Reasons why you have to level up to Squarespace from Wordpress
Are you planning to create a new website but can’t decide between Squarespace and WordPress?
Or, are you wondering is Squarespace better than WordPress? Or, are you a current WordPress user looking to switch to Squarespace?
Whether you are a freelancer, a virtual assistant or a small business owner, these are questions that I get asked all the time. Out of the two, I prefer Squarespace because of its stunning, high-quality templates. Being a professional graphic designer myself, having a visually appealing website that is on brand and that stands out from the crowd, is important to me.
But that is not the only reason I love Squarespace website templates. There are so many other reasons, so I decided to write this blog and share them with you. I hope it answers any questions you may have and inspires you to level up from WordPress and build your next website using Squarespace.
Squarespace vs WordPress
There are many website builders in the market and Squarespace and WordPress are just two of them. As Squarespace continues to rise in popularity, I believe this is because it’s easy to use and cost-effective which results in a stunning, website solution. This is perfect for freelancers, virtual assistants and/or small business owners, although I’ve seem big brands running on Squarespace with massive success.
Let’s delve a bit deeper as there are some key differences between the two that I wanted to share with you such as ease of use, so please read on to learn more about these and to find out which of these two platforms is best suited to you!
Squarespace
✅ Ease of use, no coding experience required
✅ Stunning, customisable designer-themed templates with drag & drop functionality
✅ SEO built-in functionality
✅ Hosting platform is included
✅ Pricing: paid plans with a small monthly subscription fee
✅ Security - all security and updates are managed by Squarespace
WordPress
❗ Reasonable learning curve and coding experience required
❗ Limited designer-themed templates
✅ SEO functionality plug-in available
✅ Self-hosting means you can choose who & where to host your website with
✅ Pricing: free option available plus paid plans
❗ Security - your responsibility to manage the security of your website
The key takeaway here is about “ease of use”. If you are looking for a fast, easy, customisable solution, then Squarespace is the clear choice in my opinion. You do not need any coding experience or technical knowledge at all. However, with WordPress, you do.
Both platforms also have a few other features that I wanted to mention:
Blogging
WordPress is fantastic for blogging. It was initially designed for just that. There are no restrictions and you can design and create the page to look exactly like you want it to. For example, if you wanted to monetise the blog, you can add banners in the form of clickable ads, etc. It’s a powerful and robust platform in that respect and it also has a community of bloggers where you can leave comments on other WordPress blogs which some people might think is a pretty cool feature.
Whilst Squarespace does not have this specific capability, it does have what I think are very good quality blogging templates. They are user-friendly and have all the features you need to create a successful blog. This blog that you are reading was created using the blogging template from Squarespace. Check out some of my other blogs created with Squarespace.
Website Maintenance
Squarespace also comes out as the clear favourite for me when it comes to ongoing website maintenance. Squarespace is a “closed” environment which means they control all aspects of the platform and manage all the software and technical updates on your behalf. All the apps are fully integrated into Squarespace which means they are compatible and always up-to-date.
WordPress on the other hand requires ongoing, frequent maintenance of not only the platform itself but also any of the thousands of plug-ins that are available. As these plug-ins are developed by several external software developers or vendors, it’s time-consuming to always be on top of the plug-in technology which is constantly changing and updating to avoid the risk of using outdated or incompatible technology.
eCommerce
eCommerce is a feature provided by both platforms. Squarespace does this well by providing a built-in sales feature including an inventory option. It also provides tutorials and a dedicated customer support team for any questions. We found WordPress’ eCommerce platform difficult to navigate and lacking in overall customer support as it relies on tutorials and the wider WordPress community for support.
Website Builders vs Content Management System
I see Squarespace as a website-building platform and WordPress as more of a content management system. So, I guess it depends on what your objectives are and what you are trying to achieve as to which solution will work best for you.
I hope you have found this blog helpful in understanding the key differences between Squarespace and WordPress and it has inspired you to level up from WordPress to Squarespace.
Please get in touch with me today if you have any questions or would like further information on how to get started on creating your website.
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