Squarespace Review (2026): Is Building a Site That Easy?

Q: Is Squarespace a good website builder for restaurants?

Yes, Squarespace is a great restaurant website builder . You can choose from 16 restaurant-specific templates or build your own theme with Squarespace’s Blueprint AI, customized to your restaurant needs. And, as for features, you can integrate your website with Tock – an all-in-one table management system – set up online ordering, use POS for in-person sales, and more.

On this page

Video Review of Squarespace
Squarespace Pros & Cons
What’s It Like To Use Squarespace?
How Much Does Squarespace Cost?
Are Squarespace Templates High Quality?
What Are Squarespace’s Key Features and Integrations?
Can You Sell Online With Squarespace?
Does Squarespace Offer AI Tools?
How Do I Contact Squarespace for Support?
Is Squarespace Better Than Other Builders?
How We Test Squarespace's Website Builder
Final Verdict: Do I Recommend Squarespace?
FAQs

Squarespace is the easiest website builder to use, according to our 300 hours of testing across 12 platforms in 2025.

Squarespace offers users a seamless user experience from start to finish, and its intuitive drag-and-drop editor, customization options, and scheduling tools make it great for beginners, creative industries, and service-based business.

 Key Takeaways 🔍
 
 Squarespace is the easiest website builder I tested in 2025, thanks to its drag-and-drop editor and intuitive interface
Blueprint AI helps you build a stylish website in minutes through a collaborative five-step process
Pricing ranges from $16 to $99 per month (billed annually) – you can save up to 28% by choosing a yearly subscription
Before you pay for a premium plan, you can try out Squarespace with its 14-day free trial
You can sell unlimited products on any Squarespace plan, but you’ll only get 0% transaction fees on the Core plan and above


 

I’ve updated this article to reflect the latest features and pricing from Squarespace to ensure the review is accurate. I’ve also added an FAQ section, as well as more information and guidance about Squarespace’s Extensions and ecommerce features.

Video Review of Squarespace

Learn why we recommend Squarespace in our video review:

Squarespace Pros & Cons

For an overview of our second highest-rated website builder, I’ve pulled together a list of Squarespace’s standout qualities and drawbacks:

What I Like

✔️ Easy drag-and-drop editor
✔️ Blueprint AI builder
✔️ 200 templates
✔️ Acuity Scheduling booking tool
✔️ Unlimited product sales on cheapest plan ($16/month)

What I Dislike

❌ Grid overlay limits customization
❌ No autosave feature
❌ No free plan
❌ Limited third-party integrations

Squarespace Integrations Explained

Instead of an app market, Squarespace offers “Extensions” to give website owners the opportunity to add third-party plugins and integrations.As of June 2026, there are 50 Squarespace Extensions split into four categories: Sales and Marketing, Inventory and Products, Finance, and Shipping and Fulfillment. Extensions include Mailchimp and ShipStation, but currently lack direct social media integrations.

What’s It Like To Use Squarespace?

Squarespace is the easiest website builder I’ve tested, outperforming 12 others in our 2025 research due to its simple drag-and-drop editor, intuitive interface, and beautiful templates. I carried out hands-on testing with Squarespace to see what it’s like to build a website with the platform.

How Easy Is Squarespace’s Setup?

Squarespace’s setup is extremely straightforward thanks to its AI website builder, Blueprint AI, which begins to build your site after two simple onboarding questions.

Watch me build a Squarespace site in our Blueprint AI video tutorial:

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My experience with Blueprint AI

I love using Blueprint AI to build websites with Squarespace. It’s not as hands-off as other AI website builders, but I like having some level of control over my site’s look, since it means there’s less work to do in the editor afterwards.

With Blueprint AI, I could set my site’s personality (such as “Friendly” or “Innovative”), choose sections and pages, and choose my font and color scheme in just a few clicks.

I enjoyed looking through all the stylish designs, and Blueprint AI simplifies the design process by generating cohesive page layouts and sections automatically. We found that Blueprint AI allows users to build a functional website in under 10 minutes.

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

What’s It Like To Design a Squarespace Site?

Designing with Squarespace is simple thanks to its intuitive drag-and-drop editor, which uses a grid framework to keep elements aligned.

If you’re new to building websites and are looking to keep things aligned on your page, Squarespace’s grid guidelines offer support by snapping elements together neatly. In testing, the in-editor grid sped up the design process notably.

Squarespace's drag and drop editor, showing a text box being moved around the grid lines — Squarespace's structured drag-and-drop editor makes page editing straightforward and intuitive. Source: Website Builder Expert

However, Wix and Hostinger provide greater creative control than Squarespace by allowing unstructured, unconstrained placement of elements anywhere on a page. If you’re at ease with designing sites, Squarespace’s grid editor can feel more restrictive, since you’re bound to moving elements within the set lines.

How Do You Save Your Work in Squarespace?

To save your work manually, simply click the “Save” button in the top left corner of the editor. Squarespace has no autosave when editing, so keep this in mind when using Squarespace before you close a tab accidentally!

Despite missing an autosave feature, Squarespace will also prompt you to save if you decide to exit the editor.

How Much Does Squarespace Cost?

Squarespace’s pricing ranges between $16 and $99 per month (billed annually) across four tiers, all of which now include ecommerce capabilities.

Plan Name	Price with our discount code	Monthly price (paid annually)	Monthly price (paid monthly)
Basic	Core	Plus	Advanced
$14.40 with code WBE10	$20.70 with code WBE10	$35.10 with code WBE10	$89.10 with code WBE10
$16	$23	$39	$99
$21	$32	$48	$119
2.9% + $0.30	2.9% + $0.30	2.7% + $0.30	2.5% + $0.30
2%	0%	0%	0%
For online portfolios and side hustles	For small businesses	For growing online stores	For established businesses

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Which Squarespace plan do I recommend?

I recommend picking the Core plan for $23 per month (billed annually); while Squarespace doesn’t have a free plan, you can get started with its 14-day free trial.

With the cheaper Basic plan, you can sell unlimited products and services, send invoices, sell content and memberships online, set up abandoned cart recovery, and promote your products via social media.

But the Core plan comes with additional sales features and benefits, including zero transaction fees, Google Shopping promotion, and the ability to create discounts. The only added bonus on the Plus and Advanced plans is reduced processing fees, so most businesses will be content with the Core plan.

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

To rank the best free ecommerce website builders accurately, we conducted over 300 hours of in-house research. Our methodology tested each builder against seven key areas and focused on the features and limitations of their free plans or trials.

Are Squarespace Templates High Quality?

Squarespace is the top-rated website builder for design and aesthetics because it provides 200 high-quality, professionally designed templates. In comparison, Wix has 2,000+ templates in its library, but Squarespace truly puts quality above quantity. I’ve tested a lot of builders, and none of them outperform Squarespace in this arena.

Squarespace’s templates cover a wide range of industries, such as “Fashion” and “Fitness.” I particularly like the “Montclaire” template for artist websites because of its minimalist approach to showcasing work.

Preview page for Squarespace's Montclaire template — I could play around with other color presets before settling on a Squarespace template. Source: Website Builder Expert

What Are Squarespace’s Key Features and Integrations?

 📢 New Squarespace features (Updated June 2026)
 
 In May 2026, Squarespace launched Mobile Overrides, which allows Squarespace 7.1 users to finetune mobile design without affecting desktop website layout.
As of March 2026, Squarespace Email Campaign automations support drip emails, meaning you can schedule a series of related emails to be sent over a set period, up to 730 days.

Squarespace scales website performance through built-in marketing tools, native analytics, and a curated library of 50 third-party Squarespace Extensions. Still, Squarespace doesn’t provide as many plugins as Wix or Shopify’s app markets.

🗓️ Does Squarespace Have Scheduling Tools?

Squarespace provides an Acuity Scheduling tool which allows users to offer bookable services, take and manage appointments, and set prices from a dedicated dashboard.

Acuity Scheduling costs from $16 to $49 per month (billed annually) – this is an additional fee on top of your monthly or annual Squarespace plan.

See the video below for a demonstration of Acuity Scheduling:

🔍 What Are Squarespace’s SEO Features?

Like most SEO website builders, Squarespace has the SEO essentials built into its platform, such as image alt text, mobile optimization, and automatic sitemaps. On top of this, Squarespace includes support with SEO checklists, keywords, metadata and more.

However, our 2025 performance testing shows that Squarespace delivers slower loading and site speed scores than GoDaddy and Wix. A slow website can impact your site’s performance in the search engine results pages (SERPs), which can frustrate your visitors and encourage them to take their business elsewhere.

See our Squarespace SEO review video for more:

📨 What Are Squarespace’s Marketing Features?

Squarespace provides access to a variety of marketing tools, such as promotional pop-ups, featured announcement bars for exciting website or business updates, and a dedicated tool called Email Campaigns.

Squarespace Email Campaigns is great for businesses looking to build customer relationships, since it allows you to automate workflows, view email-specific analytics, and engage with subscribers through a variety of email types.

While you can draft campaigns for free, Squarespace requires a premium Email Campaigns plan (from $5/mo) to send campaigns.

Squarespace Email Campaigns selection of campaign types — I could edit my email marketing template and tweak its style to suit my brand. Source: Website Builder Expert

Can You Sell Online With Squarespace?

Squarespace allows unlimited product sales on all plans—outperforming Wix’s 50,000-product cap—making it our third-best rated ecommerce website builder.

To add Squarespace ecommerce products, navigate to “Selling” in your Squarespace account. The first step on the page directs you to add products, so I found it easy to start building my inventory. Squarespace asked what kind of product I wanted to sell, such as “Physical” or “Video on demand”, and I added the relevant information and imagery.

Cards showing different product types you can add to your Squarespace site — I could add a variety of products to my Squarespace store, including physical products, services, consulting packages, and custom merch. Source: Website Builder Expert

Does Squarespace Offer AI Tools?

Squarespace has expanded its AI toolkit to include site generation, blog drafting, and SEO descriptions. That said, its AI features aren’t as wide-ranging as competitors like Wix and Shopify, who roll out new tools regularly.

Here are the AI tools you can expect from Squarespace:

AI website builder
Text generation
AI blog posts
Brand identity support
AI SEO site descriptions
AI video descriptions
AI course descriptions
AI proposals
Business name generator
Domain name generator

Squarespace's AI text generator working on an about us section — I could ask Squarespace’s AI text generator to create different forms of content, from a full paragraph to a short pitch. Source: Website Builder Expert

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My experience with Squarespace's AI tools…

I used Squarespace’s AI text generator when editing my website to help fill out some text boxes. All I had to do was click the lightning bolt icon, decide the type of copy I needed (such as a paragraph or a blurb), and then give the AI a brief idea of what I wanted it to write about.

From my quick test of the feature, I found the generated text was pretty detailed and personalized to my business.

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

How Do I Contact Squarespace for Support?

Squarespace offers 24/7 email support and live chat (Mon-Fri), but does not provide phone support. Here’s what it provides:

24/7 email support
Live chat (available Monday to Friday between 4AM and 8PM EST)
Social media
Help Center including guides, video tutorials, and webinars
Community forum to hear from real Squarespace users
Hire a Squarespace Expert to help you overcome a hurdle, including building a website from scratch

As you can see, there are several options to choose from if you need a helping hand, but you won’t be able to call Squarespace’s customer service.

Video tutorial in Squarespace's help center — I was happy to see that most Squarespace guides include a video tutorial so you can follow along step by step. Source: Website Builder Expert

The majority of guides in Squarespace’s Help Center include a video along with links to other resources, which supports users with different learning styles. Squarespace also introduced instant AI-powered live chat in 2025 to replace human-wait times.

Is Squarespace Better Than Other Builders?

Squarespace is our second-best performing website builder, but is it the right fit for you? Take a look at how it compares with other leading website builders:

Wix is our top-rated website builder overall, offering users an all-in-one solution with powerful features, whether you’re looking to boost your online presence or sell online.
Shopify is the best ecommerce website builder out there, providing dedicated sales features and room to scale your business.
Hostinger has the most affordable plans. Pricing ranges from $2.99 to $3.99 (for a 48-month term), making it a cheap option for beginners and budget-conscious businesses.
GoDaddy has the fastest setup time. The onboarding process took me less than a minute, and its simplicity makes building a site incredibly straightforward.

How We Test Squarespace's Website Builder

To fairly review and recommend Squarespace, we rely on our rigorous in-house research process, which consists of 300 hours of testing, data collection, and analysis, across six core categories, which are weighted according to their importance:

Website Functionality: 30%
Design Features: 25%
Pricing: 15%
User Experience: 15%
Help and Support: 10%
Reputation: 5%

Squarespace receives a score for each category, which we then collect together to work out its overall rating. We review and carry out our research regularly to ensure our recommendations are up-to-date and accurate.

I’ve also spent hours with Squarespace’s editor and built-in tools to put the builder through its paces so that I can provide personal insights and honest tips, based on first-hand experience.

From our research, Squarespace is the easiest website builder for beginners to use, thanks to its intuitive interface, AI builder, and comprehensive native website features.

Squarespace is a reliable option for a wide range of users, whether you’re looking to build a creative portfolio or sell services online.

FAQs

Of the 12 website builders we tested in 2025, Squarespace has the best design tools and templates. With over 180 high-quality templates to choose from, an AI website builder for those that want a custom design, and pre-built sections for your pages, Squarespace makes it easy to bring your website vision to life.
Squarespace’s designs are polished enough already that you can get your site live with just a few tweaks to personalize the look and copy. Plus, its drag-and-drop editor is easy to use, giving users of all skill levels the opportunity to build a stylish website.

Yes, Squarespace is a great restaurant website builder. You can choose from 16 restaurant-specific templates or build your own theme with Squarespace’s Blueprint AI, customized to your restaurant needs. And, as for features, you can integrate your website with Tock – an all-in-one table management system – set up online ordering, use POS for in-person sales, and more.

Squarespace is our top choice if you want to build a portfolio website. This is largely thanks to Squarespace’s stunning library of templates and professionally-designed sections, so you can really showcase your work creatively. Squarespace also offers a built-in scheduling tool and invoice features to help you connect with clients and customers with ease.

Written By

Emma Ryan

Emma is Deputy Editor of MVF’s B2B brands, specializing in website builders, ecommerce, marketing, and vibe coding. Emma combines her wealth of knowledge and years of hands-on testing with a passion for helping small businesses and website owners navigate the highs and lows of being online. Her work has been featured in Newsweek, Digiday, TechRound, and Industry Today.

More about

Reviewed By

Oliver Simpson Senior Research Executive

After three years of refining his skills in data analysis, Oliver transitioned to a role as a researcher to help understand reader preferences, decision making factors, pain points, and needs when it comes to building an online presence.

Oliver’s professional journey started out as a researcher in law enforcement, where he developed strong analytical abilities. He later moved into operations, which strengthened his understanding of quantitative data.

Now, Oliver blends his quantitative analysis skills with qualitative research to explore both audience preferences and product nuances.

In his three years at Website Builder Expert, Oliver has used his skills to provide up to date, unbiased insights into the products we review, to help ensure the best possible recommendations for readers. Oliver regularly assesses and iterates our website builder research methodology, staying on top of industry trends, digging into platform features and UX, and prioritizing areas that matter most to business owners. This provides web builder and ecommerce rankings you can trust.

In 2025 alone, Oliver’s conducted over 100 hours of data collection across website builder and ecommerce testing, and investigated 283 individual areas in the ecommerce methodology. He’s overseen 54 individual user tests of website builders, to assess how easy they are to use, and compiled the data into clear ratings for each builder.

You’ll find Oliver’s research referenced across all of our key pages; our content team use it to determine the ranking orders of pages such as the Best Website Builders of 2025, or comparisons like Wix vs Squarespace. We don’t decide who “wins” on personal preference; Oliver’s thorough research clearly outlines which platforms are best for different user needs.

Equipped with a UX design diploma, Oliver translates complex research findings into actionable insights that facilitate informed decision-making.

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790 comments

Sanz 2 years ago

Hello! Thanks for your recommendations. I'm still a little lost, so I want to try out some templates on squarespace, but I have to use a trial, but if I do I'm stuck with the temporary URL name that it defaults to for temporary sites. I have my domain with squarespace, and want to start the website, I'm just not sure how to do it without this trial thing that you must use first. Any idea when I'm talking about?

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1 reply
- Holly Choules 2 years ago
  
  Hi there Sanz,
  
  Thanks for getting in touch!
  
  Did you purchase a Squarespace Domain only? If you want to connect it to your website, your answer may be purchasing a Squarespace pricing plan too. You'll need this to bypass the trial and start creating your site.
  
  To connect a domain once you've done that, you can access your settings, click on "Domains and Emails," and then connect the domain you already own that way. I hope that this solves your problem!
  
  All the best,
  Holly.
  
  Reply
Lukman 2 years ago

Thanks for your reviews. As a beginner looking for a good website builder, this was really helpful. God bless you

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1 reply
- Annie Angus 2 years ago
  
  Hi Lukman, thanks for your kind words! We aim to help people at all levels of experience so it's great to hear our articles are useful to you.
  
  If you're still considering Squarespace, our list of the best Squarespace templates may give you some inspiration!
  
  Best wishes, Annie
  
  Reply
Linda 4 years ago

I found this extensive review very helpful so thank you. I've been researching different web platforms for quite some time and checking out different articles and reviews in the hope I can find what's right for me. I found your comparisons very helpful. The guide is easy to read for a beginner like me therefore instilling some confidence to sign up and push ahead.

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1 reply
- Jacqueline Renouard 4 years ago
  
  Hi Linda,
  I personally really appreciate this message, as will all of us at WBE. We research, plan, and craft our articles so that beginners can gain the confidence to craft their online presence. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us and we hope to hear from you again and find out what awesome website you've created. Wishing you the very best and have a wonderful New Year!
  Warmly,
  Jacqueline
  
  Reply
Frank 4 years ago

I’m looking for a platform for a paid membership site. The site will contain both free and pay for access pages. Both free and pay pages will have video heavy content. What are your thoughts on SS for paid membership sites and what payment processor do you recommend? Thanks so much for the article. Great info!

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1 reply
- Samuel Jagger 4 years ago
  
  Hi Frank! Thank you for your comment! Regarding your query, we think Squarespace is an excellent platform for membership sites! It has three plans dedicated to membership areas and informs you every step of the process. You can find out more here . While it can be a little pricey at $35 a month (annually) for the most expensive package, no other builder makes the process quite as easy as Squarespace. Hope this helps! All the best - Sam
  
  Reply
Mike 4 years ago

If I sign up to a plan, an I tied into that plan for a period of time. Can I switch to a more advanced plan as my business develops?

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1 reply
- Jordan Glover 4 years ago
  
  Hi Mike,
  Thanks for your comment. The length of time you are tied to a plan depends on the term length you select when you sign up with Squarespace. If you decide to sign up for a year in advance, your plan will end after a year. However, this doesn't mean you can't upgrade. You can switch to a more advanced plan at any time. You might find the information in this guide useful.
  I hope this helps!
  Jordan
  
  Reply
Jess 4 years ago

Got Squarespace a couple of years ago cause it seemed really user-friendly but now I can't change templates, I have to manually change all the styles myself... so I'm stuck with the design I choose years ago. Would've just stuck with Wix.

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1 reply
- Lucy Carney 4 years ago
  
  Hi Jess,
  Thanks for your comment! I'm sorry you're not enjoying Squarespace as much as you used to. I would say that Squarespace may still be easier to redesign than Wix because of its more block-style editor - this guide on restyling your Squarespace site may help. In any case, thank you for sharing your experience here, I'm sure it'll help other readers trying to decide which web builder to use!
  Have a great day,
  Lucy
  
  Reply
Meg 4 years ago

What an excellent, thorough review - thanks so much!

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1 reply
- Jordan Glover 4 years ago
  
  Hi Meg,
  Thanks so much for your comment, we're glad you found our review useful!
  Regards,
  Jordan
  
  Reply
Lee 4 years ago

I have set up Stripe payment gateway on my website. However, I need to know if I can use an Uber payment method. For example:
A = The customer payment for completed services
B= The third-party commission
C= Final payment to the service provider
Please advice accordingly.

Reply
1 reply
- Lucy Carney 4 years ago
  
  Hi Lee,
  Thanks so much for your comment! Yes, Stripe can handle commissions, so the good news is that you should find it fairly easy to set up. Since you need to set this up through Stripe rather than Squarespace, I don't have detailed steps on this, but I'm sure Stripe support will have answers for you.
  Hope this helps!
  Best, Lucy
  
  Reply
Fiona 6 years ago

I hate Squarespace, they are very user unfriendly and impossible to communicate with - I would give them 0 for support, all they do is provide endless blurb to read for yourself and then just leave you to go round and round in circles. I wish my website wasn't on Squarespace, they are expensive and a nightmare to work with.

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1 reply
- Hannah Whitfield 5 years ago
  
  Hi Fiona, thanks so much for sharing your experience of using Squarespace - I'm sorry it hasn't been a good one, and do hope you're able to get some support soon. Many thanks, Hannah
  
  Reply
Jeanne 6 years ago

Very in-depth and understandable review which has certainly made me believe that this is the website builder I want to use. As an artist, I'm fairly tech-savvy, but I've never set up a website before. This review gave me a pretty clear idea what I'm getting into, and what questions I should have asked. I'm going to jump right in and try it.

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Cheryl 7 years ago

Andrew at Squarespace is phenomenal! He set-up my website for my business and is always willing and very patient when I have questions and or need assistance. I would highly recommend Squarespace especially if you are “green” when it comes to website construction.

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1 reply
- Hannah Whitfield 7 years ago
  
  Hi Cheryl, that's so nice to hear! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. Best, Hannah
  
  Reply
Keyna Udenze 8 years ago

Is my search for the website that is able to target my audience over for my new jewelry business? No but I will say of all the reviews and research I’ve been doing in the past two months, this one is a slam dunk. Thank you thank you thank you so much. You broke it down to what new online sellers like me and the novice I am have found informational and beneficial. Am now confidence that I will be making the right choice when I read all your reviews.

Reply
1 reply
- Lucy Carney 7 years ago
  
  Hi Keyna,
  Thank you so much for your lovely feedback! I'm so glad you found this review useful, please feel free to share it if you think anyone else would benefit from it too! Best of luck with your new jewelry business, and I hope your search for the perfect website builder is over soon - I'm including a link to our Online Store Builder Comparison Chart just in case that's any help!
  Best, Lucy
  
  Reply
Paola 8 years ago

Hi there!

Great article :) I still have a few questions though.

1. Can SS support visa and MasterCard payments from customers
2. What is the fee that SS charge for purchase transactions?
3. Does SS support automatic digital downloads for digital products?
4. Does SS easily intragrate with ecourse websites such as teachable etc?
5. Is there a blog section that can Be added to the website
6. Website security in terms of customer payment info
7. Is there a members only area ? Where paying customers can log in ? Sort of a community platform?

I am basically looking for a super easy to use platform where my digital product is on Etsy and can be linked via my website to IG- FB- Pinterest - as well as ecourse website where I plan to offer a course(s) as well as YouTube / blog

I hope what I need is clear? Would really appreciate your reply on this.

Thanks soooo much!

Reply
1 reply
- Charlie Carmichael 8 years ago
  
  Hi Paola,
  
  Thanks for your comment. Please see our answers below:
  
  1. Yes, Squarespace supports both Visa and MasterCard payments
  2. Squarespace's transaction fees vary from 0% to 3% depending on what plan you're on, and how many products you sell
  3. Yes, Squarespace supports the sale of digital downloads, but they are limited to 300MB
  4. Yes, you can integrate teachable with Squarespace
  5. Yes, you can add your own blog to Squarespace
  6. Squarespace comes with built-in SSL security which protects your customers' payments
  7. Yes, you can create members-only areas and password protected pages with Squarespace
  
  Hope that helps clear things up for you and best of luck building your website!
  
  Charlie
  
  Reply
Yamah 8 years ago

Hello!
Currently I am hosting my site and email with bluehost (Joomla not happy at all).

I understand I can transfer my domain name to spacespace and getting up running again. I would like to keep all the emails and transfer them to Microsoft outlook. Any idea how to do that please?

Thanks in advance.

Reply
1 reply
- Charlie Carmichael 8 years ago
  
  Hi Yamah,
  
  Thanks for your comment. You're right, transferring an existing domain to Squarespace is easy. Click here to read Squarespace's helpful guide on how to do this. The guide has a section on moving email records that may be able to help you. Beyond that, we'd recommend contacting Squarespace for further advice. Best of luck!
  
  Charlie
  
  Reply
Vibodha 8 years ago

good job.the content is more relevant.

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Joann 8 years ago

I've just spent over an hour on your website reviewing Wix vs SquareSpace. Overwhelming - yes!... but your honest, in depth information is exactly what I needed to decide what platform to go with (I am moving from WordPress) I enjoyed reading the comments and your replies as well. Thank you, Great Work!

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1 reply
- Lucy Carney 8 years ago
  
  Hi Joann,
  Thank you for sharing your feedback! Glad to hear that we've helped with your research, best of luck changing your platform. That's great you found the discussion helpful, thank you for reading!
  Thanks for your comment,
  Lucy
  
  Reply
Saleem Attaie 8 years ago

Thanks for the pro's and con's. it helped me to decide to stick with SS. I should be done in a week.

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Clark Vernon 8 years ago

I have an existing domain - can I transfer hosting to Squarespace?

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1 reply
- Fred Isaac 8 years ago
  
  Hi Clark, you should be fine to transfer a domain to Squarespace - there's more info here https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/206542037-Transferring-a-domain-to-Squarespace
  
  Reply
Lauren 8 years ago

With Squarespace, can I allow people to sign up or register as members of my website (non-paying)? How does membership on a Squarespace site compare to Wix or Weebly? Thanks in advance!

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1 reply
- Natasha Willett 8 years ago
  
  Hi Lauren,
  Welcome to the community. When you say members are you looking at member only areas? All three builders offer members only areas / password protected pages. Wix and Squarespace build these features into the builder, whereas Weebly you will have to add this in directly from their app store at a potential cost increase. I hope this helps clarify your concern.
  Natasha.
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Lauren 8 years ago
  
  Thanks so much Natasha! Yes, I am going for a forum where members (only) can post and comment. I see that member sign-up with a Weebly site is only available at $25/month. Do you know about the pricing for membership with Squarespace?
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Fred Isaac 8 years ago
  
  Hi Lauren, check out our guide on Squarespace's pricing - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/website-builders/squarespace-pricing/
  
  Reply
Lisa Laubach 8 years ago

I found this information and the video extremely informative! It was more information than what was provided on other sites. I think the reviewer is very friendly and honest! Thank you Jeremy!

Reply
1 reply
- Fred Isaac 8 years ago
  
  Hi Lisa, thanks for the comment, great to hear you found the review helpful. Did you go with Squarespace in the end?
  
  Reply
Kit Williams 8 years ago

Hello!! ---- Very disappointed! with my newly acquired knowledge I delved into Square Space to begin the process of building my web site but nipped out again to read some personal reviews on those who had already done so ------

Oh! My!! Won't work with Safari!! (what I use) you didn't mention that!!!
but perhaps it wasn't relevant to the comparison study.

So many people saying that the customer support is lousy

others saying that they take the money but do not give any help

I do appreciate that you were making an unbiased comparison of SquareSpace and Wix --- and not necessarily a review of actual use!

The number of people using Square Space giving VERY negative feedback of their experiences has really given me cold feet.

Reply
1 reply
- charlie Carmichael 8 years ago
  
  Hi Kit,
  
  Sorry to hear you're having issues.
  
  Squarespace does support Safari but only on a Mac I'm afraid. Our recent study found that Squarespace had an overall satisfaction rating of 90%, so it's surprising to hear your feedback but we can appreciate how off putting it can be to read bad reviews of a builder. If you're looking for a something that offers sleek and stylish templates, intuitive mobile responsiveness, and full customization, then we'd definitely recommend Squarespace. If you're still unsure however, why not check out some of our other reviews, such as Wix and Weebly, before making your final call.
  
  I hope that helps you find your perfect builder!
  
  Charlie
  
  Reply
AJH 8 years ago

I really regret creating my online store with SquareSpace. I'm based in California and the sales tax rules are so complex and there's no way to have them automatically calculated in SquareSpace. I have to enter them manually, which is time consuming and easily done incorrectly. The offer Stripe as a payment option, but the version they offer doesn't allow for integration with companies like TaxJar who can automatically calculate the sales tax for each purchase. I would strongly discourage anyone in California from creating an online store using SquareSpace...go with Shopify or the like. It'll save you loads of time and potential tax issues/fines.

Reply
1 reply
- Fred Isaac 8 years ago
  
  Hi AJH,
  
  Thanks for the really interesting insight! In our experience Shopify is certainly a market leader when it comes to payment options. SquareSpace does have a discussion that might help if you're still looking for answers: https://answers.squarespace.com/questions/68621/how-to-handle-local-sales-tax-rates.html
  
  Fred
  
  Reply
Debbie Lanyon 8 years ago

Hi
I currently have an Etsy store and want to have my own website. I've been reading all the reviews and onfo which is really informative, thanks????but still don't know which is best for me. I want to sell & for it to look good. Any advise would be appreciated
Thanks Debbie

Reply
1 reply
- Fred Isaac 8 years ago
  
  Hi Debbie,
  
  You've certainly come to the right place.
  
  I would suggest scanning our comparison chart for ecommerce builders: https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/comparisons/ and also try taking our four-question quiz: https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/quiz/start/
  
  Together they should point you in the right direction.
  
  A general rule of thumb we like to recommend is that if you want to sell more than 10 products, Shopify is the best bet for starting an online store.
  
