You want to look professional and attract high-end clients who are willing to pay the best rates.
You need somewhere to send new contacts so they can learn more about you and your services to build up trust and get them ready to buy.
You want to grow your business in the smartest way possible. A website lets you put everything you need to onboard new clients in one place – services, portfolio, case studies, testimonials, pricing and a way to get in touch.
And… Squarespace have made it possible for me to help you for free.
Sign up for with my affiliate link and pay for your subscription for Squarespace to host your website.
And they will pay me to set it up for you.
So I won’t charge you a penny.
So why am I doing this for free for you?
Well, like I said, Squarespace pay me an affiliate commission when you join and I use that to cover costs when I build your site. But that commission is tiny – nowhere near what I’d charge for this service if I was billing you at my hourly rate (which would be more like £1000).
I’m doing this because I genuinely want to help you get started with a successful freelance career.
By setting up your website for you, I’m helping you take action and I’m taking away a big roadblock in the way of building your freelance business.
Total cost in first year: £1630
Total cost in first year: £180-£244
Sign up for a new Squarespace account using my link .
Use the Get Started button on that page.
Answer the questions to display the templates most relevant to you.
You might like to say your site is about ‘Personal & CV’, your goal is to ‘Market myself or my business’ and you’re ‘Turning a project of hobby into a business’.
Or click on I’m Just Browsing in the top right to skip the questionnaire and see all templates.
Choose a template.
Spend only a few minutes doing this. Choose something you like. But they’re all going to look professional and do a great job for you, so you don’t have to worry too much. I’ll be able to set up the correct pages and layouts in any of them.
If you’re not sure, Noll, DeGraw and Lakshi work well for freelancers.
Create your account: Continue with email.
It’s best if you Continue with email then you’ll set up a password that you can share with me without having to go about working out how to add one later.
5
Name your site.
Use your full name (unless you have a business name you want to use).
Finish the wizard to learn how to create and edit your site (good to know for once you take it over after set up).
6
Subscribe to a paid plan.
Use the button at the bottom of the screen.
7
Choose your plan and checkout.
If you want a custom domain (e.g. katherinemugan.com) and professional email (e.g. katherine@katherinemugan.com) – and you do, see Step 9 – the cheapest way to get this is to pay for an annual Business plan because you get a free domain and email for 1 year. Then at the end of the year, downgrade to the Personal plan.
If you prefer to pay monthly, choose the Personal plan and pay for the domain and email separately when you set them up in a later step. In this case, I can move your site to your domain, but I can’t set up email for you as it will still need to be paid for at the point of set up. You can set it up yourself following these instructions from Squarespace.
8
Don’t forget your discounts.
Enter any discount codes in the Review stage – the one after you’ve entered your payment details.
9
Get your domain.
If you use the default domain that Squarespace gives you on signup, your website URL will be something like this https://bat-coral-l4cj.squarespace.com/. Not that pro. In fact, it looks weird and dodgy. Instead, you need a personalised domain.
From the main menu (Home), open Settings, then Domains and Get a Domain.
Find a domain based on your name.
Choose .com or .co.uk if you can – they’re the most widely recognised and trusted. Check your email and click to verify your domain so I can set up your site to use it.
10
Fill in the form on this page.
Look at the lists of colours and fonts below and pick the ones you want, and then you’ve got all the answers I’ll need to go ahead.
Fill in the form on this page and let me know all your details.
Over to me.
The ball’s now in my court. I’ll get onto your setup as soon as I can. Please bear in mind that I’m offering this as a free service, but I’ll still do what I can to get your setup done just as quickly as possible. There might be a queue if a few people have made a request just before you. Typically, without a long queue, you can allow around a week, and I’ll keep you updated if anything changes. There can sometimes be a delay (of up to 3 days) in waiting for your domain to become active, and that’s beyond anyone’s control, so make sure you click on the verification links in all emails you receive as quickly as you can and that will get things moving with your domain as early as possible.
I’ll get everything set up just as you’ve requested in the form above and then let you know by email when it’s done. The site will then be ready for you to take over. I suggest you change your password at this point to one that only you know.
Here are some fully-fledged Squarespace sites run by freelancers to give you an idea of what’s possible. The look you achieve will depend on the template you choose and your design choices.
And after the initial set up, each of these sites has been loved and nurtured by its owner with plenty of content and imagery.