Five reasons why Squarespace Is the Right website builder for You
As a web designer, one of the trickiest choices you’d probably have to make is deciding on your tools of the trade.
This often doesn’t come off as a one-time decision. You’ll find that as you go further along your journey, you’re going to take one path only to switch tracks in the future.
For me, it was the matter of choosing the website builder that suits my needs.
I’ve explored various platforms throughout my career as a web designer and developer. To teach myself the fundamentals, I tried out Webflow, Showit, Shopify, and of course, WordPress.
So you might be wondering how Squarespace ultimately became my website builder of choice. (And no, it’s not because they paid me to write this article.) Let me give you five reasons to use Squarespace if you haven’t yet:
1. Squarespace is built to be simple
This is often the best selling point of Squarespace for everyone who’s familiar with the brand. And as someone who’s been using it for years, I can attest to how easy it is to find your way around the user interface. In fact, it’s so intuitive that even someone without a background in design—your client, that is—can make small changes on the fly.
It may not be the most robust option out there, but for most smaller enterprises, it provides just enough for their own website.
Why overwhelm your clients with too many widgets they don’t need? Squarespace reassures them that they can run and update their site on their own after you’ve customized their design for them.
2. Squarespace puts a premium on design
Of course, Squarespace is known for its modern, sophisticated feel. From its building blocks all the way to its versatile templates (hello, Brine), I am still in awe about how much it enables me to create sites with a stylish, editorial aesthetic.
With its curated functions in site styles, you can always toggle your way to a well-crafted website for your clients. And your eyes don’t have to bleed while doing it at all! It’s hard to go wrong with a beautifully streamlined builder like this.
3. Squarespace is closed-source and secure
Curious about why Squarespace doesn’t have as many bells and whistles as WordPress in particular? That has a lot to do about how Squarespace is a closed-source platform, while WordPress is open-source.
In simple terms, any open-source software makes their code publicly available for everyone to modify, which allows programmers to modify that code through widgets. And while it gives users a multitude of apps to choose from, that can also mean that some third parties can take advantage of this by sneaking into your site and stealing personal data.
That doesn’t happen in a closed-source software like Squarespace since only in-house developers get access to the code and run the updates for you. Part of their job is to ensure your website is 100% secure by taking care of the security loopholes. Sure, that means we don’t get as many widgets, but does that really matter if we already have what we need?
4. Squarespace is made to be flexible
Just because Squarespace is easy to use doesn’t mean you can’t apply the more advanced customizations. It might come as a surprise to many, but its backend interface also offers a suite of tools for those who want to tinker with custom code.
I may not have formal coding knowledge, but the premium CSS Editor and Code Injection features in particular have helped me learn the fundamentals by applying them directly to my projects. That meant that I could constantly push the boundaries of design by bringing something new.
5. Squarespace has a streamlined e-commerce
It may not be explicitly marketed as such, but Squarespace is also an impressive option when it comes to e-commerce.
Whether your client is offering physical products or digital downloads, this website builder will make it easier for them to manage their online storefront here. And did I mention that if you have a Stripe account, you can even host your courses and memberships in Squarespace?
Click Here to learn more about it and get rid of monthly or transaction fees from third-party apps.
Thanks to all these great features, Squarespace has become my creative outlet to craft contemporary chic designs and showcase new possibilities. Don’t get me wrong. I still recommend Shopify, Wordpress, Webflow, and Showit in some occasions… but Squarespace is still my favorite. I hope this post encourages you to try it out as well.
Any questions about Squarespace? Send me a short & sweet email or even slide into my DMs—I’d love to know what you think.
