Why I Love Squarespace
Here’s a list of reasons why I almost always choose and recommend Squarespace (over other/similar options, like Weebly, Jimdo, or even Wix—although that’s usually my runner-up recommendation) :
Squarespace has a super-user-friendly UX, with simple, intuitive navigation and a beautiful user interface.
It’s easy to learn their WYSIWIG editor AND figure out how to make things look the way I want (or need) them to look.
They have a lovely selection of website templates (organized by business category) that are easy to customize. Especially if you have a few—even, just, minimal—design skills you can use the templates as a starting point and then, change it to suit your own brand & branding. Template colors, typography (including fonts, sizes, line spacing, and letter spacing) are simple to adjust.
The company is successful and product/offerings are scalable. So, I feel like it’s a solution that will grow along with me/my business. Especially as I expand & change my offerings/services/products going forward.
Their built-in third-party integrations (i.e. Mailchimp, Acuity Scheduling, and a ton more) streamline the process of adding components and opportunities to connect with customers or automate communication. It’s simple to create an online store or email list, add forms/opt-in downloads, add a calendar/online-scheduling, social media, and/or blog.
Also easy to add pages, reorganize content, and make images look good—in a variety of formats (grid, carousel, banner/slides)
Built-in search function for (free) stock photos via Unsplash.
SEO is simple to set-up.
In general, the site is easy to maintain without design/technical/coding help.
Squarespace is constantly innovating. They continually add new features, integrations, and make it easier to create the sort of website I want/like.
Great customer service. Although downtime for all three of my sites has been very minimal over the 5-7 years I’ve been hosting/building sites with Squarespace.
For me, EFFICIENCY is also a big factor. Now, that I know the UI/UX so well—once a client has their content ready to go it’s possible for me to build the first draft of a 5-6 page website in one day. And that can be a big deal for eager personal branding clients with limited budgets. :)
This is why I don’t love Squarespace
Sometimes it feels expensive. This is probably because I have three different Squarespace sites/accounts—two personal and one business/commerce (with added package$ for email + email campaigns—for one of the three accounts). Obviously, I have three Squarespace sites because I feel like it’s worth the price I pay. And I definitely appreciate the value I receive and haven’t yet found anywhere else that’s as easy or intuitive (for me) to navigate. Mostly, I love the efficiency of use, the level of control I have over visual elements, and the peace of mind in having a beautiful website (that I trust will look good on any device/screen).
Sometimes people (or a business) need advanced customization, or functionality (like a membership site with a forum), that just isn’t as easy to create on Squarespace. In those cases, it clearly isn’t the right tool for the job.
Squarespace is constantly innovating. So UI/UX changes will definitely happen fairly often (although, it’s always been easy to re-learn and adapt).