Should I buy a Squarespace Template Kit, or invest in a custom Squarespace design?
So, you’ve decided to use Squarespace for your website, excellent choice! (You haven’t? Well, check out this post about why I recommend Squarespace!)
But this post isn’t about whether you should use Squarespace or not (let’s face it, you probably should.) This post is about helping you to figure out if you should purchase a Squarespace Template Kit, or if you should invest in a completely custom Squarespace design.
A valid question! And a question that I get very often.
At Big Cat Creative we sell Squarespace Templates, and we don’t offer Custom Design, but I’m going to be completely unbiased with this info because I believe there is a place and a need for both of these services, and I want to make sure you’re making the right decision for where you’re at in your business!
So let’s get started, and hopefully by the end of this article you’ll be super-duper clear on whether you should go with a Squarespace Template kit, or invest in a custom Squarespace website design!
Squarespace Template Kits
What are they?
Squarespace Template Kits (sometime’s called Squarespace Kits or Squarespace Themes) are developed by third party businesses (like myself) to help you build your new Squarespace website on your own. They vary between each provider, but usually they come with a package of editable graphics and step by step tutorials to show you how to set your website up from scratch, or at least make edits. No two template providers offer exactly the same process so just make sure you know what you’re getting before you invest.
Pricing
Prices range anywhere from $80-$500 depending on where you’re purchasing from. Our templates are $197.
Pros
Much cheaper than custom website design
You learn how to build and use your site in the process
So you can easily make changes to it down the track
You get to choose the design you like
You have complete control over it
Cons
Usually a DIY Install, so can take some time and effort on your part
It’s a template, so it will never be completely custom to your business, but this depends on how much you edit it
You don’t have the 1:1 professional designer support that you would with a custom design
When should use a Squarespace Template?
I would strongly recommend using a Squarespace Template Kit when you’re just starting your business, or are in the first year or so. This is because your business WILL change within the first year, you may not foresee it changing, but I can almost guarantee it will.
I’m not saying you’ll completely revamp your whole business within a year, but you will definitely tweak and change things in the beginning, this is almost certain. If you are working from a Template, then you can go in and tweak it yourself, because you built the website yourself in the beginning, you’ll be able to do these changes yourself.
If you have invested thousands in something custom and your business model changes, you will have not only wasted a lot of money (that you probably don’t have yet) but you probably won’t have the skills to be able to tweak and change your website, and you’ll have to rehire your designer to make changes for you, which ends up being really costly.
Of course, you can use Squarespace Templates to build your site at any stage of your business, it doesn’t just have to be in the beginning, but this is usually the case. In the beginning of your business you usually have less resources, less money to invest, and you need something that is more adaptable that you can take complete control over.
For most small businesses, a template will suffice, but if you’re worried that a Template doesn’t have all of the features you need on your website, just reach out to the provider and ask! In most cases, they’d be more than happy to help answer your questions and steer you in the right direction (if they’re not, go with someone else!).
If the Template you want doesn’t have a certain feature you need, you can always hire someone hourly to add it in for you, which is often still much much cheaper than getting something custom.
So if you’re in the earlier stages of business, have a smaller budget, really want to learn how to build and update your site yourself, then I recommend looking into a Squarespace Template!
Custom Squarespace Design
What is it?
Getting a custom Squarespace Design is pretty self explanatory. You hire a professional to build your website for you from scratch! Obviously the process will be different depending on who you plan to hire, so do your research.
Pricing
Prices range anywhere from $1000-$10,000
Of course, this depends on what you need, you will get a custom quote. Often website designers will have a set amount then charge you for extra pages + features.
Pros
A completely custom website design
Working 1:1 with a designer, so you’ll get that professional design support
Add integrations and custom coded features that are harder to do by yourself
Cons
Large investment ($$$)
Can take a long time to complete (depending on the designers process)
You might have to re-hire the designer to make changes to your website down the track instead of making them yourself, so this is likely an extra charge
When should I invest in a custom design?
Custom websites are amazing, but they are an investment. So, I recommend only investing in a custom website design once you have been in business for at least 1 year, and you have a really solid plan of what your business message is.
You’re spending a lot of money on this website, so if you decide you want to change it a couple of months down the track (which very often happens in the 1st year of business), it’s going to be a huge waste of money. You’ll not only be scrapping a large part of the website that you’ve already paid for, but you’ll also probably have to rehire a designer to make the new changes.
I also say 1 year because hopefully after 1 year in business you’ll have the available funds to make this investment without going into debt. You want to make sure that you have the income to support investing in something custom. You really don’t want to be getting yourself into too much debt at any point of your business.
Of course, there are some cases where I think you can invest in custom design before you’ve been in business for a year, sometimes depending one what you need this is just inevitable, but make sure you have the available funds to do so, and make sure that you’re completely set on your business direction and message.
If you do plan to do this, I also highly recommend hiring someone who plans to show you how to make updates to your site, or is in your budget to hire on a monthly or hourly basis, because I can almost guarantee that you’ll want to make changes to your content, no matter how long you’re in business for. Websites are things that are sort of never really “done” and so you’ll to make sure you have support in that area for changes you want to make.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that just because you need a certain feature, plugin or app installed into your website that you have to get a completely custom website design. If this is the only reason you’re opting for something custom, then just rethink this a bit, because you can easily install a Template then hire a custom designer/developer to add the feature you want in on an hourly basis (just make sure you check with the template designers and your custom designer/developer that it’s something they can actually do before you go ahead with this option.)
But if you need a whole lot of custom features, you might be better off going custom from scratch.
Custom websites can be amazing, so if you’re in the right stage in business and financially ready to invest in one, then I recommend going for it!
A final important note about choosing a designer, or a template provider
If you are considering investing in a custom design, please please please pick your designer carefully. There are SO many “Squarespace Designers” on the internet these days, that it’s really easy to spend a small fortune on something that you could probably do yourself with a Template OR, you could skimp out and get a “custom design” for cheap, that is just really awful.
Because Squarespace is such a user friendly platform, literally anyone can claim that they’re a “Squarespace Designer”, so it’s so important to do lots of research before you hire anyone. Make sure the designer is legitimate and that you have seen previous work that they have done and make sure they have lots of good testimonials! Get on a phone call with them and make sure it feels like a good fit. And make sure you sign a contract!
And on the flip side of that, you’ll also want to do really good research when you’re purchasing a Squarespace Template. Similarly, there are a TON of Squarespace Template designers out there these days too, but not all templates are made equal, you will get a whole different process and different resources with your template depending on who you buy from. So make sure you’re fully aware of what you’re buying. I wouldn’t purchase based on design alone, you’ll want to look at whats included, what kind of support service they offer, customer testimonials and examples of customer designs using the templates. Then you can weigh up your options.
I hope that you learned the main differences between Squarespace Template Kits and Custom Squarespace designs in this post, and you’re more clear on which you should choose!
If you have any questions about our Squarespace Template Kits feel free to get in touch, we’re happy to help! Check out the range below:
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