Introducing Square Forge Retrofit: Transform Your Squarespace Website with Ease

Let me paint a picture you probably know too well: You sit down, open your Squarespace admin, and stare. You flick through the same templates, move a block or two, maybe even shuffle your navigation for the fifth time. You’re hoping that spark will arrive any minute. But after an hour, your website still looks stubbornly familiar and not in the good way.

If you run a business or work as a designer, Squarespace’s design experience should feel freeing. But let’s be honest, it feels like you’re shuffling cutlery in a tidy kitchen hoping it’ll turn itself into a feast.

That’s the problem Square Forge Retrofit was born to solve.

Why This Matters

Most of us turn to Squarespace because we don’t want to be faffing about with code or rebuilding a site brick by brick. We want something fast, reliable, and good-looking. The catch? As your business evolves and your ideas get bigger, the default options start to feel… a bit tight around the collar.

Rethinking your website design every year, or even every few months, can feel like painting the Forth Bridge: by the time you finish, it’s probably time to start again. Complete overhauls drain your hours and usually cost a packet, especially if you’re hiring someone to redo everything from scratch. Even skilled designers like me get stuck in the template spin cycle, and I know only too well how easy it is to lose an afternoon scrolling layouts and second-guessing every choice.

More worryingly, outdated sites don’t just harm your pride; they can chip away at your credibility and lose you business before a client ever picks up the phone.

Common Pitfalls

People run into the same brick walls time and again on Squarespace:

• Assuming you have to start from zero: Many folks think the only way to give their website new energy is to bulldoze the whole thing and build anew. Often, this isn’t just wasteful—it’s unnecessary.
• Sticking too closely to stock templates: It’s easy to assume the default sections and layouts are as flexible as you’ll get. Before you know it, every page has that tell-tale “just-another-Squarespace-site” feel.
• Making unplanned design changes: Chopping and changing layouts without a strategy can turn a tidy site into a “Frankenstein” of mismatched sections. Consistency goes out the window.
• Ignoring the real cost: Redesigns aren’t just about what you pay. Every update, large or small, burns through your time and focus, which would probably be better spent serving clients or creating new products.

Let’s not kid ourselves: many websites limp along, half-updated, with half-finished pages and a wishlist of changes stuck on a sticky note. It’s not a lack of ambition—it’s a lack of the right tools.

Step-by-Step Fix

Here’s exactly how Square Forge Retrofit helps you sidestep all of this, without having to learn a scrap of code or suffer through another round of template déjà vu.

1. Assess Your Current Site Needs

Start by asking yourself: What’s genuinely holding my site back? Is your homepage looking tired? Are internal pages a mishmash of old and new? Make a shortlist. You don’t need to overhaul everything, just the bits that need the most attention.

Pixelhaze Tip
Be ruthless. Often, three or four layouts account for 80% of a visitor’s first impression. Pick your battles.

2. Select Your Square Forge Layouts

With your wish list in hand, browse the available Square Forge layouts. There are over 300 section blueprints, designed specifically for real-world businesses, including hero sections, testimonials, service overviews, contact pages, blogs, and more. These layouts have been tested inside agencies like ours, so they’re built to solve common problems rather than just look pretty.

You can mix and match, adapt to your brand, and preview how each layout might fit your site.

Pixelhaze Tip
Don’t feel you have to copy your existing pages one-for-one. Sometimes, a single new section in the right spot can do far more to modernise your site than a wholesale copy of what you already have.

3. Retrofit Them into Your Existing Squarespace 7.1 Site

Here’s where the magic happens: instead of starting over or battling with exports, you can have up to 10 custom layouts installed directly into your existing Squarespace 7.1 site using the Square Forge Retrofit service.

Our team arranges the integration swiftly, so everything slots neatly into your current design, leaving your core settings and content untouched. Old content stays where it is; you simply gain new tools in your design arsenal.

Pixelhaze Tip
If you’re running on Squarespace 7.0, schedule a quick overdue upgrade to 7.1 first. It’s worth it for the expanded flexibility, and the Retrofit won’t work on older versions.

4. Customise with Pixelhaze Guidance

After installation, you get a personal, one-hour consultation with a Pixelhaze team member (yes, a real human, and yes, it could be me). We’ll walk you through the ins and outs of your new layouts, help you adapt colours, fonts, and content, and answer any lingering questions about the process.

You’ll also learn practical tricks for reusing, duplicating, and adapting layouts across your site.

Pixelhaze Tip
Approach one area at a time. Rework your homepage first, then handle internal pages over the next few weeks. This “Kaizen” approach means your site is always live, never in shambles, and gets incrementally better.

