Which platform should you choose for your website?
So many website platforms! Which is right for you?
Image © copyright Clare Walter Design
Squarespace - Everything to Sell Anything!
Well that’s the claim that the company make as a flexible and affordable web builder for small to medium businesses. But so do Wix, Wordpress, Showit, GoDaddy & Webflow to name a few. Each platform has its own pros and cons and there may be one platform that suits your requirements better. Here at Clare Walter Design, I’ve tested Wix, Squarespace, Wordpress, Showit and Webflow and below I break down the benefits of each platform, as well as why it might not be for you.
Wordpress
Wordpress is a very flexible platform and allows you to use styling editors like Elementor & Divi to customise your site to exactly how you want it. It has good SEO capabilities as developers have good access to the meta data of your site. Here’s a preview of how Elementor works:
The user interface requires a lot of time to master, so to DIY you’ll need to invest days, even weeks to get it right.
It relies on plugins to provide a huge range of components on your website. It also and relies on a lot of user diligence to ensure that plug-ins are updated and maintained to ensure that your site doesn’t lose its integrity. It’s wise if you get a Wordpress website to sign up to a maintenance plan after the build, to make sure security & component plugins don’t break. It’s not a ‘plug and play’ platform like the ones below and requires ongoing support. To hire a web designer to build your Wordpress site can also be costly. Some basic 4-6 page brochure sites start at $5-6K and if you’re looking for an e-commerce site you’re likely to have to invest $10K +.
Who it’s for?
Businesses who want a great deal of customisation and ongoing maintenance & support
Who it’s not for
Businesses who want a more cost-effective solution
Those who don’t want to worry about ongoing support to manage plugin updates & security
Squarespace
Squarespace is a fully managed platform which means unlike others of its kind, you don’t need to keep updating plug-ins, widgets or worry about security updates, it’s all done for you in the background. It uses the Fluid Engine drag-and-drop editor which makes building quicker, meaning a more cost-effective website for you if you hire a designer to build it for you. It seems intuitive and to build a very simple site based on a template, DIY is certainly possible. But it can consume your time pretty quickly and it can take a while to get used to the interface.
Here’s a sneak peak of what it looks like to design in Squarespace:
This is the Squarespace user interface ↑
The interface is sleek allows developers to enter CSS code, which means they can easily customise most components to your brand & requirements.
It also has basic in-built SEO and allows a developer who knows SEO (it’s me! Hi!) to enter a great deal of information to help you rank on Google. Like the site pictured here, which ranks on the first page of Google for ‘lawn care Sydney’.
Once built, it’s very easy to make edits, change photos and add sections. Your web designer can also set up templates for blogs, pages & blocks making it easy for you to add content after all the styling and base pages are set up. The back end is very intuitive and things like email set-up, online booking & domain management are very simple to manage.
The downside is it is not THE cheapest way to get a website built. The reason being, a developer will still need to know code in order to fully customise the site to your brand. And this kind of knowledge comes at a price. But if you’re paying someone to design your site they will most likely know how to code, hence why Wordpress & Squarespace are the most popular platforms for true web developers.
Who it’s for?
Businesses who need a website build within the $2-5K range and are looking for a professional website designed quickly
Those who want to be able to make updates to their website once its built without having to worry about breaking anything
Those who don’t want to pay for ongoing maintenance
Who it’s not for?
Businesses who want a great deal of customisation on their website and have specific components in mind
Those who have a bigger budget and can pay a developer to maintain their site long-term
Wix
Wix is another great platform in terms of user friendliness but it’s just not as flexible as other platforms and a nightmare in the event of rebranding.
This is the Wix user interface ↑
They do have some direct technical support but business hours only, not 24/7. You can whip up a fairly decent site in Wix yourself at a cheap price, but to do anything more involved will take a big chunk of your time. Web designers tend to steer clear of it as its user interface is annoying and it can be quite buggy.
Having said that, if you’ve worked with it for a while, it can be as good as Squarespace to build beautiful websites. Although I don’t recommend it as my platform of choice, I’ve built many sites on Wix as per clients’ request (like the one on the left) and the outcome can look great!
Who it’s for?