  Good luck!
  
  Fred
  
  Reply
Tamimi 8 years ago

I cannot stress enough on how easy, simplified and straight to the point using squarespace is! I was able to get my website up and running (from buying the Domain name, to choosing a theme and filling the content) in 2 hours only!

Reply
Jeanne 8 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

I love Squarespace for the reason you listed below - it has such stylish and elegant templates. That said, I want clients to be able to book and pay for appointments online. What do you think of Squarespace for that purpose?

Reply
1 reply
- Fred Isaac 8 years ago
  
  Hi Jeanne,
  
  It sounds like you need Squarespace's integration with Acuity Scheduling. There's more information here: https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002308008-Adding-online-booking-to-your-site
  
  In our experience, Wix is the market leader when it comes to fully-integrated booking features. Just take a look at WixHotels!
  
  Hope this helps,
  
  Fred
  
  Reply
Alison Armstrong 8 years ago

I have had my site with Squarespace since 2009 and I've loved it--until now. My site is down and their email-only customer service tells me it will be DAYS until I can expect a response. DAYS. My business website, upon which I depend for my livelihood, will be down for DAYS. If your site is just for fun, then by all means. But think twice if you're serious. Their front-line customer service people have quick, friendly answers to easy questions that appear in their knowledgbase. But when it comes to something really going wrong, their "experts" are shockingly overwhelmed. They claim that they take downtime seriously, but in reality they don't have the staff to do so.

Reply
1 reply
- Natasha Willett 8 years ago
  
  Hi Alison,
  Thank you for sharing your current experience with the rest of the community.
  Your difficulty with SquareSpace’s customer service dose strike me as a little odd and something I have not heard of before. Have you been able to identify the cause to your site being down? When you spoke to SquareSpace were they able to communicate the reason back to you?
  
  I’d personally chase them for a more immediate response, potentially trying their live chat function. You can find the live chat support page here (just note that the live chat only works between the hours of 4AM and 8PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday):
  
  Hopefully, you will be able to reach someone much quicker and then get to the bottom of the issues.
  I hope you get this resolved soon.
  Natasha.
  
  Reply
Jennifer 8 years ago

Hi and thank you for the great review. I have to say - after seeing the Keanu ad during the superbowl - it made me research the site. I am completely NEW to starting a website and blogging. My goal is to start up a blog by the end of Feb. So far I've researched Wordpress and Squarespace - but it's all so confusing!! Do you have any articles about blog sites in general - maybe a comparison of all of them?? Any recommendations from anyone would be helpful!

Jennifer

Reply
1 reply
- Tom Watts 8 years ago
  
  Hi Jennifer,
  
  Great to hear that Keanu has piqued your interest in building a website ;)
  
  It's definitely a great time to get involved as you have loads of options at your fingertips.
  
  You can opt for user-friendly, drag-and-drop website builders like Wix, Weebly and Squarespace if you're not too technical and don't know how to code.
  
  Or you can opt for a more sophisticated platform like WordPress, which is a lot more customizable BUT requires you to have at least a basic knowledge and understanding of coding to really max out its potential.
  
  A good place to start comparing website builders is our comparison chart.
  
  Hope it helps + good luck with your building!
  - Tom
  
  Reply
CBean 8 years ago

Hi,

We have a medium sized fashion label (we currently stock in
50 stores internationally. Our brand doesn't sell online and
won't as it's specialist and women who buy our product want
To try it on.

We used to be on shopify but changed to square space about 4 years ago as we were not selling online and we wanted to make image / collections changes online ourselves . We have had a quieter year and took consultancy advice. One of the opinions was that our site looked 'amature' because it is on SS and that we shouldn't change back for better SEO. Is this true or just industry design snobbery ? Would a consumer really know ? And surely SEO is the quality of your content and back links?

Your opinion would be greatly valued !

Reply
1 reply
- Tom Watts 8 years ago
  
  Hi CBean,
  
  I'm actually really surprised to hear that people have said that about your website because it's built on Squarespace!
  
  For what it's worth, I find that Squarespace has some of the most incredible and stylish template designs of ANY website builder. Both my housemates agree - one's a photographer and the other is a graphic designer, and both have Squarespace portfolios...
  
  The only thing I can suggest (if you haven't already), is to go into the Squarespace editor and remove the 'powered by Squarespace' text block form the bottom of your chosen template. It should just be click -> edit -> delete. This is the only way a consumer would know your site is built on Squarespace, unless they really looked into the page source code - but who really does that?!
  
  As for SEO, Squarespace is generally pretty well regarded. They even provide helpful SEO tips to guide your optimization efforts. But otherwise you've hit the nail on the head - SEO is about creating high quality content for your desired audience and building a great backlink profile. The fact you're aware of this tells me you're in pretty good shape already.
  
  If you don't plan on selling, you should be absolutely fine on Squarespace. Maybe test out a redesign with a different template every few years, but otherwise you should be golden!
  
  Hope that helps :)
  
  - Tom
  (ps. maybe they're just jealous of your great-looking site? Who knows!)
  
  Reply
Annie 9 years ago

Thank you. Informative article and really valuable tips too

Reply
Henry 9 years ago

Great article, very informative. Just what I was looking for!

Reply
1 reply
- Tom Watts 9 years ago
  
  Hi Henry,
  
  Great to hear you found the review useful.
  
  Hope it makes your decision easier.
  
  - Tom
  
  Reply
Gary 9 years ago

Great article! I'm looking into building a website simply and as easily and am new to website building as a whole. The points you've touched on here have been really informative. I don't mind a little bit of a learning curve, I think that would probably allow for more personal customization and add to the uniqueness of the site as opposed to a 'pure' drag-and-drop system while also making it accessible for someone like me who doesn't want to spend time or have the money to do it the 'hard' way. Thanks for sharing this review!

Reply
1 reply
- Tom Watts 9 years ago
  
  Hi Gary,
  
  Great to hear you found the review so useful!
  
  I think you're right to point out that having a learning curve would probably lead to more impressive (and rewarding) results down the line.
  
  If you haven't settled on a builder just yet, I'd recommend checking out our website builder comparison chart too as it may give you so more food for thought.
  
  Thanks for reading,
  - Tom
  
  Reply
gk questions 9 years ago

awesome article. Thank you for sharing such valuable info.

Reply
Clive Dorman 9 years ago

No mobile editor is a deal breaker for me. Such a shame - I was totally in but for a music artist, mobile use is pretty much all the traffic to the site and how it looks/functions is more important than desktop

Reply
1 reply
- Tom Watts 9 years ago
  
  Hi Clive,
  
  I understand your frustrations. More and more people are using their mobile phones and tablets to browse the internet, so having a website that looks good on the go is really important.
  
  Yes it's frustrating that Squarespace doesn't have a dedicated mobile editor, like Wix for example, but it does ensure all of its templates are mobile responsive. This should ensure that your Squarespace website optimizes itself for any and all screen sizes.
  
  You may need to play around in the editor for a little bit to tweak everything just right, but the LEGO-style 'content block' system that Squarespace uses makes it quite easy to move content around if necessary.
  
  It'd be worth giving Squarespace's free trial a go and seeing how you get on.
  
  Hope that helps,
  - Tom
  
  Reply
Tom Watts 9 years ago

Hi there,

Great to hear you've found the discussion so useful!

Feel free to share if you think others could benefit too.

Thanks for reading,
- Tom

Reply
Tom Watts 9 years ago

Hi LensTrek,

Thanks for joining the discussion and flagging up some areas where we could improve upon.

To answer your query, Squarespace is a good platform for more personal photography sites as the templates are very sleek and beautiful, while the image upload + selection process is very easy and intuitive.

One thing to be aware of though is that Squarespace can be a little sluggish sometimes if you are uploading lots of large, hi-res photos at the same time, which might prove to be a real time-drain if you intend on uploading large albums for clients.

We've a discussion on the best website builders for photographers, which might prove helpful.

- Tom

Reply
Patricia Woodard 9 years ago

This information was enormously useful in helping me to decide how to proceed with a website redesign for a non-profit. Thank you!

Reply
1 reply
- Tom Watts 9 years ago
  
  Hello Patricia,
  
  It's great to hear that you found the discussion helpful!
  
  Feel free to share on your social channels if you like - you never know who might benefit!
  
  Best of luck with your website + thanks for reading,
  - Tom
  
  Reply
Erick G 9 years ago

Hello,

Thank you for the review. It helped me get to know better about SquareSpace besides all the places they advertise at through sponsorship.
My Q is, Do you think It's a good option for doctors? I'm a MD who specializes in pediatrics and have a very personalized private practice. I ask this because you didn't mention us (doctors) on your "Is Squarespace ideal for you" section.
I'm really interested in your opinion as experts.
Thanks!

Reply
1 reply
- Tom Watts 9 years ago
  
  Hi Erick,
  
  I'm not sure how helpful this is to say, but it really does depend on your needs!
  
  Think about what you want your users to be able to do on your website. Is it there just for information purposes or do you want to accept bookings, or maybe some other functionality?
  
  In your situation, I would recommend signing up for a free trial with Squarespace and then having a browse to familiarize yourself with what can be achieved. You should also have a look through the app marketplace to see if there are plugins that can help you achieve the functionality you want to.
  
  It might be worth considering your options too though as Squarespace is normally used for clean, image-rich websites such as portfolios - not always. but this is where Squarespace tends to lend itself to better.
  
  Wix would be another good option to consider, as it offers a lot of similar functions to Squarespace and the editor is more intuitive to use.
  
  Hope that helps,
  - Tom
  
  Reply
kate breyer 9 years ago

Hi Jeremy: I have site hosted elsewhere. I assume Squarespace has to host. How does that work with present site?

Our site is non ecommerce, visitors encouraged to call or email? Is the transaction fee 2% for ecommerce sites I presume?

Reply
1 reply
- Tom Watts 9 years ago
  
  Hi kate,
  
  There are two types hosting: web hosting and domain hosting. Web hosting is where your website content is stored, which in this case will be Squarespace if you use their web builder.
  
  On the other hand we've got domain hosting, which provides your website domain name and is more like a street address that directs people. If using a Squarespace premium plan then you can use your existing domain name or purchase one to use with your site.
  
  You're also correct in your assumption that transaction fees are for ecommerce sites only. There should be no reason why users cannot contact you as long as you provide them with the information they need.
  
  Hope that helps,
  - Tom
  
  Reply
Tom Watts 9 years ago

Hi Doron,

Good to hear you found the review helpful.

Unfortunately Squarespace removed the in-built forum feature that was a part of Sqaurespace 5 and so far haven't shown any indication that they plan on bringing it back - they might, but they tend not to discuss new features before releasing them. A potential fix would be to research 3rd party plugins, it's not ideal but could solve your issue.

As an alternative you could look into either Wix or Weebly, who both offer the ability to create forums without the need for additional 3rd party plugins.

On the customer support front, it really depends how you define 'user friendly'. Squarespace provide a very in-depth support section on their website that covers a wide-range of issues across different skill levels and also allow users to submit tickets if their issue isn't covered elsewhere. There are also Squarespace 'Answer Forums' in which users can ask questions that are answered by the Squarespace community. This is usually enough for most users as the level of depth included in these answers is pretty good.

However, if you're looking for phone support then I'm afraid Squarespace doesn't offer this (they even have a dedicated answer in their support section explaining why!).

On the other hand, Weebly offers online chat, email and phone support, while Wix offers email and phone support which helps to add a level of real-time support not offered by Squarespace.

Give our Wix and Weebly reviews a read and see what you think. If the forum is your end goal, I would definitely point you towards Wix over Squarespace.

- Tom

Reply
Doron Antrim 9 years ago

Very helpful review, Jeremy, but I have two questions.

1. I want to create a site that will be a forum, primarily, but will grow into a large one. Appearance is less important than ease of use. Would you recommend squarespace or another program?

2. How "user friendly" is the squarespace customer support service; can you call and get someone?

Thank you

Reply
Yvan adams 9 years ago

Hi, helpful review.

I'm still not able to determine if Squarespace has feature that allows us to build a membership base and send newsletters like its possible with a WordPress platform.

Could you please clarify on those 2 aspects please?

Thank you

Reply
1 reply
- Tom Watts 9 years ago
  
  Hey Yvan,
  
  Glad you found the review helpful.
  
  You can actually do both of those things on Squarespace - but you'll need to look to third-parties to achieve it!
  
  I'd recommend that you look into Sentry Login. They are a premium membership tool that can integrate with Squarespace. From my understanding they can turn your website into a paid membership website too.
  
  For newsletters you could sign up to Mailchimp. You can add a newsletter subscribe section by linking your Mailchimp account with a 'Newsletter Block' on your Squarespace site. There is a detailed guide in the Squarespace Support pages - just click here and search 'mailchimp'
  
  - Tom
  
  Reply
Jeff Jennings 9 years ago

Great review, very helpful. Thank you!

Reply
Deborah Shane 9 years ago

Hi there, I'm very interested in squarespace for a bridal accessory store I already have. I like the SEO reviews and that they have clean urls, I believe. I'm Changing from Weebly, Is there a price chart that says what you get and what you don't for the different premium pricings? Like the 3 highest priced services? I think they have pro, premium and super premium, or something like that. I would like to use one of the lower priced ones and still have what I need. Not going over 600 products. Oh since they only do Strip as a payment possessor, can one put ones own business PayPal button?

Reply
1 reply
- Tom Watts 9 years ago
  
  Hi Deborah,
  
  Squarespace have a sliding price plan similar to what you've probably encountered on Weebly. This Squarespace pricing review should prove handy - we've even got an exclusive discount coupon code for you which will save you some money when you decide to go premium.
  
  I've got some good news for you too - Squarespace now offers Paypal integration as well as Stripe, so you should have no problem getting paid. There's more info available on this helpful Squarespace ecommerce support page.
  
  - Tom
  
  Reply
Kate Powell 9 years ago

You might want to update this. SS does offer paypal and other options.

Reply
1 reply
- Tom Watts 9 years ago
  
  Yep, PayPal is now fully integrated with Squarespace’s ecommerce functions! I've added that to the main article too, thanks Kate.
  
  - Tom
  
  Reply
Emmanuel 9 years ago

Thanks You Jeremy for all the very useful info.

Reply
Steve Adams 9 years ago

Hello Jeremy,

I watched your video on Squarespace, where you talk about their “stunning beautiful templates" and say: "You’d have to spend thousands of dollars to pay someone to create a template like that, but it’s available from Squarespace for a low monthly fee."

If you paid someone thousands of dollars to create a template, it would show YOUR food and YOUR restaurant. A template that shows the food from some other, random restaurant isn't worth anything. Stock photos are the kiss of death for a web site.

I noticed that Pixar feels the same way. Their Squarespace site for Cars 3 doesn't use a Squarespace template. Everything on the site is their content - as it should be for any site.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 9 years ago
  
  Hi Steve,
  
  Thanks for your comment. Part of the video just showcases some templates with stock images that comes default as part of the templates. You can swap them out with your own images (or any content) as you wish. So you have complete flexibility to do that. The images are just there as a starting point. You can delete it and insert your own.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Steve Adams 9 years ago
  
  Hello Jeremy,
  
  Thanks for the response.
  
  If you wanted to use Squarespace to build a site but had no interest in their stock images, is there something like an "empty" template to start with, or do you even need a template?
  
  Steve
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 9 years ago
  
  Hi Steve,
  
  I'm actually not sure if they have blank templates or not. I haven't seen one (I know Wix offer this).
  
  Have you asked their customer support team? Even if they don't, you can always swap out their stock images with your own. That is the intent anyway as most users want to customize the look and feel of their own websites.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Steve Adams 9 years ago
  
  Hello Jeremy,
  
  Thanks for your response.
  
  I notice that Squarespace specialists charge a minimum of $2500 to build a Web site, or $95/hr, but Wix and Weebly "specialists" start at $15/hr. Do you understand why Squarespace specialists cost so much more?
  
  Thanks
  Steve
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 9 years ago
  
  I can't say for sure. Perhaps the specialists that work with Squarespace are much higher end? Or perhaps they are located in developed countries (much more expensive than those located in developing countries)?
  
  As always when evaluating designers / developers, be sure to probe them with questions, ask for examples, how they resolve unexpected circumstances, etc.
  
  We have a guide on how to find good freelancers. You might find it helpful.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Veronica 9 years ago

This was super helpful! I´m a designer going freelance and need to build a website to showcase my portfolio y services, and this definitely help me decide which way to go. Thank you!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 9 years ago
  
  Hi Veronica,
  
  Thanks for your comment. Squarespace is a really good website builder to showcase portfolio. Give Squarespace a try and see how you like it!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Michael 9 years ago

Hello,

Thanks for all the information - I just have a quick question. I run a small restaurant that delivers mainly to college dorms in my area. Is it possible, with squarespace, for me to customize the delivery options so that it shows the dorms in a drop down menu? Or maybe there is some way to edit the code so that I have this option. Basically I want to only allow delivery to certain dorms on campus and none of them have a standard address.

Thanks

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 9 years ago
  
  Hey Michael,
  
  If you just want to create dedicated menu bar items / tabs to display the locations where you deliver, that's not a problem at all with Squarespace.
  
  Just create a new, separate page for each dorm and each of these pages can have a place on your menu bar.
  
  I'm not sure if that answers your question?
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Billy Geko 9 years ago

Hi, good info :)
If I use this hosting and build an awesome site but decide to get hosting elsewhere, can I take my site to another web hosting server?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 9 years ago
  
  Hello Billy,
  
  Thanks for commenting. With Squarespace, you do have the option of exporting a lot of your content into WordPress. See Point 9 above for more details.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Lynsey Hanratty 9 years ago

Great review Jeremy, pros and cons included, many thanks!

Reply
Alex W. Zaleski 9 years ago

Excuse me. I have a serious question. And it requires a serious answer. I am a intermediate photographer, recently upgrading to a full-frame DSLR camera, and am inquiring as to which site is best to pay for. I have enough saved for a one year subscription. I want to get my photography better noticed and marketed.
My question is...which of the following would you experienced users have a beginner, try: 1) Squarespace. 2) 500px. 3) Format.
After reading extensive reviews...and cancelling-out other alternatives. These seem to be the three best. So...which would you pick. Or would you say that any of the three are worth investing into.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 9 years ago
  
  Hi Alex,
  
  If you haven't done so yet, I think it's worth signing for all of them to test them out directly and see which one you prefer working with. Generally speaking, all website builders will have a free plan or at least a limited time trial offer so you can check out their tools and platform to see if they are suitable for your needs.
  
  Once you've done that and narrow your choices, if you still can't decide which one you prefer, then take a best guess and sign up with that platform on a month to month basis, so you won't be obligated to pay 1 year's worth of fees.
  
  This way, this gives you more time to explore using the website builder and also gives you the flexibility to cancel your plan if you happen to change your mind.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Estela 9 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for your great analysis. If I have an external Australian domain already that is a .com.au , will that connect correctly to a Squarespace site? Also, I think I saw in one of your articles that Paypal is now an integrated payment system for Squarespace sites, is that right?

Thanks,
Estela.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 9 years ago
  
  Thanks, Estela.
  
  Yes it should be able to connect to a Squarespace site, and PayPal is fully integrated with Squarespace's ecommerce functions!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Ursula 10 years ago

Hi Jeremy, thanks for the review, as someone who is new at this, your notes helped a lot.

A friend of mine asked me to help her build her website but she's worried that whatever content/pictures that she wants on there, she'll no longer own the rights to it. How do I find this out from Squarespace? Or other site builders? Who owns what??

Cheers,

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hey Ursula,
  
  This is a good question and I'm sure a lot of people are wondering about the same thing so I'm glad you asked.
  
  I'm not a lawyer, but my view is that whatever you upload into a website builder (in this case, Squarespace), you retain all rights to the content.
  
  The main and logical reason is that Squarespace (or whichever website builder you use) will not want to be held accountable for your content. Let's say if a person inserts copyright infringed, or content with bad / terrible taste into his/her website. The website builder would not want to be responsible for such content.
  
  If you read Squarespace's terms of services (link at the bottom of their website), under Clause 2, it clearly states that "When you upload content into Squarespace, you still own it."
  
  Hope this explains things.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
KB 10 years ago

Jeremy, many thanks for your review.
I'm curious about your take on this if you don't mind.
Ive been researching website builders for some time and have discovered most reviews-like yours to be strongly in favor of it and I see they have won numerous awards for their customer service.
I was very close to moving forward with it, until I discovered a website that was established solely as a platform for customers to leave reviews about companies.
Squarespace had about 150 reviews and received extremely poor ratings. Review after review expressed great frustration about its usability and gave strong warnings to potential customers considering using it.

People loved the design but said it was a nightmare to use.
Much like one of the comments you received a bit ago stating the same thing.
Out of 155 reviews it received a trust score of 2.2 out of 10 according to this website.

I say all this not to put people off, as I myself are still strongly considering Squarespace. But Im doing so with much greater hesitancy.

I find it very confusing to find a seemingly legitimate site with so many negative reviews from users, yet mostly read only great reviews elsewhere.

I guess Im just curious to hear your thoughts about this. I was leaning away from Squarespace but then came upon your review and am now once again reconsidering based on your strong review.
Its not my intention to spread negative reviews which is the reason Im not naming the website, but I can if you would like to see the comments yourself.

Thanks very much.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hello KB,
  
  Thanks for your comment and I appreciate it.
  
  I suppose one of the best ways forward is to test out their website builder yourself. They offer a 14 day free trial and I believe this could be extended to 21 days. So this should give you plenty of time to build a test website to see if you enjoy using their website building tools.
  
  In my own experience (and others have also confirmed this as well), I've had a good time using Squarespace and while there were some (very) minor glitches once in a while, they were not severe at all. After all, technology is never perfect. Even my iPhone acts up once in a blue moon. I enjoyed working with Squarespace very much.
  
  But I'd encourage you to sign up to a trial account and test them out for yourself!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Michael Riou 10 years ago

Tell me more about Integrated accounting via xero for example: can I have this linked directly from PayPal donations and it send out a receipt

Plus can it then be linked to a membership list to send out newsletters

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hello Michael,
  
  If you use one of Squarespace's "Online Store" plans, whenever you make a transaction through checkout process, the transaction data will be transmitted to your Xero Accounting account to help you keep track of your "sales" data.
  
  I'm not 100% sure how it works with donations, but as long as the financial payment is processed through the checkout process on your website, the data should flow through to Xero.
  
  Also, Squarespace's ecommerce plans have the capability to be synchronized with MailChimp, which is a leading newsletter software. So when someone goes through your checkout process, you can add an option so your visitors can select to be added to the mailing list.
  
  If you visit Squarespace's support page, and type in "MailChimp" into the search box, you'll see how it works.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Bobby 10 years ago

I work for a small local home builder and I'm looking at taking over the reigns of our website. We currently have a national company doing the maintenance of our website. Over the past few months I've learned a lot about how to change items on the site. My question is; what is the security like on Squarespace? I'm nervous about us getting hacked and being the "guy" everyone will look at for answers. Thanks, Bobby

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hello Bobby,
  
  Good question. Squarespace's security is good and the best part about using a hosted website builder like Squarespace is that they have a dedicated team to manage security for you, so you don't have to.
  
  They'll maintain, upgrade, troubleshoot security across their platform.
  
  Further, they have a 24/7 support team to help you, which is why they charge a monthly fee for you to use Squarespace to build your website.
  
  Hope this helps.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Bobby 10 years ago
  
  Sure does! Thanks so much and Merry Christmas!
  
  Reply
L.G. Bruton 10 years ago

Hi, great review, I am really considering using this service, just wanted to know if Squarespace allow you to create a .com domain?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hi LG,
  
  You can most definitely connect a custom domain name to a website built with Squarespace. There are 2 ways to do this:
  
  1) Purchase your domain name directly from Squarespace which will cost $20 per year. The convenience is that you can connect it to your website very easily as the domain name and your website are all managed by Squarespace.
  
  2) Purchase a domain name from a registrar such as GoDaddy. You'll have to connect it from GoDaddy to Squarespace and Squarespace has tutorials on how to do this. The benefit is that you can disconnect the domain name from the website at any time, if you want to connect it to another website. The annual cost of a domain name from GoDaddy is about $12.
  
  We have a domain name guide that will go into this topic in more depth.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Randi. Silverman 10 years ago

I found this information very helpful. Iwill be using this website builder for myself. I'm sure I'll be contacting you once I'm ready.

Reply
Erinn 10 years ago

Thank you for a great review, Jeremy! With the whole Google / SSL rollout, do you know if SS offers an SSL with their Personal or Business accounts? They mention they do on their site, but I couldn't find which account.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hi Erinn,
  
  I think you use SSL for all Squarespace plans. Just go to their support center and search for "SSL" and you'll find the tutorial.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Cali 10 years ago

They charge a 2% transaction fee PLUS the 3% Stripe fee. Crazy expensive!!!!! This is all in addition to the $200 per year for a business website? How do they actually get businesses to use them? I am in the process of looking for cheaper alternatives now that I realized this.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hi Cali,
  
  It could add up, so that's why if you're running a higher volume online store, definitely upgrade to one of their Online Store plans where the transaction fee is 0%.
  
  Alternatively, you could consider Wix (no transaction fee), or a more powerful ecommerce builder such as Shopify (use their Shopify Payment option to reduce transaction fees to 0%) or BigCommerce.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Andres Anguix 10 years ago

Thanks for the article. Im based in Spain, will SS website hosting download quick enough with the servers in the US?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hey Andres,
  
  Yes it will be fine. Website builders nowadays "store" your website content in data centers all around the world. So when someone visits your website in Spain, it will "pull" your website data from a data center located in Europe, not in the US. If someone visits your website from Japan (for example), it will pull your data from a data center located in Asia.
  
  This ensures that your website will load faster, as compared to transferring data from the US.
  
  Hope this makes sense!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Warwick 10 years ago

Thanks so much for this, really helped me out, very concise, well written and easy to follow, cheers

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Thank you for your comment, Warwick!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Amanda Stokes 10 years ago

Thank for the article. My domain host (Network Solutions) is telling me my Squarespace site is bad for businesses and it would take $1000's to promote it. They're dime-a-dozen and not good for SEO. "I need them to build a new site for me" to make it most optimal for Google. To be sure, for my niche business, I am insistent on getting to NUMBER ONE on Google, but I call bologna. I can't find anything to back up their claims. Thoughts?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hi Amanda,
  
  If Network Solutions is telling you that they can get your website up to rank as #1 on Google searches, I'd be quite careful about that claim.
  
  I happen to think that Squarespace is a really good website builder, for the reasons I've discussed above. You can also test them out for free for 14 days and get a feel of how their technology work, to see if you are comfortable with using them.
  
  If you want to achieve a higher ranking in search results, there really isn't a "shortcut" to achieve that. It takes time, effort and a lot of perseverance - just like anything in life! We have a website builder SEO guide here that will shed a bit more light on this topic.
  
  But I'd suggest you take Network Solution's advice with a grain of salt.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jun 10 years ago

Hi Jeremy

1) I am in the UK and most of the people visiting my website will be in the UK. Will SS website hosting be quick enough with their servers located in the US? I want my viewers to have a good user experience in the UK.
2) I read somewhere that you can't view SS websites from certain mobile or internet browsers like safari which all iPhone users have, isn't this a big disadvantage in choosing SS?

Many thanks
Jun

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hello Jun,
  
  1) Squarespace websites load just fine in the UK. Squarespace uses CDN (global content delivery network) which simply means that your website content is distributed to servers all over world. So when someone in the UK tries to load your website, your content will be "served" from the UK servers since it is closest to your visitor located in the UK. So your website will not be loaded from the US servers. Does that make sense?
  
  2) I don't think that's true. As far as I know, Squarespace websites can be viewed across all mobile devices and mobile browsers. What you can do to verify this yourself, is to sign up to a test account, publish a test website and just try to load it with your mobile devices. You should see that your website will load perfectly!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Cheryl 10 years ago

If I register a domain name through Squarespace do I own it completely? I've been told there are some cases in which you do not own your domain.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hello Cheryl,
  
  Once you register for a domain name and pay for it, you own the domain name. Squarespace will only host it for you (so it exists online, so to speak).
  
  I'm referring to a custom domain name, though (such as our domain name - websitebuilderexpert.com).
  
  If you are only using Squarespace's subdomain name (such as abc.squarespace.com), then yes, Squarespace does own that domain name.
  
  Hope this make sense. We have a more comprehensive discussion about domain names here.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Archana Rajagopal 10 years ago

Hey Jeremy!

Thanks for the awesome reviews. I've been combing through your website for the past couple of days so I can get off the " Squarespace/ Something else" fence and you've been immensely helpful!

The only bit that is still keeping me on the fence is my location. I'm a graphic designer / illustrator based in India, and I want my website to act as a portfolio as well as to give my audience the option to hire me. Right now I don't think I'll be selling stuff online, but I would definitely be doing so in the near future.

Considering this( Squarespace doesn't support e-commerce in India yet), do you think it would be wise for me to opt for Squarespace? (I know nothing about coding so Wordpress seems pretty daunting)

Thanks again for all the awesome resources. :)

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hi Archana,
  
  Thanks for your comment. If you really like using Squarespace, one option is to combine Shopify's Buy Button with your Squarespace site.
  
  Shopify is one of the best hosted ecommerce online shop builder right now (see our review about them here), and they offer the ability for you to "piggyback" their ecommerce tools to use with other website builders (such as Squarespace).
  
  So at the end of the day, you can use Squarespace to build your website, and when you are ready to sell products / services, you can bolt on Shopify's selling tools. We have more details about that approach here.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Torrey Antone 10 years ago

Is Squarespace able to host 3rd party sites/apps?

