“My Website Just Disappeared Overnight!” - Why Working With a Professional Matters
Earlier this week, I got a panicked message from a business owner.
His website, which had been working perfectly the day before, was suddenly showing absolutely nothing.
No content.
No images.
No sign-up forms.
Nothing.
This wasn’t just a minor glitch. It was a full-blown digital blackout.
And it couldn’t have come at a worse time - he had Google Ads running, membership content locked behind login pages, downloadable resources… and everything had gone dark.
What Went Wrong?
After some digging, the culprit became clear:
He had purchased a custom Squarespace template from a third-party seller a year earlier. On the surface, it looked sleek and professional. But behind the scenes?
The template contained over 4,700 lines of CSS.
To put that into perspective, my own site, with all the fancy touches, has around 700 lines of CSS. That’s a massive difference.
But it wasn’t just the bloated code that was the issue.
The template also relied on a third-party script library hosted externally. That library had recently been removed or gone offline. And because the template was built to depend on it, the website could no longer render any of its content.
And to make matters worse?
The template seller had completely disappeared. No response. No support.
The Fix: Clean, Simple, Immediate
In crisis situations like this, the goal isn’t perfection - it’s functionality.
I stripped out the 4,700+ lines of bloated custom CSS and removed the dependency on the broken external library. And just like that the content reappeared.
Yes, the site looked more basic. But it was live again. The client could edit, add content, and manage their business immediately - without relying on a ghosted template seller.
One More Thing…
Before removing myself from the project, I double-checked the site’s permissions. And what did I find?
The template seller was still the owner of the site.
The client only had admin access.
So not only had the seller disappeared, they technically still owned the site.
I advised the client to contact Squarespace support and initiate a site ownership transfer ASAP.
What’s the Lesson Here?
Not all template sellers are bad, but not all of them are good, either. Some:
Disappear without notice
Build overly complex, unmaintainable designs
Use scripts or code you don’t understand (or need)
Don’t properly hand over control
And not all Squarespace designers are created equal, either.
What Working With a Pro Looks Like:
✅ Clean, manageable code
✅ No unnecessary dependencies
✅ You retain full control and ownership
✅ Fast support when something goes wrong
✅ Sites designed for growth - not short-term flash
Need Help With Your Squarespace Site?
Whether you need:
A full redesign
A complete rebrand
Or a brand new site from scratch
I help business owners like you build clean, professional Squarespace websites that are easy to manage and impossible to break.