So, you need a new website and have decided Squarespace is the platform for you. But perhaps you don’t have the time or desire to build it yourself, so hiring a Squarespace designer is in order.

Congratulations!

You’ve now entered the wonderful, broad, and sometimes confusing world of Squarespace design!

Look, I get it. There are a million Squarespace designers out there, all competing for your attention and business. How can you know to choose? Is this designer better because they have a whole team of people who can work on your project? Or should you go with someone offering more specific services?

Fear not, Squarespace newbie! I’m here to help. 

Portfolio

When you’re shopping around for a Squarespace designer one of the first things you want to look at is their portfolio. This should be pretty prominent on their website and easy to find (I’m assuming you’re on their website because PLEASE PLEASE don’t hire a Squarespace designer who doesn’t have one!)

You should be able to look through some of their past work and get a feel for what they can do. Every designer is different, so pay attention to see if they specialize in a certain style/feel, or if they’ve created many different designs. Depending on what you want your site to feel like, you might connect visually with their past work. In that case - great! Go ahead and get in touch for a convo!

While comparing different designers’ portfolios you might notice one has more examples of past work than another. I wouldn’t let this be the ultimate deciding factor on who you choose though, and I’ll tell you why.

Quantity is not better than quality.

I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but it’s worth repeating! Look at the quality of the work and if it resonates with you. Just because one designer has more past projects doesn’t mean you two will be a good fit! And it also doesn’t mean that one designer is inherently better than another. Design - even web design - is an art, and art is subjective. Look for the quality you want - not the quantity.

Once you’ve found a designer with a portfolio you like (or even better, one you LOVE!) it’s time to move on to the next step of the vetting process.

Prices Clearly Listed

Picture this: You’re in the market for a new pair of wireless headphones. You’ve been seeing ads for headphones pop up fairly frequently in your feeds (thank you social media for tracking everything we do) but how do you know which one is better than the other? So, like any good 21st century consumer you start Googling comparisons between different brands and models. Now imagine you come across a particularly eye-catching pair of headphones but you’ve never heard of the brand before. You scroll through their site and see a couple different pairs of headphones listed, but instead of finding a price you see an “Add to Cart for Price” message. Now, you could go ahead and add a few pairs to your cart, but why take the extra step when 

every other site you’ve looked at has their products clearly priced?

It’s the same way when you’re shopping for a Squarespace designer. Sure, you could message the one designer to request a quote but are you really going to go through that extra effort when so many others don’t require it? Ok, I hear you saying “But Ranita - it’s not that hard to send a quick email or DM” and you’re right. I’m not arguing the difficulty of it. I’m just saying it’s much more likely you’ll close that tab and forget all about that business, and it’s not even completely your fault. We have so many things competing for our attention - more important things (kids, family, work, etc.). Ain’t nobody got time to chase down a price quote!

Let’s go back to our previous example of shopping for headphones. If an entire site of products had NO prices listed, wouldn’t that make you a little suspicious? I know I would be thinking “ok, these headphones are going to cost a butt ton of money and that’s why they’re hiding the price.” You might get the same gut reaction from a web designer who doesn’t list their prices - even base prices! - on their site. As a Squarespace designer myself, I know it’s best practice to be up front and honest with potential clients.

In short, I wouldn’t encourage you to work with a designer who isn’t completely 100% transparent with you.

Organized / Easy Client Experience

Ok, you’ve vetted their portfolio, you’ve reviewed their pricing and services. The next thing you’ll want to look for is the level of ease or difficulty in booking a Discovery Call. This can really make or break your experience as a client, and will tell you a lot about how painless or painFUL it will be to work with a particular Squarespace designer.

If you’re asking yourself “um… what the heck is a Discovery Call?” let me enlighten you! It’s just a designer-y term for an initial meeting between you and the designer to discuss your goals and desires and to see if you guys fit well together. It should be a no-pressure situation and usually doesn't take too long.

First of all - how easy is it to find their “Book a Discovery Call Now” or “Get in Touch” button? This should be prominently found on almost every page of their site - especially the Services page. You shouldn’t have to work to contact your potential designer. Once you get to the Booking page, is the form straightforward? Does it ask a few simple questions or none at all? Does the form give you any indication when you might hear back from the designer? The folks with the most organized and helpful sites will make you feel completely at ease and totally confident (and maybe even a little excited!) when filling this out. 

