Hire a Squarespace Designer or DIY? A Complete Guide for 2026
A thoughtful guide for growing businesses in 2026.
Most businesses start the same way.
You have an idea, a bit of momentum, and more enthusiasm than budget. So you do what makes sense at the time: you build your own website. Usually alongside everything else you’re juggling.
That first DIY site isn’t a failure. It’s often a necessary step. It gets you online, helps you find your feet, and gives you something to share when people ask what you do.
But fast forward a few years and things change.
Your work has evolved. Your confidence has grown. Your prices have shifted. You’ve refined who you actually want to work with. And yet your website still feels… stuck. Slightly behind you. Slightly apologetic.
If you’ve ever hesitated before sending someone your link, or found yourself constantly tweaking rather than proudly sharing your site, this guide is for you.
In 2026, Squarespace is still one of the best platforms available for service-based businesses. But the gap between a quick DIY build and a truly considered, professional site has widened. The question is no longer can you build it yourself, but whether that’s still the best use of your time, energy and expertise.
This guide is here to help you decide whether DIY is still serving you, or whether it’s time to bring in a Squarespace designer.
1. DIY vs hiring a Squarespace designer: a practical comparison
If you’re weighing this decision, it can help to look at it side by side - not just in terms of money, but impact.
DIY Squarespace
Lower upfront cost
Significant time investment
Steep learning curve
Decisions made in isolation
Often ‘nearly right’ but unfinished
Easy to delay launching
Confidence depends on how much time you’ve spent tweaking
Hiring a Squarespace designer
Higher upfront investment
Far less time required from you
Clear structure and guidance
Decisions made strategically
A finished, cohesive result
Clear launch point
Confidence comes from clarity and completion
Neither option is inherently better. The right choice depends on where you are now, and where you want your business to be in the next year or two.
For many established service providers, the shift isn’t about spending more. It’s about freeing up headspace and letting the website quietly do its job in the background.
2. When DIY still makes sense
It’s important to say this clearly: DIY isn’t wrong.
For some businesses, at certain stages, it’s actually the right choice.
If you’re early on, testing an idea, or building something alongside other work, a DIY Squarespace site can be a sensible, temporary solution. It gives you a presence, helps you learn what you need, and keeps costs low while you find your footing.
DIY can still work well if:
your business is in its first year or two
your offer is simple and likely to change
you’re experimenting rather than scaling
you’re comfortable with ‘good enough’ for now
The problem usually isn’t starting with DIY.
It’s staying there long after it’s stopped serving you.
Many of the clients I work with don’t regret building their own site initially. What they regret is how long they stayed stuck in that in-between phase - constantly tweaking, slightly embarrassed, quietly aware their website no longer reflects their level of experience.
Knowing when to move on is the real skill.
3. The real cost of DIY and why it’s rarely ‘free’
DIY websites are often framed as the cheaper option. And on paper, they are. Squarespace plans are affordable. Templates are accessible. The tools are user-friendly.
What’s rarely talked about is the hidden cost: your time and mental energy.
As a business owner, your attention is finite. Every hour you spend adjusting spacing, fixing mobile layouts or second-guessing your navigation is an hour you’re not spending with clients, developing your work, or resting.
Squarespace is intuitive - but intuitive doesn’t mean instant. A professional might solve a layout or styling issue in minutes. If you’re doing it yourself, that same issue can turn into an evening of frustration, Googling, and half-finished fixes.
There’s also the opportunity cost.
If you charge £100–£150 an hour and you spend 30–40 hours building a site that’s ‘nearly there’, that website hasn’t cost you nothing. It’s quietly cost you thousands in lost revenue, plus the emotional weight of carrying yet another unfinished task.
Hiring a Squarespace designer isn’t about giving up control. It’s about deciding that your time is better spent doing the work only you can do, and letting someone else handle the technical and strategic side of your digital home.
4. Why “good enough” websites hold strong businesses back
One of the most common things I hear from clients is this:
“My website is fine. It just doesn’t really feel like me anymore.”
This is the uncomfortable middle ground. Your site isn’t bad enough to force a change, but it’s not good enough to fully support where you’re heading.
In 2026, this matters more than ever.
We’re surrounded by AI-generated content, quick-build tools and auto-designed layouts. The result is a sea of sites that all feel vaguely competent but often completely forgettable.