Is it possible for Squarespace to be able to host a FTP page in the design?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hey Torrey,
  
  You can insert 3rd party widgets into your Squarespace website by using their "code block".
  
  But just beware that while most reputable widgets will work most of the time, there is a slight chance that a widget may somehow conflict with Squarespace since external widgets and Squarespace are developed independently. In such case, you'll have to reach out to the widget developer to see if they can help troubleshoot.
  
  Lastly, you can't access Squarespace via FTP. If having full customization control is important to you, WordPress might be the way to go. Squarespace makes building websites easy and code free. But if you want more technical access, then this website builder might not be suitable for you.
  
  We do have an article comparing WordPress and Squarespace here - you might find it interesting.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Vicki Milburn 10 years ago

Hi Jeremy,
Great review! I have a few questions....
We are based in Australia and are launching a new tour company taking tours to Africa specifically targeting the creative arts / music and dance and are looking at importing handmade goods to also sell on behalf of the locals. I have limited design and technology experience so
A. do you think SS would be easy enough to do myself?
B. As we can sell products through the site, is that easy to set up?
C. We require a few different email addresses, is this available via SS?
D. Can we link updates to our FB and IG pages or vice versa?
E. I think you answered this but can people fill in a form to request more information or make an actual booking?
Thank-you, I appreciate your time.
May you have a blessed weekend!
Regards,
Vicki

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hello Vicki,
  
  A. Squarespace is pretty easy to use, especially if you don't have any technical skills. Their template designs are beautiful and professional to start off with already, so you don't have to be a gifted designer!
  
  The best thing to do is sign up to a trial account and test them out yourself. That will give you a good idea if you want to work with them.
  
  B. Yes you can sell products (physical and digital products).
  
  C. Squarespace partners with Google Mail, so you can get custom email addresses through Google (directly through Squarespace). It's about $4 per email address per month. We use custom Google mail ourselves and it works great.
  
  D. If you publish a new blog post, you can share the blog post on Facebook as each blog post has social sharing buttons. However, you won't be able to share blog posts on Instagram (for obvious reasons). But you can create an image for your blog post and share that on IG separately. Squarespace does have IG sharing button for your entire website (not individual blog posts). So you can insert that so people can click on it and follow you on IG.
  
  E. Squarespace has an "Event" tool so you can display calendar with upcoming events with details. You can also use their ecommerce tools to sell "services". So you can sell tickets to events that way. Best to to see if that works for you is to sign up for a trial account and dig into that tool!
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Ulrich 10 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

last August you helped me to finalize my decision for Squarespace instead of getting into Wordpress. Thank you!

Well, it took a lot longer than I had expected to built my website. Several times I was stuck, had drawbacks, was upset about the limitations of Squarespace’s templates etc. To get the style and functionality I wanted, I had to adopt and inject code snippets from answers.squarespace and buy code for the bilingual solution.

Before I chose Squarespace I looked into specialized website builders for photographers and into wordpress. I had a bilingual site in mind with a stock photo section which links to my agency istockphoto and a portfolio to present my work. I discarded Wordpress since I don’t have any coding knowledge and I have learnt that a Wordpress site consists of elements of different sources which might cause problems if they don’t work together properly.

Eventually I opted for Squarespace not only because it offered a way to include a second language. I get (almost) everything from one source, updates, hosting and SEO included, a great and fast email-support, a great knowledge base including explanatory videos and not to mention the beautiful templates.

Despite all obstacles I am now happy with my Squarespace site at www.ufw-photography.com

For those who are interested: I use the Marquee-Template.

Without the help of the following resources and people my website would not exist.
Jeremy from www.websitebuilderexpert.com – which helped to clarify and finalize my decision for a website builder.
www.multilingualizer.com – for the code to create a multilingual website
www.usingmyhead.com/squarespace-7-template-comparison-chart – shedded light on the squarespace template jungle
Mike Coffey’s book: www.usingmyhead.com/squarespace-help-book – helped a great deal when I was totally stuck.
answers.squarespace.com – where I found code snippets provided by helpful forum members
Squarespace support – friendly, supportive and fast
https://cookie-bar.eu – great solution to the EU cookie law

Reply
3 replies
- Nick 9 years ago
  
  Hello Ulrich,
  
  Could you explain me how you got your header to be sticky ?
  I've been looking for hours and it seems you could only get to the result with a CSS snippet. Right ?
  
  Reply
- Trina 10 years ago
  
  Omg, Ulrich your comment just assisted me in taking my coaching business to the next level! I love the fact of having your website in different languages!
  
  Reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Thanks for sharing all the awesome resources, Ulrich!
  
  Reply
Quinton 10 years ago

I currently just launched a new clothing line and need a website. There are so many to choose from and I see lots of them have hidden fees. Which would be the best for me to choose from. Thanks for any pointers.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hello Quinton,
  
  Some website builders do have hidden fees, but if you look at the website builders that we discuss, they're very transparent and upfront about the fees that they charge. All the fees are outlined on their pricing pages or discussed in our reviews.
  
  Some of the leading website builders include Wix, Squarespace and Weebly. You can see our comparison chart for them here.
  
  If you are looking for ecommerce website builders (so you can sell your clothes online), then have a look at Shopify.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Bridget 10 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

Thank you SO MUCH for your assistance, suggestions and time. This is so INCREDIBLY helpful...and VERY MUCH needed!

I love the clean sophisticatd lines of Squarspace. I believe that as an on-line business owner, visual appeal is more than 90% of its success. Getting them through the door is essential. The name of a business has to hook potential customers. This being said, I still am torn as which website builder is best for my needs: Shopify or Squarespace?

I have an on-line candy business called Sugar Crack!, that is an omage to "Breaking Bad" and it's character, Walter White/Heisenberg. The chacter and I share parallel similarities, however, Walter sold meth; I sell candy that LOOKS like meth. (Actually, it's large shards of hardened sugar that looks like broken glass and comes in various colors and flavors. Each flavor combo has a different color and is named after a "street name" for crystal meth like "Pink Mist", "Shazam", Smurf Dope", "Tweak", "Yellow Bam", and "Windex."

I also want to have a blog attached as well as a donor page that is similar to crowd funding. I offer my candy with merchandise with my business logo on it. The merchandise depends on the amount of the donation.

Which do you think would best suit my business needs and why?

Thank you!

Bridget

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hi Bridget,
  
  Glad our discussions have been helpful!
  
  It's really hard to give you a definitive answer as to which of Squarespace or Shopify is better for you. A key difference is that Shopify has much more advanced online store tools than Squarespace. So if you want to access more advanced tools, Shopify is probably a better candidate. But it sounds to me that your store is fairly basic as you're just selling physical products. So Squarespace might be sufficient.
  
  Another difference is that Squarespace is a drag & drop website builder, so it's easier and gives you more flexibility to re-arrange your content layout. Shopify is a bit less flexible in this regard, as their templates are set up in certain set layouts and you might have to edit some codes to configure layouts.
  
  I think the best thing to do is sign up for free trial accounts with both Squarespace and Shopify, so you can get some first hand experiences with using each platform. That's the only way you can tell which one you prefer to work with.
  
  We have a review on Shopify and a review of Squarespace's ecommerce platform here, if you haven't seen them yet.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Monda 10 years ago

Hi Jeremy! Thanks for the super review, very thorough and informative.

I hope you can help me out here. I'm planning to use SS to launch my online store - it's a handmade art business. I really love how polished SS templates look! My main issue is that I live in Cairo, so Stripe for payments is out of question. After a bit of digging, I discovered the Shopify Buy Button. I can use that to add the commerce functionality to my SS website.

My question is about Shopify-Squarespace integration. I want the products page to display my products in a grid layout. So a customer can click on an image and the 'Product Modal' view pops.

I read Shopify help on this, but it's brief since I'm not a techie, so do you know of any support or tutorial relating to this? Especially with getting a grid layout of 2 and 3 images in a row, as well as having 2 or more rows on a single page.

Thanks a million
Monda

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hey Monda,
  
  I'm not entirely sure, to be quite honest. I think the Shopify Buy Button has certain set configurations, and so if you want something that's more customized to your needs, you'll have to modify the codes to either your Squarespace template, or the Shopify Buy Button.
  
  What you can consider doing, is signing up for a free trial with Squarespace and with Shopify, and try to integrate both of them. The integration should work pretty smoothly, but I'm uncertain if the Buy Button can behave the way you want it to.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Samuel 10 years ago

Hi Jeremy, Great article. I have a question.Iam a Speaker and I want a website that I can build my entire brand from including a blog, podcast, videos, landing pages, SEO, build a list with email marketing using mail chimp/ aweber, a store etc. Can Squarespace do all this?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hey Samuel,
  
  Most website builders, including Squarespace, will allow you to insert blogs, videos, landing pages, sell products and include tools for SEO.
  
  Squarespace is one of the rare website builders that include podcasting tools for you. So if it's an important feature for you, then Squarespace works.
  
  However, they don't have a built-in email marketing tools yet, but you can definitely integrate software like MailChimp or Aweber into Squarespace.
  
  If you want a built-in newsletter tool, then take a look at Wix (their email tools is called Shoutout). However, they don't have a podcasting tool.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
George 10 years ago

I'm interested in building a very basic website that describes my service, and has a scheduling calendar so people can sign up for skype sessions and pay for the service when they sign up. Is a personal squarespace web plan good enough for that? How should I go about integrating the calendar and payment acceptance? Please recommend options. Thanks. George

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hi George,
  
  Squarespace currently don't have a built in to tool to enable your website visitors to book an appointment online on your website, and pay for the session.
  
  If that's an important feature for you, take a look at Wix (our review here) as they have a function called Wix Bookings that will cater to this specific need.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Eddie 10 years ago

Great review. Very helpful. I took a closer look at Squarespace as a result and learned that they do not except at this time, transfer of other domains. I have six domains with another web host. I can point the domains to my squarespace website but that is all. It means I have to keep paying the current webhsost as well as squarespace. Not a lot of money, but disappointing that I squarespace can't handle all my domains.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hi Eddie,
  
  Actually I think it will be cheaper if you kept your domain names outside of Squarespace!
  
  The typical domain registration renewal fee with domain name registrars (such as GoDaddy) is about $15 - $18.
  
  The domain renewal fee if you want to store your domain name with Squarespace is $20 per year.
  
  The advantage with keeping a domain name with Squarespace is that they make it easier to connect the domain name with the website. But it's not difficult to connect a domain name from a registrar to your Squarespace site, and you get to save a few dollars every year.
  
  We have more discussion about this in our domain names article here.
  
  If your current domain name registrar is charging you more than $20 per year, you might want to consider migrating your domain name to another registrar (such as GoDaddy). It could be cheaper there.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Marty Harger 10 years ago

What an incredibly thorough and helpful review for someone like me who needs to build-their-own website again and was feeling rather lost before this. Thank you!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Thanks Marty! Glad our website is helpful to you!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Uwe 10 years ago

Very detailed and helpful review. I'm thinking about starting on Squarespace for some time now and I'm pretty sure this is going to push me over the edge. Had a WordPress site for quite some time but the constant babysitting is really taking up too much time. Wanted to start over with a new template but that would require me to build the new site from scratch. And pretty soon it's gonna be outdated again. I'm sold.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Keep us posted on how you progress with Squarespace!
  
  Reply
Mike 10 years ago

Hi Jeremy- I am looking for help (paid, of course) building a non-profit school's website using Squarespace. Any recommendations?

Thanks
Mike

Reply
2 replies
- Guy Hesley 10 years ago
  
  Hey Mike,
  
  We need to create a web site for a small 30-student inner city school. Did you get an inexpensive template for that purpose?
  
  Reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hey Mike,
  
  Check out this page here, where Squaerspace lists out some specialists that you can consider hiring.
  
  Alternatively, you can always find people to hire on places like Upwork.com.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Petra 10 years ago

Hello,

Is it also possible to have this website in multiple languages? Like WPML on a WordPress website?

I have a website with a beautiful theme which I bought and working with WordPress, but the like button from Facebook doesn't work, and the blogposts under the Category Banner" does not translate, also mail chimp, SEO analytics and making back-ups on WP is quite difficult. It takes me every time hours to search on Google and Youtube for solutions and support is not always helpful.

So I am thinking at Squarespace and hope it will be easier than WordPress and that I can make this website also in different languages

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hey Petra,
  
  Take a look at this article here where we discuss how to create multiple language websites.
  
  Hope it helps!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Brett 10 years ago

Nice review but I'm wondering about integrations with email & form building services like mailchimp, wufu, and others for capturing customer information and building a database. Can you touch on that, also? Very interested in Squarespace but not sure it has good integrations such as those, and don't want to have to reinvent the wheel. Thanks!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hi Brett,
  
  Yes you can integrate Aweber and Wufoo with Squarespace. Just search / Google "Squarespace" and "Aweber", for instance, and you'll find instructions on how to do that.
  
  It's pretty straightforward, as you'll be using the "Code" block most of the time when you try to insert a non-Squarespace widget into a page.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Erin 10 years ago

Thank you so much for all of the info! You have really helped me a lot! However, I do need some advice.

I have narrowed it down to Wix or Squarespace. I am actually leaning toward Squarespace because I love the templates and some of the flexibility it has over Wix, but I am wondering about apps. I understand Wix has tons of plugin and app capability and Squarespace doesn't.

My question is how necessary are apps and plugins? Does Wix need them and Squarespace doesn't or are they just an enhancement? I'm playing with both of them but am completely new to all of this and am trying to weigh all of this before I get too far. Thanks again!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 10 years ago
  
  Hello Erin,
  
  One of the things I like about Wix is that they are constantly introducing new and advanced features (including more apps in their App Market).
  
  Having said that, Wix does offer you a lot more tools via their App Market, than what Squarespace offers you.
  
  Squarespace is more narrowly focused on design, whereas Wix is really branching out "horizontally" in offering more tools to broader user groups by including tools such as hotel booking engine, appointment booking engine, etc.
  
  However, if you don't need those apps / tools, then I would avoid complicating your decision making process! If you find everything you need with Squarespace, and that you've signed up to a free trial period and you enjoy using them, then stick with Squarespace.
  
  But if you are finding tools with Wix that you'd like to use, and that you like using them (after signing up for a free account), then give Wix a go.
  
  Just FYI, we do have an article that directly compares Squarespace and Wix here.
  
  If you haven't signed up to test accounts with either builder yet, I'd highly encourage you to do so. It's free to try, and getting some hands on experience will definitely help you with your decision making process!
  
  Hope this points you in the right direction!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Angela Pires 11 years ago

OMG, thanks so much for all of the info that you are sharing here. It is EXACTLY what I needed. I'm still digging some links that you shared. One thing that for me is not clear now, but that I'm sure I'll figure out soon, is whether the website building is included in the commerce account. Once again, thank you!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hey Angela,
  
  Glad you found our discussions helpful!
  
  To answer your question - yes, Squarespace's ecommerce plans include website building capabilities. So it includes all the features from the lower plans, including the ability to create Cover Pages.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
charlie 11 years ago

Jeremy,

Thank you for your informative breakdown of the various website-builder sites!

I am a first time website builder, and am seeking a single page website. The Squarespace "Cover Page" option sounds like a perfect choice for me. However, it is critical to my design that that single page include a fillable, submittable form (check boxes, drop down menus, text, and ability to attach files) that would submit to my email. Can such a fillable form be added to a Squares pace Cover Page? Can you suggest the best web-builder(s) to create strong and easy to create fillable forms?

Thank you!!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Charlie,
  
  It "should" work. But I'd suggest you sign up for a 14 days trial to test that out for yourself. That's the only way for you to find out for yourself!
  
  You can also check out Wix. Visit their templates page and look for the "Landing Pages" category and you view some of their templates.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Daniel 11 years ago

I used squarespace in the past. And I have now come back to it. Other options (like wordpress) can be more powerful, but they suck all the the time out of you - not on content.

But when I signed up there were only two choices for me $8 or $18. I choose the $8 as I do not need the ecommerce and 20 pages is fine. But I wish they offered the $5. I want a simple one pager.

So, I will see what I can do. You said I can have the cover page OVER the menu'ed site. I will try. I believe you.

Great review. I can use it to send to my colleagues

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Daniel,
  
  Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. It resonates with the discussion we have comparing Squarespace with WordPress here. Do share it with your colleagues if you think it's appropriate / helpful!
  
  In regards to cover pages, you can definitely use it with your existing Squarespace website. Take a look at this tutorial here.
  
  Good luck!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Michael Einstein 11 years ago

Jeremy,
Great Review and lots of helpful comments.

I recently decided to move from WordPress to Squarespace. I looked at some other platforms (such as Blogger), but they just didn't offer quite enough functionality for what I wanted).

I had been using self-hosted WordPress for over 2 years, but was just finding I was spending most of my time solving site, technical, and performance issues, instead of building content, which was always my goal.

I never went into this to become an expert is CSS, Caching software, or CDNs.. just to put some ideas and thoughts out there to try to help people.

Time will still tell if it was the right switch, since it is still early in the process.

But I think it is a mistake that many "experts" tend to dismiss platforms such as Squarespace, Blogger, or Wordpress.com - they are perfect for many "hobby bloggers" and even some business owners.

If you understand the pros/cons of the platforms, and their limitations/differences, they serve overlapping needs.

And my experience is that WordPress is MUCH more expensive then what I am paying for Squarespace. Sure, you can get a free theme and throw it on crappy shared hosting for $5 a month, but good luck with support, performance, and security.

My very "modest" WordPress site was costing me much more on a "true annual basis" then I am spending currently for my SquareSpace site. If you add in my "time", it is no comparison as to how much cheaper SS is for me.

Again, this is my experience, but it is based on almost 3 years of experience with WordPress, and there are definitely things I miss from WordPress - but so far, nothing I can't live without or haven't found a reasonable "workaround".

You can learn about my thought process as to why I made the switch in a recent post I made to my site:

https://www.emailoverloadsolutions.com/blog/switched-wordpress-squarespace-productivity

Regards,

Michael

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hey Michael,
  
  Thanks for sharing your experiences in regards to WordPress and Squarespace. It's very much in line with our discussion comparing both platforms here!
  
  A lot of online blogs rave how cheap WordPress is, a few dollars and you've auto-magically got a website that can drive your business forward. I think there is much more to that and I think you've nailed it in your comment.
  
  Cost is not only defined as money, but also time and energy. We've written extensively about this topic here, as well as outlining financial costs to building a WordPress site versus using drag & drop website builders such as Squarespace.
  
  Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, and I think a lot of readers will find your comment helpful and constructive!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Karl 11 years ago

I'm really enjoying this information, thanks for sharing!

Quick question. I'm planning on starting an online course, or membership site. I hear using plugins through WordPress is ideal and choosing BlueHost since they are highly compatible. Would you agree? Could a newbie figure things out in a decent amount of time?

Thanks for your time and any input you can provide.

Happy New Year!

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hello Karl,
  
  Happy New Year to you too!
  
  Bluehost do work well with WordPress sites. We have a quick discussion post here that you might find helpful.
  
  But I wouldn't say WordPress is newbie friendly. The learning curve is much higher than using drag & drop website builders. But if you are more tech oriented, and if you don't mind learning how to code, WordPress is a very flexible and powerful platform to build your website.
  
  There are some excellent membership or online course plugins available for WordPress. But as mentioned, you will need to be a bit technical to piece everything together, and also to configure your website properly. You can always hire professionals to help, of course.
  
  There is a membership widget called Sentry Login that creates a paid membership function for Squarespace (or Wix or Weebly). Check them out (I've never used them before though).
  
  But the benefit here is that you can quickly launch a working website all by yourself (no coding required). Whereas with WordPress, it will take you quite a bit of time to learn the in's and out's.
  
  We have another discussion that goes over some of the costs of building a website (specifically comparing drag & drop builders vs WordPress). It's an interesting and educational discussion piece!
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jael 11 years ago

I love your reviews & posts, they are all so informative & the set up if the site is very well designed, especially for mobile users!! Ty!

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1 reply
- Jael 11 years ago
  
  I was also wondering, if I was hoping to start off my website on a free domain, how difficult would it be to move it onto squarespace (if possible)?
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Jael,
  
  None of the website builders (including Squarespace) will give you a free domain name. The best they can do is offer you a free subdomain name (such as jael.squarespace.com).
  
  So you will have to purchase a custom domain name yourself. If you sign up to Squarespace's annual plan, they do give you a free custom domain name for 1 year.
  
  If you purchase a domain name from a domain name registrar (such as GoDaddy), you can connect it to your Squarespace website.
  
  We have a guide to domain names here which should hopefully clear up some of your questions!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Kasia 11 years ago

HI Jeremy, just found out about Squarespace. I'm looking to set up an online store this year and their system appeals for it's clean looking templates and simplicity.
I'm in Australia though... is it going to work for me?

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hello Kasia,
  
  Squarespace will work for you, as long as you sign up to use Stripe as your transaction services provider to power your shopping cart.
  
  The reason being that Squarespace only integrates with Stripe. So if you want to use PayPal (for example) to collect payments from your customers, then Squarespace won't work for you.
  
  Stripe is a good payment processor (if you haven't seem them before). The transaction fees are quite reasonable and a lot of big and small companies use Stripe.
  
  We have more discussions about Squarespace's ecommerce features here, which you might find helpful!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Trish Niemi 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy,
Thank you for the in-depth review of Squarespace. I have a domain name that is currently at Google. Is it possible to use that with Squarespace?

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hello Trish,
  
  Yes you can most definitely connect your domain name at Google to a Squarespace site.
  
  Here are the tutorials on how to do that.
  
  You can also check out our Beginners Guide to Domain Names where we cover some key issues to consider when it comes to domain names.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Daniel 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy

Thank you for this post.

However, I wonder if you can me a little further. I signed up to Squarespace a few weeks ago to build my own site but also I'm a graphic designer and have been asked by a client to build her website. I did a lot of research and Squarespace seemed to be the one everyone loved.

Problem is I'm finding it very difficult to work with...I've not been able to work with the templates very well and certain things I need the site to do I can't seem to get in place...for instance I've read that I should be able to drag and drop but it's not happening when I move an image or logo. I'm sure with persistence I'll get somewhere but I've lost hours trying to do simple things. Also, I need to have a sticky header but finding it impossible to add CSS code that works!

At this time I'm still in the trail mode as I've extended it each time I get an email from Squarespace asking me to set things up properly. But because I'm building a site for a client and need time for design, sign off etc I didn't want to have to pay for the site until it's ready to launch. I'm wondering if this is why I'm having such problems with the design as it's still in trial!!

As you can see I'm having some troubles and could really do with some help...are there any resources you would recommend that might help with training for beginners and written in plain speak as opposed to tech which I've come across in my hunt for a solution?

Look forward to hearing back from you.
Daniel

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Daniel,
  
  I'm not sure what happened with your account, but Squarespace is an entirely drag and drop platform. So if you can't drag anything around, you might want to reach out to their support team. I personally haven't had issues before, and I've seen plenty of other Squarespace websites (meaning that they were able to actually build their sites with the drag & drop tools).
  
  In terms of coding, I haven't done much extensive code alternations with Squarespace. But I suspect that even though they provide you with access to CSS codes, you'll have to work with their code platform. We've done a bit of code modification work with Weebly before (after we learned how to code over the years), and there are certain "quirks" that are specific with Weebly's platform that we had to learn to work with.
  
  I suspect it's the same thing with Squarespace. You just have to become good with working with their system, if you want to really customize your website via codes. Squarespace does open up its code base to users, but one will have to be pretty proficient with codes to use it effectively.
  
  As for trial period, I suppose that is just how Squarespace's offer works. They offer a 14 day trial with an option to extend for another week I think. It's just their business decision to not offer an unlimited free period.
  
  I completely understand that it takes time for a designer to complete a site with the client signing off, but I think that will most likely take much longer than the 14 day trial, and even with an extension of the trial period.
  
  If having an unlimited free account is crucial to you, take a look at either Wix or Weebly. Both allow you to use their web builder for free, without any time limitations as to when or if you must subscribe to their premium plans.
  
  As mentioned, Weebly does allow you access to their CSS and HTML codes. So if modifying codes is important to you, definitely check them out.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Thomas 11 years ago

hello, all your comments have been very helpful. but in my case i wanted to set up a consulting firm but i think the personal is very convinient as i won't be needing the store and every other thing the business plan will offer asides the custom mail which i could still do from google. so what do you think?

will appreciate your response.
thanks

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Thomas,
  
  If you feel that the Personal plan is sufficient for you, then go with that one! You can always upgrade later on if you have the need to.
  
  Yes, you can still get the Google Business App email account separately for about $4 per month. That is still a bit cheaper than the Business Plan.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Shauna 11 years ago

Very useful and thorough review. Thank you. I am a composer and a disabled lung transplant patient looking to create a web site to make my music available for donations to a charity to help with my medical expenses. At this point, I'm looking at SquareSpace to help me create the site and manage the technical stuff. Would SquareSpace allow me to link my website to a charity website that collects the money for items (in this case, music manuscripts) sold on my webpage?

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hello Shauna,
  
  Thanks for your question. I don't see any issues here. So you should be able to link your Squarespace site to your charity page.
  
  Squarespace actually has a "Donation" block that you can use. The benefit of using this feature is that its design and function is tightly integrated with Squarespace, so you don't have to worry about if it will be compatible or not.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Nic 11 years ago

Hi. I am currently looking at building a website for my cake decorating business. Based on reviews, squarespace seemed like the right choice for me based on no previous website building experience and their drag and drop options. After meeting with a marketing consultant and have SEO explained to me a little, I am now worried that squarespace won't give me the same as others might. Have you any thoughts on this?

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Nic,
  
  Squarespace is indeed a good choice especially if you don't have much experience with building websites, or if you don't know how to code.
  
  In general, my own view is that the impact of platform on SEO is insignificant. There are over 200 ranking factors that Google evaluates when determining where they should place your webpages in search results. If just using the "right" platform is the ultimate solution, then everybody should appear in the top search results, right? I wished it was that easy!
  
  SEO is a a confusing discussion at times, but ultimately, the key (again in my view) is to get as many authoritative websites to link to your site, which serves as an endorsement that your website is "worth" ranking high in search results.
  
  Of course, to get other authoritative websites to link to your site, your website content and who you represent has to be top notch. To do that, you will have to put in the work to build a brand and become the expert in your field. That's why more often than not, when you search for a specific topic, the leading authorities / experts' websites will always show up!
  
  Hope this points you in the right direction. Again, this is just my own view : )
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Kadidia 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

I am really interested in having a squarepace website, this is possible right now being in uk, but I am planning on leaving to live in morocco or middle east, do you think it's gonna be possible to keep my website working or would I need to close it and find something else, I thank you for your reply.

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Kadidia,
  
  Squarespace works around the world, no matter where you are located (unless the country has some level of content restriction, such as in China - as an example).
  
  But even if a specific country has some level of censorship, your website visitors from other countries will still be able to see your website.
  
  One thing to consider is whether you are using the ecommerce features. Squarespace's ecommerce shopping cart function only integrates with Stripe at the moment. Stripe works in the UK, but not in Morocco or any Middle East countries yet. So if you are planning on running an online shop out of those countries, this can be an issue for you. But if you keep your bank account in the UK, you can continue to use Stripe.
  
  Hope this helps.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  2 replies
  
  Kadidia 11 years ago
  
  Sorry, one more question; so if I keep my uk bank account open, I can still us sqarespace with all of its e-commerce tools woorking with stripe? But If I prefer paypal than stripe? Not a lot of people have stripe account or are familiar with it. Sorry I'm a bit confused about all of this, just really want to use squarespace wherw I'm going...
  
  Reply
  
  2 replies
  
  Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  I think so. As long as you keep your Stripe account open in one of the countries that is accepted by Stripe, you can keep it integrated with your Squarespace website.
  
  Stripe is very popular in North America, but I suppose it isn't yet in other countries.
  
  In any case, your shoppers will not know that you are using Stripe to process payments. All they will see is a check out form where they can insert their credit card and related information. So you don't have to worry about whether Stripe is a recognizable brand to your shoppers.
  
  Ecwid is an ecommerce add-on widget. It is compatible with Squarespace, but it cannot be integrated with Squarespace's own ecommerce features. So if you choose to use Ecwid with Squarespace, you will rely solely on Ecwid's own tools. If done well it might work. If not, it may look a bit "out of place" on Squarespace's templates.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Kadidia 11 years ago
  
  Thanks a lot for responding and your time, very helpful.
  
  Reply
  
  Kadidia 11 years ago
  
  What about Ecwid tools?
  
  Reply
  
  Kadidia 11 years ago
  
  Hi Jeremy,
  
  Waouw, that's definitly gonna be an issue... But, if I use paypal widget, am I gonna be able to have and use my online shop in Morocco or middle east ? If yes, what functions exactely am I not going to be able to use that work with stripe ? Thanks a lot.
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  You can use PayPal, but it won't integrate fully with Squarespace's ecommerce features.
  
  Reply
Tim 11 years ago

Just wanted to leave some objective comments. This is a good review of Squarespace's capabilities. I have been a WordPress user for years for my own website. I love the platform, but the security risks with it are extensive with it being the most popular web platform out there. I got tired of trying to keep everything up to date on my site instead of being able to create artwork and content for it.

I signed up for a free trial of Squarespace and was impressed enough that I signed up after 2 weeks. I am a web designer and artist, so I will say that Squarespace doesn't give you as much control as WordPress, but it gives a decent amount and also allows you to use your own custom CSS, which mostly compensates for other things.