Secondly, how easy was it to move around their site? Did it feel natural and effortless? Or were you struggling to find what you needed? Did the flow from page to page make sense, or was it confusing? A better way to think of that might be: did you even think about the flow at all? If not, chances are good you’ve landed on a well-thought out website. Congrats! >>insert wink emoji

Bottom line: pay attention to how you felt during this booking process, and even the Discovery Call itself.

Was the booking process clear and straightforward? Did you feel confident and comfortable going into the discussion? Did the designer reach out to follow up after your call? If the answer to all these questions was yes, you’re in good hands! 

Client Testimonials

The last thing I would recommend looking for are client testimonials. These are usually little snippets of nice words past clients have said about the designer sprinkled in on different pages, or they might have a section all their own! I know it can be tempting to disbelieve too many nice reviews (“oh they must have paid for all those!”) but I would advise you to dig a little deeper if you’re feeling that way. Often times the smaller one or two sentence snippets will be sprinkled throughout the site, but there may be a dedicated Review section with longer, more detailed accounts. Comb through those before making your final decision!

Now, even though I just recommended for you to look at client testimonials when shopping around for a Squarespace designer, I’m also going to recommend that you not count someone completely out of the running if they don’t have any. I know, I know, this sounds completely opposite to what I just said, but hear me out. A designer might be new to the scene and doesn’t have a ton of past clients, and maybe none of those wanted to leave a review. That doesn’t mean they don’t do good work! If there aren’t any testimonials just take a good look at their portfolio and Discovery Call process. If both of those are strong, and the price point fits in your budget I say give them a chance. And if they blow your socks off with great work on your project, maybe leave them a little review so the next person knows they’re trustworthy!

All right, now that you know what you’re looking for, here are a few things to steer clear of.

Red Flag #1: Long Response Times

The first thing you want to watch out for is long response times. Let’s say you’ve submitted that Booking form, have crossed your fingers and are patiently awaiting a reply from your chosen designer. One hour goes by, then two. You move on to other things, still fairly confident you’ll receive a reply. The next day you check your email for a response, but it’s conspicuously absent. Ok, maybe they’re on vacation, are busy with other clients, or have had a family emergency. If 3 days go by and you don’t hear back - not even an “I’m super busy, I’m so sorry! But I WILL get you a response as soon as I can!” this is not the designer you want to work with, my friend.

Look, I get it. We all have crazy unforeseen things pop up in our lives. But a good (and organized) designer will have a process in place to respond to you and let you know where things are at. Best case would be you get a quick auto-email back saying your request has been received and you’ll be contacted in X number of hours/days. At least you know where you stand, right! If you don’t get one of those, I would give it a day. If you haven’t heard anything back by day 2, I would consider that a long response time. Unfortunately this can be an indication of how it might be to actually work with this designer. You don’t want to be chasing them for updates on your site or just to finish at all!

Red Flag #2: Missed Deadlines

Similar to long response times, missed deadlines are a major red flag. You want to work with someone who stays on track and will be true to their word. Heck, you might even be counting on them to keep YOU on track!

Missed deadlines are a sign a designer is not organized and either can’t handle the workload or isn’t able to properly estimate how much time a project will take. This could result in your project dragging on - a major problem if you were planning to launch your website on a specific date! Even so, this is very unprofessional and definitely destroys any confidence you may have in the designer.

Now, you might be asking “how can I know if the designer will miss deadlines unless I’ve already booked a project with them?” Great question! Pay attention to the little things. Did they say they would get back to your request in X hours but it turned out to be a day later? Did they mention they would send a contract and invoice but you actually need to follow up about it? These are some telltale signs the designer may not be the best at managing time.

Red Flag #3: Confusing (or missing) Discovery Process

Just like we talked about the importance of finding a Squarespace designer with an easy breezy and organized client experience, you should be equally aware of a designer with a difficult discovery process (or worse - no discovery process at all).

You want to feel taken care of and seen during the discovery process. You DON’T want to feel like you’re doing most of the legwork in the relationship. Disorganization early on is a sign you don’t want to work with this particular designer (unless of course you like having your time wasted!)

BONUS! 

A few other red flags to look out for are multiple broken links on their site (one or two I understand, but more than that is just sloppy), pages that take FOREVER to load, and images with watermarks on them. All of these are indications they either aren’t yet skilled enough to be building sites for others, or they don’t care. Both of which should help you to cross them off your list.

Well, there you have it! What to look for and avoid when choosing a Squarespace designer. 

Let me know in the comments below if you’ve encountered any of these situations while browsing around!