Squarespace vs WordPress: A Head to Head Comparison
Part 2 of our series on which website platform is best pits two of the most popular sites against each other —Squarespace or WordPress (read part 1 for the Squarespace vs Kajabi showdown). Each platform has their pros and cons, so let’s look at a few of them.
First, let’s reiterate this important take-away from our previous post — don’t use a free website builder.
It’s tempting for a new solopreneur or nonprofit to start with these sites (I’ve used them, too…), but for a growing business, Wix, Weebly, or other free website builders won’t grow with you. “Free” quickly becomes “paid” as soon as you add features like eCommerce, email capture, or other necessities that make your site more robust.
Additionally, these sites are not as easy to use as advertised. They are glitchy and while the templates are editable, they look like templates when you’re done. Many don’t show well on mobile sites. Your site will not represent you or your business well.
If you’ve already built on a free platform, it’s a good time to switch.
Questions to help you decide which website builder is best: Squarespace or WordPress?
Do you want to edit your site on your own once it’s built for you?
Best choice is Squarespace.
Between the two, Squarespace is by far the easiest platform to maintain and update once it’s built. The interface is easy to edit and the drag and drop builder just makes sense. Adding a new blog post, changing an image, or editing text is fairly simple. WordPress, on the other hand, has a very complex, confusing “backend." It looks more like it was designed for coders or those who are experienced programmers, which it really is. You will likely be frustrated and lost if you try to DIY your build or edits.
Do you have a medium to large-sized business?
Best choice is WordPress.
Squarespace can work for medium to large-size businesses, but WordPress offers more growth potential for complex businesses. The number of plug-ins available on WordPress provide greater flexibility and customization than Squarespace. It’s also what makes it a hard platform to use for new or small business owners.
Do you want a website with visual appeal?
Best choice is Squarespace.
Squarespace is known industry-wide for their beautiful templates — they are great out of the box. We at StoryMatters have also built our own templates to make our builds faster and easier. And all our designs are built on the StoryBrand framework to provide clarity for your businesses online presence. We guarantee they will never look like templates when they’re done! WordPress template options are overwhelming and sometimes expensive, depending on which one you choose. And the pricing isn’t transparent.
Do you want to blog consistently?
Best choice is WordPress… or Squarespace.
WordPress has historically had the best platform for blogging. Many who have a personal website choose WordPress for this reason alone. Squarespace, however, has made it easier to blog and because it’s built into the easy-to-use platform is now a contender in the blogging space.
So, is Squarespace or WordPress right for you?
To summarize:
WordPress is the best website builder if:
You are a mid-sized to large business.
You primarily want a blogging site (tied with Squarespace)
Squarespace is the best website builder if:
You want to edit your own site after it’s built.
You want a selection of beautiful templates — or customized templates that use StoryBrand.
You want to blog (tied with Squarespace)
Have you picked your winner?
We’ve built on both WordPress and Squarespace, and StoryMatters chooses Squarespace for its intuitive platform, user friendly editing capability, and beautiful designs. And we like to blog from time to time, too! We extend a 20% discount on annual plans when you work with us to build your website.
If you’re still not sure what website builder is best for you, connect with us! Our consultation is free and we love to help.
If you’re a knowledge provider or content/course creator, you might prefer Kajabi — another platform we build on.
Whichever platform you choose, let’s build something great together!
