Wordpress or Squarespace - Where should I build my website?
Photo by Igor Miske on Unsplash
Are you contemplating building your own website?
Many small business owners do find success in building their own websites. Or, having their site built in a user-friendly way that they can manage themselves. This can be a cost-effective way to build your business when wearing many hats makes financial sense.
I get this question all the time... "What is the best tool for building my own website?"
As you start to research this answer, you'll find plenty of advertisements for companies getting into the website builder area. Take the powerhouse of domains GoDaddy - they now have a website builder. Or the email management system Constant Contact now has a website builder. While I'm not trying to knock these companies for getting in the game... there are just a lot of companies to sift through.
For me, I'll stick with reputation and longevity. The two strongest players become Wordpress and Squarespace. But, you may wonder, which is better? On the contrary, that wouldn't be my question. What you really want to know is which is better for you.
Here are some things to think about:
Cost
Wordpress - Technically free but you'll pay for hosting, plug-ins, themes and a domain.
Squarespace - Costs between $12-$40/m and includes hosting, plug-ins, themes, and 1-year free domain.
User-Friendly
Wordpress - If you are tech-savvy then watching a few tutorials will get you going but there will be a steep learning curve. If you are not tech-savvy, this is going to be extremely challenging and I wouldn't suggest it.
Squarespace - Very user-friendly if you are comfortable on a computer. If you aren't great on a computer, with a little help, you may find you can edit your site yourself.
Design
Wordpress - Limitless if you are a coder. If you are looking to start with a beautiful template, it can prove to be expensive.
Squarespace - There are restraints here. The templates are visually strong but not super flexible. If you are knowledgable with CSS you can insert custom code.
I hope this helps you make the choice more clear! Happy building.