When considering which website builder to use for your website, you may be deciding between Squarespace and WordPress. Both of these website builders are widely used and very popular: there are about 2 million live Squarespace websites and about 75 million built in WordPress.
Squarespace vs WordPress: Which Platform is Best?
Squarespace is specially designed for those with no technical web development experience. That might sound great if you want to create your own website without relying on a web developer, but you need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of this platform first.
WordPress is a better option if you’re creating a complex site and need a lot of flexibility and customisation. However, it is a more technically-challenging platform.
Squarespace Pros
- Stylish Design
With most website builders on the market, you have access to a wide selection of free design templates and themes. Squarespace offers some of the most attractive themes available when compared to other website builders like Wix and Weebly. The themes are also automatically responsive, which means they’re suitable for mobile, tablet, and computer users. - Ease Of Use
Squarespace is incredibly user-friendly. It was created with beginners in mind and you can create a simple website and get it up and running in an afternoon. Basic website changes are also simple to make. - Security
Squarespace looks after the security of your website for you. All of the plans include an SSL certificate for your website. This means that any data that is entered by a website visitor is automatically encrypted. - Simple Summary Block Option
A summary block in Squarespace enables you to create image thumbnails and snippets from your blog posts so that you can include them in other areas of your website. Creating a slideshow of pictures is also a simple process. - Built-In Ecommerce
One of the most appealing benefits of Squarespace is the built-in eCommerce functionality. If you want to sell products and services through your website, Squarespace has you covered. - Email Campaigns
Squarespace now also has an email campaign feature. This is great for small businesses who want to create promotional emails and send them to subscribers directly from Squarespace. There are four monthly and annual plans, beginning with a starter plan of £6/monthly and £48/annually. - Lead Generation
Squarespace also has the option of adding lead generation forms to your website. However, if Mailchimp is your preferred platform, audiences are limited to a maximum of 30 data fields for each contact. If you want more than 30 fields of information for each of your contacts, you could use groups to help merge audience information, or use tags instead.
How WordPress Stacks Up
- Stylish Design
WordPress has one of the biggest communities developing CMS responsive themes and templates. This provides users with the option to choose from multiple unique theme designs and layouts. You can easily set up a complex website interface that responds to different devices. In addition to this, all themes in the official WordPress directory undergo a review process, which ensures a high standard of quality is being met. - Ease Of Use
Over the years, many users have embraced WordPress because of its ease of use. The multitude of page builders that are available make the interface even more simple. You do not need to be an advanced developer just to build a website. You could choose a template, import demo content, publish articles, and adjust your website’s design without too much effort, all of which can be done from one dashboard. - Security
WordPress was developed with security in mind. The community regularly publishes core functionality and security updates. It basically manages most of the things for you, via a variety of settings or 3rd party plugins. One simple example is the option to change the admin login link or add auditing plugins which track every action taken by users on your website. - Built-In Ecommerce
Most popular Content Management Systems (CMS) offer a default e-commerce feature. WordPress stacks up against the others by offering lots of free and paid options to suit your exact needs. From your site’s product management to setting up payment gateways, WordPress is an all-in-one tool that could transform your website into a lucrative online store. You can also choose themes with default advanced e-commerce features – booking, point of sale, orders, catalogues, reporting, and much, much, more. - Email Campaigns
There are many email marketing tools that can be integrated with WordPress – from free to paid. You can easily manage your email campaigns, adjust your email forms, and collect customers data from the front end of the website. Often, many of these email marketing plugins can also be integrated into your theme/page builder ensuring your forms retain the look and feel of your overall website. - Lead Generation
Compared to what’s available in Squarespace, WordPress has a long list of lead generation plugins that help users manage customer information. These plugins provide analytics about your data and on top of this, you can also export this data anytime you wish, giving you full control.
Squarespace Cons
- Content Control
Squarespace has its own content policies and if your content conflicts with those in any way, your website could be removed completely in the blink of an eye. All other website builders have their own set of policies, but Squarespace is a little more strict. Therefore, the control that you have over your content is more restricted than by most other platforms. - Multilingual
For sites that have a global audience, Squarespace might not be the best choice. Admittedly, there are a few functions for multi-language sites, but it doesn’t always provide the desired result. Although Squarespace has a couple of workarounds that you can use to get sites to display in multiple languages, they are difficult to use. - Search Engine Optimisation
Squarespace has a SEO function but it’s not as easy to use as other website builders. Simple SEO changes can be confusing and frustrating for users.
How WordPress Stacks Up
- Content Control
With a self-hosted WordPress website, you own your domain, and you own the right (within the laws of the country you are hosting it in) to publish whatever you want. WordPress is an open-source solution, which allows you to use the software as you see fit. That also includes whatever content you wish to produce. You can read more about WordPress philosophies and their “Bill of Rights” here> https://wordpress.org/about/ - Multilingual
For multilingual websites, WordPress is the better choice. You can install specific plugins to translate and globalise your content. - Search Engine Optimisation
A WordPress site can be optimised for search engines much more easily and comprehensively. There are several search engine optimisation targeted plugins created for WordPress that simply aren’t available for Squarespace.
Squarespace vs WordPress – Is Squarespace The Easy Option?
For small businesses that only need a basic website such as a small eCommerce store, blog, or a place to advertise, Squarespace is more than sufficient. However, because Squarespace is a website hosting platform, there are many restrictions that companies looking to scale their websites may find frustrating and unsuitable.
On the other hand, WordPress has almost limitless options that cater to a wide range of needs, from basic to advanced. It has evolved from a simple blogging tool to a sophisticated content management system. It’s easy, it’s secure, and it’s open-source. Furthermore, with an active and engaging community, you can always ask for support if you encounter any issues. There are also lots of online tutorials that could help you learn how to start with WordPress and address common problems.
For more details about the pros and cons of WordPress, check out this link.
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