Which Website Platform is Right for You?
Choosing the right website platform is one of the most important decisions you'll make as a creative entrepreneur. Your website is your digital storefront, your portfolio, and the first impression potential clients or customers will have of your brand. Today, we’ll dive into three of the most popular website platforms—Squarespace, Shopify, and Wix—so you can make an informed decision.
Squarespace
Pros:
Fluid Engine Design: Squarespace’s Fluid Engine offers a more flexible design experience, allowing you to easily drag and drop elements with precision. This feature gives you creative control while maintaining the clean, professional aesthetic Squarespace is known for.
All-in-One Platform: With built-in tools for blogging, e-commerce, email campaigns, memberships, courses, scheduling, invoicing, and SEO, Squarespace provides everything you need to build and grow your online presence in one place.
Ease of Use: Squarespace’s user-friendly interface makes it easy to build and maintain your site, even if you’re not tech-savvy. No coding required!
Cons:
Limited Third-Party Extensions: While Squarespace has many built-in features, it doesn’t offer as many third-party app extensions as other platforms like Shopify. This might be a limitation if you need specific tools for your business. If you’re curious if this will effect you here’s a list of what extensions Squarespace offers: EXTENSIONS
Less Advanced E-Commerce Features: Squarespace’s e-commerce capabilities are solid for small to medium-sized businesses, but they may fall short if you're an established business with heavy online sales with complex systems.
Shopify
Pros:
E-Commerce Powerhouse: Shopify is designed with online stores in mind. Shopify’s extensive e-commerce features are second to none and is perfect for someone who needs robust systems and integrations to run their business.
Scalability: Shopify can handle everything from small businesses to large enterprises. As your business grows, Shopify grows with you.
App Integration: Shopify’s App Store offers countless integrations to enhance your site’s functionality, from marketing tools to shipping solutions.
Cons:
Learning Curve: Shopify is powerful, but with great power comes a steeper learning curve. It might take some time to get comfortable with all the features.
Cost: Shopify’s pricing is higher than other platforms, especially when you factor in the cost of apps and transaction fees.
Limited Design Flexibility: While you can customize your Shopify store, it doesn’t offer the same design freedom as Squarespace or Wix without diving into the code.
Wix
Pros:
Drag-and-Drop Flexibility: Wix’s drag-and-drop editor gives you complete control over the layout of your site. You can move elements wherever you want, making it a great choice for creatives who want to design without limits.
App Market: Wix’s extensive App Market provides a wide range of additional features and integrations, from marketing tools to customer engagement widgets, allowing you to enhance your site’s functionality.
Regular Feature Updates: Wix frequently updates its platform with new features and improvements, keeping up with the latest web design trends and technological advancements to ensure your site remains modern and competitive.
Cons:
Performance Issues: Some users report slower load times with Wix sites, which can impact user experience and SEO.
Template Lock-In: Once you choose a template in Wix, you can’t switch to another one without rebuilding your site from scratch.
Overwhelming Options: While flexibility is great, the sheer number of options in Wix can be overwhelming, especially if you’re new to website building. *And personal opinion, the options look quite dated for a website built in 2024.
let’s talk pricing
This is a rather important part of the decision making process, pricing. Below are screenshots of each platforms pricing tiers as of 2024. *Something to keep in mind, both Squarespace and Shopify give you a “pay annually” option which will save you $$. The options you see below are annual views. I’ve put a link below each so you can go to their pricing page to toggle between annual and monthly payments and so you can see the features each offers in their different pricing tiers.
My Take:
For years I have been building custom websites for clients on Squarespace. My reason, its ease of use — making it ideal for me to pass off to client’s that may have no design experience but can still intuitively make edits and manage their own websites. I’ve personally worked with Wix and Shopify and my favorite remains Squarespace. What truly sets Squarespace apart is its ability to grow with you. As your business evolves, you’ll find that Squarespace offers the creative flexibility and advanced features needed to keep up with your ambitions.
So, whether you’re just starting out or looking to take your online presence to the next level, Squarespace is a solid choice that combines simplicity with creative power.
Want 20% off your first year with Squarespace and a 6 month trial giving you more than enough time to build out your site?! Is that even a question??? Fill out the form by clicking the button below! I’ll set up your Squarespace account with a blank canvas template all the while passing along my Circle Member discount to you once you pick your plan. Happy designing!
