When it comes to pitting WordPress vs. Squarespace for your small business, the choice may seem like a difficult one—at first. Although both content management systems have the potential to help you create visually impactful and functional websites, WordPress has just the slightest edge when it comes to dynamism, functionality, and SEO-friendliness for small business web sites.
Battle Royale: WordPress vs. Squarespace 2017
Although Squarespace is quickly becoming one of the commonly used CMS platforms that cater to those without extensive web design or web development knowledge, WordPress’s open source nature, relatively fewer costs, and dynamism make it a strong contender in our next Battle Royale.
Flexibility of Squarespace vs. WordPress
In words, of one blogger, “flexibility is really where WordPress kicks Squarespace’s ass.” The reason behind this admittedly strong statement is Squarespace’s “walled-garden” system. That means the users are kept in a ‘garden space’ that is curated to eliminate confusion and customization options.
Squarespace’s CMS doesn’t allow users to create new functions while WordPress’s open source platform means that there are WordPress web developers you can commission to code a function for you or you can install any of the almost 50,000 plugins available in the WordPress library.
In contrast, plugins don’t exist in Squarespace, although the platform does offer certain built-in integration with services like Google Suite, MailChimp, Dropbox, and more. Although you can also add widgets for small functions in Squarespace, the platform simply can’t keep up with WordPress when it comes to flexibility and functionality.
Ease of using Squarespace vs. WordPress
The flexibility and dynamism of WordPress make it an undoubtedly powerful platform, especially when it comes to the ability of web designers to customize every aspect and function of their WordPress web design. However, if you aren’t a skilled coder, the potential of some WordPress functions may be beyond your ability to install or code on your own.
Despite a diverse and helpful WordPress community to help to bud WordPress developers, the drag and drop nature of Squarespace ensures that non-tech savvy users can easily navigate and update their website.
While Squarespace is a bit more restrictive when it comes to customization options, the walled garden approach of its developers means that a user’s website won’t go down because of an incorrectly installed or out-of-date plugin.
WordPress vs. Squarespace for your small business
If your business requires a very large or complex website design, you may want to avoid Squarespace entirely as the CMS allows for deep website hierarchies and limits users to only two levels of navigation.
For example, if you create a section on your site that has sub-pages–like a section called ‘Our Services’ containing the sub-pages, ‘Website Design’ and ‘SEO Optimization’–Squarespace WILL NOT allow your users to visit the parent page. In this case, your visitors couldn’t access the ‘Our Services’ page but one of the sub-pages below the heading instead.
The limits of Squarespace’s sitemaps results in ‘flat’ websites with limited functionality for your web design purposes.
KO! WordPress Wins
When it comes to pairing off WordPress vs. Squarespace, it is WordPress hosting and the CMS’s dynamism that edged out Squarespace in the tenth round. For business owners looking to make the most out of their web presence, WordPress is the only choice if you want control over your website has to offer your audience.
Don’t Get Lost Trying to Navigate Your Web Design
At Mvestor Media, our team of experienced WordPress web developers creates unique, modern, and functional websites that are responsive to the needs of your business and your audience. We also offer hosting for your WordPress website. Connect with us today!