Businesses who already have a Wix account and set on keeping it there
Those who are happy for a web designer to spend a little longer designing their website and don’t necessarily want to make updates themselves after the build
Who it’s not for?
Businesses who have a tiny budget and don’t want to pay extra for plugins as they can get quite expensive through Wix
Those who don’t need 24/7 customer support through their platform
GoDaddy
GoDaddy is probably the cheapest, simplest but the most basic of web builders. Originally a web domain hosting platform, their main interest is ongoing web hosting and domain registration fees. The primary limitations of their web design business are limited site design and customisation, no unlimited storage or ecommerce tools. Worse still, very little integration with social media and a whole host of intermediate to advanced 3rd party marketing tools. Their low priced plans might be cheaper on the surface, they can quickly become more expensive with all the additional charges to create a working website. Still, it’s one of the most cost-effective ways to get a simple website online yourself.
Who it’s for?
Those who want to completely DIY quickly
Who it’s not for?
Businesses who are ready to invest in a professional website and hire a designer to make sure it appears premium
Showit
Showit is a lovely platform to design in. Its drag & drop editor is like working with a design program on your desktop. It’s very intuitive. Showit also offers a wide range of customisable templates and the ability to create responsive designs. However, while it can integrate with external platforms like Shopify, the native e-commerce features are not particularly robust. Additionally, Showit's pricing plans may are relatively high compared to the other platforms listed above. And as it’s a relatively new platform, it may not have the same extensive plugin and app ecosystem as Squarespace.
Who it’s for?
Businesses who may have used design programs like Illustrator before and like working with a drag & drop editor
Who it’s not for?
Those who want to add custom CSS code
Those who are after a more cost-effective option for a similar output
There are even more platforms, Google Sites, Webflow, and no doubt more of them will pop up in the future.
← This one was designed in Wordpress
The main thing you need to consider is: are you engaging a web designer who is a specialist in your chosen platform? It’s better to decide which platform is if good fit for you, then look for a designer who is an expert in it. That way you know you’re getting the absolute best for your business.
I use Squarespace for my websites, but if I see a client has requirements that don’t necessarily fit with the platform, I will happily recommend trusted experts in Wordpress or other platforms.
I choose Squarespace as I find most people who come to me don’t want to invest more than $3-4K in their website and want something they can edit themselves later on. They also don’t want the hassle of needing ongoing plugin & security maintenance. It’s my favourite because of it’s robust back-end that won’t break, it’s risk of being hacked is lower than Wordpress and it allows me to design a custom website with CSS code snippets. It most suits my clients’ requirements in terms of capabilities and cost. In fact a lot of my clients have moved from one of the other platforms to Squarespace due to it’s great reputation for ease and low maintenance.
I use Squarespace’s Fluid Engine 7.1 and custom code to create a uniquely designed, premium website that only features your branding and that you can easily manage once it’s complete.
Squarespace offers:
Mobile-responsive design. Majority of your audience will be on their mobiles, having a mobile-friendly website is pretty much a non-negotiable these days
Excellent marketing features, including email and social media support – perfect for business growth
In-built SSL certificates. Important for security and if you forget to renew
Free Google Workspace email for the first 12 months with a Business Plan or higher
Inbuilt tools to support blogging and social media
While I’m available for any changes or technical help, Squarespace also offers customer support, with 24/7 email and weekly live chats
Email campaigns & built-in analytics
E-commerce capabilities
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) to help your website rank on Google. This is all built in.
Integrations with online tools such as Acuity Scheduling (online booking) & PayPal
I offer all my clients a 20% discount on their plans as a Squarespace Circle member
A range of plans for ongoing subscription that are budget friendly and highly competitive in this space. As little as $16 a month for a simple site through to $54 for a comprehensive e-commerce site.
I’ve had 17 years of experience in graphic and web design (and am degree-trained) and can create something truly personalised, branded by you, and provide a professional website that is unique and specific to your needs. If you want to manage content on your own without a huge expense but you’re busy and don’t have the time to create a website, I can offer well-priced, beautifully designed, unique, premium websites that once created, you can customise to your needs and have complete control over. If you want more customisation after hand-over, of course, I can do that for you too!
Need a Squarespace expert?
Check out my packages and let’s get your business up and running and looking great online