For thoughtful, service-based businesses (especially those built on trust, expertise and reputation) blending into that middle ground is risky.
A professional Squarespace designer brings something AI and templates can’t: judgement.
What actually matters on your homepage
What doesn’t need to be there
Where attention should flow
What can be simplified rather than added to
Good design isn’t about more features. It’s about making clear, intentional decisions so your site feels calm, confident and easy to navigate.
That sense of ease is what builds trust.
5. A website is not a brochure, it’s a relationship
Your website isn’t just a place to list your services. It’s often the first meaningful interaction someone has with your business.
Before they read every word, they’re already deciding:
Does this feel professional?
Do I trust this person?
Do they understand what I need?
Do I feel comfortable taking the next step?
When those questions aren’t answered clearly, people hesitate. They leave. Or they say “I’ll come back later” - and don’t.
This is where strategy matters.
A well-designed Squarespace site isn’t built around pages, it’s built around people. Their questions, their doubts, their reasons for being there in the first place.
It’s not about persuasion. It’s about making things feel straightforward and considered, so the right clients can recognise themselves in what you offer.
6. Design decisions that quietly influence trust
Many DIY websites fall down not because of one big mistake, but because of lots of small, unintentional ones.
A font that feels slightly off. Colours that don’t quite work together. Images that don’t share the same tone or quality. Sections that feel busy rather than clear.
Individually, these things seem minor. Together, they create friction.
Professional designers spend years training their eye to spot and resolve this. Not to make things flashy, but to make them feel right.
Calm, consistent design helps people relax. And relaxed people are far more likely to enquire.
7. The difference a Squarespace specialist makes
There’s a big difference between a web designer who ‘also does Squarespace’ and someone who works exclusively within the platform.
A Squarespace specialist understands:
how to push the platform without breaking it
how to customise layouts cleanly
how to work with Squarespace’s unique features
how to future-proof your site as features evolve
This matters because a site that looks good on launch day but becomes difficult to update later isn’t doing its job.
As a Squarespace Circle Platinum Partner working with UK-based and worldwide businesses, I’m deeply immersed in the Squarespace platform, with a level of familiarity that comes from long-term, hands-on experience and ongoing engagement with its updates and changes.
8. Why mobile experience can’t be an afterthought
For many small businesses, the majority of website traffic now comes from mobile. Yet many DIY sites are still designed primarily on desktop.
What looks ‘fine’ on a laptop can feel cluttered, confusing or frustrating on a phone.
Buttons need to be easy to tap. Text needs to be readable without effort. Key information needs to appear at the right moment.
A good mobile experience should feel clear and easy. And ease is one of the most underrated trust signals there is.
9. SEO is part of the foundation, not an afterthought
Many people assume SEO is something you ‘add on’ later - a blog post here, a keyword tweak there.
In reality, SEO works best when it’s built into the structure of a site from the start.
That doesn’t mean stuffing pages with keywords or chasing algorithms. It means getting the basics right: clear page focus, sensible headings, intuitive navigation, strong mobile experience and content that genuinely answers the questions your audience is asking.
DIY sites often struggle here, not because the tools aren’t available, but because it’s hard to see the bigger picture when you’re doing everything yourself. Pages grow organically, messaging shifts, and intent becomes blurred over time.
A professional Squarespace designer with SEO experience looks at your site as a whole. What each page is for. How pages relate to one another. What should rank and what doesn’t need to.
That kind of clarity doesn’t guarantee overnight results, but it does create a site that’s easier to understand, easier to maintain, and far better positioned for long-term visibility.
10. The value of an objective perspective
One of the hardest things about designing your own website is proximity. You know too much. You care too much. You see every option, every possible direction, every past version of your business.
That often leads to over-explaining, over-adding and constant second-guessing.
Working with a designer gives you something incredibly valuable: distance.
Someone who can step back, see the wood through the trees and help you decide what actually needs to be said - and what can be left out.
Often the most powerful changes aren’t about adding more content, but about removing what’s no longer serving you.
11. What most people upgrade too late
By the time many business owners come to me, they’ve usually already tried to improve their website themselves. They’ve adjusted layouts, rewritten pages, swapped images, and changed colours more than once.
The areas that most often need attention are:
Structure
Pages tend to grow organically over time. New services are added, navigation becomes crowded, and important information ends up several clicks deep. The site gets cluttered no longer feels intuitive or easy to move through.
