Why to Choose Squarespace As Your Website Builder
One of the most common questions I get from clients is this:
"Which website builder should I choose for my business?"
There are tons of offerings and these days the options for website builders and platforms are endless.
As a small business, when we are faced with the challenge of building our own website or having it built by a professional website designer, we are faced with the question of which platform to build our website on fairly early on.
As a professional small business website designer, I too was faced with the challenge of deciding what was the best solution for my clients. I looked at several options and after months of research and trial and error, I decided on Squarespace.
Squarespace is simple.
Squarespace is built to be as simple as possible for users. Therefore, it has all the necessary features that most businesses need without having to sign up with a third party or add more plugins because Squarespace has everything in one place to get started.
Squarespace hosts your website, provides you with your domain and Google workspace, and even gives you the option of email marketing, members area, and a scheduling tool for blogging. However, if you decide to use other providers, Squarespace offers easy integration either directly with the provider or allows for quick connections through Zapier.
One factor that plays a role is the plug-ins that most WordPress websites have. Plug-ins can change over time, need to be updated, and therefore can make your site unstable. The last thing you want is to spend months working on your brand new website, only to find that a plugin breaks parts of your site after six months. That's no fun. Thanks to in-house developers, that will not happen to you at Squarespace.
Squarespace offers autonomy
Most of the clients I work with are small businesses - either product or service providers. After working with my clients, I provide them with proper hand-off and training so that once the Squarespace website is designed, they can expand, change, or update their website content on their own.
Since small business owners wear many hats and do not have a lot of time to spend on complicated technical backgrounds, Squarespace is the perfect solution for them. Squarespace's backend interface is beautifully designed, making it really easy for small businesses to update changes themselves once the site is created.
Coming from a family of small business owners myself, I know how annoying it is when you have to rely on tech experts to make the necessary updates to your website - and then pay a fee for them every time. This can be avoided if you choose the right platform from the start, and choose a website designer who offers training and handover as part of their website design package.
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Squarespace is secure
For me, this is the main reason I chose Squarespace over Wordpress. Since Squarespace is closed source, it's one of (if not the) safest platform for website design.
Only Squarespace's internal developers have access to the code and make updates. As such, Squarespace does not support third-party software other than pre-approved extensions.
With cybersecurity becoming more important every year and more people trying to get our data, passwords and money, the damage done by insecure websites is enormous and should never be underestimated.
Imagine you paid $10,000 for your new website and the next month someone stole your passwords and now you no longer have access to them? Worst case scenario, this person forwards payments to themselves or even gains access to your members area with personal information of your customers.
Now you are probably wondering why more small or medium businesses do not use Squarespace, but still prefer WordPress.
Here is my answer:
1. WordPress seems cheaper at first glance
Since WordPress itself is free, business owners and especially those just starting out are quick to opt for the cheapest option when they have a small budget. With Squarespace's personal plan for 12US$/month (paid annually) - solopreneurs quickly make their decision - and unfortunately often regret it.
Why, really? For two main reasons:
Because WordPress comes with a lot of costs that you did not count on when you started. You have to buy your domain, pay for hosting and plugins. You may also have to pay to connect to marketing platforms and channels, or for special themes to help you build your website. Some website builders for WordPress, such as Elementor, make it easier for you to create your website, but also charge 49US$/year and often add unnecessary code to your website.
Because maintaining your WordPress website and creating content can become a real pain. WordPress was designed for bloggers - not service providers or e-commerce. Once small business owners realise how much easier their lives could be, they have to go through the process of migrating their content to switch platforms - which can be costly and time-consuming.
2. Squarespace can be limiting if you do not customise it with CSS code
You can design very beautiful websites with Squarespace, but if you want that extra something, that special effect you have envisioned for your website, it gets a little tricky.
That's because Squarespace is designed for simplicity, so it makes sure that all those extra elements do not confuse the user when creating their own website. However, with coding, your professional Squarespace website designer can create you a beautiful website with all the extra bits and tricks so that once it's done, you can edit and expand the content on your own.
For this reason, when I decided to use the website design platform, I over-improved my CSS skills. I have invested over $15,000 in developing these skills to create the most amazing websites for my clients.
If you are one of those great entrepreneurs who are now wondering how to get a beautiful, unique and flawlessly functioning Squarespace website, then you have come to the right place. Check out my Squarespace website design packages and inquire about working with me.
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