Squarespace Website Redesign Checklist for Service Businesses

Your business has changed, but your website still describes the services you offered two years ago. The pages look inconsistent, your best work is buried, and booking an appointment takes more effort than it should.

A Squarespace website redesign is an opportunity to make your services easier to understand and your business easier to contact.

This Squarespace website redesign checklist will help you plan the work, protect useful existing content, and test the details that matter before launch. It is designed for consultants, coaches, independent professionals, and other service businesses.

1. Define the problem your redesign needs to solve

Start with a specific business problem. “Make the website look better” leaves too much open to interpretation.

A more useful goal might be:

• Help visitors choose between your three main services.
• Make consultation bookings easier on a phone.
• Replace outdated information that attracts unsuitable enquiries.
• Make routine content updates easier for your team.

Choose one primary action you want visitors to take: book a call, request a quote, or submit an enquiry.

Before editing, save a baseline of your current traffic, important landing pages, and completed enquiries, using the data available to you. Record what counts as a qualified enquiry so you can compare lead quality after launch.

2. Decide whether you need a refresh or a full redesign

Match the scope to the problem.

Check which Squarespace version your website uses. In version 7.1, changing your design means editing styles and layouts; you do not switch to a separate template. Squarespace explains the options in its redesign and restart guide.

Save copies of important text, images, SEO settings, and custom code before work begins. Agree how changes will be reviewed and published while the existing business website remains in use.

3. Build a page list before designing

List every existing page and give it a decision: keep, improve, merge, or remove.

For each page, record its current URL, purpose, main action, and any useful traffic or enquiry data. A page with an old design may still answer a valuable customer question.

For a typical service business, start by reviewing:

• The homepage and its main message.
• Individual service pages.
• About and relevant credentials.
• Portfolio examples or case studies.
• Contact and booking pages.
• Helpful articles that still match your services.

Give a service its own page when it needs a distinct explanation. Avoid creating several pages that repeat the same description with only a few words changed.

4. Rewrite the homepage around the customer's questions

Read the opening section as someone who has never heard of your business.

Can they tell what you offer, who you help, and how to take the next step?

For a hypothetical bookkeeping business, “Helping You Succeed” could become:

“Monthly bookkeeping for independent consultants who want organised accounts and a clearer view of their finances.”

The more specific version identifies the service and the audience.

Follow the headline with a short explanation, a relevant example of your work, and a clear button. Choose button wording that describes the destination, such as “Request a bookkeeping quote” or “Book an introductory call.”

Then check that the linked page delivers what the button promises.

5. Give each service page enough detail to support a decision

Someone considering your service needs more than a name and a paragraph.

Explain who it suits, what is included, how the process works, and what the client needs to provide. Clarify important exclusions and describe the next step.

Use relevant evidence where you have it: completed work, genuine testimonials used with permission, or credentials that apply to the service.

For example, my counselling and psychotherapy practice website project included a migration to Squarespace, a four-page website, a new logo, and an earthy colour palette. The design centred on communicating warmth and professionalism.

A specific project example gives prospective clients something concrete to assess when deciding whether your approach suits them.

6. Review the entire journey on a phone

Check the redesigned website on a real phone, including the pages beyond the homepage.

Read a service description, open the menu, follow the main button, and complete the enquiry process. Look for:

• Cropped images that hide important details.
• Text that requires zooming.
• Buttons that are awkward to tap.
• Excessive gaps or sections in an illogical order.
• Forms or booking widgets that are difficult to use.
• Pop-ups covering useful content.

Also review text contrast and form labels. A polished appearance should make the information easier to use.

Check loading behaviour, particularly on pages with large images, video backgrounds, or third-party widgets. Remove elements that add complexity without helping the visitor make a decision.

7. Plan URL changes and on-page SEO before launch

Keep useful existing URLs where practical. Changing the design does not mean every page needs a new address.

If a page must move permanently, record its old URL and its most relevant replacement. Squarespace supports permanent redirects through its URL mappings settings.

For example, if you intentionally move a bookkeeping page, a mapping could look like this:

/bookkeeping-services -> /monthly-bookkeeping 301

The destination must exist, and the old address must no longer serve an active page for the mapping to work. Update internal links to point directly to the new address, then test the old link.

Review each important page's title, main heading, description, useful copy, and descriptive image text. Keep the wording specific to the page.

Google notes that substantial site changes can cause ranking fluctuations while pages are recrawled and reindexed. Careful preparation reduces avoidable mistakes; it cannot promise unchanged rankings.

8. Test a complete enquiry before publishing

Do a test submission from a phone and another from a desktop.

Confirm that the form submits, the message reaches the intended inbox, and the visitor sees a useful confirmation. For appointment bookings, check availability, timezone settings, and confirmation messages.

Test email links, phone links, downloads, and the main buttons on every service page.

Make the confirmation helpful. Tell visitors what happens next and give a response timeframe your business can consistently meet.

After launch, repeat the checks on the live website. Monitor enquiries alongside traffic, and review comparable periods while accounting for seasonality and changes in your marketing. A small number of visits is not enough to judge whether a redesign is working.

What should you prepare for a Squarespace redesign?

Gather your current website address, a page list, brand files, approved photographs, service descriptions, and examples of designs you like.

Also write down what frustrates you about the current website and which parts already work well. Agree who supplies the copy, who approves changes, and who tests booking or payment connections.

A clear brief helps your designer estimate the actual work and reduces revisions caused by missing information.

Can you redesign a Squarespace website yourself?

Yes. A focused update can be manageable when you are comfortable editing the site and understand the changes you need.

Professional help can be useful when the work involves restructuring services, coordinating multiple pages, custom code, or planning changes to existing URLs. Choose support based on the complexity of the job and the time you can give it.

What should a Squarespace redesign quote include?

Ask for a written scope covering the page count, content responsibilities, mobile review, on-page SEO, integrations, revisions, and handover.

Clarify whether platform subscriptions, paid tools, copywriting, and ongoing support are separate. Comparing those details makes quotes more useful than comparing headline prices alone.

Need help planning your Squarespace redesign?

I help businesses update their Squarespace websites with clearer layouts, practical page structures, and content they can manage after launch.

Explore my Squarespace website redesign service, or request a free website audit if you would like feedback on what to improve first.