Website management for the general consumer has become so much more user friendly since the days of MySpace or Blogger, and Squarespace has been my number #1 favourite platform ever since I started using it about 4 years ago.
When I first started designing website for people, Squarespace quickly became the only platform I recommended or even wanted to work with. Wordpress is a great solution if you’re a bigger business and need something more robust but don’t quite need a 100% custom built site, but the thought of using it again gives me literal nightmares. The day I switched my own website over from Wordpress to Squarespace, I cried with relief.
The more I learned about it, the more I fell in love, and IMO Squarespace is the best website platform for creatives and small business owners who want something that looks very professional without needing a fully custom coded job.
It’s not a perfect platform, and sometimes Wordpress is still the better option, but that’s a discussion for another day.
For now, let’s dive in to all the reasons I love Squarespace so much 😍

Squarespace Engine

affordable pricing

Squarespace have really affordable plans based on your needs - you can view their current subscriptions here.

There’s a monthly or annual option, I generally choose the annual option and recommend my clients do the same because when you work with me, you get 20% off your first year subscription when you pay annual - more on that below.

Some of my clients who choose to book a VIP Website in a Day and who just need a basic entry level website will be able to get away with the Personal level subscription, but for most clients the “Business” subscription is the sweet spot. The “Business” tier includes the ability add e-commerce as well as add custom code which is necessary to truly personalise your website and make it pop.

ALL IN ONE HOSTING + SECURITY

A top selling factor for me when it comes to Squarespace is that I don’t have to worry about finding a reliable host, or have to worry about security. Both of these things are included in your Squarespace subscription, and it’s a relief not having to make sure I’ve got the right security plugin available, or that I’m with a reliable and safe host or any of that jazz.

There are plenty of designers + coders who sell templates & plugins for Squarespace, but the great thing about the platform is that none of these things are necessary. We can build a beautiful website, with built in animations and effects, all with the native tools built into the platform. Any additional plugins & customisations are an extra bonus, but aren’t necessary for a beautiful website.

VISUAL BUILDING / DRAG & DROP

One of the main things my clients struggle with before working with me, is building, managing and updating a website on a platform where you have to jump between the back end and front end of the website in order to see any changes.

The beauty of Squarespace is their drag & drop editor - you get to build & design your website layout visually, what you see is what your customers will see. There are all different kinds of blocks, and you can literally drag and drop them around anywhere on your site.

This makes it really easy for me to record videos showing you how your new website works, so that after our project is completed you can jump in to update various things without needing to wait for your designer/developer or paying them a fee.

Because you get to view the changes you’re making in real time, it’s easy to edit pages and make your own updates without worrying about messing something up - there’s even a handy “undo” button you can use if you accidentally muck something up.

Squarespace also has a huge range of fonts that you can choose from, right within the platform.

Seriously you could waste hours scrolling through their font list 😅

SIMPLE, EASY TO USE TEMPLATES

Squarespace’s Fluid Engine platform really simplifies things down for us. Squarespace offer a selection of ready to go templates and section layouts to help you get started, but it’s just as easy to build a website from scratch. You can even create your own templates and re-use them throughout your site.

It’s also easy to learn (especially if you get a personalised, guided tour from someone like me). It’s important to me that my clients feel empowered about using Squarespace by themselves, and feel confident adding content (such as blogs) moving forward. It’s really difficult to make any kind of changes that will totally destroy or ruin your website.

SEO FRIENDLY

Something people say a lot to me is - “…but isn’t Squarespace bad for SEO??”.

Even now, I still get asked this - the poor folks at Squarespace are really struggling to break away from this myth.

And allow me to reassure you - Squarespace is EXCELLENT for SEO. This myth was the reason I stayed with Wordpress for so long with my photography business, but I noticed a massive positive shift in my traffic from Google after I switched to Squarespace, and I go into the how + why in my SEO Checklist for Creatives which you can grab below.

MOBILE FRIENDLY + BUILT IN RESPONSIVE WEBSITE

Ensuring your website is optimised for a great user experience on mobile phones is extremely important these days. At least 50-60% of my website traffic comes from mobile devices these days (does that shock you?) so making sure everything looks good and is easy to read and navigate on mobile should be a top consideration when designing your website.

And the beautiful thing about Squarespace, is that your website is automatically guaranteed to work on all other devices. If you’re making lots of changes to the layout of your site, they also make it incredibly easy to view, edit & update the mobile version of your site, just with the click of a single button.

BUILT IN ANALYTICS

Squarespace makes it easy to view where your website traffic is coming from, what your visitors are looking for and how they’re interacting with your website with their inbuilt analytics platform. You can also integrate Google Analytics if you need access to Google Ads & their more robust tools - but for the general consumer and for most small businesses, the analytics you get from Squarespace are really great.

Squarespace Circle

When you choose to work with me, you are working with a verified Squarespace Circle member. Essentially, it means that I’ve provided my portfolio to Squarespace (having built at least 3 active websites and signed up for a membership) and established that I’ve got experience working with the Squarespace platform. Being a Squarespace Circle member means that we both get access to some fun perks.

check Six month trial periods

The standard trial period for the general user is 2 weeks, so having a 6 month extension on that is pretty cool. It also means that we don’t need to rush through your project, and you’ve got plenty of time to sit on it before you launch.

check 20% discount on your subscription for the first year

When your website trial is started by me, you’ll automatically gain access to this discount on your first annual subscription payment. This also applies to additional subscriptions you need for Email Campaigns, Member Areas, and Scheduling.

check Access to priority support

Squarespace’s standard support team is really great, they are pretty fast and able to provide in depth assistance. They also have a huge range of FAQ articles and videos that explain almost everything you need to know, but if something goes really wrong with your website, I have access to priority support.

check Access to beta features

As a Circle member, I get exclusive access to new features before they drop and can use them on your site. They are constantly releasing new features, especially since switching to their new Fluid Engine platform.