WordPress or Squarespace - Which Is Best For My Small Business?
Torn between the design freedom of WordPress and the user-friendly interface of Squarespace?
Are you struggling to choose the perfect platform for your new website?
Don't worry, you're not alone. Below, I dive deep into the pros and cons of BOTH platforms, providing you with the knowledge you need to make the best decision for your small business.
By the end, you’ll be able to answer the all-important question for yourself - WordPress or Squarespace.
Website Platform Debate - WordPress or Squarespace
Not to pull the wool over your eyes, but I’m a Squarespace Website Designer, so you can guess where my loyalties lie with the ole WordPress or Squarespace debate ;).
I’ve used WordPress and spoiler alert, but it didn’t end well! Still, I want to give you a fair understanding of each platform over some key areas so you can make an informed decision based on your goals and needs.
And… this might surprise you - WordPress might be the best option for you, but most of the time, I’d choose Squarespace (even if I wasn’t a web designer).
Ease of Use and Design
Squarespace is known for its intuitive, user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, called Squarespace Fluid Engine (I love it). It requires minimal technical knowledge and no coding experience to create a beautiful website for both desktop and mobile.
While powerful, WordPress has a steep learning curve (I can attest to this), especially for beginners. This is acknowledged in its extensive documentation. It helps to know code and to be technically savvy, or to hire someone who is.
All-In-One Platform
Squarespace offers website hosting, domain registration, SSL certificates, and various integrated marketing features like email marketing, scheduling, membership sites, and SEO tools, all within the platform. This simplifies management and billing for small business owners who don't want to deal with multiple providers.
With WordPress, you'll typically need separate providers for hosting, domain registration, and some marketing tools.
Design Flexibility
Squarespace offers beautiful, pro-vetted, pre-designed templates to get your creative juices flowing. They cater to many industries, including creatives, coaching and wellness services. In addition, a growing library of pre-designed blocks and layouts offers a good balance between ease of use and design flexibility.
WordPress can offer more design freedom through themes and plugins. Remember to be mindful of their quality as many are poor. Also, finding and customising a theme will take time. To reap the full benefits, you’ll need some coding experience or hire someone to help you. This can be costly for small business owners and overwhelming for non-technical users.
Scalability and Growth
Squarespace websites can grow alongside your business with premium features such as membership and course areas, a private blog for any gated content, email marketing tools, and e-commerce functionality to support future growth.
*You might find this blog post helpful: 7 simple steps for creating a winning website plan to help you achieve your business goals + stand out from competitors.
WordPress offers extensive plugins for functionality but can pose problems due to their complexity and ongoing maintenance. Plugins, for me, were a thing of nightmares.
Cost Comparison
Squarespace has an all-in-one pricing structure, including hosting, domain name, and security features. Four website plans can be paid monthly or annually.
Note: If we work together, I can offer you a 20% hosting discount.
WordPress.org is free, BUT you’ll need to factor in hosting costs, domain registration, themes, and plugins which add up. You can find cheaper options or the sky’s the limit! If you’re not techy or want a large or complex website, you’ll need to hire a developer, which could end up costing thousands of pounds/dollars.
Customer Support
Squarespace customer support is excellent. They offer 24/7 live chat, email support and an extensive knowledge library jam-packed with useful hold-handling walk-throughs and mini-videos.
WordPress relies heavily on online forums and communities for troubleshooting, which can be less convenient for immediate assistance, as explained in its support section. This was a real problem for me. There were occasions when I asked for help and never received a response!
SEO Optimisation
Squarespace offers built-in SEO tools and is mobile-friendly, both crucial for online presence.
Squarespace and WordPress offer basic SEO tools such as customisable meta titles and descriptions, control of social images, customisable URLs, the ability to hide a page, image alt text, page redirects, and automatic sitemaps.
WordPress can provide advanced optimisation through plugins but this requires more management. The Yoast plugin is popular and one I used, back in the day. You can find comparisons of their SEO capabilities on resources like Search Engine Journal.
Personal insight for plugins: sometimes, when there was an update to the system, I found some plugins would crash and ruin the design or workings of the site with no help in sight!
