Summary review
Looking to create a stunning website but you don’t know jack about coding? No worries! With Squarespace, you can create feature-rich blogs, portfolio sites, and even online stores without any coding knowledge!
Of course, you can exercise your coding skills if you want to, but it’s definitely not a requirement. Having said that, Squarespace is not the most beginner-friendly website builder, because of certain usability issues. As soon as you get the hang of it though, you’ll soon realize why Squarespace is one of the best in the industry.
With award-winning templates, outstanding features, and an intuitive editor at your fingertips, you’ve got all you need to create the perfect canvas to showcase your brand, products, or services. Within the industry, Squarespace is also considered one of the best platforms for blogging, podcasting, audio players, scheduling, photo galleries, and more.
Pros: + Modern, sophisticated, and beautiful templates that are optimized for mobile devices.
+ Quality templates that beat most if not all website builders in the industry.
+ Excellent blogging features, you can even syndicate your podcast with Squarespace!
+ Strong customer support.
+ Great value for money.
Cons: - It might take a while getting used to their website editor.
- Squarespace has no app store so you are limited to built-in features.
- Only one sub-navigation.
- Low page speed rating according to Google’s page speed tool.
Who is Squarespace for? Squarespace is the perfect website builder for visual creatives like photographers, musicians, designers, artists, and more. It’s also a great choice for those looking to establish a personal brand or grow their business online.
Standout Features
SEO Tools When it comes to SEO, Squarespace cuts the fluff and provides the tools that matter most. You can customize meta-titles, meta-descriptions, and URL’s as well as add alt text for images. It also provides AMP Support, SSL, Sitemap, and 301 redirects. In 2015, Google also announced that they will be using “mobile-friendliness” as a ranking signal. This took the importance of having a responsive web design to a whole new level. Fortunately, Squarespace templates are responsive and mobile-friendly so that’s one less SEO signal to worry about.
Payment Processing Integration Squarespace accepts credit cards, debit cards, and Apple Pay payments via Stripe as well as PayPal.
eCommerce While Squarespace cannot be compared to a dedicated e-Commerce platform like Shopify, it has loads of features that can really take your business off the ground. You can sell unlimited products, manage inventory and abandoned card recovery, customize email receipts, create multiple product variations, integrate a shopping cart, or upload product videos. You’re also not limited to selling physical products online! Squarespace has made it possible to sell digital products or services and has partnered with Square so you can sell your products offline.
Blogging Tools Squarespace is probably the only website builder to rival Wordpress when it comes to blogging. They have a lot of built-in tools that can really help your blogging business grow and prosper. They provide AMP support, geolocation tags, comments, moderation, post scheduling, and customizable URL’s, just to name a few. Hosting your podcast in Squarespace also comes complete with RSS and iTunes syndication. Got an existing blog? You can import your WordPress, Blogger, or Shopify blog into Squarespace!
Templates This is where Squarespace really shines. They don’t boast hundreds of templates like Wix, but what they do have are over 60 sophisticated and artistic templates that look fresh and are fully-responsive. You can search by Popular Designs or browse over the following categories:
Portfolios, photography, online stores, blogs & podcasts, professional services, local business, community & non-profits, events, weddings, musicians & bands, restaurants, personal & CV, real estate & properties, and launch pages.
Mobile Compatibility All of Squarespace templates are responsive and can thus adjust to the format of smaller devices such as phones or tablets.
Support and Knowledge Base
You can rely on Squarespace when it comes to Customer Support. It has an extensive Knowledge Base with a search bar, guide articles, and video tutorial videos. There’s a community forum and you can even join a webinar if you need a walk-through on the basics. On top of that, you can also reach out to Squarespace’s support team via email or Twitter 24/7. Live chat is also available Monday to Friday.
Pricing and Plans
Squarespace lets you set up your site and pick a plan later. As of this writing, there are 4 plans available, 2 for website building and 2 for eCommerce / online stores. Overall it can be said that Squarespace are similarly priced to it's nearest competitors Wix & Weebly.
The Bottom Line
Squarespace is truly one of the best if you want to create stunning websites for your portfolio, business, or online store without hiring a web developer. It’s got almost every feature you could need, plus plenty of customization options. However, it might not be the best choice for beginners or technophobes. There’s a bit of a learning curve compared to other drag-and-drop website builders, but if you have the patience and a bit of technical skill, you’ll be rewarded with a gorgeous site.