The main issue I had with it, which I didn't know until after I switched my hosting over to Squarespace, is that Adobe Typekit fonts are built into the templates. That can be good for many designers, HOWEVER, if you don't use any Typekit fonts on your site Squarespace will still load whatever Typekit font was originally in the template. You cannot remove the reference to it. That means that browsers will load the Typekit font even if it's not being used.

In some cases Typekit fonts can be over 700k to download. That is quite annoying and I emailed support about it. The responded fairly quickly, but said that they were unable to remove that reference to the Typekit font from my site. I am going to assume that this is because of some kind of deal struck between them and Adobe.

Overall, I really like Squarespace if they would just fix that Typekit issue.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Tim,
  
  Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with us. Sorry to hear about the Typekit issue. Hopefully they'll have it resolved at some point, or that you can find a workaround.
  
  I think the reason for your migration from WordPress to Squarespace (or any other drag and drop website builder) is quite an important one.
  
  Whlle WP is no doubt more powerful and flexible, it does take a lot of time to maintain and to ensure that all the tools / features are working well with each other. Further, one has to be proficient with codes in order to use WordPress effectively (to make design changes, etc).
  
  In your case, it sounds like you had to commit time to manage the technical aspects of operating a website, instead of focusing all your time on content creation.So moving over to Squarespace probably freed up quite a bit of your time.
  
  This is one of the central themes we discuss in this article we have concerning Squarespace and WordPress.
  
  Let's hope you find some sort of solution to the Typekit issue.
  
  Thanks for sharing, Tim.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
chris wood 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy, I have had a look at some of the Squarespace templates and whilst they are very professional and arty looking I cannot see how any of them can suit my business as a heating and gas engineer. They seem very much focused on the more ehereal rather than someone offering a basic but important service business like I have. Would you agree with this and have you any suggestions ?

many thanks

Chris.

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hello Chris,
  
  It's definitely not common to have a business such as yours use more contemporary templates that Squarespace has to offer. But that is not to say that with the right design, it won't work for you. I've seen an industrial engineering firm use Squarespace before, and their website was really attractive and professional looking. That particular design worked really well for them.
  
  Squarespace does have list of "specialist" that you can hire to help you come up with some designs that may suit your business and vision. They can even help you build it. Take a look at their services here.
  
  If you can't find anything suitable, have a look at Wix. Wix has a lot of designs across many industries, so you might find something that's specific for your business. Also have a look at Weebly as well. Their templats are a bit more "basic", but can look professional as well.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Nate 11 years ago

Jeremy, thanks so much for the post.

Question, we have a website with about 12-15,000 monthly visitors. Will Squarespace have any problems handling that kind of traffic?

Thanks!

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Nate,
  
  I don't think there will be any issues there. 15,000 monthly visitors (congrats by the way!) is about 500 visitors a day, so Squarespace should be more than able to handle that without any issues at all.
  
  But if you want to be sure, reach out to their support team to see if they have any specific concerns.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Soni 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy, Thank you for sharing the review. I want to check if one can add rich snippet for a local business or person.

And more importantly, does Squarespace work well for a local consulting business? I noticed that its strongly recommended for artists/portfolios/restaurants/

Thank you indeed!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hey Soni,
  
  I actually haven't tried that with Squarespace before, so I can't give you a definitive answer. Have you tried reaching out to Squarespace's support team to see what they say?
  
  You might be able to insert rich snippet codes using the Code Block from Squarespace. Drag in the block and paste in the codes that you get from Google. You can then proceed to Google's Structured Data Tool to see if your rich snippet is being read properly.
  
  So if you are considering giving Squarespace a test, just sign up to a free trial account, set up a page, insert some dummy content, and test out the Block Code approach I just mentioned. Run it through the Google test tool and see what shows up!
  
  But of course, do check with Squarespace's support team to see if they have any more constructive feedback.
  
  Hope this works out for you!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Susan 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks so much for the great reviews. I am wondering if with Squarespace there is an option to upload audio for site users to listen to, like audio versions of sermons, etc.?

Also, how much is the domain after the first free year?

Thanks!
Susan

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Susan,
  
  Squarespace has an audio block, or a podcasting function so you can definitely create a feature where your site visitors can listen to audio files.
  
  Regarding domain names, you can renew the domain at $20 per year, after the first free year!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Davina Ray 11 years ago

I am a bit worried about their customer support -- I have not been able to find a customer care phone number and their live chat had 62 people in queue when I started, and I didn't get a chance to talk to anyone…

For someone like me who is a novice, building websites without support will leave every job half finished !!! I wouldn't dare use them and would rather pay Web.com to do everything for $179.95/month.

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Davina,
  
  Squarespace currently doesn't offer phone support. But if you email them with your questions, in my experience, they respond very quickly. Of course, being able to speak with someone in real time is pretty awesome, but I personally tend to batch questions together in an organized email, and send it off. While I wait for responses, I use that time to work on other things.
  
  But if you want a service that offers phone support, then Squarespace currently doesn't have that feature. Take a look at Wix or Weebly - both offer phone, chat and email support.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Judy 11 years ago

Great website! I think I'm going to go with squarespace because I offer a very high end luxury brand and want that polished look. I have two concerns which make wonder if I should go with Wix as opposed to squarespace. First, I am going to want a password protected area, and second, I want something that will display nicely across mobile devices. Ease of use if very important to me as this will be my first time doing this. What are your thoughts?

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Judy,
  
  Squarespace can definitely get the job done for you. Their templates are all mobile responsive and will display very professionally across all mobile devices. They also offer you the ability to password protect specific pages.
  
  At the end of the day, you should sign up for a free 14 day trial account to see if you actually enjoy working with the platform. Getting some hands on experience during the trial period is the only way you'll find out if Squarespace is for you!
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Eliza 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy,
Really great post and very helpful information.
I recently published my site via wix and am terribly disappointed with the quality of most of the images and the load time for image galleries. It was only after publishing the website that the images suddenly looked awful and galleries became pixelated when loading. I have followed various tutorials and tried all the options but not much has helped.
I am considering starting again with SquareSpace, but am scared the same thing might happen.
Can you please advise if this is something that might occur using SquareSpace? And are you able to please tell me if they have something in the way of a "form builder" as an option?
Many thanks.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Eliza,
  
  Most (if not all) of Squarespace's templates are retina display ready - meaning that they can display very high quality images. If anything, Squarespace is geared towards very high quality images and display, so you might have some success here.
  
  The best thing to do is to sign up for a free trial account, upload some of your images, and publish your site. It will only take a few minutes for you to find out if this website builder can suit your needs or not.
  
  Hope this points you in the right direction!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Anastasios 11 years ago

Great article and very useful. Thanks a lot Jeremy

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Linda Knox 11 years ago

Jeremy,
Is there a discount for non-profits such as our small town photography club?

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hello Linda,
  
  I'm not sure. Have you tried asking Squarespace's support team directly?
  
  The only discount code I know of, is highlighted in the conclusion section above.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jonathan 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy - We have an e-commerce site and I'm wondering if Squarespace can accommodate user reviews, videos, and live chat?

Thank you!

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Jonathan,
  
  They don't have any built in features for user reviews and live chat. You can probably add external widgets into your Squarespace website via the code injection function. But you do run the risk that Squarespace and the widget you end up using conflict with each other.
  
  One alternative is to consider using Wix, as they have a fairly large App Market where you can bolt on user reviews and live chat functions. These apps are configured to work well with Wix websites, so your risk of the website and widgets conflicting with one another is much lower this way.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Arthur Lemon 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy, great article, I am starting a clothing business online and I was wondering if you could help me with one question. Would users of the website be able to create profiles inside my website where they can share their designs and stuff, like an instagram page for example, or would that have to be done by a professional developer? Thank you very much, and again, great article.

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Arthur,
  
  Unfortunately Squarespace doesn't have this capability. It sounds like you'll need a much more customized website where your visitors can interact with each other by posting material on your site. So you'll probably need to consult with a custom website developer to see how to proceed on that one.
  
  Generally speaking, drag and drop website builders such as Squarespace are great for more straight forward types of website. If you want to build in more advanced features, such as what you're looking for, you'll more likely need to hire someone to custom build, or heavily customize a website for you.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Joanna 11 years ago

This is great! I have used squarespace for building my blog at it has worked a treat. It's a really great price but I do find that there's not much variety for things.

I am looking at customising it a bit more as I would love to have a video background but can't do this myself. I see there is a site for doing add-ons and plugins to have a video background. I wonder whether you had used www.squareplugins.com and had any reviews on their plugins? Thanks and great site!! x

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Joanna,
  
  I haven't used them before but their plugins look interesting!
  
  I know Squarespace just released a newish "cover page" that you can use as part of your Squarespace theme, and it is more video oriented. The cover page is called "Projector", so do check it out!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
John Scott 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy,
I am a tv director who wants a personal site that I can show clips from my shows ..Are there templates that would help me in that category of multiple video clips? Say 10 to 15?
Thanks

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi John,
  
  I don't know if any specific templates will cater to categorizing videos, but that's mainly because I haven't had the need for that before!
  
  Try reaching out to Squarespace's support team to see if they have any suggestions?
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Wes 11 years ago

Hey! I was interested in using squarespace. The only thing I need to know is, will it let me upload an audio file?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Wes,
  
  Yes, you can definitely upload your own audio file into a website built with Squarespace.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Carlos M. Trepeu 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy, you wrote this: "If you want your website to look professional, visually stunning, expensive – as if you’ve spent a lot of money on building it, you should consider Squarespace."

Why the part of spent a lot of money? I was looking and comparing with WIX and others and the starter price are almost the same.

About the business, I have a Ranch and offer trips in horses, food and other attractions, I love the templates but it could be good for me?

They have any option to have the site in more than one language?

The last thing it's about this: "20 Pages, Galleries, and Blogs " that's what include the price of 8, 20 between Pages, Galleries, and Blogs or 20 of each one?

Thanks and great article.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Carlos,
  
  What I meant in that comment, was if you want your website to look very high end (as if you paid someone a lot of money to build a website for you) when in fact you could just pay $8 per month and build it yourself with Squarespace.
  
  You can have more than one language if you choose the right template. Take a look at our discussion about multi-language websites here.
  
  For your last question, you get to create 20 different pages. You can also have galleries and blog posts with your website. So the "20" here only refers to pages.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Mark 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy. It's Mark here from New Zealand. Your post is genuinely excellent - even for a non-tech guy. But I have a crucial question regarding SQUARE SPACE. I have been told that because SS would host my website in the US, it harms its SEO capacity in NZ. In other words, I could end up with a great website that DOESN'T rank highly (AKA invisible) when a search is made is NZ. Any comment on that. Jeremy? It's a big issue.

Cheers mate.

MARK

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hey Mark,
  
  I personally don't think it's an issue at all, as website content / data are now distributed all around the world and stored in different data centers in different cities.
  
  So for instance, when someone loads your website in London, the content of your website will be fed to that person's computer from a data center that's located closest to London.
  
  What may potentially make a small difference, is your domain name. So if you are focused on NZ visitors, then having a domain name that ends with .co.nz may give you a bit of an edge when someone from NZ searches for information.
  
  So I don't think search engines care where your website is hosted. Here is an updated list of ranking factors that Google assesses when determining how your website should be ranked in search results. But at the end of the day, SEO ranking is a very complex algorithm and so only Google really knows how it works!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Becca Bussert 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy. I enjoy reading your comparisons, but I'm at a loss:

My current website is hosted and built on GoDaddy and the one thing I would really like to add is a video player gallery, which I can't do on GoDaddy's Website Builder. I also really want to keep using the Google Font Special Elite for my branding, which I can't do on Wix.

I'm trying to decide if I should completely rebuild my website on another platform, or if I should build a video player gallery page elsewhere and externally link it to the existing site.

Once I've worked this out, I want to focus on SEO. A friend told me that if I externally link that video page, as I've done with my (sadly untouched) blog, that more external links can be damaging to SEO.

What's you suggestion for this conundrum? Also, I can handle little bits of coding, but I'm definitely NOT a coder!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Becca,
  
  Squarespace has over 600 fonts for you to choose from, and includes a lot of Google Fonts. So you might be able to find that specific font with Squarespace (just sign up for a free trial account with Squarespace and you can see if you can locate it).
  
  I think it's always preferable to keep your videos (or other content) within one single website. I'm suggest this not from an SEO perspective, but from branding and continuity perspectives. It's probably less confusing to your visitors to house all your content under one single website.
  
  I think that linking out to another site won't hurt your SEO, as linking out to external sites is very common. But if you house your video page under the same website, there might be some added benefits here as the content is located under your domain name.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Joanne 11 years ago

Hi. Do any of the websites you review have an easy way to add an "opt-in" form on the home page to capture visitor's email addresses? I have a Mailchimp account now, but can change it. If they do, which sites works best for this option? Thanks.

Reply
2 replies
- Kevin Bradberry 11 years ago
  
  Joanne, Squarespace allows to you insert a "newsletter" block and connect it to your Mailchimp account. The block will match beautifully with your theme because it's squarespace-made and not a third-party app.
  
  However, the newsletter block does not have a pop-up option, thank goodness!
  
  Reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Joanne,
  
  Take a look at SumoMe. Their list builder tool integrates with Mailchimp.
  
  Here are their tutorials on how to integrate their tool with Squarespace.
  
  Hope this is helpful!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jennifer 11 years ago

I have a question. Since I currently use another hosting company, will I be able to transfer my domain to Squarespace easily since they provide hosting?
Thanks!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Jennifer,
  
  Unfortunately you can't transfer your domain name into Squarespace at the moment. You can only transfer domain names from Squarespace out to another domain name registrar.
  
  But you can definitely connect your domain name from your current domain name registrar to your Squarespace website. Here are the tutorials on how to do that.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Christine 11 years ago
  
  Hi there
  
  Can you clarify hosting and domain names for me? I already have a domain name and hosting with easyspace.com. I want to change the website as it is old and out of date. I want to use Squarespace to build my new site. If I sign up with them, do I then pay them for my domain name and hosting or do I pay easyspace.com to continue my domain name and pay Squarespace to host? I am confused!
  
  Christine
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Christine,
  
  If you want to use Squarespace to build your website, you don't need to pay for separate hosting services, as Squarespace include all the hosting services as part of their package.
  
  But you do need a domain name. You most likely keep your domain name at easyspace and just connect it to your Squarespace website. Here is a tutorial on how to do that but it doesn't include easyspace. So perhaps you can ask them to help you connect your domain name.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jennifer 11 years ago

Thanks Jeremy! Great review of Squarespace. I appreciate you adding a video tutorial within your review. I think you've sold me on SS ; )

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Glad you found our review helpful Jennifer. But you never really know if you like Squarespace until you spend some time working with it. So sign up for a free trial account and give it a free test run!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Xinyi Zhu 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for your helpful reviews. I was debating whether to go with Wix or Square Space to build my graphic design portfolio and feel more confident toward Square Space from what i read in your review, especially with unlimited storage and responsiveness cross-platform. I'm excited to start building! Thanks again!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hello Xinyi,
  
  No problem! Glad you found our discussions here helpful.
  
  Good luck with your website!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Ash 11 years ago

Hi JW,
Great article!!
Will Squarespace also provide domain emails, and integrate SSL certificate as well ? Also, do you know if it is possible to embed a form in their templates that the users can use to provide data?
Thanks!!

Reply
Susan 11 years ago

Hi. I have a business that is almost entirely visual and need a website that can support image heavy content that is readily searchable. Can you tell me if all images can be indexed, tagged, titled, and given alt-texts, even those in galleries or blocks? f so, how easily is this done on Squarespace? Do they offer a naming/tagging tool for each image?
Thanks for your guidance.
Susan

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hello Susan,
  
  With Squarespace, you can add alt-text to images, including those in galleries. As such, search engines will be able to read them and understand what the image relate to. For extra SEO boost, make sure you name the actual image files with keywords that's relevant to the discussion on the page.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Ulrich 11 years ago

Hey Jeremy,

thanks a lot for your great reviews. I spent quite some time checking website builders like photo shelter, photodeck, format etc. and eventually squarespace for a photography gallery site.

They are great sites but each has its drawbacks. Therefore I considered using wordpress and hiring a designer. After your review of wordpress I will definitely not get into that, but try squarespace.

Since I don‘t want to sell prints and digital images myself, I assume I don‘t need the commercial part of SquareSpace. However how can I integrate a third party agency or gallery print service into the SquareSpace website? The visitors should be able to click an image and be directed to buy the corresponding image at the third party service.

And is it possible to make text invisible that is attached to an image? Like keywords etc. wich are only there for SEO and would spoil the design if visible under the image.

Recently I have read a lot about complaints regarding bad service of SquareSpace. I contacted their service twice via mail and they responded lighting fast – a very positive experience.

Thanks for your generous support.

Ulrich

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Ulrich,
  
  Thanks for your comment and also sharing your experiences with Squarespace's support team. I also heard a few complaints here and there recently, but mainly because the users were waiting for the live chat for over 10 minutes or so. Live support can take a bit of time during certain time of the day (peak hours), so I usually suggest to them to email for support, which gets handled pretty quickly.
  
  Regarding integrating Squarespace with a third party service, take a look at the Inject Code function that Squarespace offers, where you can integrate a third party widget. But if you just want to link out to a page where your visitors can purchase images / prints, you can definitely just insert images into your website, then hyperlink them to the third party product pages. It's pretty simple that way.
  
  Regarding SEO, you can insert "alt text" for all the images that you upload into Squarespace. Simplistically, alt text is how search engines understand what the image is about. So make sure you describe what the picture is about when you insert the alt text for each image.
  
  Also, one other helpful way is to name your image files with descriptive words, which also helps with SEO. So if your image is of a cat, then name your image file as "cat picture" or something along that line. Hope that makes sense!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Ulrich 11 years ago
  
  Jeremy, you are awesome. That helps a lot. I am glad I found your website. Your reviews and high quality answers to the questions here helped much more than a lot of research I did on others sites in the internet.
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Glad I can be helpful! Do click on the social sharing buttons on the left side of our pages to spread the word! I'd appreciate that.
  
  Good luck with your website!
  
  Reply
Annie Paquette 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for and congratulations on all your great work. I hope your success keeps rising.

My husband and I in the process of launching an Equity Crowdfunding Platform focussed exclusively on Climate Change Solutions (Clime-IT™). We are currently preparing our own donation-based crowdfunding campaign in order to move forward.

—I was wondering if there is any way to integrate a crowdfunding campaign on a squarespace website? IgnitionDeck and others allow this on WordPress websites. What we are hoping to achieve is to split our home page between company info and the donation crowdfunding campaign. Any idea how we can achieve this? (we would prefer a DIY campaign and not used the big sites like Indiegogo)

Thank you again for all the time you dedicate to answering questions.

Kindly,

Annie

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Annie,
  
  I'm not entirely sure actually, but it seems like IgnitionDeck is only compatible with WordPress.org, so doesn't look like this specific WordPress plugin will work with other website builders (such as Squarespace).
  
  I personally haven't seen any Squarespace websites that have integrated crowdfunding functions, but you might want to reach out to Squarespace's support team to see if they've seen anything.
  
  If you do manage ton find a crowdfunding widget, you can test inserting it into a Squarespace website by using the Code Injection function to integrate an external widget.
  
  Another option, is to build your website with Squarespace, then use WordPress + IgnitionDeck to power the crowdfunding side of things. It's not my favorite option as it requires you to manage two separate websites. But a possibility nevertheless.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  annie paquette 11 years ago
  
  Hello Jeremy,
  
  I really appreciate your generosity in replying to all your reader's inquiries.
  Thank you for your comments, I will look into all your suggestions.
  
  I wish you much continued success and enjoyment in what you do,
  
  Kindly,
  
  Annie
  
  Reply
Michael Bettencourt 11 years ago

I have gone through the fourteen-day trial (and lynda.com has an excellent tutorial on using the service), and I cannot wait to re-do my website. Really fantastic.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Thanks for sharing your experiences with Squarespace with us!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Gareth Dobso, 11 years ago

After paying far too much for 'professionals' to build my website, and getting absoloutely no leads, I decided to design and build one myself.

Squarespace was a godsend. I do not have a digital design background so it took a bit of time to get use to it, but once you've got the hang of the Squarespace interface, the sky is the limit.

My site has been live for only 3 months, thanks to some on and off site SEO work my website continues to move upward through the search engine rankings, with a constant stream of leads coming in.

Squarespace allows you to quickly and easily edit your site, no code or time consuming BS. Squarespace has my vote. I've built 2 other landing pages since. Here's my site - 'www.finsol.co.nz.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Thanks for sharing your experiences with Squarespace with us! Glad you're having a lot of fun building your business website.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Ivan Ferrero 11 years ago

Great article! Very useful!

Just a question:

1) what if I wanted to move a website from Wordpress to SS? Am I allowed to keep the structure of the posts and the internal links, as well as the URLs of the blog pages?

TNX!!!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Ivan,
  
  Have a look at Squarespace's tutorials here. They make it pretty easy to import content from WordPress.
  
  To be honest I haven't thoroughly tested this process, but I'd imagine that the URL structure will be a bit different. But it's okay as you can use 301 redirect so that search engines (such as Google) knows that the old page addresses are now permanently renamed into a set of new page addresses.
  
  This article from Squarespace is helpful. Also click on the "301 redirects" link to see how to do that with Squarespace.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
barry 11 years ago

Our community group wants to set up a website which would have members preparing audio, video digital image, written literature programs on it. Some "programs" will be regular and others just one off's. We may have 30-50 people doing "shows" like this. Would a squarespace product meet our need?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hey Barry,
  
  Squarespace allows you to set up as many "Authors" as you want, so you can have your group of members add content to your Squarespace website.
  
  Hope this answers your question!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Sue 11 years ago

Thanks for such a great and informative blog Jeremy. I live in NZ and have a home fragrance business. I want to build a website that has an online store for only 10 to 15 products, with plenty of great photos but not too heavy on written content. I originally wanted Squarespace as I loved their sleek and stylish design templates but unfortunately here in NZ we don't have Stripe.

I then looked at Shopify but having read this blog and seen your comparison list I'm thinking that Weebly is a better option for me. Would you agree? I really like Weebly's latest themes, Redux and Saucy so I just might get that sleek design that I'm after (it helps that I'm a little familiar with Weebly too!). Cheers

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Sue,
  
  You're right - it's quite unfortunate that Stripe hasn't entered the New Zealand market yet. Hopefully soon!
  
  I think for a store that offers 10 - 15 products, either Shopify or Weebly will both get the "basics" done quite well. Weebly is cheaper than Shopify for sure, but Shopify offers you a lot more ecommerce focused, and more advanced tools.
  
  So I think you can consider whether you are aiming to, and realistically going to sell a lot (high volume) of products or not. If you are anticipating a high volume (and therefore larger) business, then I'd suggest you take a look at Shopify.
  
  The reason is that with a higher volume business, Shopify has a lot of tools and features to help you manage your back end administrative tasks better, and also really good tools to help you market your business.
  
  Shopify also has a very large community of experts for hire, so if one day you want to make a lot of custom changes, custom apps, etc, there is a good pool of talent to hire.
  
  So Shopify is definitely a much bigger financial commitment, but is a solid platform for you to scale up your business.
  
  With Weebly, they do a great job in helping a smaller sized business sell products online. But if your business starts to experience fast growth, Shopify is a much more scalable platform to be on.
  
  Hope this points you in the right direction!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Rose 11 years ago
  
  Hi. I'm also from New Zealand and would really like to be able to use Squarespace for e-commerce sites. I use Squarespace already for a couple of sites. I'm a designer, but not a coder so it works really well for me. I wonder if there is any way of finding out if there is a timeframe in mind for getting things working for NZ for e-commerce?
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Rose,
  
  The challenge isn't with Squarespace directly. Rather, it is with the payment processor that they integrate with, called Stripe.
  
  Stripe isn't available in New Zealand yet, and I'm not entirely sure if they have plans to. You can see where Stripe is available here, and maybe you can reach out to them directly and see if they have plans to expand to NZ?
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Omar 11 years ago

Thanks for the article you wrote it has great information J. I have the fundamental knowledge about HTML and CSS styling and know its important in website building

My question is:" If I decide to use SS and/or Wix account to create my own website, which is better for creating multiple websites for different business purposes far as hosting goes?" Can I build more than one domain name on one account is my question in short and who is a better host in your view?? Using their premium or e-Commerce plan, does each domain name have to bought under the account? I have more than one business idea that eventually will be built by me or a professional builder

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Omar,
  
  You can definitely create multiple websites under a single account with either Squarespace or Wix. However, if you want to upgrade your websites to premium plans, you will have to upgrade each website at a time.
  
  For instance, with Squarespace, if you want to their Personal plan, and you have 5 different websites in your Squarespace account, you will have to upgrade each website one at a time.
  
  As for domain names, each website can only use one single unique domain name. So you can't share domain names across multiple websites.
  
  Hope this points you in the right direction!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Omar 11 years ago
  
  Thanks for the feedback Jeremy. Yes, That was useful and you gave a good pointer for that question I had. Thanks
  
  Reply
nina 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy

fab review! thanks

I currently have a website and a number of email addresses for my business using my domain name. If I transfer my domain to godaddy I understand I can link that to squarespace. However I am in the process of changing my email server to a company such as rackspace and want to see how that will work if my website is then with squarespace? does that make sense or should I be moving my email into squarespace?

thanks so much for your help

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Nina,
  
  I think that will work. You can use GoDaddy as your domain name registrar, and use another service provider to power your email. That email service provider should be able to help guide you through the set up process.
  
  Or else you can also use Google Business App's email services. They've partnered up with Squarespace. We use this app to power our email as well and we've been very pleased with it.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Andrew 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

A very good article, I have a couple of questions in relation to this site,

If you are creating a site with the sole revenues coming from advertisements would a site building website/Squarespace be the best option? Or would you be better of creating it yourself?

Also when you build a website with one of these companies is it possible to move at a later date or are you pretty much tied in?

Thanks,

Andrew

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Andrew,
  
  With Squarespace, you can export your site content to WordPress if you want to migrate your site down the road. We mentioned this in one of our discussion sections above.
  
  You can definitely build a site with Squarespace, which displays advertisement so you can earn revenues that way.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Dario 11 years ago

Jeremy,

I quickly wanted to say thanks for your review. I subscribed to the annual account and glad I did.

Thanks,

Dario

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hey Dario,
  
  Thanks for your kind words. Glad our discussions are helpful here!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jerry 11 years ago

Yo Jeremy,
Great in depth review. I've read both this article and your SS v. WP article; I will definitely be using your expertise for future inquiries.

That said I have a question regarding third party software. Does square allow for the use of external software. For example floathelm.com - The Helm is a float tank scheduling system, point of sale system, project management system, float tank maintenance system, communication system, employee management system, and more.

Thanks in advance and please keep up the good work, you're doing a great service.

-J

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hey Jerry,
  
  I'm not entirely sure to be honest, as I haven't used those tools before. But generally speaking, if you want to insert "external" widgets into Squarespace, you can use the "code block" to embed the widget codes into the website.
  
  The easiest way to find out quickly is to sign up for a free trial account with Squarespace and try it out yourself. I'm sure you'll know pretty quickly if it works or not!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Pari 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

Your blog has been very helpful in researching the best website builder. I want to start a food and health blog and eventually move into using youtube videos. However, I'm struggling with deciding to right off the bat pay for a blog that won't give me much or any return for multiple months or starting off with a free option such as blogger.

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Pari,
  
  One thing good about using Blogger, is that you can import your content into a Squarespace site when you are ready.
  
  Here are some tutorials on how to do that. But I haven't used that function before so I can't say how smooth the process is. But just something to consider!
  
  I hope this is helpful!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Vijeta 11 years ago

Hey Jeremy,
I started building my site on Wix few months back.Great website builder but can't transfer my content anywhere else (xpected fix at Wix) ..... needed a suggestion - as per SEO and the technical supports should I shift to Squarespace (I came across it much later). I have a food site. I'm ready to start all over again if it's worth ! Kindly advise.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Vijeta,
  
  If you want to move away from Wix, Squarespace is a very good website builder especially if you want a website that looks really good.
  
  Their templates are by far the best looking in the drag & drop website builder community. So that can definitely work to your advantage given that you are in the food related industry!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Sarah 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy and thank you for such a great article! I appreciate all the detail and I am definitely keen on SS.
I have a business selling products by monthly subscription and also one off packs with multiple items. With the inventory control, can I control the inventory but the customer not see the contents of the pack? Each month it is a surprise. So they buy the April pack and the 6 components are removed from the inventory but the client not see the individual components.
Also, can I integrate PAYPAL subscription as a gateway or do I have to use their one? If it has to be Stripe, do you know if I can set up a recurring payment. (although Stripe is a LOT cheaper! 1.75% + 30¢ Domestic cards 2.9% + 30¢ International + AmEx - PAYPAL 2.9% + 30¢)
Thank you in advance,
Sarah

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Sarah,
  
  Squarespace currently doesn't have an ecommerce tool to allow you to charge recurring fees for monthly subscriptions. However, they do have a suggestion here where you can integrate a 3rd party widget into a Squarespace site.
  
  I don't think you can "hide" your content per se, but what you can do is just sell a monthly pack and just don't describe what's in it. Or just disclose that every month the content is different and generally what the content relates to without going into specifics?
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
David 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

Firstly, great article and very informative.

Does Squarespace allow for google map to be dropped into it's website if I wanted a webpage to highlight a few different locations within a set area?

Do know if this is easily done or requires some coding experience?

Thanks a lot,
David

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi David,
  
  You can embed a Google Map into your Squarespace website either using Squarespace's map tool, or you can get the codes from Google Map directly and embed it into your site using the "Code" block.
  