Get my FREE Squarespace SEO Checklist (helpful for all platforms) and learn reliable ways to boost your search rankings.
E-commerce Functionality
Squarespace offers built-in e-commerce features, allowing you to sell products directly through your website with ease, and with all the bells and whistles you’d expect. You’ll need to upgrade to an e-commerce plan to unlock a range of advanced e-commerce goodies like gift cards, video storage, subscription selling, advanced web analytics, unlimited inventory, product listings on Instagram, integration with an Etsy shop, and abandoned cart recovery.
A peek into a client’s e-commerce website by moi.
WordPress offers premium e-commerce plugins like WooCommerce. Setting them up can require additional configuration and technical knowledge. WooCommerce is reliant on plugins for many of its sales features. Costs can add up.
Mobile-Responsiveness
All Squarespace templates are mobile-responsive by default, ensuring your website looks great and functions flawlessly on all devices. Squarespace uses mighty Fluid Engine capabilities to fine-tune to your heart’s content.
WordPress offers responsive themes, but choosing and customising them can be more involved, as explained in this WPBeginner guide.
Lesser-known Considerations - Website Security
Squarespace is renowned for its robust security measures.
It provides a secure environment for your website by offering built-in SSL certificates for ALL its websites. This is essential for protecting your site's data and visitors' information. It also handles all security updates automatically, ensuring your site is always protected against any potential threats.
Remember, Squarespace's platform is NOT open-source, which means potential hackers cannot exploit the source code to find vulnerabilities. This level of security makes Squarespace a trusted choice for small businesses.
WordPress as a platform isn't inherently insecure, but its popularity makes it a common target for attackers. The open-source nature of WordPress allows anyone to study the source code, including hackers who can find vulnerabilities to exploit.
Most security issues arise from out-of-date core software, themes, plugins, and weak passwords. Therefore, regular updates and strong security measures, such as reliable security plugins, secure hosting, SSL certificates, strong passwords, and a good backup strategy, are crucial to maintaining a secure WordPress site.
Additional Squarespace Features
Squarespace comes with more built-in features than WordPress. Below are just some of them:
Analytics
(If you need help with this, book a 90-minute Squarespace Help and Strategy call).
Social accounts
Social feeds
Podcasts
AI tools
CRM
Blog paywall
Gated blog content screenshot example
Squarespace Extensions
Did you know that there are currently 41 (and growing), Squarespace extensions, including AfterShip, Zapier, TaxJar, TinyIMG, Weglot Translate, QuickBooks, Printful, Printify, LiveChat, MailChimp, Easyship, and FreshBooks?
Squarespace Integrations
Squarespace has some seamless integrations that make life better with platforms such as Zapier, Google Workspace, and various social media platforms.
Thinking of Switching from WordPress to Squarespace
Thinking of switching? Here’s a blog post talking you through how to switch from WordPress to Squarespace and retain your Google ranking.
Wrapping Up!
Ultimately, the best platform depends on your specific needs, technical skills, and budget.
However, for busy, non-technical small business owners who prioritise ease of use, beautiful design, and an all-in-one solution, Squarespace wins 🙌 hands down. Its superior editor, great support and built-in features make it a no-brainer 🧠 for me.
Click the link below to learn more about my Squarespace packages and get ready to elevate your online presence 📣🙋♀️🌟
Hi there! I'm Jane 🙋♀️ I'm a Brand Strategist & Web Design Guru who creates compelling Squarespace websites for heart-centred small businesses worldwide.
I'd be thrilled to collaborate on your web design project.
I have four Squarespace Web Design packages ranging from £950 for a One-Page website, to £4,500+ for the Full Remedy, Platinum Package. This includes my full Brand Strategy service, SEO optimisation, branding, web copy, a custom design tailored to your business, video tutorials, and blog/eCommerce/booking functionality if needed.
Get in touch to book your free discovery call, today!
Thanks 🌟 for being here, and if you’d like more tips, tools, and tricks [without the overwhelm], to help YOU grow your small business, I’d love to have you join my twice-monthly HeartBiz 💌 Letter.
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