5. Master Reuse with the Chrome Extension (Optional but Powerful)

If you’re the hands-on type or work across several sites, consider adding the Squarewebsites Chrome Extension to the mix. This lets you copy layouts and sections between pages (or even across projects), saving even more time and making sure your branding stays tight throughout.

No more triple-building sections or taking screenshots of layouts for reference. It’s seamless drag-and-drop, and it works like a dream.

Pixelhaze Tip
Use the extension to build “master” sections. Got a testimonial block you love? Turn it into the default everywhere. Messed up a layout? Just start over using your master as a base.

6. Ongoing Support and Community Access

Every Retrofit customer gets one-on-one support for their layouts. But if you want extra help, weekly coaching, and deep-dive workshops, consider joining the Pixelhaze Coaching Community. As a member, all future retrofit services are included at no extra charge, and you get to join live sessions, access fresh resources, and ask the kind of questions only community can answer.

Pixelhaze Tip
Don’t be shy. Many of our best layout tricks come straight from the Skool community discussions. Someone’s already solved the problem you’re wrestling with, so just ask.

What You Actually Get (And How Much It Costs)

Square Forge Retrofit Service:

• Up to 10 unique, professionally designed layouts added to your Squarespace 7.1 website
• One-hour personalised consultation with a designer
• Ongoing access to adapt, reuse, and duplicate layouts as much as you like
• All for a flat, one-time fee of £150

If you join our coaching community (£97/month), all retrofit services are included at no extra cost.

Compare that to the hours (or days) lost to trial-and-error design, or the cost of hiring a developer to custom-code layouts for you, and it’s no contest.

What Most People Miss

There’s a real secret here. Success comes from having genuine speed of iteration. The ability to test, adapt, and evolve your site without breaking the whole system puts you ahead.

What sets top designers and businesses apart isn’t brute originality; it’s the toolkit and mindset that let you stay two steps ahead. Square Forge Retrofit isn’t about making your site look like ours. You bring reusable, drag-and-drop creative power into your own hands, right where you work every day. You avoid the “blank page problem” and have a proper starting point for every future refresh.

Stop thinking in terms of overhauls. Instead, focus on “modular upgrades.” These are tweaks you can roll out this afternoon, rather than changes that keep you up for weeks.

The Bigger Picture

Remember when you could only get a website to look fresh by putting your life on hold, or shelling out hundreds just to move a few things around? Those days are done. Now, you can keep your website’s design evolving as rapidly as your business, without ever disrupting your day-to-day. It’s not just good news for your sanity, it’s the road to a site that always feels current, professional, and unique to you.

Your brand keeps pace with your ideas. Your content campaigns or new service launches get the back-up of slick design, not amateur hacks. Your time and money go further, because you’re never throwing away what already works. And when you want a bigger change next year, you’re not starting from a blank screen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I need design experience to use Square Forge layouts?
A: Not at all. The Retrofit service hands you ready-made layouts. With the help of our designers and simple Squarespace controls, you’ll have your pages looking sharp in no time.

Q: What if I want to update or change the layouts later?
A: Absolutely. Once the layouts are installed, you can tweak, duplicate, or delete to your heart’s content. If you need a hand, your one-hour consultation is there to get you unstuck.

Q: Can I add more than 10 layouts in future?
A: Of course. Just book another Retrofit session, or join the Coaching Community for ongoing updates and support.

Q: Is this available for Squarespace 7.0?
A: Unfortunately not. You’ll need to be on Squarespace 7.1, but upgrading is straightforward and unlocks a world of better options.

Q: How quickly will my layouts be ready?
A: Most retrofits are complete within a week of booking, and sometimes even faster. You’ll book your consultation at a time that suits you.

Real-World Example

Take Dr Carmen Burke’s site, for example. She had a solid Squarespace build, but her key service pages felt bland. It was just walls of text and overused gallery blocks. With Square Forge Retrofit, we slotted in three fresh layouts, reorganised her testimonials, and brought her brand colours out from hiding. The result? Her enquiry rate doubled, and she got her first compliment on the design from a new client in years. No disruption, no stress, just measured improvements that paid for themselves fast.

Wrap-Up

You don’t need to rip up your website roots every year to stay current. With Square Forge Retrofit, you finally have a straightforward, budget-friendly way to keep your Squarespace site fresh, consistent, and genuinely yours, all without mess or endless faff.

If you’re ready for a practical, hands-on upgrade (and some long-overdue peace of mind), book your Retrofit today or try out our free membership resources first. Either way, I’ll make sure you get more value than you bargained for.

Want more helpful systems like this? Join Pixelhaze Academy for free at https://www.pixelhaze.academy/membership.

Stay creative, keep it simple, and don’t let design headaches slow you down.

Cheers,
Elwyn