Squarespace vs WordPress: Which is better [2023]
While WordPress has an online reputation of being the “go to” platform for small business websites, I recommend you build your website on Squarespace. While Squarespace used to be limited, it now offers robust features that allow a small business website designer to build a professional, custom website without any security issues, broken plugins, and thousands of dollars of monthly maintenance fees.
Here is why I choose Squarespace for small business websites:
I enjoy designing on the Squarespace platform more then WordPress
I don’t have to chase down broken plugins or perform regular updates
It is easier for my clients to edit and maintain their own websites without any ongoing costs or fees
There are rare ocassions where WordPress may be a better fit. If you are monetizing a very large blog where blogging is the only focus of the website, or if you have a budget of over $30,000 and are ready to pay a team of programmers to build functionality that Squarespace doesn’t provide.
In this article we are going through the ultimate showdown—let’s take a look at 7 different key areas and how they compare. We will look at the pros and cons of each platform related to Editing/Design, Performance, SEO, Hosting/Domain/Maintenance, Blogging, Longevity, and Platform Features.
Table of Contents
A Quick Breakdown of Common Myths
I have developed and designed on WordPress for over 10 years. I added Squarespace in about 7 years ago to accommodate smaller business websites. Most articles will make a few claims, that in my professional opinion, are false.
“WordPress is easy to use”—it’s not.
While you can build a website without any knowledge of code, it is not an easy CMS platform. You need to strategically sift through theme providers, hundreds of thousands of plugins, find a host, install security measures, update your website every month with new theme and plugin updates, and then troubleshoot issues when themes and plugins don’t work well together.
Unless you are a developer, this is an incredibly high learning curve. This means you will likely be paying monthly fees just to keep your website functioning.
“WordPress is more customizable”—now Squarespace is just as good!
Fluid Engine and 7.1 changed the game. In fact, you can build even more flexible designs on Squarespace then WordPress. Their drag and drop editor functions a lot like the popular Canva app. Additionally, the developer community is growing and there are many free and paid Squarespace plugins that offer extended functionality.
Squarespace is also heavily involved in the community and constantly updating their platform to build the functionality that is the most important to their users.
“You can’t build a custom website with Squarespace”—now you can start from scratch and are not bound to a starter template.
You aren’t restricted to starting from a template. Squarespace offers the ability to start from a blank canvas which makes building a custom website even easier on Squarespace.
A Comparison of WordPress vs Squarespace
Easy Design & Editing
Fluid engine is like designing on Canva—you, or anyone on your staff, can make edits easily anytime. The learning curve is much quicker, if at all!
Squarespace has a “one theme” framework so you can update your entire website anytime without switching themes or learning an entire new page builder. The company is growing the platform, and your website will grow with it, without any time or investment on your part.
Squarespace is CSS and code ready. Add custom CSS on any of their plans, or upgrade to the business plan to integrate Java Script, HTML, and much more in their code injection areas. Get started with these top recommended code and Squarespace plugins.
Performance
If you optimize your website correctly, you can score and A+ on Google Page Speed.
Once optimized, your website will stay optimized. It won’t change with broken plugins.
Squarespace handles your website, so there is little to zero downtime if something isn’t working. They fix issues right away and keep you up to date with their status page.
SEO
Do you think Squarespace won’t perform as well on search engines as WordPress? Think again! Over 20,000 sites were analyzed in this article and the findings will impress you. Here is how your Squarespace website can excel in search results:
Built-in SEO title and description options
Enable or disable a page to be found on search results
Built-in site map that can be uploaded to Search Console
Core Squarespace code performs at 100 on Google Page Speed
Built-in Google Analytics and Search Console integrations.
SEO plugins and extensions available. Try SEOSpace.
Built-in alt descriptions
Are there any downsides? There are a few areas where Squarespace functions differently then WordPress. Here are the work-arounds (for now):
Doesn’t currently support Webp (next-gen) image formats, however this feature is on the roadmap to be released in 2024! You can compress your images and size down the dimensions to get them under 100k. Currently Squarespace will actually increase your image size if you upload a compressed image. Learn more about compressing your images for Squarespace.
Links don’t have a no-follow or sponsored option, but you can still add this in manually with Will Myers affiliate link plugin.
Products don’t currently push tags into search results for e-commerce stores
Hosting, Domains & Maintenance
Hosting is handled through Squarespace so you don’t have to search for a host. Additionally, you don’t need to pay premiums for fast server speeds, as you would need to on a shared host such as Bluehost or HostGator (which is notoriously slow unless you spend a lot of money!)
Squarespace handles all maintenance—reach out to technical support or customer service anytime for free!
Eliminate developer retainer fees and maintain your own website
No more updating plugins, themes, or chasing down broken functionality
Blogging
WordPress was originally a blog platform. There are a few ways where WordPress still excels in this area, but Squarespace now offers a professional solution that is competitive with the features of WordPress.
Exceptional SEO
Add a sidebar using the Sidebar plugin by SQSP Themes
Add related posts carousel with the Related Posts and products plugin from SQSP Themes
Add tags, categories, publish dates, and more
Create custom post types (using the built-in blog feature)
Mimic the ConvertKit plugin by placing global forms on every blog post with the Section Loader Supreme plugin by Will Myers.
How WordPress blogs are different:
Bulk editing available
More blog formatting and design options, although you can get around this with a plugin such as Blog Post Banner Image Styles, or blog banners by Spark.
Ability to edit custom post type functionality
There is a 1-click Table of Contents setup that automatically creates anchor links of your H-tagged headings. You can get this same feature using Adlytic’s plugin (same one I used on this blog!).
Longevity of the Company
Squarespace isn’t going anywhere, so you don’t have to worry about changing themes or rebuilding your website
Everyone can build on their 7.1 framework so it gets automatically updated without you needing to change themes or update it yourself
Join the vast, and growing, community of developers, designers, and DIY builders who are offering plugins, CSS, tutorials, and more every single day
Squarespace is still owned and run by the original developer and CEO. The company cares deeply and has a community-first approach when rolling out new features.
Here are many of the specific features offered by Squarespace!
Images and galleries
Hero sections
Video blocks
Drag and drop page editor
Global site styles
Separate mobile editor
Responsive to all screen sizes
Email marketing blocks and integrations
Shapes and layering
Animations
Custom headers and footers
Logo and favicon
Custom 404 page
Password protected pages
Custom code and embed blocks
CSS and header and footer injection fields
Build landing pages
Blog and custom post types
Events calendar
Portfolio
Pre-built blocks
Pre-built templates
Save sections (currently they don’t have global sections)
Full ecommerce functionality
Email marketing platform built-in
Scheduling and invoicing platform built-in
Social media integration
Bio link pages
Included technical support and customer service
Built-in domains, website management, and hosting
Are you ready to move your website to Squarespace or build a new one on Squarespace? Hire a Squarespace expert and never have to worry about broken plugins, security, or paying ongoing developer fees ever again!