  But I'm not entirely sure how to get a Google Map that will highlight multiple locations on the same map. I just haven't tried that myself!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Kevin 11 years ago

HI there, someone just introduce me to square space. So far I have jumped from HTML to Wordpress and now........... First thing first, do you use plugins and themes like Wordpress. If so, can I build a business such a job board with square space. thanks any examples?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Kevin,
  
  With Squarespace, there are no plugins as all the tools are created by Squarespace themselves so they all work flawlessly within their own platform, versus WordPress plugins that are created by many different developers.
  
  Here is an article that discusses Squarespace versus WordPress that might interest you.
  
  For the themes, you get to choose one you like from Squarespace, and then use their drag and drop tools to build out your content, and also their design tools to control some design aspects of the theme.
  
  The best way to get a lot of your questions answered is to sign up for a 14 day free trial and play around with their platform. in my view, they're much easier to use than WordPress, but a bit less flexible.
  
  Lastly, I think if you want to create a job board, your best bet is to hire a capable developer to help you create it. I don't think any website builders will be able to do that out of the box.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Nidhi 11 years ago

Thanks for the great review. Is SS easy to use by someone with no website building experience? Can we easily embed videos in to the site?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Nidhi,
  
  I think so as Squarespace's drag & drop features are pretty simple once you get the hang of things.
  
  I wouldn't say that they are the world's easiest website builder, but they are pretty simple to use compared to platforms such as WordPress.
  
  You don't need to know any coding at all and you can drag and drop content (including videos) into your Squarespace site.
  
  If you want something a lot easier, I'd suggest you take a look at Wix or Weebly. The trade off is that Wix or Weebly's design templates are not as good looking as Squarespace's templates (in my view anyway).
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Milena 11 years ago

Hey J!

Great article!
I'm currently using WIX, and it's presenting trouble on opening the main page.
It takes about 12s to open it!

I'm thinking about migrating to another builder and I'm considering Squarespace, after reading that.

But before that, I want to make sure that that's the right decision.
Which one would you say is the "faster"?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Milena,
  
  It's difficult to say which one is faster, as there is one other major factor to consider which is the images on your page. If you are using very large images, then this will definitely negatively impact your website's loading speed, regardless if you are using Wix or Squarespace.
  
  One thing to try is to resize and compress the images that you are using with your current website, and test your loading speed again.
  
  When I say resize, I mean use an image editor and reduce the image dimension to the right size. Do not use Wix's drag & drop image resizing tool, as when your site loads the page, it will still load the large image.
  
  Also put your images through an image compressor such as Kraken to reduce the file size.
  
  Once you do that with most of your images, I'm pretty confident that you'll see an improvement in your loading speed!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Sally 11 years ago

Hi-great article. Answered a lot of questions for me. What are your opinions about Squarespace vs. Shopify or Volusion? I had been considering both of them as well.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Sally,
  
  Squarespace is very different from Shopify and Volusion.
  
  Shopify and Volusion are "pure" ecommerce website builders. Squarespace is more of a "normal" website builder, and offers you ecommerce tools. So Shopify and Volusion has a lot more advanced online store related tools than Squarespace.
  
  At the end of the day, you should consider what is your intent with building a website. Are you looking to build an ecommerce website? If so, how advance do you want your store to be?
  
  Here is a deeper discussion comparing Squarespace and Shopify for you.
  
  You can also see this discussion comparing Shopify and Volusion.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Amy 11 years ago

Do you have any information on HostBaby compared to Squarespace? Also, does Squarespace have a way to email out either everyone or to specific people who signed up for a newsletter?

Thank you for the great review.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Amy,
  
  I haven't used Hostbaby before so I don't have an opinion about them.
  
  Squarespace doesn't have a separate email newsletter program. The only thing you can do is you can use Mailchimp (free up to 2,000 subscribers) as your newsletter service provider, then Squarespace allows you to integrate that into your Squarespace website.
  
  You can integrate Mailchimp into the Form block, Newsletter Block or to your ecommerce function (if you are running an online store with Squarespace).
  
  If you prefer a website builder with a built in newsletter function, take a look at Wix as they have a feature called "Wix Shoutout" which allows you to power a newsletter with Wix tools.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Amy 11 years ago
  
  What web builder would you recommend for a music website that would have a lot of photos, have news articles and links to articles, a link to be able to buy the CD from CDBaby, allow people to send an email or to sign up for a newsletter and allow us to email either everyone who has signed up or to a select group by address or other indicator to send notices of upcoming shows?
  
  I've read a lot of reviews and it seems like there are so many options and reviews. I'm not sure which way to turn at this point.
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Amy,
  
  As mentioned in my comment, I think Squarespace and Wix might work. Best way forward is to sign up for a test account with both platforms and see which one you prefer.
  
  You really won't get to know which web builder has everything you need until you sign up to test them out!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Tamiko 11 years ago

I am just finding out about SS and I like the clean look of the templates and I like the idea of the flexibility incorporated. My question is I currently have my webhosting and website through Yahoo for the last 10 years. I am in the process of doing a rebranding and SS looks like a great financial option at this time.

Would I be able to transfer my domain name from Yahoo to SS? Yahoo offers a blog on Wordpress.com (not the free version). What about my email addresses that are through yahoo with my domain name.

Let me know your thoughts, I am open to suggestions on how to make this a smooth transition,

Also, thank you for your insight and thorough research on SS.

Simply,
Tamiko

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Tamiko,
  
  Squarespace currently doesn't accept any domain name transfers. I think the main reason is that they're hyper focused on creating a website building platform, and so they let other dedicated domain name registrars handle that piece of work.
  
  What you can do, is transfer your domain name from Yahoo to GoDaddy (which is the world's largest domain name registrar). The cost of this transfer is around $10 - $15, and includes 1 year of free domain name fee.
  
  Once the transfer is complete, you can then connect your domain name from GoDaddy to Squarespace. When you visit Squarespace's Help page, just type in "GoDaddy" and you will find tutorials on how to get your domain name hooked up with your Squarespace website.
  
  As for emailing services, you can either sign up with GoDaddy's email services, or you can use Google Apps through Squarespace. I personally prefer Google Apps (I use that myself) as it allows me to use the familiar Gmail user interface and I personally feel more comfortable, stable and secure with Gmail.
  
  With both email services you will be able to create your own custom domain email addresses.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Fiona 11 years ago

Brilliant. Thank you. Just starting out on this task for a non for profit association. You have made this task so much easier. I'm still going with individual reviews after using the table comparison which itself is excellent
Thank you, from Australia

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Thanks for your feedback Fiona! Glad we can be helpful here.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Matt 11 years ago

The design templates are beautiful. Unfortunately, I built my site in SquareSpace in anticipation of moving my domain and hosting services from Wix to SquareSpace. SquareSpace does NOT accept third party domain transfers. You can map the domain, but not via Wix or another third party. Facepalm.

I can't begin to describe my aggravation upon discovering that my new design is useless. The FAQs make it seem like a snap. It isn't. If you have an existing site, check yourself, before you wreck yourself.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hey Matt,
  
  What you can do is migrate your domain name to GoDaddy (which is the largest domain name registrar in the world), then connecting it to your Squarespace site. It's about $10 to migrate your domain name to GoDaddy, and it includes one free year of keeping your domain name there. You can look up domain name migration services on GoDaddy's site.
  
  Mapping your domain name from GoDaddy to Squarespace is relatively straightforward and Squarespace's support team can definitely provide assistance, since I'm sure they have a lot of customers who have domain names registered with GoDaddy.
  
  This should resolve the issue you are having!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
ColinT 11 years ago

Hi Jez

A good review, very informative and you are clearly taken by Squarespace. I have been looking at many reviews of hosting services and web building sites. Many reviews of other sites tell us the truth that their uptime is not always as they publish. What about SS?

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Colin - in our experiences, Squarespace's uptime is really good. I think all hosting services will have their downtimes, but in most cases, it's usually minutes here and there.
  
  Squarespace is one of the best drag and drop website builders available as of today and I think their infrastructure works just fine.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Kadidia 11 years ago

Sory, I forgot to ask, is there a way to set up our squarespace site in two different languages?

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Kadidia - see this discussion we have about creating a bilingual website with Squarespace.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Kadidia 11 years ago
  
  Thanks a lot for your answer,helped me so much, thought you haven't answered my questions as I have not received a notification by e-mail...
  
  Reply
Kadidia 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks a lot for all your reviews, so helpful, and being there for us all. I'm getting ready to go with squarespace, but I do worry about something : as every e-commerce websites has their own legal mentions, I would like to know if squarespace provide those, or do we have to come up with our own. Is there an easy way to do that, and free? Thanks for any advice.

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1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Kadidia,
  
  I don't think they will provide that. Maybe you can find some examples of legal disclaimers online, but then it's really up to you whether you want to use those examples and edit them to fit your needs, or hire a lawyer to edit it or draft a new one for you. I'm not a lawyer so can't really provide any legal advice here!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Tierra 11 years ago

This review is very helpful and has allowed me to make up mind and go with SquareSpace.
I just have one question though, is there a way to allow regestration for say a class?
So for example I have an art class that I want people to sign up for, is there a way I can link another website that allows this function to my website on SquareSpace?

Thanks!

Reply
2 replies
- AJ 11 years ago
  
  Hi Tierra,
  
  You may want to have a look at https://www.acuityscheduling.com
  
  I have recently set up a SS website and found this via the help pages. Can be embedded into your page very easily and great for what you're after. I've started using it for booking appointments.
  
  You can embed a lot of things into your pages via code. Very easy to to.
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Thanks for sharing this resource AJ!
  
  Reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Tierra,
  
  They don't have a feature to register for online classes. But you can certainly sell digital products with Squarespace. So in a way, you can sell ebooks, course downloads. Or you can just sell class spaces, in a way that once they purchase from you, you can have Squarespace automatically email them a sales confirmation, with the details of how to access your class.
  
  The class could be on a page that is hidden from public view, and so only the person who receives the sale confirmation email will have the page address to access it.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jennifer 11 years ago

Great review - I have used Squarespace for several year and have only just realized that images are not being indexed on their site. Any images other than headers :/ This is actually a huge drawback when they claim they are set up for "SEO Optimization" and any Photographer or Artist is going to have a huge problem here.

I'm really not sure why they would write a robots.txt file to keep googlebot from indexing their images, but that is precisely what they are doing.

I'm actually wondering why would would not want their images indexed at all? In any event, while I've been a loyal customer of Squarespace for years - this has me seriously concerned.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Jennifer,
  
  Strange. As far as I know, images should be indexed on Squarespace sites. Did you reach out to Squarespace support team to see what they say?
  
  Any one else here have similar observations? I'd be very curious to know.
  
  Thanks for sharing!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Susan 11 years ago

Thanks for the very useful review - it answered almost all of my questions except for one: My business consists of a blog, weekly video, collecting email addresses for my customer list and an e-book (data document) which I would like to make available from the website. The e-book is the ONLY item being sold, but I would like to be able to accept payment and then send a secure link for the customer to download the document. Is that possible with SS?

Also, would I be able to give incentive "coupons" to be used at check out - or even promotional codes to business partners?

I'm leaning toward Squarespace because they seem to be the only ecommerce website builder that can handle the data document - just need more info on the process.

Thanks in advance!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Susan,
  
  Yes - Squarespace can help you sell digital products, where an email with a download link is automatically sent to the purchaser of your ebook. Squarespace also allows you to create coupon codes as well!
  
  We do have a bit more discussion on their ecommerce tools here.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Maureen 11 years ago

Very thoughtful review, appreciated. In my own (brief) research.. I have seen that one-page web-sites are trending, but I've not seen any one-pagers on Squarespace. What are your thoughts on one-page web-sites?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Maureen,
  
  I think one pagers have its place in the world of web design, but as with all tools, it depends on how you use them!
  
  One pagers are great if you have a story to tell, or if you have a few very distinct categories to your business (or whatever it is you're building a site for) that you can highlight across the multiple sections on the one pager.
  
  So in a way, I like them, but only if they're used well!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Shelley 11 years ago

Jeremy, I just found your website, and thank you for your thorough review of Squarespace. I have a few questions.

I currently have my own MySQL/PHPwebsite, with a domain name registered through GoDaddy, hosted on a VPS. We are a small company, with online sales (through 3rd party merchant services company + Authorize.net on the backend), perhaps 20-30 pp on the entire site. Our current ISP also hosts our email accounts. I'm interested in Squarespace to update our current site without having to call in a developer, but here are my concerns:

• Can I redirect my domain name from my current host to Squarespace, and keep our domain name?
• Will SS host email, or do I have to find another ISP for that purpose?
• We have logic in our sales process, as many of our customers use purchase orders to pay for their products. Does SS provide for that kind of "if/then" logic?
• Our current merchant services account charges 0.10% per transaction (interchange rate). We are a low-volume/high-ticket merchant, so I'm not too concerned about the per-transaction cost. How does SS stack up against that kind of rate?
• Everyone's extolling the virtues of Wordpress to me. Tell me again why I should invest $4-5K in a Wordpress site?

Thanks!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Shelley,
  
  1) Yes you can keep your domain name, and connect it to a Squarespace site.
  
  2) Squarespace doesn't have an email service, but they are well integrated with Google Business Apps (basically the Gmail interface, but branded with your own business name). It's a few dollars per month.
  
  3) They don't at the moment. If you need more advanced functions / logic, have a look at Shopify as they do have really capable experts for hire if you need to write some custom logic / process. Shopify is a pure ecommerce builder that will give you a lot more advanced selling tools.
  
  4) Squarespace uses Stripe to power its ecommerce cart. So their rate is 2.9% + $0.30 per successful transaction. You mentioned that your current set up charges 0.10% - make sure that it includes credit card fees. Some platforms charge you a transaction fee, then the payment processor charges another fee on top of that.
  
  5) Have a look at our discussion comparing Squarespace with WordPress here. You'll find some interesting discussion points.
  
  Good luck!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Marc 11 years ago

Jeremy,
This is a really nice breakdown and useful information. Thank you!
I purchased some domains through GoDaddy and started building my site in WordPress but gave up because it was just too non-intuitive for me. I like the looks and ease of SS so I considering going this direction. So my question: I have about five different domains (and will likely purchase a few more) but I want them all to point to my SS site once I build it. I didn't see on their site where this would be a problem to just redirect all the domains there, but I assume I can do so? Will I need to purchase a plan for each domain even though they point to the same site?

Thanks again!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Marc,
  
  You can certainly connect your domain name from GoDaddy to your Squarespace website. If you visit Squarespace's support page, you will find details on how to do that.
  
  However, generally speaking for all websites, each website can only have one domain name. So you can only connect one single domain name to your website, and that's the only domain name that will show up on a web browser.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Geoff Beasley 11 years ago

Thanks J you,'re info is most useful!

Reply
Anna 11 years ago

i just looking around the idea of my website and starting from now. I been researching different reviews from so many websites, features, prices, etc., but i have hard time to decide that which is best this one for my own website photography.

Also looking for on show pictures portfolio as well. Since my clients want to see lot of pics on my website for wedding, portraits and events, etc. But there is does have website with include blog or separate blog?

Any recommend or suggest? I will be really appreciate for your help, options!

Thank you!!!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Anna,
  
  It's definitely not very straight forward when you're trying to choose the best website builder for you. That's why it's always helpful to study a few different web builders to narrow down to 2 or 3 candidates, then sign up for a free account or a trial account to test them out.
  
  While a lot of the better website builders (such as Squarespace, Wix , Weebly) have all the basic tools for you to build a good website, all their user interfaces and systems are quite different. So testing them out will give you a sense of which one you prefer.
  
  If you haven't seen our pros and cons discussion for some of the better website builders yet, click here to see it.
  
  Hope this guides you in the right direction!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jay 11 years ago

Do you know if you can create a login driven site using SS? I can't seem to find the answer to that- would be using a lot of social media integration such as one-click sign in using FB, posting to twitter or FB on your behalf, etc.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Jay,
  
  Squarespace currently doesn't have a membership function, but I think Sentry Login, which is membership creation widget, can work with a Squarespace website.
  
  So adding them to your Squarespace website can turn your website into a membership site. I'm not entirely clear if Sentry allows you to use social media to sign into your membership area, but it's worth checking them out.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Fredrik 11 years ago

Thank you for swift answer Jeremy.
I'll sign up for Squarespace and give it a try (and hopefully the payment solutions work in Sweden...).
- Keep up the good work with reviews!

Reply
Lemming 11 years ago

Hi,
I was thinking of starting up a gaming blog, and I was a bit confused on what some of these restrictions were on the personal plan; do you know what they mean by 20 pages?
Like, could I only ever have twenty articles before I'd need to start deleting some to make room for new ones?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hey Lemming,
  
  With Squarespace's Personal plan, you can only create up to 20 webpages. So if you already have 20 pages, and want to create a new page, you will have to delete one of your older pages, or upgrade to the Professional Plan to get unlimited pages.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Derek Young 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy/Connie,

I am new to this game and was following what I thought was solid advice from a friend and a few other webpages. I secured my domain name and then set up a hosting account with siteground.com and was planning on using squarespace for the builder the whole time. I didn't realize that squarespace 's hosting was included in the monthly fee.
Should I point the squarespace account to my hosting account or move everything internally to squarespace? Are there advantages/disadvantages to either? Am I an idiot and should just stick to my day job?

Thank you for the great write up and the 8 tools guide. All were very beneficial.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Derek,
  
  Yes - Squarespace does provide all the hosting services for you, so you don't need get it elsewhere.
  
  There's actually no other choices here, as if you want to use Squarespace, you have to let them host it for you so they can power their drag and drop tools so you can build your website without knowing any codes.
  
  As such, you can probably cancel your other hosting account if you want to use Squarespace.
  
  You're not an idiot at all. We've all been there! We really struggled at the very beginning too in 2011. But it gets a lot better if you just keep at it!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jeff Pearson 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy, and thanks for a great review (and for answering an earlier personal email within 24 hours!!). I love the idea of SS/Wix and possibly Weebly, but the one thing that is putting me off any of them is the cost, which few reviewers comment on.
I have superfast hosting that costs $70 a year, and I want a website for my wife, a website for me, and a review website for both Amazon and Clickbank products.
I make that $64 a month if I used SS as opposed to buying a WP theme that I can use on all four for say $80 and my own hosting.
Any thoughts?
Regards
Jeff P
England

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hey Jeff,
  
  I think there are pros and cons with any choice you make. With WordPress, if you don't mind navigating through the higher learning curve, or if you have some code knowledge so you can make design changes on your own (without hiring someone), then it's a very strong platform to consider.
  
  But if you don't want to bother with learning the in's and out's of using WordPress proficiently, the technical work of managing your own hosting services (including security awareness and updates), or be bothered with hiring a coder to make design changes, then drag and drop platforms such as Squarespace are great candidates to consider.
  
  So the pricing factors in all those considerations, including getting support from Squarespace (it's very hard to find any free, and more importantly - reliable, support with WordPress, if any).
  
  At the end of the day, it's a personal choice. I tend to lean towards investing in services, so that frees up my time to do more productive and interesting work, instead of staying up for hours browsing the internet learning how to do manage my own hosting, tweak codes to make small changes, etc.
  
  We have another discussion article highlighting some other considerations between Squarespace and WordPress that you might find helpful.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
luis 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy. Is possible to make a newspaper with squarspace plantate, without a designer? thanks.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Luis,
  
  It depends on what you want to get out of the website in terms of its functions.
  
  They do have the tools to help you create a good functional blog platform, but if you want all the features that a typical newspaper website has (such as New York Times, etc), then you'll probably need a more advanced platform such as WordPress where they have newspaper templates that makes it a bit easier for you to create that layout.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  luis 11 years ago
  
  thanks
  
  Reply
Anthe 11 years ago

So, Squarespace isn't a free blog builder? It offers packages after 14 days risk free?

Thanks.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Anthe - correct. Squarespace gives you 14 days to try things out to see if you like their tools. If you want to continue with them, you can upgrade to their paid plans.
  
  If you don't want to continue with them, you have that choice as well.
  
  You don't have to provide any credit card information to try Squarespace so there really isn't much risk there.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Anthe 11 years ago
  
  Thank you for your information, Jeremy!
  
  Reply
Bryce Morrison 11 years ago

Thank you very much, Jeremy, for posting such a detailed analysis of Square. This makes me feel comfortable about setting up a website for someone with a cafe who isn't necessarily tech-savvy.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  hi Bryce,
  
  Glad you found our discussions helpful! Thanks for leaving a comment.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Tom Clifford 11 years ago

If I use squarespace for my web hosting, does the name squarespace need to part of my published URL?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Tom,
  
  You can use your own custom domain name. If you sign up to Squarespace's annual plan they give you a free custom domain name for a year.
  
  But you can definitely purchase your own domain name elsewhere and connect it to your Squarespace website. There are more discussions about that in the comments directly below.
  
  So in a way, your visitors won't know you are using Squarespace to power your website.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Ann 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy!

Thank you for this blog! I found squarespace through a friend. I am researching because I currently have a wordpress that someone did for me. I have NO CLUE about what I am doing. I do feel confident that I can manage a squarespace site. I need to build the site here first then "move" my existing site name xxx.com to here somehow. How do I do that? I currently pay godaddy for my domain name and hosting I believe.
I appreciate you writing this blog and being helpful!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Ann,
  
  Yes you can definitely connect your own domain name from GoDaddy to Squarespace. Here are some tutorials on how to do that.
  
  Squarespace is definitely much easier to use than WordPress. So I think you're going to have fun working with their drag and drop platform!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Ann 11 years ago
  
  Thank you! Checking this out NOW!
  
  Reply
Jeremy 11 years ago

Hi Mel,

I think you hit the main points to consider - that some businesses require custom functions that are much more advanced than what Squarespace could deliver, and the cost factor.

Another factor to consider may want to consider the speed of edits to your website. If your website is not complex, and if you want to add in a new image, update some text, change the font style here and there, by managing your own site you can do this on the fly and make changes right away instead of emailing your developer / designer and wait a couple of days before seeing the changes you want being updated on our site.

Also something to consider is that your web developer may hold you hostage if they want a higher fee, or if they just disappear and you're busy scrambling to find a replacement which is not easy. It's a form of business interruption that you really don't want. Such events are rare, but does happen.

So having control over your own website in a sense that you know how to build / edit it is something that a lot of businesses consider important!

Jeremy

Reply
Amy 11 years ago

Hi Jeremy!

Thank you for your easily understandable and helpful reviews!

I have a few questions to help figure out which site will work best for our business: your advice is truly appreciated!

Weebly offers hosting of multiple websites using its business plan. Does SquareSpace? (We want to connect or link 3 or more ideas or sites that followers can get to by typing in any of the url's.)

SS offers mail chimp, is there anything comparable integrated with Weebly?

Do both offer e-commerce for digital (e-books/teleconference recording) and service (coaching/consulting)?

Is SS or Weebly easier to upload audio digital/videos files to? We are beyond low on tech skills.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Amy,
  
  Squarespace does allow you to manage multiple websites within a same user account. But you will have to pay for each website's plan separately (as in each website has to be subscribed on its own).
  
  Weebly works the same way - if you build 3 websites with Weebly and you upgrade all of them to their Pro plan, you will have to pay for the Pro plan for each of your website.
  
  Just to be clear, Mailchimp is a separate service that you have to subscribe to, as they are independent of Squarespace. Squarespace just makes it a bit easier to integrate Mailchimp into your website.
  
  You can definitely integrate Mailchimp into a Weebly site as well. Once you have Mailchimp set up (as in your newsletter sign up form), you can get a snippet of code from Mailchimp to insert into your website which will then show your newsletter sign up form for your visitors to sign up.
  
  Both website builders offer you the ability to sell digital products. Squarespace has a feature where you can sell services, but Weebly doesn't. But you can always use a normal product feature and sell your services that way.
  
  I'd say both are equally straight forward to upload digital files!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Bobbie 11 years ago

I just stumbled upon this blog and info today and I have learned quite a bit, so Thank you Jeremy, et al!

I want to build a website to promote myself professionally. I will graduate with my MBA shortly and am looking for ways to be more creative than just LinkedIn and Twitter with self promotion. This leads me to my first question, I have read your posts about Weebly, Squarespace, and Wix and still am not sure which is more suitable for personal professional use.

I am not a designer, photographer, etc but I really like the clean lines and look of Squarespace templates, but the examples I have seen have been for the above-mentioned but Weebly seems more suitable for just a standard website. Does it really matter? Also, can I buy my domain name thru Squarespace... I know with Godaddy you can, but I am prefer Squarespace & Weebly to Godaddy.

Thank you.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hey Bobbie,
  
  Congrats on graduating (soon)!
  
  I think you're right on the money in that Squarespace's templates look more professional than Weebly's templates. But if you are okay with Weebly's designs, then it's really down to user interface as both of them are quite different.
  
  Weebly's user interface is really easy to use, but that's not to say Squarespace is difficult to use - just that Weebly is a bit easier.
  
  If you sign up with an annual plan with Squarespace, they offer you a free custom domain name for 1 year, then you'll have to pay an annual fee to renew it if you want to keep that domain name.
  
  But if you want to purchase your domain name from GoDaddy directly, that works as well. You can just connect your domain name from GoDaddy to Squarespace (or Weebly). You don't have to use GoDaddy's website builder at all.
  
  Here's some info on how to do that.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Alan Roth 11 years ago

My Wordpress site was hacked and I'm rebuilding on SS but I do not see any security features listed on their site for malware/virus scanning nor do they offer it as an add on service. How do I know my site will be secure from hackers?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Alan,
  
  Sorry about your site. It's a really hard question to answer but Squarespace are constantly maintaining and upgrading their security features against intrusions / hackers. The good thing is that they manage all the hosting / security related functions for you so you don't have to do all that technical work / updates.
  
  With WordPress, depending on which hosting company you use, some of them are pretty bad and so that exposes you to intrusions. Also, with WordPress, you are more so responsible for your own technical updates and so that also exposes you as well if you are not implementing protective measures yourself.
  
  So with Squarespace, they manage all that for you as part of their paid services. Lastly, rotating your password once in a while, and using alpha-numeric passwords are just some best practices that can better protect your website.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Mel Needham 11 years ago

Great blog. Looking to redesign our website which is old and tired but been around for at least 15 years on the same domain so is quite well optimised organically with search engines.

I'm concerned if I go with a templated option like SS I'll loose our optimisation. We'll use the same domain which we have control of thru Easily but not sure it's just a case of re-pointing the domain towards SS servers? What about salvaging inwards links we've built up over the years for example? Does that all get dealt with by the redirection?

I'm the first to admit it's not something I'm on top of understanding. I've read a lot of expert reviews on website migration and that a mountain of work is needed to migrate with the least disruption to SEO but not sure if this just refers to when migrating to another domain. Any advice gratefully received.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Mel,
  
  I must admit that I'm not super familiar with site migration so just take my comment with that in mind.
  
  You can point your domain name to Squarespace which is just fine. But I think the key thing is to make sure that you 301 (permanent) redirect your old pages to the new pages that you set up in Squarespace, so that search engines (such as Google) knows that each of your old page are being redirected to a completely new page, so they won't de-index your pages.
  
  You should be able to re-direct your old pages to your new pages in your domain name registrar. It should be fairly straightforward, you just insert your old page address and tell them which new page address you want to redirect to. Of course this means that you will have to have your Squarespace site up and ready.
  
  Hope this is helpful (even if just a little bit!)
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Mel 11 years ago
  
  Thank you Jeremy. Just one more question, I find many people discussing the disadvantage of using a templated forum like wix SS etc as opposed to commissioning a developer and/or designer to build one for them. Obviously there is a cost implication with the latter but I'm still not fully understanding why one would have a custom built site when there are so many high quality out of the box options like SS which undoubtedly has very professional looking design and - although perhaps limited functionality if you want something with a ton of bells and whistles - seems to cater for most requirements of a small business.
  
  In you opinion, especially for a business that already has a custom built site, what are the pros and cons of transferring to a templated CMS?
  
  Reply
Lou Rivera 11 years ago

Thanks for helping this novice make sense of the countless available options. I now feel more confident and know the direction I want to take.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  No problem Lou! Glad our discussions have been helpful to you.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Rod Scott 12 years ago

Hi does Squarespace have a gallery/shop /page where I can sell my photos from

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi Rod,
  
  Yes you can definitely sell digital products with Squarespace. We go over a bit more details about their ecommerce tools in this post here. Take a look and hopefully you'll find it informative!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Stu Wilson 12 years ago

Hi, im with Fatcow at the moment but i want to leave and come over to Squarespace for my business website but so far I cant see that Squarespace give you email addresses to match your domain name. Can you enlighten me please?

Thank you

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Stu,
  
  Squarespace doesn't give you an email address, but a website built with Squarespace can be integrated with Google Business App (basically your own email address with your domain name, powered by the same user interface / technology as Gmail).
  
  It costs about $5 per month and we use it ourselves too as we really like the Gmail user interface and how reliable and fast it is. So for us it's a worthwhile investment for only a few dollars a month.
  
  Here's more information about how Google App integrates with Squarespace.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
John 12 years ago

Hi
Looking to switch from Network Solutions to SS. Is this a good site match to sell vitamins/supplements (ecommerce drop ship)?
Thank you

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 11 years ago
  
  Hi John,
  
  Squarespace has ecommerce tools to allow you to sell pretty much physical and digital products. If you haven't seen our discussion on their ecommerce tools yet, take a look at this page here.
  
  So they do have the tools to help you out I think.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Stelios 12 years ago

Hello, i recent purchased a website name fpr Go daddy, should i have done that our could i have bought it all via squarespace? bw. really like Squarespace and will be signing up to their hosting

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Stelios,
  
  Yes you can definitely connect your GoDaddy domain name to your Squarespace website.
  