Messaging
What worked at the start of a business often doesn’t reflect where it is now. As experience grows and offers become more defined, the website can start to feel slightly out of step with the level the business is operating at.
Cohesive branding (fonts and colour)
Sometimes the issue isn’t inconsistency, but balance. Colours and fonts may technically work together, but they don’t quite suit the imagery or the tone of the business. When the palette feels slightly off, the overall look can lose the sense of calm and sophistication the brand is aiming for.
Image consistency
Image curation makes a huge difference, and it’s one part of the design process I’m particularly careful with. Images taken in different light, tones or moods can interrupt the flow of a site. When visuals sit comfortably together, the whole experience feels calmer and more considered. I always group images for a page in advance and am very selective about what makes the cut. That level of attention quietly elevates the overall feel of the site.
Mobile experience
Squarespace has a separate mobile editor, so it’s important that once the desktop version is complete, time is spent refining how the site flows on mobile. Spacing, text size and layout choices play a big role in whether a site feels easy or frustrating to use. I often centre text and imagery on mobile using code to create a more elegant, consistent scroll, rather than layouts jumping from left to centre as you move down the page.
SEO foundations
Many small businesses skip over SEO altogether. Clear page purpose, sensible structure and content that matches real intent are often overlooked, with competing pages targeting the same primary keywords. While advanced SEO isn’t something every designer offers, I have SEO training and credentials alongside my design work, and I see this foundational setup as an important part of getting a website right from the start.
12. Real shifts I see when clients move away from DIY
The biggest changes I see when clients decide to work with me are emotional.
Clients often tell me:
they stop apologising for their website
they feel more confident sharing their link
enquiries feel better aligned
they spend less time tweaking and more time working
One interior design studio I worked with, Bellamy & Single, had been booking consistent projects, but felt their website no longer reflected the level they were working at. The work had evolved, but their online presence hadn’t kept pace. After relaunching, they felt far more confident sharing their site with higher-end clients, and over the following months began attracting enquiries that were better aligned with the type of projects they wanted to take on.
Another client, Katie Rogers Photography, had always built her own website. It worked well enough, but it had reached the point where it was holding her back. After working together on a complete rebuild, she reflected that she wished she’d made the decision sooner, as the new site finally matched the quality and maturity of her work.
In her words:
“I have always done my own website, but I really wish I had worked with Clare sooner. Her eye for detail, and quick understanding of me, my business and the style I was looking for was incredible. Not only that, but her work has completely elevated mine in every sense.”
What’s consistent in situations like these isn’t just a visual change. It’s the shift in confidence that comes from having a website that feels aligned, considered and genuinely representative of the business behind it.
13. Frequently Asked Questions
Is it worth hiring a Squarespace designer in 2026?
For many growing businesses, yes. As online spaces become more crowded and automated, a considered, human-led website helps you build trust quickly.
How much does it typically cost in the UK?
Professional Squarespace design often ranges from £1,500 to £7,000+ depending on scope.
Will I still be able to edit my site myself?
Yes. A good designer will build your site so it’s easy to manage day-to-day and show you how to update it confidently.
How long does it usually take to work with a Squarespace designer?
It depends on the scope, but most professional Squarespace projects take anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months. The process is usually far more efficient than DIY because decisions are guided and there’s a clear structure from the outset.
Will hiring a designer help with SEO?
A designer won’t replace ongoing SEO work, but a well-built site lays strong foundations. Clear page structure, focused messaging, good mobile experience and sensible use of headings all support long-term visibility.
Can I still use Squarespace templates if I hire a designer?
Yes. Many designers work from templates and customise them heavily. The value isn’t whether a template is used, but how it’s adapted to suit your business, audience and goals.
How do I know when I’m ready to invest in professional design?
You’re usually ready when your website starts to feel like a barrier rather than a support — when you delay sharing it, keep tweaking it, or feel it no longer reflects the level you’re working at.
14. So… should you DIY or hire a Squarespace designer?
There’s no single right answer.
DIY can be right at the beginning. But if your business has outgrown your website, hiring a Squarespace designer can be a supportive next step to create a calm, considered digital home that quietly does its job - so you can focus on yours.
If you’re looking to hire a Squarespace designer in the UK and want a process that feels clear, thoughtful and manageable, you can explore my portfolio or book a discovery call for an informal, friendly chat.
