DOMAIN

If this is a new website, you must purchase your domain name. For better SEO practices, please ensure it’s the same as your business name.

Currently, Squarespace and Wix offer 1-year free on a domain when you subscribe to a website plan. Shopify does not.

PRO TIP: Once you have a domain purchased, I tell clients to go ahead and set up their social media pages with the same name. It’s easier to have one handle name than multiple.

Example: website is AW CREATIVE DIGITAL, and all social handles are @awcreativedigital.

EMAIL

You will also need an email account that can be used to set up your website platform and be used for the contact portion of your website.

Your URL, social handles, and email will all be required for your website build.

Currently, on Squarespace and Wix, you can buy a personalized business email. Squarespace is through G-Suite. Shopify does not.

Below are links for each website platform. The links are for hosting pricing, email marketing, scheduling, and other features you may want to add to your website costs. This comes down to your business needs and the features you want to be offered.

SQUARESPACE

Squarespace host pricing
Squarespace email marketing
Squarespace scheduling
Squarespace commerce extensions
Squarespace professional email

SHOPIFY

Shopify host pricing
Shopify email marketing
Shopify apps

WIX

Wix host pricing
Wix email marketing
Wix scheduling
Wix custom email

And if none of this makes sense, don’t worry, book a chat with me, and we can talk through your specific requirements, and I can guide you from there.

Absolutely! You’ll need to provide a branding guide outlining your color palette and typography (or I can help you create a branding guide for an additional fee).

At a minimum, you need to have a color palette and font styles defined before building a website – the good news; I can help you with this! Check out my simplified brand design package.

You sure can.

If you have an existing scheduling system, I can link any button or hyperlink on your website to your booking calendar and form.

For some scheduling systems, I can embed the booking calendar and form directly onto selected pages on your website.

If you don’t yet have a scheduling system, ask me about scheduling add-on’s for Squarespace, Wix, or Shopify. They each have their own and are an additional cost to your website subscription.

I will set up your SEO meta title and descriptions for each page. I will base this on best SEO practices and the keywords in your page copy.

Your copy per page should have keywords you can provide me to help write these. If you are unsure of wanting to write your website content, check out my Creative Designer for the Day package. It’s a way to hire me to write your content for you!

We can discuss this more on our consult call if this is overwhelming.

The platforms I work on for website design are user-friendly. They were designed for people like you to be able to edit and update their website copy or pictures without worrying about messing up code or ruining their website.

You have email support for one month after your site has been handed over.

Sure! I am happy to help you move your current website to a new platform, design it, and transfer the domain to the new site.

And if you need help figuring out which platform is bets for you, I can help on our consult call.

All my web designs are available on 7.1 only, as this is Squarespace's latest and greatest version.

In version 7.1, every template has the same features and functionality. You no longer have to worry about staying in a certain template family or missing out on cool features because you picked a different template. The template is the starting point, but really it’s a blank build!

However, if you absolutely love a theme in the 7.0 version that you want me to use, I am happy to do so.

While Shopify uses pre-made themes, it is not a drag-and-drop website platform.

When designing a website on Shopify, there are over 100 starting themes. I am here to help you choose which theme best suits your goals and I will use my skills to manipulate the theme to achieve your goals.

There are themes you can buy outside of Shopify. And sometimes, they seem better than the ones you find on Shopify. But I highly recommend using a theme within Shopify. The customer support you receive outweighs the small design elements other themes might offer.

Yes! Wix is one of my favorite sites because it offers so much more ability to customize every single section of your website and all without coding knowledge needed.

Wix also is a theme-based platform that then comes with all the possibilities with their drag-and-drop builder.

Even though it’s one of my favorites to use, it doesn’t always mean it’s the best for your business.

There is a reason I design in all three website platforms- Shopify, Wix, and Squarespace.

Each has its pros and cons, and which one I recommend is really based on what features you want on your website and what you are willing to spend.

You don’t have to make this decision alone. I can help you walk through it and give you my recommendation!