  Take a look at this guide to see how to do this.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Joyce 12 years ago

Hello
i have two domain names only difference between the two are .com and .cleaning can I use my own domains also i have my own graphics for my business for example business cards can I impose this onto to the website builder?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Joyce,
  
  Yes you can use our own custom domain name with a Squarespace website. Just visit their support page and type in "domain" into the search bar for more help. If you still get stuck you can always email their support team for further guidance!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
larry 12 years ago

Thank for all of your effort. Very clear and concise evaluation that has helped me decide on Squarespace for my site.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  You're very welcome Larry. Glad that we've been helpful!
  
  Best,
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Lindsey 12 years ago

Hi,

Was wondering if anyone has actually done a test of a website's performance on different platforms. Form this, and my other blogs Ive read, it seems square space has a 'marginal advantage' for SEO rankings than wix or weebly.

But, has anyone actually compared and seen what the results are??

I would like to switch my Wix site to square space, but would love to know what the actual benefits would be in terms of improved rankings. Switching takes a ton of time and effort, so I need to know what 'marginal improvement' means.

I'd love to see a test -- with all other things being the same (same content, same meta tags, same backlinks) how much would one platform increase google rankings for a website simply from having an SEO - optimized website builder.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Lindsey,
  
  I wished someone had done a comprehensive test on this too! But I think it is extremely challenging (if possible at all) to keep all the ranking variables constant to really compare apples to apples in a controlled setting.
  
  SEO is determined by well over 100 different ranking factors so it's almost impossible to keep all of them the same across website builders to truly get results that are relatively robust and accurate.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Lindsey 12 years ago
  
  Jeremy,
  
  I know.
  My thought was to create a mock website, very simple, with the same content, targeted for 1 or 2 keywords. (the only thing different would be the domain name). It would probably rank on the 1000 th page on google, but even a slight difference in the rankings from one to the other would be instructive.
  
  In other words, create a "polar bear" website, just write "polar bear" on everything -- metatags, a couple fake pages, a couple tagged images -- set it up on 2 different platforms and see how each ranks.
  
  Or, seeing what happens after someone switches from one to the other (same content, moving platforms) would be helpful.
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Lindey,
  
  You might find some results with that but I don't think it will be very meaningful though. There are hundreds of ranking factors and just changing a few items probably won't make a difference at all. And as you mentioned, it will probably be ranked really really low, so at the end of the day, all the efforts in testing them will end up not really achieving very much!
  
  But that's just my humble opinion : )
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Rebecca 12 years ago

Kudos for a great article! I currently have three blogs, two are Wordpress and one is my acting/voice over website created on Weebly. I have been wanting to move my Weebly site to another platform because it tends to be glitchy. I was thinking to move it to Wordpress, since I love Wordpress, but Wordpress is more time consuming than Weebly when it comes to changing the design and adding plug-ins.

Lately, I have been noticing that SquareSpace has been doing a lot of advertising and I have been seduced by the rich images in their ads and have been thinking of moving that Weebly site to SquareSpace, but only after researching it.

After reading your article, I'm even more inclined to try it out. Seems like they make the entire process easy and less time-consuming. I'm not a coding ninja but I love to tool around on Wordpress and learn new things, however, I just don't have the time to do that anymore and like I said, it seems like SquareSpace might be the answer.

Thanks again for your review!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Rebecca,
  
  Thanks so much for your comment! Yes, Squarespace does have this ability to make everything look good!
  
  The best part about them is that they are still drag and drop, so you don't need to know any code at all and you can still build a really great looking website.
  
  It's not as flexible as WordPress (we've compared Squarespace and WordPress here), but it's definitely a lot easier to use and you can achieve great results.
  
  Good luck with using Squarespace!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
bill calhoun 12 years ago

Heya J,

As always you're laying it out there for REAL! Lovin'it.
Thanks for taking the time to help all of us weed through all the
muddle.

I'm thinking of diving in to create on SS myself. I'm a tech-idiot.

Questions:

1. What are your thoughts about paying a SS expert (they have those, can you believe it)?

2. What are your thoughts about using SS as an online Health and Fitness platform (specifically to engage, call to action, and convert members)?

By-the-way, I'm gonna click over to your sidebar "You may also like..." 2015 reviews.

Dude, you've really set up a clever blog/review platform here.

Thanks again
Bill

Reply
Chris 12 years ago

Hi
I would like to try the free version but would my domain name be tied to you should I wish to choose another site

Kind regards
Chris

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Chris,
  
  When you sign up for the free trial with Squarespace, you can't connect your own domain to the website yet. Only after you upgrade to the paid version then you can connect your own domain name.
  
  If you sign up for the annual plan, Squarespace does give you a free domain name for 1 year. So this saves you about $10 - $15 right away. After the free year, you'll have to pay an annual renewal fee to keep the domain name.
  
  If you decide to use another web builder and leave Squarespace, you can always transfer the domain name out of Squarespace and into another domain name registrar such as GoDaddy. Then you can connect your domain name from GoDaddy to your new website builder (whatever you choose to use to build your next website).
  
  So you can definitely keep your domain name over the long run! As long as you pay the annual fees to keep it registered under your name.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Beth 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy, a friend recommended Square Space to me. My uncle wants to do away with half his paper advertisement budget in order to build a website. He has a small salvage building supply company and wants to have inventoried pictures of items available. He is not interested in a web store but wants his business to be web searchable. I am the only computer literate person he knows and although I am capable I have never attempted a website. I need to find a place where I can help, like take the pictures and get it going, but I need help and don't want to get in over my head. He will pay for this service, but it is from the ground up, requiring a domain name and anything else to make a functional website. We just don't want a lot of headaches. Is this the right place for his business?

Reply
2 replies
- luka 12 years ago
  
  Hi Beth-
  I just want to point out that there are many people very comfortable using webhosting companies as well as familiar with how to get a domain name going, etc.
  
  If I were you, I would put an ad on your local craigslist and say what it is you are looking to do and ask for an idea of what they would charge to help you (and your uncle) to get things going. You would be amazed at how many talented people are out there and how inexpensively they will get things set up for you. You can then meet them in a public place ( library, diner, coffee shop, e.g.) and have them show you how to do things on whatever (easy) webhosting company you both agree on.
  
  I speak from experience. Craigslist is a great resource for quite a bit of talent.
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  That's a good suggestion Luka - thanks for sharing it!
  
  You make a good point - One of the benefit of using Craigslist is that you can request to meet the person and have them show you how everything works. Also this just gives you some assurance that you're getting what you pay for.
  
  I think there are some resistance for a lot of folks who are looking for help online for the first time. I know we did when we first started.
  
  Concerns such as what if the person takes our money and runs away! So meeting the person offline does give a bit of assurance that's hard to get virtually.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Beth,
  
  Unfortunately we don't offer any web consultation or web building services. I completely understand how overwhelming this can be, and we were in your shoes just a few short years ago!
  
  It sounds like you need someone to guide you through every step of the way. There are a number of marketplaces out there where you can find capable designers to help you build a website, such as Elance or oDesk. But I would caution that not all freelancers there are the same - some are good, some are not so good.
  
  If you have the budget, Squarespace does recommend some specialists that can help you and your uncle out. They're not cheap, but good designers / developers are worth the investment (trust us on this one!)
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Elaine 12 years ago

Excellent review and summary. I will continue to read more from you...we feel the same way...overwhelmed and scared to make any decision. We know nothing about websites, domain names, web hosting etc...but are learning a lot every day! thank you

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Thanks Elaine! Glad you're finding our discussions helpful. I remember it was a really overwhelming period for us too when we first got started, and that there weren't much discussions about website building. So I'm glad that we're able to be helpful!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Laurie Burr 12 years ago

Great review. Very helpful.

Reply
Christian 12 years ago

I'm a writer who has been looking into squarespace for a while, and am just looking around at the competition before I decide on who to use to build my site. This review has affirmed everything I've hear about squarespace, still need to shop around more, but a very useful review. I would have liked a little less enthusiasm for squarespace to provide a more level headed review, but it could just be that this site is all it's said to be.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Christian,
  
  Thanks for your comment. We sound enthusiastic about Squarespace because we are enthusiastic about them! So I'm glad our "voice" is coming through our words.
  
  Having said that, Squarespace does have its drawbacks, and so do all other website building platforms. Its strength is in its ability for non-coders to build beautiful websites, but it's not going to serve "everybody", depending on what a specific user want to build. For instance, if someone wants to build a very comprehensive ecommerce site, a membership site, a forum, etc, then Squarespace won't have the best solutions for those needs.
  
  At the end of the day, we try to point out what we're enthusiastic about, some points that they can improve (and point out what they have improved upon, such as in the latest Squarespace 7) and just answer questions from our readers when we get a chance.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
leo 12 years ago

HI Jeremy,
thanks for your excellent reviews.

I am a musician making my own pop rock and classical music, I want my own music site to be like itunes.com, or 7digital.com where customers could listen to samples of my music, and then directly download the tunes to their PC or phone or tablet, paying through paypal or a visa card.

Do any of the websites you have mentioned allow such a direct method of business, and functionality as well as itunes or 7digital in their processing of files? Or would they be more indirect? As you can tell I have no idea about websites or how to build them.

And which site would you recommend that would do this process the best? I would be adding new music as time goes by, deleting stuff etc..?
thanks for your help
kind regards in this matter
Leo Coleman

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Leo,
  
  You can definitely build a music oriented website with Squarespace, but they may not offer all the powerful features that you may get from iTunes (I'm sure Apple spent more than our life time worth of income to build iTunes!!)
  
  With Squarespace, they do have music friendly tools, such as the ability to build an "Album Page". You can also use Audio blocks to upload your own music, which you can use to provide samples for people to listen to.
  
  If you use SoundCloud, that also integrates with Squarespace, so your visitors can listen to either samples or full songs.
  
  One of the things about Squarespace is that you can also sell digital products. So you can set up product pages for your album / songs, so if people like them they can purchase them and a download link will be automatically emailed to your customers.
  
  So while you won't get a site that works like iTunes, you'll still get a very functional site that will meet a lot of your needs. But if you really like to have something like iTunes, then you'll have to hire a very strong programmer to custom build it for you.
  
  Hope this points you in the right direction!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Chris 12 years ago

Jeremy,
Does SS allow you to do any of the following:
- Transfer your domain name
- create / use personalize email system or transfer over a current email system so we don't loose our account. (we currently use horde and HATE IT!)
Thanks!
Chris

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Chris,
  
  1) Currently you can't transfer domain names to Squarespace as they're not set up to store / manage domain names. But you don't need to transfer your domain name at all, as you can just point / connect your domain from wherever it is stored to a Squarespace site.
  
  Take a look at this tutorial to see how to do that.
  
  2) Squarespace also doesn't power any email services (understandably that's not part of their core strength) but you can sign up for a custom email address with Google Business Apps. Squarespace has a partnership with Google Apps so you can check out more instructions here.
  
  We use Google to power our custom email address as well, and we really like the Gmail interface (but branded as our own email service of course)
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Lin 12 years ago

Hi, Jeremy! Thanks very much for your excellent analysis. I know next to nothing about getting a website together -- I'm most interested in soliciting comments from people and organizing an online conversation. Do these web builders make that possible/easy?

Thanks for your time!

Lin

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Lin,
  
  With Squarespace, you can insert commenting sections below each blog post that you create, so that people can engage with you for that specific blog post. Alternatively, you can sign up for a free commenting widget (called Disqus) and can insert commenting boxes on any Squarespace page (beyond just the blog page) so that people can comment pretty much on any page you have.
  
  Creating commenting sections is the easy part with building websites. The most challenging part is to actually get people to interact with you!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Andrea 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy!

This is great!! Thanks for all this useful info. Just wanted to know if squarespace has an online booking engine for a holiday house rental website were clients can make online bookings and payments.

Cheers!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Andrea,
  
  Squarespace doesn't have an online booking engine for you to operate a hotel / bed & breakfast type of business. But they do suggest a few external widgets that you can insert into your Squarespace site using the "inject code" block.
  
  You can visit their support page and type in "booking" and a few options will show up.
  
  However, just know that these booking function is not built by Squarespace, so there may potentially be integration issues.
  
  One option is to use WixHotels, which is a room booking engine that is built by Wix that is fully integrated into their drag & drop website builder. We have more discussions that here. The advantage here is that their booking engine is fully integrated into their website builder, so everything is built to work seamlessly.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
KM 12 years ago

I'm really happy that I found your site!
Thanks to your review and awesome page I was able to find a better website builder compared to MoonFruit which was a horrific experience and awful customer service.

( * throws confetti * Cheers and thank you for you help ) Thank you - Thank you - Thank you

p.s ( You did an awesome review ^_^V*)

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Glad you found a better website builder KM! All the best with your new site!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Kelvin 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy,
Great review - I wished I found out about it earlier! After setting up my own Squarespace site, I can agree with your conclusion - support is great, templates are beautiful, features are sufficient for a small photography site like mine, and cost is decent too, without having to maintain your own custom Wordpress site.

I wrote my findings/review here at 'https://bit.ly/1xVxfWQ if you're interested.

Regards,
Kelvin

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Kelvin,
  
  Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Kadidia 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy, thanks a lot for the your input on your articles, really helpful. I would like to know if squarespace does have a system that can record the stock quantities and notify the customers on the account, how much items of each categories is left to buy, for me to be able to follow and better handle my sales, thank you.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Kadidia,
  
  Squarespace's ecommerce tools allow you to insert inventory levels of your product. But you have to manually go into each product settings to update that yourself - at least initially when you set up your product. Afterwards, every time a customer purchases, the inventory count will automatically be reduced by how many units the customer purchased.
  
  So each product will display how many units are left on the product page, so your customers knows.
  
  Take a look at our Squarespace ecommerce discussion here.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Kadidia 12 years ago
  
  Thanks a lot Jeremy! That's exactely what I wanted to know, great!
  
  Reply
Nadine 12 years ago

Great article Jeremy!
I have a quick question for you. I have used Portfoliobox.net this past year, which I like, but I am considering switching to Squarespace because I can import my blogger to it, and have everything in one place, rather than clicking out to my blogger from a link in my site. I think this is an advantage, but then I think, what if I want to leave Squarespace?...my only option would be to go to Wordpress...any thoughts?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Nadine,
  
  Yes that's right. Exporting to WordPress is the only option here. The universal challenge with website builders is that websites that are built with their proprietary platforms are all different from one another. It's like switching a Ferrari shell and trying to put it on top of a Porsche frame (sorry, bad car analogy!)
  
  So extracting the website codes that's built on top of a unique platform and trying to make it work on different platform is quite challenging. So in Squarespace's case, the fact that you can export it into WordPress is already a huge advantage over other drag and drop builders.
  
  No to mention that there are a lot of WordPress experts in the market so if you run into any adaptation issues between Squarespace and WordPress, you can get help at the very least.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Earl Gray 12 years ago

Jeremy - I can't describe what a help you've been for me, mate, and your patience in dealing with all these questions. And for no cost! All credit to you!

Reply
Kris Van 12 years ago

Great article Jeremy. I am considering using Squareface for my business but need to use a language option as I'd like to have my site in 4 languages. Does Squareface support this option? Thank you.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Kris,
  
  Squarespace doesn't have a native multi-language tool. But one of their support staff actually created a tutorial on how to use 2 of their templates to make your site multi-lingual.
  
  Here is our discussion article about this, along with a couple of other options you can consider.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Todd 12 years ago

I am looking at developing a photography web site in the near future. Unlike most photographers, I have a strong technical background (electrical engineer with some computer science), including some programming. I don't mind the technical stuff, but don't have a lot of free time. I was going to go with a traditional registrar and host (Arvixe or A2 Hosting were my primary choices), but I do like the clean designs presented with Squarespace. I want to be sure that no matter who I use for a host, that I actually own my domain. Can I purchase the domain somewhere else and host/build with Squarespace? Conversely, if I register a domain with Squarespace, would I be able to take it somewhere else in the future?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Todd,
  
  Yes you can own your own domain name and connect it with Squarespace. Just visit their support page and type in "domain" and you'll see additional help articles on how to connect your domain name.
  
  You can purchase your domain name at GoDaddy (which is the largest domain name vendor).
  
  If you register a domain name with Squarepace, you should be able to take it elsewhere, but there is a process that you have to go through. So might be easier to get it through a domain name registrar so you can freely point the domain name to whatever website you want.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Earl Gray 12 years ago
  
  I've been looking at domain registrars for exactly the same reasons as Todd. I want to move to Squarespace, but have a domain and hosting with another photo building website.
  
  Most registrars offer domain names and hosting. Not being as experienced as Todd, I'm confused about the difference between owning a domain and hosting a website. If you own a domain name through a registrar and connect it with Squarespace, do you also need hosting with your registrar? Or do Squarespace host your website and you simply point it at your domain?
  
  Reply
  
  2 replies
  
  Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Earl,
  
  Domain name and hosting are 2 separate things. Domain name is your website address, and you need to connect it to your website (hosted on servers) so that when someone types in your domain name, they will be led to your website.
  
  So to keep things simple, you just need two things. Get your domain name (you can get it through Squarespace for free if you sign up to their annual plan), and connect it to your website built with Squarespace's drag & drop platform.
  
  Squarespace does all the hosting work for you, so you don't have to worry about anything technical here.
  
  If you get your domain name through Squarespace, then connecting it will be very easy. If your domain name is purchased at another domain name registrar, then check out the Squarespace tutorials I referenced to Todd (above) to see how to connect that domain name to your Squarespace website.
  
  But if your domain name is stuck with another website builder, you may need to transfer it out to a domain registrar (such as GoDaddy, they provide this transfer service for a fee), then point it to Squarespace.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  
  Earl Gray 12 years ago
  
  PS I've just thought of this …….
  
  The .com version of my domain is available. Could I use this and take advantage of the free domain offer of Squarespace (thus having everything in one place) … but then use the .co.uk version (which is with another registrar) and point my Squarespace website at this (or vice versa, whichever it is …)
  
  I'm getting myself in knots thinking about this …….
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Earl,
  
  Referring to your second comment, yes the easiest thing is probably to pick up the .com version of your domain name with Squarespace. This will make things a bit easier for sure.
  
  What you can do with your .co.uk domain name is to re-direct it to your .com domain name. So that when someone clicks on your .co.uk address, they are automatically routed to your .com address.
  
  The domain registrar for your .co.uk should have tools to re-direct that domain name fairly easily.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Andrea 12 years ago

Thanks for your helpful reviews. I thought I had made up my mind on Squarespace until I found out I can't transfer my domain! I don't want to pay both my current host AND squarespace. Is there any way to work around this? If I cancel my first one, will the domain come up as available to acquire through Squarespace?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Andrea,
  
  I wouldn't recommmend canceling your domain name so that you can pick it up through Squarespace (I'm guessing to take advantage of the free domain if you subscribe to Squarespace plans?)
  
  You may risk someone else picking up your domain name before you get it through Squarespace (even though the chances are low). And I don't know the in's and out's of domain name cancel and re-acquisition but I think there is some sort of processing time before the domain name becomes available again? Just a lot of uncertainties here.
  
  What you can do is just connect your domain name with Squarespace by following their tutorials found in their help / support section. Just type in "domain" into the search bar and you should see a number of options to walk you through the process.
  
  It's very common to have your domain name registered with domain name registrars (such as GoDaddy) and connect it with Squarespace. You won't get the 1 year free domain from Squarespace, but that's only going to cost you around $10 - $12, rather than risk losing your domain name!
  
  For what it's worth, hope this helps!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Andrea 12 years ago
  
  Thanks for your help! Unfortunately, my domain is currently registered with my current host, which is another monthly fee. It sounds like I will just have to double-up. : (
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Andrea,
  
  I understand what you mean. But consider that it's only about $1 a month to keep your domain name registered, it's not too bad hopefully. I just don't want you to potentially lose your domain name!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Mark M 12 years ago

Jeremy:

Great reviews. One Thing I am not understanding, and can't seem to find a good explanation: How do I determine how much bandwidth and storage I need, and how many "pages" I have. If I have a slideshow or gallery of photos is each photo a page? Or is the whole slideshow or gallery one page? (I am putting together a site for my small architecture practice and trying to keep it simple. I have no idea how many hits I might get - as I have no idea of how many people look online for architects in my city.)

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Mark,
  
  Great question and a very tough one to answer! I suppose it's much easier to assess "storage" as one big contributing factor is the number of images you upload into your site. Images tend to dominate space usage and one way to combat this is to reduce the size of your images by using compression tools such as Kraken (one of our favs!)
  
  Even so, it's quite challenging to know exactly how much storage you need. 2 GB from Squarespace's lowest plan is a lot of storage space already, and if you run out you can always upgrade to their Professional plan.
  
  Regarding bandwidth, it's a bit of a mystery for sure. This really depends on how many people visit your site, how long they stay on your site, how many pages they visit, etc. So it's really website usage which is very challenging to predict your user behavior!
  
  Again if Squarespace's Personal plan's bandwidth limit of 500 GB isn't sufficient, you can always upgrade to their Professional or Business plan. This usually means you're getting a ton of traffic / website interaction which is a good thing!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Will Arias 12 years ago

Hey, Jeremy,
firstly, thank you very much for your ongoing work. It really helps rookies like myself.
I was about to place my order for the FIVE TEMPLATE but I understand there are some differences between Squarespace 6 and squarespace 7... As the "using the five template" guide hasn't been updated, i'm afraid of making too many mistakes and wasting time by try to follow old prompts. So, I was wondering if it would be a good idea to use one of the new templates that are based on Squarespace 7. I would highly appreciate your opinion. Cheers Will

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Will,
  
  I found a few places in Squarespace 7 support guide that talks about the status of their templates in Squarespace 7.
  
  Here is also a list of discontinued templates. I don't see Five in there though.
  
  But in general, I'd recommend using templates that they've identified as Squarespace 7 compatible just to avoid any issues going forward!
  
  It's great that Squarespace is continually evolving and growing, and one of the drawbacks is that some of their older templates / technologies will be discontinued. All part of the evolution / growth!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Earl Gray 12 years ago

I'm a photographer with Clikpic, and have been looking for a new provider for my website for a while (mobile optimisation, slicker templates, good e-commerce tools), and after considering Format, Zenfolio, Smugmug et al, stumbled across SS through a mate. Can't believe that it might actually be what I'm looking for … a couple of questions though ….

- Bit concerned that 'Stripe' is not that well known in UK (well, not to me). Wondered if that might put off customers…...

- With the different plans, the personal plan suggests you can only sell one product. I'm not being stupid by thinking this means one product line (i.e. photo prints) rather than one print :/

- All products are self-fulfilled, i.e. there's no third party lab making a nice little cut out of my business.

- SS doesn't offer email - I'd need to get this thru someone like google.mail

Great review, btw, cheers!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Earl,
  
  1) Stripe does work for UK merchants, and your customers won't see "Stripe" as the payment processor. Rather, Stripe just helps you set up your payment page and processes the sales for you. So your customers will just see payment options (such as visa, mastercard, etc)
  
  2) The personal plan only gives you the ability to see 1 single product. So it's not a line / category of product. You'll have to upgrade to a higher plan if you want to sell more individual products.
  
  3) Yes all your physical products will have to be self-fulfilled. The only exception is if you sell digital prints, which Squarespace can help you automatically email them out to your customers once the transaction is done (you can sell digital products with Squarespace).
  
  4) Yes you'll need to get your own email service and Google Business App's email is really good (we use this ourselves). It's a few US$ a month and given the level of service it provides it's really worth it (for us anyway).
  
  If you haven't seen our discussion about Squarespace's ecommerce features yet, here it is!
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Lelli 12 years ago

Thanks for the review Jeremy. Two questions. 1) Very basic - re domain names - I'm not understanding what the "Free Custom Domain" actually refers to... So if I want to set up a url with my business name (which seems to be available from searches on a couple of domain name providers) does that mean I can secure that domain name through Squarespace? Or do I have to buy that name through a provider and then transfer it across? and question 2) Squarespace6 vs Squarespace7 - any comments? Thanks for any assistance.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Lelli,
  
  1) Yes you should be able to get that domain name through Squarespace, as it sounds like it has not been taken yet.
  
  2) We don't have a formal report on Squarespace 6 versus Squarespace 7 yet, but in our view the key user interface improvement is that now you don't have to keep flipping back and forth between editing mode and actually seeing how your site looks like in live preview mode. It's one of the "cons" we've listed in our pros & cons section above, so it's really awesome that they've addressed this!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Clay 12 years ago

I currently have a website that has been hosted by Homestead for 4 years and I am not happy with their web site editor at all. I have been debating back and forth between Weebly and Squarespace. My basic question is this: is there a way to keep my current website live at Homestead while I rebuild the new one or the other's platform? So far I haven't seen how that can be done. Thank you for any guidance in this.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Clay,
  
  Yes you can do that. You can just sign up for an account with Squarespace (or Weebly) and when you are ready, just connect your current domain name to your new website and that's about it!
  
  So when people type in your website address right now, they will still go to your site hosted by Homestead. Once you connect your domain name to Squarespace when the new site is done, they will be directed to your new site.
  
  Just visit Squarespace's help page, and search for "Domain" and it will show you various help articles on how to connect your domain name to Squarespace (but only do that after you're done setting up your new site).
  
  Hope this is helpful!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Gill hulley 12 years ago

Thanks Jeremy for your awesome review : )

I am in. Australia and have been looking at diff options for a while
I know ss in American, would this cause any difficulties living in aus?

I'm in holistic health n fitness n want a simple, professional website where I can share info, have a blog and also have banners/links to my websites that I promote & am affiliated with. (they have shopping carts on the websites so don't need one on mine)

My website will summarise everything I do with links. I need diff sections, eg. Kids health, fitness info, health tips, natural makeup & cleaning products etc

Do u think ss would be good for this or can u recommend another?
Happy to pay a monthly fee as don't like adverts on the free site builders.

I'm presuming the monthly fee is US dollars, does it convert to aus dollars for you?

Thanks for your time and help!
Much appreciated : )

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Gill,
  
  Yes Squarespace will work just fine for you in Australia. Even though Squarespace is based in the US, they can power websites around the world, without any issues.
  
  The monthly fee is in US$, but when you insert your credit card when you sign up to their plans, your credit card company will automatically convert it into Australian dollars for you.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Amber J 12 years ago

This is a great review and thanks for the detailed information.

I currently use BigCommerce for my retail store but Im looking to build a new website for my hubby's construction business. I basically just want to add photos and do a few blogs and do not require a shopping cart system at all.

Im happy to fiddle with designs and templates but I dont want to have to engage a develop everything i need to do - or fix from me playing around too much.

Do you think this is a better platform for me to rather than wordpress?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Amber,
  
  Yes I think Squarespace will get the job done for you! It's really just drag and drop, so you don't have to touch codes at all!
  
  WordPress is very flexible and powerful, but based on your description of what you want to, I think Squarespace can do a very good job, and save you a ton of time as well!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Joshua 12 years ago

Hello,

I am thinking of using square space to create a company website for a commercial real estate finance company. The site will mainly consist of text content and high resolution images. That being said, I wanted to know if square space can accommodate the following:

1) Images objects that can rotate between 3-4 different images

2) The ability to include icon links with downloadable content (I.E. Quarterly market summaries)

3) An events page where I can list upcoming conferences in which our firm will be speaking at. I would ideally like to format each event with a calendar date icon on the left hand margin and the event details to the right.

Thanks very much.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Joshua,
  
  1) Yes. Some of the templates that Squarespace gives you do cater to a header slideshow. You can go through some of their templates and I'm sure you'll find one that suits your needs.
  
  2) I don't think there is a specific feature where you can upload files into your pages to have people download. Perhaps you can store your files elsewere (such as Dropbox) and just hyperlink a button in Squarespace to your dropbox file folder so people can access and download your files. Also try asking Squarespace's support team to see if they have any suggestions?
  
  3) There is an event block in Squarespace that you can check out. There is also a calendar block that you can use.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
cb 12 years ago

hi

i'm planning to build a website for a small tutorial school (very basic, no eCommerce stuff needed) and i was wondering if squarespace would be better than Edicy (i have yet to learn of this but it boast of bilingual function), is it possible in squarespace to make the site bilingual?

would you know how much the cost is to run the site, given i have already bought a domain name.

thank you very much
cb

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi CB,
  
  Squarespace currently doesn't have any built in tools to create a bilingual site, but I did find this help website here (created by a Squarespace support staff) that shows you how to make your site bilingual. let me know if that helps!
  
  Depends on which subscription plan you pick, the cost of operating your Squarespace site can range from $8 per month to $24 per month. But given that you mentioned you only need very basic features, the lowest plan ("Personal" plan) should work just fine hopefully, which is $8 per month.
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Brett 12 years ago

Great Review,

HOWEVER!, If you plan on using square space and have any plans of being a business that sells products this is not the site for you.... They only have one payment option that forces you to pay a percentage. No paypal or other options which is vital to any online business.

Just food for thought and it really is the only thing that has prevented me from purchasing their site packages.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Brett,
  
  A very valid point - thanks. One of the challenges of using Squarespace as an online store builder is that they only provide 1 payment gateway solution that is fully integrated with their platform.
  
  While Stripe (the payment processor that's integrated with Squarespace) is a very capable one, having a few other options do help.
  
  Here are a few other online store builder options to consider (see our comparison chart).
  
  I'd suggest Weebly if those reading this want to keep things simple and don't need a lot of advanced ecommerce tools. Weebly also integrates with payment gateways such as PayPal and Authorize.net, in addition to Stripe.
  
