From Derelict to Dream Site: Why I Love Fixing Up Squarespace Websites

20 Jun

A couple of years ago, my husband and I bought a completely derelict house. Rotting weatherboards, overgrown gardens, a 1960’s kitchen, dodgy bathroom, rodents, mould —you name it, we had to fix it. But the bones were good. And once we rolled up our sleeves, we saw it come back to life.

Funny thing is, I’ve realised I get the exact same satisfaction from fixing up Squarespace websites.

These days, one of my favourite things is helping small businesses who already have a website—but know deep down it’s not quite doing them justice. Maybe it was a DIY job that got you up and running. Maybe you hired someone years ago, and things just haven’t kept up with where your business has gone. Whatever the case, the site’s there—but it’s not working for you.

That’s where I come in.

I’ve worked on loads of websites like this lately—Ground Up Homes, Harvey Woodcraft, Loren Taylor, Purposive, BeltTech, Stephenson Law—and I’m finding more and more that I love this kind of project. It’s like I drive past your digital house and think, “If we just fixed up the layout here, gave this colour palette a fresh coat, reworked the words a bit—it could be amazing.”

Having an existing Squarespace site means the bones are already there, so it’s often not as much work. And I can physically see what kind of look and feel you’re trying to go for—even if you’ve not quite nailed it yet. That’s what I find so exciting. A good Squarespace site refresh for small business can turn something passable into something polished, effective, and reflective of where your business is at now.

Ground Up Homes: A Case in Point

Take Ground Up Homes. They’d made their Squarespace site themselves—and hats off to them, because that’s no small feat. But it just wasn’t in line with the amazing professional building services they offer. The design felt a bit too homemade. Spacing, content, layout—nothing was wrong, but nothing was quite right either.

They came to me wanting to up their game without starting from scratch.

So I did a full site refresh. I refined their design so it still kept the black and white simplicity they’d aspired to, but made it feel more coifed—neater, crisper, and better spaced. I reworked all of their content, created proper project showcase pages, and reimagined the site to reflect who they are now, as a growing building company with stunning homes under their belt.

I also focused on the behind-the-scenes stuff—writing new meta titles and descriptions to help them show up in Google, saving images for web so they load faster, adding alt tags for accessibility, and making sure it all works beautifully on mobile too. In short, I took care of all the little things that make a Squarespace website redesign feel smooth, modern, and professional.

From the Client

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From the Client 〰️

What a superstar!

Jodi truly elevated our business website and brought fresh perspective and expertise to take it to the next level. She was super efficient, communicated clearly and consistently, and made the whole process feel seamless and stress-free.

What we appreciated most was how she truly embraced our vision, executed it flawlessly, and still made sure we felt completely in control of every decision along the way.

Jodi is clearly passionate about what she does - her positive, can-do energy is infectious, and her professionalism shines through in every step. We honestly couldn’t recommend her enough!

LIESL EKSTEEN, GENERAL MANAGER, GROUND UP HOMES

From the Client

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From the Client 〰️

Flexible, Hourly Help—Exactly Where You Need It

The best part about this kind of work is that I offer it on an hourly basis—so it’s totally flexible. You might just want a tidy-up of a few key pages, some help making it look more cohesive, or a bit of Squarespace SEO help to improve your search rankings. Or you might want to go all in with a full Squarespace site improvement and content refresh.

Whatever the scope, I’ll meet you where you’re at—and work with what you’ve got.

Because sometimes, you don’t need to knock the house down and start again. You just need someone with the tools and vision to bring your existing site up to scratch.