What is my squarespace website design client process?

ENQUIRY & BOOKING

Once a prospective client makes contact with me I answer any queries they may have initially and ask them more about their business and their goals so I can get a better understanding of them and their values. It’s important for me to understand what it is they’re trying to achieve by redesigning their website so I can create a strategically designed website that’s going to meet their goals.

When the client has given me a brief explanation of this I will go ahead and book a free consultation call via Zoom so we can discuss this further, bringing together initial thoughts and discuss next steps.

CONSULTATION CALL

During this consultation call I will ask my client several questions to unearth their brand values, discuss problems with their current website (if applicable) and find out what their goal is by redesigning their website. I’ll ask for my client to share with me their competitors websites, any websites they have seen that they like the look of and the sort of style they are looking for.

Towards the end of the consultation call I will explain the next steps which will be to sign the design proposal contract and pay the 50% deposit which will then allow me to book time into my calendar to design and build the website.

MOODBOARD, RESEARCH & CONTENT PREP

After they call I add my client to a shared Pinterest board where we can both add ideas which helps me in the design process by having something to refer to in terms of the vibe we are looking for.

I also require my clients to fill out a content document before the design stage. This will be sent to the client in a google doc with prompts on what type of information they can add in each section of the website.

INITIAL DESIGN IN ADOBE XD

The first day of design for me is spent in Adobe XD trialling out ideas, colour schemes and layouts and then bringing all of this together to create the homepage and other basic page layouts.

Adobe XD is great for website design because you can link the pages together and view it in your browser before the build stage to check how everything is going to look on screen.

At this stage I also make sure that any assets I need for backgrounds, icons or imagery are created and exported ready to add straight into the site once I start building in Squarespace.

BUILDING IN SQUARESPACE

Squarespace is such a great platform if you’re not heavily into the back end coding of a website and it’s also super easy for my clients to add content to and update their site.

I firstly choose a template which will work as a base for the website I am creating, for example ecommerce templates have different features to blogs so it’s always a great idea to check this out before choosing a template. Then I start building out the homepage, ensuring that the site styles include the correct colour schemes, fonts and transitions. I add the pages to the main navigation and start building out the site I have designed in Adobe XD.

Once I have designed the first few pages I will send an invite to my client so that they can check out my progress and give me any feedback they might have before I continue to create the remaining pages.

FINAL AMENDS

There can be a little back and forth between myself and the client at this point to ensure that the client is happy with the website but also reminding my client of why elements have been designed in a certain way to attract customers and meet their goals.

LAUNCH SITE

Before launch I make sure to look over the SEO of the website. Squarepsace has great tools for SEO where you can easily add and edit SEO descriptions for pages and blog posts allowing search engines to find you based on your keywords.

I add the client to the new website, connect the domain and show them how to choose a pricing package that best suits their needs. Once a package has been chosen and paid for the site will automatically be pushed live.

HANDOVER

Now that the website is live I will send an invoice to my client so that they can pay the remaining 50% and once this is paid I can transfer ownership of the website to them and provide information on how they can add new content, images, extra pages etc.