  For those who want to build a more advanced store with a lot of tools and options, Shopify and Bigcommerce are good candidates.
  
  Thanks for adding to this discusion Brett!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Manny 12 years ago

Hi,
Thanks for your review, it has been very helpful. I'm starting a subscription based business. Would you recommend Square Space?. My customers would create a profile on my website, which other clients can view. Thanks in advance .
Manny

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Manny,
  
  Actually Squarespace doesn't have any good tools for you to help manage a subscription based business. Nor have I seen any one build a membership type website where people can create profiles themselves with Squarespace.
  
  You might want to check out WordPress as they do have a number of membership type plugins that will allow you to run subscription based businesses.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  2 replies
  
  Manny 12 years ago
  
  Hi Jeremy,
  I forgot to ask is there any other website builders, you would recommend for a subscription based online business?. I'm thinking about using WordPress but after reading your review. I don't have time for the learning curve..
  Thanks
  Manny
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Manny,
  
  I don't think any of the website builders that we've discussed on our site can help you power a subscription based business.
  
  One workaround to consider, is that I think you an set up a recurring billing system with PayPal. So once a customer is set up inside your PayPal account, you can automatically charge your customer on a monthly basis.
  
  But of course, you will have to manage the delivery of your product / services separately from the PayPal billing system.
  
  Hope this helps (a little bit!)
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
  
  Manny 12 years ago
  
  Thanks Jeremy, your have been very helpful. I have booked marked your site. A lot of useful information.
  Manny
  
  Reply
Nad 12 years ago

I'm doing a project for school and just happened to find this site. Thanks for the loads of info on website builders, it really helped a lot!

Reply
Liesje 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for all the great info! Really helpful!

I noticed in your Webuilder comparitive analyses that Squarespace does not have an option to send out newsletters. Can you use a 3rd party software like Aweber or something to allow people to send newsletters?

Thanks in advance,

L.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Liesje,
  
  Yes you can! If you have an Aweber account, you can just use the code block in Squarespace, drag and drop it into your website, then insert the Aweber widget code in there and the sign up box should show up just fine.
  
  If you are using Squarespace's ecommerce tools, they also integrate with Mailchimp (another newsetter service), so that all your customers are automatically signed up to your newsletter which makes it very easy for you to follow up and send newsletters / marketing materials / updates to them!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Simon Vail 12 years ago

Hi very helpful review.

I was wondering if you have an opinion on Squarespace as a way of selling your own photographs? I'd like a way to display photographs and give clients the option to buy them. I don't think this facility is available. I live in the UK, and would like clients to pay by Visa.
Regards Simon Vail

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  hi Simon,
  
  You can sell digital products with Squarespace. So you can set up product pages for your photographs, and your clients can add them to the shopping cart and purchase them that way. This is of course, assuming you are delivering digital products.
  
  If you are delivering physical photographs, Squarespace works just as well. You can see more of our discussions on Squarespace's ecommerce tools here.
  
  Squarespace uses Stripe to power their transaction processing, and Stripe is available for UK merchants. It accepts all major credit cards.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Dr. Juli Westcott, DC 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for your review. I am looking for a site for my Chiropractic practice. Would you recommend SquareSpace for a doctor's website? We are hoping to have a blog as well as audio and video content available.

Also, do they have domains available, or do I need to purchase those separately from a site like GoDaddy.com?

Thank you for the great information!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Dr. Juli,
  
  I think if you're focused on creating something very modern, visually pleasing, then Squarespace is a good option for you to test out. You can definitely create a blog within a Squarespace website, as well as insert audio and video content.
  
  If you sign up to their paid annual plans, you do get 1 free domain name from them so you don't have to purchase it elsewhere. But if you prefer to get your domain name elsewhere (such as GoDaddy), that works as well and Squarespace's support page has directions on how to point your domain name to your Squarespace site.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Angela 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy

Sorry - I've just realised I also had a second question! Do any of the website builders include generic images that we cn use, or is the assumption that all pics are sourced separately and then uploaded?

thanks

Reply
2 replies
- Ben 12 years ago
  
  Square Space 7 now links in to image libraries, though you have to pay a small fee for each image...
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Yes that's right. It will be $10 per image. Getty has some really high quality images so it's a fantastic option to use their stock images.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Angela,
  
  Some of the website builders do include some generic images, but not the really nice ones that you can source else where.
  
  You can visit our resource page here to see where else you can find good looking images (both free and paid).
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Angela 12 years ago
  
  Brilliant, thanks so much for your help. And one final question if I may be so cheeky... To sit behind the site, I'm after a simple CRM system so that I can keep track of business leads. I don't need anything as complex as Salesforce - almost more an extension of Outlook, something which keeps the key contact info and notes on status, but which is simple to use and can be cloud based for remote access. Does such a thing exist do you know??
  
  Thanks again - I think your detailed notes and site are brilliant!
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Angela,
  
  Maybe something like Infusionsoft of Ontraport?
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Angela 12 years ago

Hi

Thanks for the really helpful review. Just one question... I've heard Squarespace does not work with IE 7 or 8 - and while a lot of people may not rate IE, I need to think about my potential clients who may be using it. Do you know if this is true and, if so, if Squarespace have a plan to accommodate IE users?

thanks
Angela

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Most website builders are moving away from supporting IE 7 and 8 as those are very old browsers and are not set up to adapt to some of the more advanced / updated web technologies. But if a user is using the most updated version of IE, it shouldn't be a problem.
  
  Just like all industries, older technology tend to get phased out eventually to make room for advancements!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Nadine 12 years ago

Hi, I'm looking to have a web site for my ranch which I would like to include all info about my ranch like Birthday parties, events, riding lessons, Boarding.... A separate page for my upcoming B&B, and a site for my country/resale store. I have basic to good computer knowledge and looking for something that is easily set up and managed? would your service be good for that and what package would you mostly recommend for me?

Thank you

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Nadine,
  
  If you look at my comment to Normand on October 1 2014 below, he is also looking to set up a B&B type of website, in which case, Wix has an app that can help you manage your reservations for your B&B.
  
  You can definitely include the other topics that you've mentioned in a Wix website. Wix is also relatively easy to use as well (our full discussion can be found here).
  
  Overall, both Squarespace and Wix are good website builders, but if the ability to manage your B&B with online tools (such as scheduling, reservations) is important with you, do check out Wix.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Normand Bélair 12 years ago

Hello,

Very helpful site; full of useful information!

I would like to know if Squarespace would be good for a bed&breakfast type hotel in southern Europe?
Needed would be a main page, a few pages about the hotel with pictures, a booking type page, pricing, availability, etc Hence everything associated with hotel management.

Thank you

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Normand,
  
  Yes I think Squarespace will work well as they do have very nice templates to showcase any images you have for your B&B. One of the key things to grab people's attention, especially when it comes to accommodations, is a great layout of images!
  
  Another option that you want to consider is using Wix to build your B&B site (see our discussion of Wix here). Wix just released a free App which is a hotel booking system, which is intended to help businesses such as yours manage bookings and reservations.
  
  We also have a discussion about Wix App Market which will explain a bit more about how Wix's apps can help your website.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Iris 12 years ago

Thank-you for this review. You have helped me make up my mind. I feel at peace now.
You have no idea how much anguish is gone !

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Glad we can be helpful Iris!
  
  Reply
Jen 12 years ago

I wanted to integrate the Yelp API into my site - to show reviews, etc. Do you know if this can be done using the SquareSpace inject code feature?

Also, do you know how sophisticated their search function is? Can you add filters to search, such as search by category?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Jen,
  
  I'm not entirely sure as I haven't had the need to integrate Yelp in Squarespace before. But in theory it should work with the code inject feature. Have you tried asking Squarespace's support team?
  
  Regarding the search function, you can limit search results to display so that's helpful in not showing everything across your website in the search results, helping your visitors narrow down the number of search results. See this tutorial on how it works and perhaps you'll find it helpful!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Ken 12 years ago

Hi, I know Squarespace doesn't directly work with Paypal, but do you know if Squarespace support Paypal purchase buttons (via copy/paste of the button's HTML codes someone at the store)? Will it be a good workaround if I want to use Paypal?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Ken,
  
  Yes you can do that. The only downside is that the Squarespace ecommerce tools will not be fully integrated with PayPal. For instance, if you use Stripe, once your customer purchases a product, you can put the customer into a newsletter service (Mailchimp) so that the customer will get newsletter updates. You can't do that with PayPal as now you are inserting an "external" function into Squarespace (not fully integrated with other Squarespace functions).
  
  Also, your customer will not get a tailored receipt after purchasing, but they will get the PayPal receipt.
  
  But for sure, the PayPal button will still work in helping you sell products.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
sumit 12 years ago

I have my own design. can i customize my design in squarespace?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Sumit,
  
  You can edit the CSS codes to a certain extent to modify the existing templates from Squarespace.
  
  But if you want something much more advanced, you can use their developers platform to create a highly customized website! But that's only if you're very comfortable with codes.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Lisa 12 years ago

Hi, thank you for the review!

I am considering SquareSpace for a film website. Primary use is to show trailer, contact info, etc. I do have a blog going in a Word Press site, no theme yet, just content, that I’d like to import and continue in SquareSpace. But I hear the SS blog functionality is terrible. When I asked, people said the blog has no preview, does not archive posts, so if you delete, it’s gone, there are no photo slideshows, no tagging <—can this be? so, no categories? What is your experience with the blog? I consider these things basic functionality!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Lisa,
  
  Actually I think Squarespace's blogging function is pretty good. It's not as extensive as WordPress, but still really good!
  
  Their Blog allows you to create drafts, then publish when you are ready, or turn the posts back to drafts again. You can also insert slideshows, tag your posts, categorize them, etc.
  
  Here is more information about Squarespace's blogging functions. So it sounds like you were slightly mis-informed!
  
  Best to sign up for a free trial account to see if you like their functions. If you already know how to use WordPress, it will be pretty quick for you to get a good feel for Squarespace's blogging functions.
  
  However, there isn't a way to import Wordpress content into Squarespace at the moment. You can export Squarespace content into WordPress, but not the other way around.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Sharon 12 years ago

Hello Jeremy,

I don't know if you already answered this question but we need to build a website for our Real Estate business, however it needs to include an IDX function for searching the MLS for homes. Do any of these builders/ hosts include that function, or do you know of another site builder/hosting that works better for Real Estate professionals?

Thanks,
Sharon

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Sharon,
  
  Unfortunately I'm not aware of any website builders that has a built in search function that caters specifically to the real estate industry.
  
  Perhaps there is an external search widget that provides this function, and you can insert it into Squarespace using the Code Injection function. You can test that out and see if the search function works well with Squarespace!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Kim 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy, many thanks for taking the time to write this article, and answering so many questions. I have a question for you. I wonder if you could tell me how you stack up OpenCart against Squarespace? I really like Squarespace's feature set, but if I could get just that little extra CSS customisation control from OpenCart with the same feature set, that could be the decider for me. I get the feeling you have possibly the expertise and experience to advise. Thanks in advance for any help you could provide.

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Kim,
  
  I'd love to help but unfortunately we haven't used OpenCart before. Obviously I'm assuming that you are using Squarespace to power your online store.
  
  Generally speaking, I would assume that OpenCart would have a bit more flexibility when it comes to ecommerce tools as they are a dedicated online store builder.
  
  However, if you don't need all the bells and whistles, Squarespace is a very good choice as their designs are top notch!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Gee 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy! Thanks for these great insights. I have a quick question about Squarespace, which seems to be the way to go for my start-up event planning business (fundraisers, retreats and conferences etc). What will happen to the web pages created once the free trial period ends? 14 days might be too short to commit using Squarespace for the long haul. Wondering if we should start with Wix and build up enough $ to pay for Squarespace, assuming we can copy content. Your suggestion/recommendation(s) would help greatly.

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  hi Gee,
  
  I think if you try out Squarespace, you can extend your trial period beyond 14 days. If my memory serves me correctly, you can extend it by at least 1 or 2 more weeks.
  
  Having said that, the trial period is meant for you to quickly test out if they have the right tools for you, and I don't believe it is for you to see if you can establish a profitable business as that obviously takes much longer to do.
  
  If the monthly investment is a huge concern for you, yes maybe you can consider using another website builder such as Wix to get yourself started.
  
  The downside, is that when or if you decide to switch to Squarespace, there is a huge cost to changing websites (cost as measured in time) as you have to copy your content over to the new site. You can copy and paste text, but you will also have to re-upload your images, redo all the formatting.
  
  To me personally, that's not worth saving a few dollars per month as it will end up costing you much more time!
  
  Just my own thoughts!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Cee 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy,
Thank you so much for your amazing review.

We have an existing e-commerce site in Opencart.

To your knowledge - will I be able to export the Opencart site to Squarespace, alter the look, create a new company website & still keep the original website - thus giving me two functioning sites.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Cee,
  
  I don't think there is a way to automatically import data from Opencart to Squarespace. But if you contact Squarespace's support directly, they might have a way around it.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jack 12 years ago

Hey Jeremy,

I have been looking for a couple of months now at the different aspects of where to host a blog, and it seems now I have another to add to the list. I am looking to start street style blog, somewhat in the realms of the Sartorialist and Men In This Town, and I know that these two bloggers use Wordpress.org, and tumblr respectively.

I really want to do well with this blog as I am extremely passionate about it, however the thought of having to use a host site as well as wordpress builder is seemingly daunting for someone who enjoys the photography/design, and social aspect of showing my cities style (btw I live in Brisbane, Australia) more than the programming and online side, which i know nothing about.

I just wanted to ask what your opinion would be on sqaurespace as a blogging platform mostly dedicated to pictures and videos? And more importantly, Is there a chance that sqaurespace can be used with the likes of Google AdSense and/or AdChoices, as I am hoping to one day be able to make some revenue out of what I love to do, (if my blog gets anywhere that is) to keep the blog going with the site builder/hosts costs etc.?

Because squarespace looks extremely brilliant in the design and the ease of use, for someone like me who is focused on the content. Thank you so much for your all your help,
Sincerely
Jack.

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Jack,
  
  Yes I think Squarespace is a great platform for blogging, especially if you don't want to worry about all the technical matters relating to running and maintaining a website. Squarespace provides you with all the hosting needs and they do all the leg work to ensure that everything is updated and secure.
  
  You can insert text, pictures and videos in all the posts that you create with Squarespace.
  
  You can actually check out their video workshop which will give you a good overview on how to create a blog website here.
  
  As for placement of ads - yes you can do that. Here is the tutorial from Squarespace on how to do that.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Joseph 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy, Im in the process of transfering a .br domain the whole site needs to be redone.
This is nearly impossible to transfer o I have considered forwarding the domain to a S.S. drag and drop site.

My question is ..
This is a larger professional company if I forward it to the SS site is there a language option ?
For the user and the Developer ?

If the end site needs to be in Portugese would that be possible ? Thanks

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Joseph,
  
  That's a great question as I haven't tried the language option before since my native language is English.
  
  I think you can set the language in Settings (click here to see). But I'm not sure if your entire backend user interface will convert to Portugese. But you can definitely sign up for a trial account and test this out if you want to, just to make sure.
  
  But even if the backend editor doesn't convert to Portugese, you can always build your content in Portugese.
  
  Let me know how that goes as I'd be curious to know if Squarepace allows you to change languages even in the editor!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Natalia 12 years ago

Thanks for the great review, Jeremy.
Just to clarify- would squarespace be the best platform for publishing written (blog), high res photos, and embedded video (documentary length) content?

Is this perhaps something the squarespace experts can help me with if I were to sign up?

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Natalia,
  
  I wouldn't say it's "best" as it is a very broad conclusion, as there are definitely better blogging platforms out there - highly dependent on what you want / need. For instance WordPress, it has a lot more advanced tools to help you build a very comprehensive blog site, but then it does have a higher learning curve and from a design perspective, a lot of others do need to hire someone to modify codes to achieve what they want.
  
  But for Squarespace, it does offer you a very good set of tools to build a good blog and the templates are really good looking. You can also upload very high resolution images and also embed videos if you want to.
  
  So I'd suggest you sign up for a free trial account, and just invest some time into familiarizing yourself with them and then deciding if you need more or if it's fine in meeting your needs.
  
  We also have an article comparing Squarespace against WordPress if you want a bit more discussion about this.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Alex 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for the review.

I'm thinking of going with Squarespace, but my purposes are not entirely commercial.

I am a writer, and would like to have an almost blog-like website that looks clean and minimalistic, yet modern, that showcases myself as a writer as I continually update the site. I'd also like to use Disqus as a comment system because there will be weekly content updates-- articles, reviews, essays, poems, etc.

Does Squarespace support Disqus? Is it easy to regularly generate new content -- a new post with the accompanying comment system underneath -- or should I go with another website builder instead?

Thank you.

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Alex,
  
  Yes I think Squarespace is a good choice for a clean, minimalistic design for blogs. I'd suggest you sign up for a free trial account and try out a few different templates to see which one you like best, and just to get familiarized with their overall tools to see if their interface suits your needs.
  
  As for Disqus, yes it is compatible with Squarespace. You can see this tutorial on how to incorporate Disqus into Squarespace.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Sean O Donnell 12 years ago

Would Squarespace be suitable for someone offering business to business consultancy? At lot of the templates seem to be for retail!

thanks

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Sean,
  
  Yes Squarespace is flexible enough for you to crate a website that offeres B2B services. It's a matter of how you design your site as Squarespace definitely gives you all the tools to create your content (paragraphs, images, contact forms, maps, etc).
  
  Their template designs are pretty visual oriented, and if that's not really your "style", you can always check out Wix which has over 280 templates catered to all sorts of businesses.
  
  For a high level comparison between Squarespace and Wix, you can also visit our comparison chart here.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Bill 12 years ago

I just found Sqarespace today and for one who has zero skill set to build a web site I am sure impressed. My only issue is that they won't provide an actual person to speak with in moving my current web page over to theirs. I am certainly willing to pay someone to do this, so if anyone has a suggestion that would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Bill

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Bill,
  
  There are actually Squarespace specialists that can help you set up your site, or even customize / build it out for you if you want them to.
  
  Click here to see the page where you can find these specialists.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jessica 12 years ago

I heard about SquareSpace through a friend and thought I'd check it out for building my website. It's only been a week but I couldn't be more impressed: the beautiful templates, incredibly friendly customer service, and easy website building techniques make this the perfect site for any beginner or pro interested in building their website.

10/10, would definitely recommend! Also students - use your student email when signing up and you automatically get 50% off! (:

Reply
Jay 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy, thanks for a great review. I'm running a small Group & Personal training studio and I'm not quite sure if SS would be the right choice for me. A friend set up a dummy word press page for me but I don't like the backend very much as it's not easy for me to find my way around there. My girlfriend is using SS for her graphic design business and she head her site up and running in no time. What do you think? Is there any SS template you can recommended for a fitness professional or should I rather go with Weebly/WIx instead?

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Jay,
  
  I think Squarespace is an excellent choice especially if you really want your site to stand out by using rich and captivating images (their templates work really well with good pictures).
  
  Having said that, even though Squarespace is quite easy to use, I think that Wix is a bit easier, and Weebly is the easiest. On the other hand, Squarespace and Wix gives you the most tools, and Weebly keeps their platform fairly minimalistic.
  
  So I'd actually encourage you to sign up for the Squarespace trial to see if their interface suits your needs and just try out a few templates to get a hang of things. You can also sign up for either a free account with Wix or Weebly and play with them concurrently.
  
  At the end of the day it's important to invest some time into "getting your hands dirty" in order to see which website builder works best for your needs!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Brige 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy, I am just wading into the world of building and maintaining a site and I have to thank you for this review. It is an enormous help. Thanks a million!

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  You're very welcome! Glad we can be helpful!
  
  Do click on the social sharing buttons on the left side of the article to help us expand our reach. The great compliment we can get is a share!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Lisa 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

Thank you very much for a useful review!

I'm interested to know more about their security.
You wrote that "Squarespace takes care of all the security upgrades for their servers and do all the technical details to ensure your website is always up and running, and doesn’t get hacked."
On the Squarespace website, it says that SSL is used when you log into your site for secure access and on checkout and payment pages on the Commerce platform. SSL isn't available for other pages within a site.Note: Custom SSL certificates can't be installed on Squarespace sites.

I wonder if the entire admin area is secured ? If not, do you have any advice to secure my admin area?

Thank you for your help in advance!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Lisa,
  
  Yes once you log in to your user dashboard area, it's secure. Also an easy way to further protect yourself is to update your log in password once in a while (yes it's a pain but it's really effective!) Make sure you use a strong password that is alphanumeric, and blend in some symbols to make it really robust.
  
  Typically, SSL is the most important on all ecommerce checkout pages as that's where your customers will be inserting their personal information, so Squarespace does have that covered!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Guy 12 years ago

Looking to create a site to fill in a form, as an observation chart (like a medical chart) to email to clients with drop boxes to select paragraphs and text boxes. Want report to be either in the body of the email or as an attachments. Want the report to look nice to impress clients.

Appreciate any recommendations.

Guy

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Guy,
  
  You can use autoresponders / newsletter software such as Aweber (we use this ourselves) to send newsletters to your email subscribers. Aweber helps you create nice email sign up boxes, and you can create good looking newsletters to send to your email list.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Eric 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

I am interested to sell an online subscription to my site. For example, customers will be able to access some pages for free as a preview, but to access most pages of the site, they will have to buy an annual subscription for $20 per year say, where they get a log-on and password. I believe the official lingo for this is "password protected pages." The web site would have to maintain a back-end database of users, their emails, their log-ins and passwords, and the dates their subscriptions expired.

Does square space make an accommodation for this? If not, is there an add-on widget or plug-in that can be used to modify square space for this easily and seamlessly? This may be getting a big advanced for your typical builder program, but it would be a feature many might want. Do you know of the best way to run such a system? Is there any other program out there that is designed to run this kind of "protected" Web site database program? Or is it best to design such a thing from the ground up and not use the kind of builders you are reviewing here for this?

Would appreciate your opinion on this. Sincerely,

Eric

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Eric,
  
  At the moment, Squarespace doesn't have a built in membership login / gateway. However, you can consider checking out Sentry Login which is an independent membership widget that you can add to Squarespace. I believe this will enable you to password protect specific pages, and manage paid membership subscriptions.
  
  Perhaps you can give them a try, see if their features work for you, before deciding if you need to build a site from ground up which is a huge endeavor!
  
  If that doesn't work, you can also explore using WordPress in which you can combine with a membership plugin called WP Wishlist. For this approach, you also have to consider whether you are comfortable with learning how to use WordPress (we have a discussion comparing Squarespace to WordPress here).
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Michael Harding 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy

I've contributed some comments to your comparison review of different platforms for those online businesses that have been hung out to dry by Magento (GRRRHHH), with their decision to discontinue their Go service.

Following your advice, I've tried trial periods with all the major platforms and have settled for Squarespace. Oddly, they only offer an import feature going from Shopify>Squarespace, but I was able to export from Magento>Shopify, try them and then port the data over to Squarespace. Success.

I haven't pushed the button yet, but my compliments to Squarespace for good support and excellent guides as to how to customise your site. Templates are current looking and workable, which I found I couldn't say of Shopify (okay for paid templates, but blah free ones). Ditto BigCommerce, with charming service, but templates from the dark ages (even after their update!)

So off to Squarespace I go, then…but my first step will be to export my data to some safe place in case they go the way of Magento!!!!

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Michael,
  
  Glad you were able to get your data out of Magento Go and into Squarespace. It's really unfortunate that Magento is shutting down that platform.
  
  Also thanks for sharing your experiences with the support team from Squarespace! I also found their user guides to be very easy to follow.
  
  Lastly, I wouldn't be too concerned about Squarespace shutting its doors. Magento has a couple of other segments of services (such as Magento Enterprise and Community), so they decided to focus on those instead of Magento Go.
  
  For Squarespace, they only have 1 single service so to speak. Plus, they just recently raised $40 million in funding, so I'm fairly comfortable to say that they're going to be around for much longer.
  
  Then again, I'd agree with you, better safe than sorry, right?
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Cherrie Hub 12 years ago

Hi jeremy,
thank you for such a detailed review of Square space, I have spent few weeks now researching ecommerce hosting sites, and this one is the best I found so far. You've made really excellent video, and highlighted many of their features, much appreciated!
Maggie @ Cherrie Hub

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Cherrie,
  
  Thanks so much for your compliment! I'm thrilled to see that you found the right site builder for you!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Larry Emmons 12 years ago

In 2011 a friend helped develop my website. It was developed using Dreamweaver (aspx), a language I am unable to use. My site developer is no longer available. I designed the look of that website and would need help transferring elements of the current website to recreate a similar look on a new platform. In addition, one of the product lines I plan to add to the new site uses a "configurator" and I'm told that a new platform will need to have FTP to install the configurator program on the new site. A second company whose products I plan to sell may have a similar program that will offer a challenge as well.

This spring, I had a good experience with Weebly developing a website for a local not-for-profit I am associated with. Weebly, however, tells me that they do not have FTP and would be unable to help with some of the elements I plan to add to the site. So far it seems like Squarespace may be a good choice if they could accommodate my needs. A friend of mine is encouraging me to use Network Solutions or Web.com. I welcome your comments and recommendations.

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Donna,
  
  Unfortunately none of the drag and drop website builders we covered here allow transferring of files over FTP. You might need something more flexible / customizable such as WordPress.
  
  But if you are comfortable with development (coding, etc), Squarespace does have a developers program that gives you more flexibility.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Brooke 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy,
Great article!
I am looking to set up an online store that needs to be able to record customers measurements each time they log in.
Does squarespace allow this sort of customisation? Or would I be better off looking at shopify?

Cheers
Brooke

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Brooke,
  
  Squarespace allows your customers to insert notes in a custom form that you can set up when they check out / purchase your products / services, so they can insert their measurements on the check out page directly.
  
  But if you are looking to create some sort of membership log in area, Squarespace doesn't have that built into their platform as a feature. You might have to add a membership log in widget to your site, which I know that Sentry Login can do.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Lea 12 years ago

I have been looking for a website builder for a long time and I came across Squarespace today. It looked good but I like to do my research before committing to something that could be potentially permanently attached to my company brand. Your review was well-written, extremely informative and well laid out. Most importantly, it addressed all the issues I have questions about. Thanks so much for looking out for us newbies! I look forward to reading and sharing the other content on your site!

-Lea

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Lea,
  
  Thanks for your comment and glad you found our discussions helpful!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Ketim 12 years ago

I found this article very useful and informative. I am also checking the comparison chart. Thanks!

Reply
Gregory Miller 12 years ago

Jeremy,

I have looked at your reviews for Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace. What a nice job you have done here. Which one of these sites would be best for a "Vacation Rental" property. Clients could book and pay for the cottage on-line or call for more personalized assistance. I would like several pages to desribe our local Amish community, Mohican State Park, and activities in and around Loudonville (the canoe capital of Ohio). If you wish, you an send the answer direct via the provided email. Thanks so much, Greg

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Gregory,
  
  I think Squarespace is a good candidate for you to test out, as their design templates look really good and so can really showcase your vacation rental properties. You can insert contact forms or phone numbers into your site so that people can call / email to inquire if they have more questions. Squarespace also offers ecommerce features so that people can pay you to book.
  
  Another alternative is to look at Wix (our discussion here). They also have a very broad range of designs that you can choose from. They also have an App Market that you can insert apps into your Wix website - specifically they have these online reservations app that you can take advantage of, so that your customers can book online.
  
  Wix is free to use so you can test them out to see if you like them in addition to Squarespace!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Gardner Harrington 12 years ago

Aloha Jeremy,

No web building experience here, and have a rather simple concept in mind. Wondering if SquareSpace is the best option for us.

I am looking to develop a rather simple, straightforward website. That's probably what they all say. Looking to do: We have a number of domain names ( 200 or so ) that we were holding for a company that was developing a San Francisco real estate site. Short story, Because of a poor business plan, they are selling their office furniture for beer, and we need to market these domains to interested people in the Bay Area. Can you recommend a template or a starting point where we can list names, probably alphabetically, and actively add and delete from this list? Is SquareSpace. the best place for us to develop this site? Our needs are not overly graphics-driven. Basically, a nice looking interactive list.

In case you're wondering, the beer that the founders are looking to sell their office "stuff" for is Jack's Abby's "Leisure Time Lager." Hard to get in SF. Too much info, I guess.

If you have any thoughts, I'd really appreciate them.

Thanks very much Jeremy,

Gardner

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Gardner,
  
  If you are looking for a website builder to create a simple list, I think Squarespace, Wix or Weebly will do the job.
  
  But I don't think any of them has a list function where you can sort the items alphabetically. It would be a bit manual in that you can create a list of bullet points to list out your items, and just slot in new items in between the bullet points or delete items as needed.
  
  Trading furniture for beer sounds brutal!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Ketim 12 years ago

I really liked this review, very informative and partial. Thanks!

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Thanks Ketim! Glad you find our discussions helpful!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jeremy 12 years ago

Awesome read I signed up an am loving the flexibility of being able to update, edit, post and review the traffic and stats of my website via the squarespace apps!

Here is my squarespace website! It's super easy to set up and I'd recommend to everyone
'https://www.jeremyxlewisphoto.com

Reply
Annette 12 years ago

A great review. I've spent months researching and your article has confirmed to me that Squarespace is the next step in creating my new website. Well done!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Thanks Annette! Glad we are able to be somewhat helpful!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Justin Gilman 12 years ago

Love everything about this. Love SquareSpace as well.

