WordPress Vs Squarespace- A 2020 Comparison
More than 60 million people in the world use CMS to run their websites. There are hundreds of CMS available but the one is becoming increasingly popular and used by many people all around the world. So which one is that- WordPress or Squarespace? How to decide which platform to use and why? Before we dive into the comparison, ask a few questions to yourself.
- What is the purpose of the website that you want to build?
- Is it a complex web app or a simple web presentation?
- Are you building an ecommerce website or do you want to sell your services online?
- Are you developing a website on your own or hiring professional developers?
- Do you want to work around search engine optimization?
- Are you tech savvy?
Now you have a starting point. Let’s see some basics of both the CMS, wordpress and squarespace before we start comparison.
What Is WordPress?
Released in 2003, WordPress is a free open-source content management system(CMS) that is used to build websites and web applications. It’s open source, meaning that the code behind it is freely available and may be modified easily. Now more than 33% of top 10 million web locations are based on WordPress(WP). Websites built with WordPress can be customised to a very large degree — it’s an extremely flexible tool that, in the hands of the right development team, or through the installation of a suitable plugin, can be adapted to meet the requirements of just about any website design project. WP is based on HTML, CSS, PHP and JavaScript and it supports a lot of technical features.
What Is Squarespace?
Launched in 2003, Squarespace is an all-in one website builder with its own CMS. As Squarespace is a cloud service, there is no need to download any software. We call it an all-in-one solution because with just a subscription fee, it provides customizable and responsive website templates, hosting service, domain name, SSL certificate, and 24/7 customer service. Recently, a built-in email marketing tool, ‘Squarespace Email Campaigns’ was also added to the feature’s list. The main idea behind Squarespace is- it’s a ‘code-free’ solution that makes it possible to build and edit a website without needing to go near any CSS or HTML.
WordPress Vs Squarespace- A Comparison
1. Ease of use-
WordPress has an interactive interface with an easy to use dashboard. If you are familiar with HTML, CSS and PHP, it is easier for you. It just requires a basic knowledge of these programming languages and style sheets to build a website on your own. WordPress will be a better solution for multilingual sites.
As Squarespace is a website builder, you can pick, switch, and personalize your templates using drag-and-drop. You can choose an element like a text box, drag it to where you need it and drop- and that’s exactly how it will look once your page is published. It is called as WYSIWYG editing means “What You See is What You Get,”. This makes it easy to make changes because you’re seeing everything right in front of you, exactly how visitors to your site will be seeing it once it’s live.
2. Themes and Templates-
WordPress is based on a customizable theme and also follows a plugin architecture. Thousands of WP themes are available and are free and paid too. Nearly 55000 plugins are available for all kinds of modifications and extra functionalities. If you have hands-on experience in HTML, CAA, JS and PHP, you can use WordPress themes for your website and customize whatever you need. Within themes,there comes a template hierarchy.
Squarespace is also based on customizable templates. There are more than 100 templates available to choose and these templates are grouped according to the similar functionalities and features. Depending on the purpose of the website you will get the recommended templates that give you an easy start. You can start with one template and then switch to a different one later on. But the switching is not that much of an easy process because of the differences between templates and features, however it is possible.
3. Ecommerce-
WordPress has various options for setting up an online store. The most highly recommended is the plugin WooCommerce. One can create a powerful online store with WooCommerce. It is specially designed for WordPress users to help them sell online. As it was built for WordPress, you don’t need to worry about its compatibility for your website. It is free and also easy to install. Woocommerce includes inventory management, hundreds of themes, payment and shipping options etc. Due to the customization available with woocommerce, you can align your branding, sell whatever products you want and also can integrate ecommerce with powerful blogging tools.
Squarespace gives you everything that you need to start online selling. All sales tools of squarespace are fully integrated, meaning that the online store will look seamless and professional. It’s business plan is designed for small stores and charges 3% transaction fee on each sale you make. There is a provision to create promotional pop-ups, sell unlimited products and have a professional email and so on. The upgraded ecommerce plan includes advanced ecommerce features like- 0% transaction fees, inventory, orders, tax and coupons, label printing, product listings on instagram, gift cards, cart recovery etc.
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