Why I Switched My Website to Squarespace (+ Free SEO Checklist)
I was so close to naming this post: Why Squarespace Is The Nutella of The Internet. Simple and delicious. Don't worry... I resisted the temptation.
When it comes to web platforms, I've tried it all. I've designed and operated websites using Wordpress.org, ShowIt, Weebly (tbt to that train-wreck), Wix, Blogger, and Squarespace. Once I converted to Squarespace, I never turned back. I've now been using Squarespace for over a year and am excited to finally share my reasons for being such a fanatic.
Stress-Free Management
This is the number one reason why I recommend Squarespace and offer Squarespace customization to clients. It's as stress-free to use as you can get, which lets users focus on creating epic content instead of endless formatting or coding.
Room To Grow
Wordpress templates can cost around $30-$70 to buy (with DIY customization), and custom websites (for any service) will cost much more. When you make that inevitable investment, you likely don't want to have to buy a whole new rebranding package or hire a designer every time you want to change something. On Wordpress, if you're wanting to modify your design, you need HTML and CSS knowledge. While that knowledge comes into play with Squarespace customization, it's likely you'll be able to change lots of things about your website without having to hire a designer.
Drag & Drop Design
The WYSIWYG editor is SO EASY to use. You can drag, drop, or resize "blocks" to customize each page and post. There are a ton of customizable blocks that work in lieu of external plugins.
No Third-Party Plugins
While this one could actually seem like a reason why you shouldn't use Squarespace, it was actually a selling point for me. In the past, when I was using Wordpress for my website and blog, I had a ton of third-party plugins for the site. On more than one occasion I updated Wordpress or my customized theme and the plugins were no longer compatible with that version. This meant I either had to revert to the old version or remove those plugins. It was really just such a dangerous hassle for me, which is why I recommend Squarespace to my clients instead (especially if they have no Wordpress experience).
Security
The lack of third-party plugins also has another benefit: increased security. Squarespace avoids hacking vulnerability by managing everything themselves. You therefore can avoid worrying about your website getting hacked (although this is always a possibility on any platform).
Fully Responsive & Mobile Friendly
Sure, you can find responsive themes for Wordpress. Sure, you can design mobile friendly sites on other platforms. But it takes a ton of time to tweak those mobile sites and you may not get the result you're looking for. Squarespace's mobile sites are truly seamless, which is really important in your Google ranking. For me, over 50% of my website visitors are using their phones to view my site (on average), so creating a consistent, seamless visual experience is a big priority.
Simplified SEO
There's this weird (and totally bananas) myth out there that Squarespace users have crappy SEO. I'll set the record straight right here: IT'S JUST NOT TRUE. Squarespace automatically creates sitemaps for you, which allows Google to crawl your website. You can also easily customize your search engine description with the keywords you want to be found for. Squarespace allows you to rename your images, captions, etc. for more targeted rankings.
To learn more about all the things you should be doing on your Squarespace site to boost your SEO, I've put together a FREE SEO CHECKLIST! This can be downloaded below:
FREE DOWNLOAD: SQUARESPACE SEO CHECKLIST
Kick your Squarespace website up a notch! Follow this free checklist to improve your website & blog SEO.
Cover Pages
These might just be the best, most powerful addition to Squarespace. Use these as a welcome gate, a "coming soon" page, a newsletter sign-up page, or even a sales page. Each cover page has it's own style and options, which means you can customize it without affecting the design of the rest of your website.
Support
I have only ever needed to contact Squarespace support once because everything is so straightforward. But the experience with their customer service was really wonderful. Efficient communication by real people.
Integrated E-Commerce
Should you ever need to sell anything on your website, squarespace has it all set up for you. However, you would need to upgrade your account to offer more than one product. Still, you never need to worry about coding issues preventing payments from going through or having glitches if you switch themes.
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Now, it wouldn't be fair to write this post without sharing some of the cons:
- No mass edit or mass delete for blog posts.
- No media library.
In the grand scheme of things, these details are so minor and a fair sacrifice to have all of Squarespace's benefits. I think services like Squarespace are the way of the future. No more clunky or static sites that have no room to grow. For me, anything that simplifies my business is a winner. This way I can focus on creating content and building my audience. Squarespace allows you to publish beautiful content efficiently and it requires very minimal maintenance.
If I've totally convinced you to switch over but you have no time to make that happen (or it just overwhelms you... letsss be real), I offer full Squarespace customizations and branding packages for businesses and blogs. I'd love to work with you to create an online presence that fully fits you and your brand.
What web platform do you use? Have you ever thought about switching to Squarespace? Leave your answer in the comments! xo
Ps. This post is 150% NOT sponsored by Squarespace. I just have an undeniable love that needed to be shared!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Thanks for dropping by! I'm Caileigh and I create killer brand identities and offercoaching for creative entrepreneurs with gumption. When I'm not helping people build profitable businesses, I document love stories as a fine art film photographer.
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