I specialize in designing and building Squarespace websites for artists, small businesses, and nonprofits. I use thoughtful questions to help individuals and businesses refine their brand story and their business process. The resulting websites aren’t just pretty; they’re functional workhorses that help you build your audience and run your business successfully.

Yes. While logo creation is not my specialty, I can and do create simple logos. I also use careful questions to help hobbyists and new business owners understand their own brand. If you’re curious about my style, please check out some of the sites in my portfolio. 

In my experience, Squarespace works great for most artists and small businesses.

Pros

• Squarespace websites look beautiful and professional. 

• Squarespace offers e-commerce, scheduling, email marketing, and similar functionality.  

• Squarespace is very reliable, which greatly reduces the cost and hassle of maintaining your website. Some platforms require regular (expensive, time-consuming) maintenance to keep them up to date and secure. With Squarespace, it just works. Have I ever had a technical issue with a Squarespace site? Yes (rarely). Did these issues get fixed quickly? Also yes. None of my Squarespace clients have to pay a software company to monitor their site’s uptime, nor do any of them have a developer on retainer to keep their website software updated; all of that is included in the Squarespace hosting package. 

• Squarespace’s ease of use cannot be underestimated. Most of my clients make regular changes on their own websites after the initial design and build. If you prefer not to do this, I’m happy to help, but many people find it simple to do themselves.

Cons

• There are a few business functions that Squarespace isn’t the best at. In some cases it may take additional work to create an ecosystem of plugins that will meet your needs. 

• Squarespace imposes some limitations on how a site can be styled. In most cases, this is an advantage, but it can take imagination and skill to make them look completely customized. 

To begin, we’ll schedule a consultation to discuss your project goals, design preferences, and any specific functionality you need. Next, I’ll provide you with a proposal, timeline, and project cost. Once we’ve gathered all the necessary materials, we’ll get started on the design. 

Contact me to schedule your free consultation. 

The cost of your website depends on the features and complexity required. For a simple site, such as an author site, the price starts at around $600. More complex websites, including custom functionality or e-commerce features, will cost more. I’ll provide a detailed quote after our initial consultation.

The timeline depends on the complexity of the project. A typical website design can take anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks. After we discuss your specific needs, I’ll provide you with a more accurate timeline

In addition to the cost of designing and building the website, you will need to budget for: 

• Hosting Hosting is a yearly charge for the service of making your website available on the Internet. I use Squarespace, which has several competitive hosting options depending on what you need. You can see their current prices here: Squarespace pricing plans.

• Domain Name There is a yearly charge for the use of your domain name (e.g. example.com). Most domains cost about $20/year, but they can be more if you want something really specialized. 

Absolutely. Every website I design is fully responsive and looks great on all devices. 

Yes.  I keep abreast of SEO and AIO (Artificial Intelligence Optimiation) best practices to ensure your site has what it needs to get found.

I use Squarespace, which provides a variety of hosting options and domain registration at competitive prices. I’ll recommend a plan for you and give you any assistance you need to sign up and get your domain registered. 

Yes! This is a major advantage of the Squarespace platform; they offer secure, dedicated hosting, SSL certificates, and quick response time for any issues.

Yes, I use Squarespace, which is easy for almost everyone to update on their own. I can provide training or documentation to help you get started. I’m also happy to help if you find you’d prefer someone else  handle updates.

Yes. Because of Squarespace’s excellent reliability, website updates and security monitoring are very rarely necessary. That means you won’t need to pay anyone to keep your website updated and secure - it’s included with your Squarespace hosting package. But if you need to add or change content, or if there is a (very unusual) technical issue with your site, just reach out. In the first 90 days after your website goes live, I’ll support you through any technical problems for free. I guarantee the site against defects in my workmanship for one year.

I guarantee all my sites against defects in my workmanship for one year, and I’ll make small tweaks (e.g. fix a typo that was in the content provided to me) for 30 days after the site goes live for free. I’m happy to help with other changes; we can discuss the scope and cost as needed.

I want you to be thrilled with your site, and my process is designed to determine if we are a good match early on. 

I suggest that before you contact me, take a look at my portfolio to see if you like my style. At our initial meeting, we will discuss your preferences and ideas, and I’ll invite you to submit any materials or websites you like. I’ll create my initial design based on these. If it’s off the mark, I will take another shot at it. If this second try isn’t quite right, that’s fine; we might not be a good fit - and that’s ok. 

If you do approve my initial ideas, I will proceed. At our final check-in, you can let me know any tweaks you’d like to make. 

Yes, I require a contract to make sure we’re both on the same page about the scope of the project, timeline, and payment terms. The contract will outline all deliverables and expectations to avoid any misunderstandings.

I typically work with a 50% deposit upfront to begin the project, with the remaining balance due upon completion. I accept payments via Venmo or paper check. For larger projects, we can arrange a custom payment plan.

This happens very rarely with Squarespace sites, because the platform is so robust and well supported; it almost always works as designed, and when it (very occasionally) doesn’t, Squarespace generally addresses the problem quickly.  But anything that happens in the first 90 days as the result of a problem with Squarespace, I’ll support you through, no questions asked or money charged. And I'll guarantee your website against defects of my workmanship for one year. We’re talking about a technical error on my part; if you change your mind and want  your logo to be a different shade of blue, I’m happy to help at my usual rate.

Click here to schedule a free consultation.