.  We don’t just shove them in randomly.  We carefully put the words in specific places throughout the website. 

Most designers only do a part of this. They don't fill in the whole picture.

Before you start looking, know what your site is for

Before you do anything, take note for yourself: what do you want your website to do, what purpose does it have? What do you want people to accomplish when they visit?

Understanding your own needs will support you in your search for a designer. If you're just looking for inquiries, that requires a different strategy than if you're selling items in a store, or filling a class schedule.

You have to understand what your site is doing before a designer can make it feel like you.

What "feels personal" actually means

It is not a color palette question.

I use a combination of questionnaires that ask about your brand style, business magic, and client profiles as well as business and client goals. Those, plus our conversations, determine the style and strategy for your website.

There's also an intuitive piece that's really difficult to explain. Once I have all of those pieces, I catch the vision of you.

The best way I can explain it is this. When I was younger, my mother and I would walk through the fabric store. I could look at a bolt of fabric and see it as a final product. I view brands the same way. I can see what yours could be from your own words.

Here's why that matters.

I had a client, Alicia. She had paid for SEO on her website, but it didn't feel like her. She liked that she could be found easily, but her site wasn't her personality and it didn't reflect her business. She needed something that incorporated not only her personality, but continued to allow her business to be found. 

Her original website was built on WordPress, which made this a full move, not a redesign.  Everything had to move: the pages, the URL’s, and the search visibility she’d already paid someone else to build.  That’s something no one warns you about.  You can hire someone to make your site feel like you and lose the part that lets people find it.  

Once the project was finished, Alicia stated in her Google Review, “Page really captured my heart and brought my vision to life through my website.”  Her heart is in the site now, and she can be found.

How to check whether a designer's SEO is real

Anyone can say they do SEO. Here is how to find out whether it's true.

Ask for case studies, and look for them. A case study should show the actual work, design and SEO both, and it should have real numbers in it. If there's nothing published on their site, ask in a call. Someone who has done this work can walk you through a specific client: what was broken, what they changed, and what happened after. Someone who hasn't will stay general.

Open a portfolio client's site and read the page. Does the page open with a headline or an image with no headline at all?  The page needs to have something for the search engine to read.  If it doesn’t, it was never optimized, regardless of what their service list says. 

Take one or two of their past clients and search by what they do, not by their business name.  Anyone can be found by their name.  Being found by what they offer is the whole point, and you can check this quickly.  

Here's what it looks like when it hasn't been done.

Looking back at Karen. She paid for this beautiful site, and she kept coming to me saying, why can't anyone find my site? I looked into it, and it turned out there was no SEO anywhere. No heading hierarchy, no titles and descriptions, and more. Nothing.  No wonder she couldn’t be found.

That was more than a year ago. As of September 2026, her site went from 350 clicks to 919 in Google Search Console, and impressions more than doubled.

Questions to ask your potential designer

Here are the questions I’d ask along with how I would answer and what a weak answer would sound like.

What would you change about my current site and why?

I always start with headings and heading hierarchy, to make sure that's in line. Then I'd make sure you have enough text and imaging to break things up, not just a paragraph or two with one image.

A weak answer: No real answer, or "nothing." Or a vague promise to add some things without naming what or why.

Do you have a specific process to your work?

Yes. I always start with strategy: what purpose does your website have, and what do you want people to accomplish when visiting. From there we have the strategy and the visual direction, and we frame up the homepage. Once the homepage is done, the rest of the site is designed. If it's a Website in a Week, we start with strategy and visual direction, then design the whole site.

A weak answer: They start with design. There's no real formula for how the work actually gets done.

How do you decide what goes on a page and in what order?

There are sequences to each page, and specific things that should be included, and I follow that. I will say, you have to know the rules to break the rules. You can go out of sequence, but there are still specific things that should be included.

A weak answer: "I just pick a sequence and go with it.”

What does strategy look like?

Strategy looks like defining your ideal clients, what their needs are, their questions, their myths. Then your business goals, and where those intersect. Once we've identified that, I create the sitemap and the user journey.

A weak answer: There's no strategy step at all, and no order to how they get there.

How will you learn what I sound like?

Talk to you. Have you fill out a content guide.

A weak answer: No answer, or "I just know." Or looking at your current site and your social media only, without ever having a conversation with you.

What do you do to help my site get found?

I start with SEO things like submitting your sitemap to Google, and making sure it follows accessibility features like heading hierarchy, color contrast, and more.

A weak answer: No answer, or that it will just be found on its own and nothing needs to be done.

What is not included?

Copy and imaging are not included. Strategy and SEO are included, and some designers might not include them.

A weak answer: Everything is included, or no answer at all. Someone trying to be all things.

Red flags

• The conversation never leaves what the site looks and feels like

• There's no strategy included

• No live portfolio

• Pricing changes such as pricing that shifts mid project, or a quote that was never clear to start with

• The designer has no training behind the work

• Portfolio pages don’t lead to actual websites

Questions to ask about what happens after launch

Your designer finishes, the site goes live, and then what? Most people don't think to ask these until it's too late.

• How do you handle handover of the website?

• Is there any training to help me navigate my site?

• Can I update my own site, or does someone have to do it for me?

• How long does the SEO work continue?

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Squarespace web designer cost?

Designers can cost anywhere from $800 to $10,000.  However, if someone is charging under $1,000, that can mean they don’t include things like strategy or SEO.  Those things take time.  As of September 2026, my web design pricing starts at $2,000 and goes up to $10,000 based on level of support and customization.  

Do Squarespace designers help with SEO?

Look for designers that do SEO, then you’re not paying twice and having to hire someone to do the SEO once your website is built. Many designers don’t help with SEO or just do the minimal, even though we would like them to.  

How long does it take to build a Squarespace website?

It can take anywhere from a focused week of work to a couple of months. The length of time depends on what package you decide on and how long it takes you to get the copy to the designer.

Do I need a web designer or an SEO expert first?

You need a web designer first, then if you hire an SEO expert, they have something to work with.  However, your best option is to look for someone who does both.

Can I update my Squarespace site myself after it is built?

Yes!!  That’s one of the beautiful things about Squarespace.  Changing text and images is simple through Squarespace.  Many designers include tutorials to help you with this.  Structural edits are more difficult and you might need assistance with them. 

What questions should I ask before hiring a Squarespace designer?

• What would you change about my current site and why?

• Do you have a specific process to your work?

• How do you decide what goes on a page and in what order?

• What does strategy look like?

• How will you learn what I sound like?

• What do you do to help my site get found?

• What is not included? 

Can Squarespace build my website for me?

My understanding is that Squarespace cannot build it for you, however there are templates you can use to build it yourself and recommended designers available through the marketplace.

Personal and findable: you can have both

They’re not opposing forces like you might think.  Karen and Alicia are are proof.  You just need to find the right designer for you to help you bring your project to life.  

That might be me.  To find out more, check out my website design and redesign offer.