Is a Squarespace website actually best for my small business?
I’ve been using Squarespace for 5 years for my own business and for my clients and it’s no surprise that I love the platform. Squarespace is easy to use, secure, and won’t break when a plugin is out-of-date. The base designs are clean and make a great starting point for creatives and small businesses.
My journey to discovering Squarespace
When I created my first website (for a DIY blog that I intended to start), I used a WordPress. At the time, I had learned the basics of website code and could make changes, but felt extremely limited by my template, but too intimidated to try to create something custom.
The DIY blog didn’t last long (it’s difficult to do big projects in a small apartment) and neither did my work in WordPress.
I actually learned about Squarespace during a webinar hosted by Mariah Coz and never looked back. My first website on Squarespace was my own and I quickly started offering website design as part of my business.
I’ve come a long way since those first websites and I’ve learned more and more about customizing Squarespace websites to be truly unique. As I’ve used the platform for more types of small business, I’m convinced that it’s a great fit for most small businesses.
Why is Squarespace the best option?
I recommend Squarespace for a variety of reasons based on what a potential clients needs from their website. While there are some businesses that would be better served on another website platform (I’ll talk more about that later), most business owners and creative entrepreneurs that I talk to find Squarespace to have all the functionality they need.
Low cost for website hosting
A Squarespace website starts at $12 per month (when paid annually) for the Personal plan and goes up to $40 per month for Advanced Commerce.
I generally recommend clients purchase the Business plan at $18 per month because it allows the greatest flexibility and the most customization for the lowest price. If you’re going to be selling lots of products through your website, its best to upgrade to the Commerce or Advanced Commerce plan to get access to lower transaction fees and more ecommerce functionality (like ecommerce analytics, abandoned cart recovery, and subscriptions).
You can see a full comparison of Squarespace’s pricing on their website.
Easy to update and maintain
Almost all of my clients come to me for a website redesign in part because their existing website intimidates them. They’re afraid to make any changes because they don’t know what they’re doing and are afraid something will break.
Squarespace is a fantastic option for those who don’t want to deal with code in order to edit and customize their website because it’s a drag-and-drop platform that’s easy to use. You can access tons of different block options (no need for plugins) that give you all the functionality you need and you don’t have to worry about hiring a designer or developer anytime you want to change images or copy.
Mobile responsive design
Unlike some other website platforms, Squarespace automatically creates a mobile version of your website as you design and edit. You don’t have to recreate your entire design for mobile or add a plugin to create tablet and phone versions of your site.
This mobile responsive design feature is HUGE for small businesses since most people are searching and buying from their phones. Plus, websites that aren’t mobile responsive are punished by search engines. If you want to learn more about why mobile responsive website design is so important, listen to this episode of Process to Profitability.
Get help without sharing your password
Squarespace makes it really easy to both me and my client to have access to the website during design and for me to transfer ownership once the project is completed – and I can remain on the website to make updates in the future. Check out this post to learn how to set permissions for your website.
Built-in integrations
Squarespace is set up to easily integrate with MailChimp (for email newsletters), Acuity (for scheduling), social media, and G Suite (for email). While you can certainly use other tools with Squarespace, their integrations make these easy to set up and maintain when you don’t want to mess with code.
Security
Because Squarespace creates and manages all of the integrations with their websites, there is little chance that there are loopholes people can exploit to hack a website. This may not seem like a big deal when you’re first starting out, but if you’re hacked and lose your entire website (I had this happen to a client), you know how frustrating and time consuming that can be.
Integrated ecommerce
When you’re just starting a business, you may not know whether you want to offer products or courses that require e-Commerce capability – and that’s okay. Squarespace allows for e-Commerce on any plan and template, so you can add it at any time.
SEO capability
One of the most common criticisms that I’ve heard about Squarespace is that is doesn’t perform as well in SEO features as other platforms. While that may have been true in the past, Squarespace has made big strides in SEO over the past few years.
You can now set a SEO specific page title and description for every page and blog post on your website, choose a social sharing image for every post, and easily connect with Google Search Console to boost your authority with Google.
Learn more about Squarespace’s built-in SEO features and how to use them in this post.
Create a custom design with CSS knowledge and a little help
Squarespace can also be limited if you don’t know or don’t add custom CSS to make it unique, but if you’re willing to take the time to think about the design first and then find a way to apply it, you can design most of what you need.
I’ve found more drawbacks with Squarespace 7.1 because it is more difficult to customize, but the Squarespace 7.0 Brine family of templates can accomplish pretty much anything I need.
There are a few plugins and resources that I use in order to create a truly custom design, but they aren’t necessary for a basic website that doesn’t need additional functionality.
What businesses are the best fit for Squarespace?
Squarespace is a great platform to design and host a website for any type of business. I’ve designed site for photographers, event planners, authors, service-providers, online educators with courses, interior designers, and more.
I’ve also seen restaurants, hotels, design agencies, and non-profits use Squarespace to build beautiful, effective websites that convert.
Who should stay away from Squarespace?
There are a few businesses that I recommend use another platform for their website.
If you have a large ecommerce store and need a robust inventory management system, Shopify is usually your best bet. I do have clients who use Squarespace for their main website and Shopify for their online store, so that is also an option.
If you want to be able to truly customize the mobile design of your website, I recommend using Showit. Their design platform creates mobile and desktops designs separately, so each can look completely different. I don’t usually find this to be an issue for my clients as Squarespace does a good job of translating a design from desktop to mobile, but some people want more control
If you have a large blog or want a lot of custom features, I recommend finding a WordPress designer and developer who can create a website for you from scratch. While this will cost more and may be more difficult to edit without help, you will have control over every aspect of your design. For example, Squarespace doesn’t allow you to edit the checkout page of your website (even using CSS), so if it’s important for you that it look a specific way, a custom-designed WordPress site may be a better option.
While there may be some businesses who would benefit from another platform when designing and hosting their website, Squarespace is the best fit for most small businesses and creative entrepreneurs. It has all the features and functionality you need in an easy-to-use program that takes care of all the maintenance and updates without you having to worry about something breaking.
If you’re considering building or customizing a Squarespace website for your business, get in touch about how I can help you build a website with beauty and brains.