I started using SS a few years ago after having some issues with freelance developers on a few projects. It is an absolute game changer for our company. We no longer need to contract development work! Plus, our clients are always happy with the end result and can easily manage everything. It's just perfect for us. It allows us to simplify the process, saving our clients time and money.

The only thing we still believe is that you still need a designer to help with the aesthetic. If you want your website to stand out from competitors, have it fit your brand, and just feel unique from the basic theme structure. SquareSpace also makes it super easy for us designers to do this. Another way of simplifying the process.

Otherwise, we train the clients to take the wheel themselves once our part of the process is complete. Our new SquareSpace design venture is called MadeForMasses.com promoting the fact that everyone deserves good design!!

Reply
richard kelman 12 years ago

my website-powered by Squarespace..goes live this morning. It has been a terrific experience working with them. As a 10-year retired/40 year software biz veteran...it is amazing how incredibly powerful and easy to use these software packages are ..and how many free/very cheap entry-level packages one can stick together...e.g Mailchimp, Zoho.

Yes, working with Squarespace sometimes takes a lot of patience and the package sometimes seems to get lost BUT..that is always ALL forgiven by working with the fabulous Customer Support crew. they are simply the best that i've ever encountered for any product..and here's the thing...the tone of all their communications is so sencouraging and supportive..they convery that they really want you to be successful in solving your problems. Hope they never change!

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Richard,
  
  Congrats on launching your site! Also thanks for sharing your thoughts with our community / readers.
  
  Squarespace's customer support was pretty outstanding when we used them and I'm really glad to hear that they are still on top of their game in serving Squarespace users!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
WS 12 years ago

Hello!

Was very pleased to build a website with Squarespace. Indeed very easy to use. I needed to build an audio podcast. Squarespace does offer maximum of 120 mb (or 160mb) for uploading audio files. They provide easy way to podcast... have album pages. BUT when I wanted to allow the visitor to be able to download these files, I found that is almost impossible. There is a limit to put a downloadable file of 20mb. It seems that SS does not make it easy for sites to be able to download items. Great to show pictures, audio and video (video needs to be hosted external).

Since our site has many audio files to be downloaded (lectures/talks). It seems to be not the best platform to use Squarespace.

Support was fantastic, always replied in a few hours maximum.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey WS,
  
  Thanks for sharing your experiences. For the download limitation, to get around that try storing your file elsewhere and just hyperlink to it from your Squarespace site. For instance, you can save the files in your Dropbox account, get the link to the file, and insert it as a hyperlink in your site so people can download it.
  
  Dropbox is free so you won't incur any further expenses!
  
  Great to hear that Squarespace's support team is super responsive!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Alex 12 years ago

Hi there,

I am looking at starting a day care/pre-school. Squarespace looks great for professionalism. Would you also recommend Weebly, Wix or Web.com? And out of these 4 do any of them allow you to change your domain name should you need to?

Reply
2 replies
- Guy Hesley 10 years ago
  
  Hey Alex,
  Did you ever get a suitable template for your pre-school web site?
  
  Reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Alex,
  
  I think a good starting point is to check out our comparison chart, which will give you a high level overview of some of the website builders you listed (specifically Squarespace, Wix and Weebly).
  
  All of them will allow you to change your domain name if you want to, assuming that you have your own domain name (note that Squarespace and Wix gives you a free domain name if you sign up with their premium plans).
  
  In my view, Squarespace has some of the most professional design templates, but Wix and Weebly aren't far behind (Weebly has launched some good templates lately). Here is a list of templates from the website builders which will show you some pretty polished designs.
  
  Weebly is probably the easiest to use (lowest learning curve), but Squarespace has responsive designs - meaning that your site will look fantastic and presentable no matter what viewing devices (desktop or mobile) they are using!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
kadidia 12 years ago

Hi! Thank you so much for all your reviews, they 've been of great help. I would like to know if, living in uk, I could possibly use mercantinc via squarespace? As I absolutely do not want to use neither paypal nor stripe. Do I need to have a merchant account with the payment gateway i'll use on squarespace? What about shopping cart and compliancy on payment cards. I am planning on signing up on shopify to use their widget. PLEASE help me, I don't know how to go about secure online payment, I do not have a lot of money, so I have to avoid set up fees and all together too much fees. Mercantinc seems good, I need some guidance please!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Kadidia,
  
  I haven't used Mercantinc before so can't quite comment on them or if they work with Squarespace.
  
  But you can definitely use Shopify's widget to power your Squarespace store and we've discussed about that here.
  
  Or, you can use Ecwid as an e-commerce independent widget to run your store on Squarespace. You can just search for Squarespace on Ecwid's site and you will see some tutorials on how to do that.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Chef Kendra 12 years ago

Very clear and detailed review. Thanks.

Reply
Parves 12 years ago

HI Jeremy,

Thanks for the review. Big help.
Does SquareSpace have an option for user reviews and ratings? If I were to build an ecommerce site, it's something i would like to incorporate.

Thanks,
Parves

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Parves,
  
  You can see this tutorial from Squarespace on how to add rating widgets to your site.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Chris 12 years ago

Is there ways that customers will know that my site is one they can trust?
If after lets say a couple months have gone by and I'm not selling any items can I just cancel my website and call it quits?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Chris,
  
  I think if you have any social proof, such as Facebook Likes, or if you have any testimonials from customers that you an insert into your site, then that can help you build some level of trust. Just think of when you visit another website or store, how those sites help you get comfortable with trusting them. Maybe they're associated with another trusted brand, etc.
  
  One thing to consider is that building a good looking site also inspires trust. After all, most people are more inclined to believe a physical or online store is good if it is well designed. It's just human nature! So Squarespace's templates can definitely help you on this (see our discussion on Squarespace's templates).
  
  You can always cancel your website and domain name whenever you want to.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Brian 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

I appreciate your reviews on Squarespace and other website builders! I'm in the midst of starting a blog with aspirations of having it generate revenue in the future. One form of revenue generation I'm familiar with is affiliate marketing. Are there any limitations you are aware of that would prevent me from pursuing this avenue? Thanks again, everything I've read by you has been extremely insightful and helpful

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Brian,
  
  Nope - I don't think there is anything that will stop you from building an affiliate marketing site with Squarespace. Obviously all website builders will have its limitations to a certain extent, but if you are just building our content, and placing advertisements (such as an image with an affiliate link, or text with affiliate links), then Squarespace can totally do this!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Lisa Voncino 12 years ago

HI Noel - I thought I'd chime in here since I have used both Weebly and Squarespace. I tried Weebly a few years ago and it is extremely easy to use, so if you want to set up quickly and go, give it a whirl. I needed more options a few months down the road, wasn't thrilled with the templates, and tried to get a refund or a discount for the portion I was not going to use and they refused. That's okay; it's their policy.

Squarespace 6 is fantastic but there is more of a learning curve to it and some knowledge of code is useful although not necessary. Their customer service absolutely rocks! I'm very happy with them. I have not looked at Weebly recently so they have probably upgraded their templates and since you are non-techy, I'd start with them. Also, Mailchimp is great. Hope this helps!

Reply
NOEL 12 years ago

Is Weebly paid monthly or do you have to pay for the year up front. Does Google Business app have any services like Aweber or Mailchimp to auto respond to email and send out newsletters, and which of those email sevices would you recommend. I've been leaning to Mailchimp due to their lower cost. One more thing I'M not tech savy at all is Weebly any good for a simple blog, and is Squarespace easy to use as the Weebly platform.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Noel,
  
  With Weebly, the minimum period if you want to upgrade to their paid plan is 6 months. You get discounts if you sign up to their 1 year plan, or an even steeper discount if you choose a 2 year plan. Weebly also offers you a 30 day refund policy so if you are dissatisfied you can always request a refund. You can see more of our Weebly pricing discussion here.
  
  In terms of autoresponders / newsletter services, we use Aweber ourselves. We haven't tested Mailchimp before but I know it is also a very good service.
  
  Weebly is very easy to use, and is relatively simpler to learn than Squarespace. Though I'd say that Squarespace has a bit more advanced features and their template designs are better than those offered by Weebly. So it really depends on what you want!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
John 12 years ago

Hi,
Thanks for the informative review. I have two websites through FineArtStudiosOnline, known as FASO. Their templates are rather uninspiring but they do incorporated your own blog and newsletter service, as well as social media integration and compatability with mobile and phones. An example is my cartoon site at: policetoons.com. I also have a wordpress blog at: johnpatrickweiss.com. I was told you should avoid website services where you don't have total control of your site and domain. However, I really love the artistic design feel of Squarespace. As an artist, writer, blogger, I wonder if Squarespace would give me that "wow" factor more than the services I'm currently using? Also, I'm not the most technical guy so user friendly and support is appealing. Can you offer advice? Many thanks!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi John,
  
  Those are legitimate concerns for sure. Your domain name is yours to keep, as long as you keep paying your annual fees to your domain name registrar. So Squarespace doesn't own your domain name.
  
  As for your actual website, even though it is hosted with Squarespace, if you want to leave (for whatever reason) you can export your content and blog pages into WordPress. So that's a good option that Squarespace provides you if you want to migrate somewhere else down the road.
  
  Lastly, in our view, Squarespace definitely has the most polished templates available, at least amongst the website builders that we've used and discussed!
  
  Hope this is helpful for you!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  John Weiss 12 years ago
  
  Many thanks Jeremy for your response!
  
  Reply
Katie 12 years ago

Thank you so much for this review! At first I started my business with WordPress having no idea how technical it was and how not-so-technical I was. A trial with SquareSpace has opened so many doors. I am able to easily design, navigate and control my own business without having to constantly be on the look out for friends of friends to assist me as I grow my business. Soon to be bringing beautiful, handmade African products from a cooperative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Thank You!!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Katie,
  
  Glad you've discovered that Squarespace is working out better for you! WordPress is a bit more technical for sure, and Squarespace enables those without much technical knowledge to build professional and functional websites for sure.
  
  If other readers haven't seen our WordPress versus Squarespace discussion yet, click here.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Lisa Voncino 12 years ago

Very helpful article, Jeremy. I really enjoy using Squarespace and see how it works well for creatives and small businesses. Plus the customer service is fantastic! I wish they had templates targeting the medical profession. What website template builder would you recommend for the medical field?

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Lisa,
  
  I don't have any suggestions of which Squarespace template works well for medical field, as they are all pretty flexible. I can certainly understand that it's challenging to see the potential of each template and how your website can potentially work!
  
  One option if you don't know a friendly designer, is to hire someone to help you visualize. Some designers aren't cheap, but they're well worth it as they can help you create exactly what you are looking for!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Lisa Voncino 12 years ago
  
  Thanks, Jeremy, for the quick reply!
  
  Reply
Pamela Fox 12 years ago

Thanks so much Jeremy. I am an artist getting ready to set up an online store and was attracted to Squarespace for the same reason, beautiful contemporary templates. I wanted to get more overview on the site and your review gave it to me.

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Pamela - glad we can be helpful! Please do click on the social sharing buttons on the left side of this article to share it with others. You never know who else can benefit from this! Thanks!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Bill Sloan 12 years ago

In the review of SS templates, you state: (a couple of business templates overlapped with blog templates) Do you mean that some of the business templates are better when using a blog on your website? Your review is great!

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1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Bill,
  
  In our review of Squarespace templates, what we mean is that some of the templates can be used for either businesses, or "pure" blogs. So it's really a personal preference of which template you would like to use, but such templates are designed specifically for businesses and blogs.
  
  Sometimes this line blurs, as a lot of businesses nowadays have a very active blogging schedule to generate helpful content for their prospective customers / shoppers to consume. It's a very popular marketing and branding exercise.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Thomas Yates 12 years ago

Thanks so much for this review Jeremy, after reading it I went and signed up for Squarespace for my own website. It was easy to set up, only took a few minutes but I think it looks pretty good, minimal which is what I wanted.

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kevin yim 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy

I want to build a website for my company and I have attended Wordpress Training but I find it quite tedious to use WP and am still trying to figure out how to use it to build the website. I am quite busy with my work and wants to use the simplest methods to build a website by drag and place. I have read on Wix, Weebly, Squarespace. Which will you recommend based on your experience. I do not need an e-commerce. As mentioned I am building this website for my company (my boss) so I want a website to introduce our company and products.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Kevin,
  
  That's a good question. Check out this comparison article where we've compared the pros and cons of Squarespace, Weebly and Wix. You can also check out this article focused on Wix vs Weebly as well.
  
  Hope this is helpful!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Sherry 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

I just came across your great website, when looking for a review of Squarespace. I have been asked by a couple of people if I design sites for it, and I have only recently looked into it.

I see that your website is done in Wordpress, is that still the tool that you prefer for yourself?

Thanks,
Sherry

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Sherry,
  
  We use WordPress for this website as it is primarily a blog-type website, and so the tools from WordPress work very well for our needs.
  
  So it all depends on what type of website you are trying to build, then you find the right "tools" that suit your needs. So if you want to build a website that that isn't necessarily focused on blogging, but also want it to look very professional, polished and has a range of really good looking templates to help with your site design, Squarespace is a very good option to test out.
  
  When you sign up, you get a free 14-day trial. So it's worth it to sign up to just look around to see if their tools work for you.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Sherry 12 years ago
  
  Hi Jeremy, that makes sense. : ) thank you. Sherry
  
  Reply
James Ratchford 12 years ago

Hey Jeremy and Connie,
There has been quite a long list of questions here and it might have previously been covered, I was wondering about setting up a photography website showcasing my work from the UK.
How I would go about transferring the money into US Dollars would it cost me even more to do it from the UK?
Is there an equivalent program for british citizens?
Thanks for your time,
Regards,
James

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi James,
  
  If you are referring to creating an online store with Squarespace, then yes you can do so from the UK. Squarespace's ecommerce tools are tightly integrated with an online payment processor called Stripe, and they do work with merchants based in the UK.
  
  I believe when you set up your store, you can configure your merchandises to be sold in US$. But I'm not exactly sure when the money is transferred into your bank account, whether Stripe needs to convert it into GB pounds or not. I know that for PayPal, if you withdraw money from the account to your bank account, they automatically exchange it into your local currency.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Chelsey 12 years ago
  
  Hi Jeremy,
  
  Thank you for your review! I have been interested in Square Space for some time now and am wondering if it is right for me. I run the website for a contemporary fashion showroom and we currently use wordpress. Personally, I find that there are limitations here that keep me from building the beautifully designed space that I want. Do you think that square space would be good for me? Our website is rather basic, just kind of there to give our accounts round-about information on who we are and what we do--whilst maintaing a high resolution and clean look.
  
  I would love your advise! I would love to know your suggestions as well!
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hi Chelsey,
  
  Yes I think Squarespace can do a really good job! Their templates are contemporary, stylish, clean, and can be a good fit for your needs.
  
  WordPress is pretty powerful, but can be a time suck to get it configured to the way you want it to be, especially if you don't hire someone to help you.
  
  You can do a lot of the work yourself on Squarespace (drag and drop content around), and so will be a great candidate for you to sign up to test (14 day trial).
  
  Good luck!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Arthur 12 years ago

1. Does Squarespace have a white label version for resellers?
2. Can you add high quality videos without embedding from YouTube?

Arthur

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Arthur,
  
  1) Not that I know of at the moment. But perhaps at some point!
  
  2) Squarespace's Video Block allows you to embed Vimeo, Animoto and Wistia videos (that is in addition to YouTube videos). So you should be able to embed high quality videos.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Alex 12 years ago

Is Squarespace format considered an HTML 5 format?
I've been solicited by a company who claims to use HTML 5 as the latest and search engine friendly.
I am trying to decide if I should just use Squarespace to build my own site.
Thanks for your help.

Alex

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Alex,
  
  Yes - Squarespace uses HTML5 and in terms of all the drag and drop website builders that we've discussed on our site, it is the most SEO-friendly (it has the most SEO-friendly options). You can see this comparison chart of website builders where we have a bit more discussions on SEO.
  
  I hope this is helpful!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Barbara 12 years ago

Thank you for the detailed review.
I have just used Squarespace to create a website for my business and THE main attraction was the templates-just what I wanted- a clean and classy look and the way the photos looked after they were uploaded was just great.
I too, ran into minor bugs, mostly adding products in the Shop section of my web site. They definitely have bugs there, but I was able to work around them.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hey Barbara,
  
  Thanks for sharing your experiences. Their templates are really polished and stylish for sure, which I do love!
  
  In general all technology will be a buggy to a certain extent as no such thing as perfect, right? But I'm glad to hear that you're working through them and not letting them slow you down!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Joshua 12 years ago

I have read through your blog, and found the information to be very high quality.
The foundation I volunteer with is redesigning our website. I am the designer though not a professional web designer. I am an architect and have a design background. The foundation would be using volunteers to edit the site when I can not. THe word press site we currently have is difficult for me, and subsequently for those that would follow.
In your opinion, would Squarespace work well for a Foundation site that presents a lot of information with fewer galleries?
(I would do this in dreamweaver, but that would take the universal editing out of it. We are spread across the country.)

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hey Joshua,
  
  Squarespace should work well even if you have a lot of text based information you want to present. Their templates are quite stylish and so that should help make it a bit easier for readers to absorb information (versus using a typical web layout from many years ago, which does discourage people from reading to a certain extent).
  
  Squarespace also supports multiple contributors so you can invite others to add to the website, and you can manage how much access they have.
  
  Hope this is helpful!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
M Robson 12 years ago

A comprehensive review, clear and unbiased!
I have a question:
I really like the templates on Squarespace; I'm a photographer living in New Zealand (a local host just isn't an option) and want to sell online worldwide using Paypal; is the Squarespace E-commerce system set up for selling from outside the US? In other words, are there any disadvantages if a user is not based in the US?
Also, I don't see a 'watermark' option for photographers with Squarespace…
Thanks

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi M,
  
  As of today, Stripe isn't available in NZ yet, so I suppose you will have to use PayPal. The drawback is that Squarespace e-Commerce isn't integrated with PayPal yet, but only with Stripe. As such, you can use PayPal, but you won't be able to take advantage of certain e-commerce functions.
  
  One good option is to use Ecwid, an independent e-commerce shopping cart add-on, that can be inserted into a Squarespace website. Ecwid powers over 450,000 online stores in over 175 countries and so you can combine their advanced e-commerce tools (you can sell digital products such as photographs) with the professional templates that Squarespace has to offer. They do offer you the ability to use PayPal as well, along with a lot of other payment gateways.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  UPDATE: You can also consider using Shopify to power your ecommerce functions while using Squarespace. Shopify is one of the leading ecommerce online store builder, and they offer you the ability to embed an entire store or just products into your Squarespace website. We have more discussions on how to use Shopify Widget with your Squarespace website here.
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Marianne Robson 12 years ago
  
  Thank you Jeremy!
  I've just watched the video, which is going to be extremely useful as well.
  One thing I didn't find out is if you can add buttons to any template; for example, if the template is set up for 'portfolio' 'blog' and 'about', can I add others such as 'contact' 'artists' etc, or do I have to chose a template that has the exact buttons I want?
  Thank you for your very helpful advice.
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Marianne,
  
  If I'm understanding your question correctly, you can add buttons by using Squarespace's blocks. The best way to explore what you can or cannot do is to just sign up for a 14-day trial and play around with their tools!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Kim @ WampumHome 12 years ago

Great and comprehensive review. My brother in law has a web design service and squarespace comes highly recommended! I, on the other hand have felt frustrated to no end trying to just blog with wordpress! So, seeing your fantastic video/demo along with a couple of others think this is a great match for me. I am a new blogger but have goals to monetize with affiliates and sponsors/ads.
Before I chose from the package options you mention above a few newbie questions:
1. What is 'total' price including domain name/ hosting?
2. Do I need to purchase domain name separately? recommendations?
3. Being limited to selling 1 product or 20 products is clear but is there a limit of links or sponsors or sponsored posts? (o.k. maybe a few questions rolled into this one)
Again.. great review.. I really appreciate all the work that went into this!!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hey Kim,
  
  Glad you're enjoying and getting a lot out of our discussions here! To answer your questions:
  
  1) When you subscribe to any Squarespace plans, they including all the hosting services for you so you don't have to pay extra, or hire another company to help you manage that.
  
  2) If you subscribe to Squarespace's annual plans, you get a free custom domain from them. Normally a domain name is about $10 - $15 per year. So you will need to pay this if you sign up for their month-to-month plan. But you get it for free if you get an annual plan. Bear in mind that you have a 14-day trial before committing to any plans.
  
  3) If you are just placing advertisements and sponsored posts, there are no limitations as to how many of those you can insert into your website. Consider them as just your own images or blog posts - so no limits.
  
  Hope this helps out a bit!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
John Schmidt 12 years ago

Thank you so much. Very thorough and appreciated. I watched the entire video.

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Kristin 12 years ago

Hi my company is planning on switching from a huge ftp file and going to Squarespace. The thing is we just spent hundreds of dollars to SEO. Will switching to Squarespace, mess up the SEOing we just paid for?

Thanks,

Kristin

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Kristen,
  
  It really depends on what you did with SEO. If they are backlinks to your pages, just make sure that once you migrate to Squarespace, that your current webpages have the same URL structure as the new pages in Squarespace, so that the link still remains valid.
  
  If you can't keep the same URL structure, try creating 301 re-directs so that Google and other search engines knows that your old pages are equivalent to your new pages in Squarespace. You can do the 301 re-directs with your current hosting service - or ask them as they should be able to help.
  
  If the SEO that you paid for relates to work that is done directly on your website, then there is a chance that you might lose all the work, as you will be constructing a new site with Squarespace. But in this case, if you just replicate the SEO work on your new site construction, this will obviously help.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
LJ 12 years ago

Thanks for the informative review. I'm a photo retoucher and I want to show a large main image with a strip of thumbnail images below it. I want the viewer to be able to hover over the main image to see it change to the "before" version. I think that's called a rollover image. Anyway, does Squarespace have this capability and if so, do they tell you how to do it and is typing in code involved?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi LJ,
  
  I know what you are referring to, but I don't think Squarespace has this slider in its core features. You can always code that as you were referring to, as there are a lot of available codes on the internet for you to retrieve (free and paid).
  
  The challenge is to integrate it with Squarespace (or any other website builder as a matter of fact). If you are not proficient with codes, you may want to hire someone who can implement this for you (such as a freelancer from either Elance or Odesk). It will save you a lot of time.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Martha 12 years ago

Currently using Hostica. Letting that go for something that can host my pop up dinners. I will need a site that can secure online payments, showcase photo galleries, share recipes, and allow for each guest to review on all social media platforms they currently have. Will SS allow this?

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Martha,
  
  Yes - Squarespace can help you collect payments online (either using Stripe or PayPal - using their "code block"), they have gorgeous gallery functions and you can also use their "menu" block to create menus to share your recipes.
  
  As for social media platforms, yes they can all be connected to your Squarespace website!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Arvind 12 years ago

Thank you for this amazing website. I finally jumped into Squarespace and I absolutely love it. Was able to make a very professional looking site with minimum of effort!

Want to know what SS is capable of? Check out our restaurant site 'www.mavallitiffinrooms.com

Reply
Barbara Ann 12 years ago

Hello, I am starting a 'cottage' business that will feature my work ability to finish people's quilting projects. So the webpage will be geared toward my talents and photos of my work so people can judge whether they could use my services. I am looking for a web page builder/provider that will be easy to use and get my name at the top of the list when people Google 'Quilt Services" . Will Squarespace do this for me? I need need something easy and forthright to use. I am able to do basic computer tasks. Thanks for any suggestions.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Barbara,
  
  I think if you're after something that can display your images / portfolio in a very elegant and professional way, Squarespace definitely has the templates to help you with that.
  
  But to be honest it is not the easiest website builder to use, compared to Weebly (our review here). It's not super challenging, but the learning curve is a tad bit higher than Weebly in our opinion. But once you get the hang of things, it's pretty pleasant to use.
  
  In terms of getting your site to the top of Google search results, I think while which website builder you use does make a small difference, the majority of the SEO work will have to be done yourself as none of the builders will do this for you (or else everybody will have their sites rank high - if it would only be that easy!)
  
  There are a lot of good (and some bad) resources on SEO that you can find and study online.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Randy 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy, great review! I've been using Squarespace for several months now and am a fan overall. However, I'm concerned with slow page load times that seem to plague most, if not all, standard Squarespace templates. Running my site ('www.chinabiohacker.com) and other Squarespace-powered sites through Google's PageSpeed Insight tool, the recommendations below have come up every time. Have you had a chance to look into load times and if so, any suggestions/advice here? Thanks!

FROM PAGESPEED INSIGHTS

Eliminate render-blocking JavaScript and CSS in above-the-fold content

Your page has 4 blocking script resources and 4 blocking CSS resources. This causes a delay in rendering your page.

None of the above-the-fold content on your page could be rendered without waiting for the following resources to load. Try to defer or asynchronously load blocking resources, or inline the critical portions of those resources directly in the HTML.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Randy,
  
  I just ran your site through Google PageSpeed Insights, Pingdom and also WebPageTest which is what Google recommended in checking page speed as well, and your site actually is running at a pretty good speed.
  
  These speed measuring tools will always recommend more optimization and the challenge is that they are do-able if you have a custom built site and you work with a developer to make all these adjustments.
  
  But for website builders, their codes are structured in certain ways that make it challenging for you to update. But to be honest, your site loaded up in 1.9 seconds according to Pingdom and 3.74 seconds with WebPageTest (which times your entire page load instead of just what you see right away, so it will always be longer), so Squarespace sites' loading time is actually pretty good!!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
L Feaster 12 years ago

Jeremy-

Please forgive my simple language as I am no website expert. I want to set up a design site that highlights visuals but also has a strong blog presence. I want visitors to be able to opt-in for information or to receive a newsletter which I see that SS does not provide.I was hoping to be able to have designated blog posts emailed to a list kept by a separate email service provider. I see you mention Mail Chimp but wasn't sure if this is seamless, meaning, can it be set up to work with SS to have auto-responders go out either via opt-in or on a scheduled basis.
Thanks and great review!!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi L,
  
  What you can do is use the "Code Block" and insert the snippet of code that a newsletter service provider (such as MailChimp or Aweber) provides you. The code block will then turn into a sign up form (you can design this form in MailChimp or Aweber). That way, your visitors can sign up for your newsletter service. When you have a new email to send out, you can craft that within the newsletter service provider and send them out that way.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
B Foster 12 years ago

SEO is arguably one of the most important factors now-a-days. In the review, it mentioned basic SEO tools. Did squarespace leave anything out or are there any limitations that exist with squarespace and developing SEO optimized content?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi B,
  
  In our opinion, amongst the drag and drop website builders, Squarespace has one of the strongest set of SEO features. You can see our scoring here in this comparison chart.
  
  I think they do a pretty good job for SEO!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Renuka 12 years ago

Hello!

My company is currently using yahoo small business but we are unhappy with how limited this website builder is. We would like to keep our current domain as it is written on all of our business cards.

My first question is, are we able to transfer the domain to squarespace if we do choose to go with this host? Our company is a clinical research company. None of us have a lot of tech knowledge but we do understand how to create websites.

By using squarespace, would we be able to regularly update one of pages that involves our current and enrolling studies so that patients can see what we currently have going on in the office? Also, using this website builder, would we be able to regularly update a news and events type of page?

Last question (sorry for so many), but would squarespace allow us to have a contact us type of page where patients can directly write in a little form and have it emailed to us for study inquiries? Thank you, in advance, for your help!

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Renuka,
  
  1) Yes you can. You can point your domain name from your current registrar to your Squarespace site. Visit Squarespace's guides and click on Custom Domains and you will see instructions there.
  
  2) Yes you can update your pages as often as you want!
  
  3) Yes, the "Form Block" from Squarespace allows your visitors to leave messages. You can also insert more fields in the contact form so you can totally customize it. Here's more info on the Form Block.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Susanna Smith 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

I am very new to web-design. As my hobby I make jewelry and other arts and crafts, and thanks to popular demand I started selling them. A friend referred me to squarespace today to try it out. So I have a few questions since you are a guru in this topic:

1) I have a site hosted through bluehost at the moment which for the life of me couldn't figure out how to add ecommerce option to it. Do I cancel my hosting subscription and request a refund once I decide to sign up with squarespace?

2) I also purchased a domain name with bluehost which I would like to carry over to squarespace. Does squarespace add any other info to the address, e.g. 'www.mywebsite.squarespace.com or something in those lines?

3) I see they have 3 pricing options: $8, $16 and $24. I notice that under $8 range it says "Sell 1 Product & Accept Donations". I am a bit confused about it.So does arts and crafts count as one product? I couldn't find detailed info on that option anywhere on their site. And their $16 says "Sell up to 20 Products"...... Thanks again for the great reviews!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hey Susanna,
  
  1) If you do decide to sign up to one of Squarespace's premium plans, you will no longer need the hosting services from Bluehost as Squarespace provides all the hosting solutions for you to run your website. So yes, you can cancel Bluehost if that's what you want to do.
  
  2) You can definitely use your own custom domain name that you registered with Bluehost and apply that to your Squarespace website. In fact, Squarespace has a help article addressing this here.
  
  3) This is just how many product itemss you can sell under each plan. So under the $8 plan, you can set up one product to sell. For example, with the $8 plan you can only sell a paintbrush (for instance) but you can sell as many of it as you can. But you can only sell that single item.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jael Torrez 12 years ago

Thanks you guys for a great review. Because of this I have started using Squarespace to build my website, and it has been a wonderful experience so far. They have THE best customer service by far - and I have used Wix, Wordpress, InMotion, Web.com, and Network Solutions.

Squarespace has live chat which I love, and they respond to my emails immediately - even at 2am on a Saturday. The walk me through everything and make it so easy for me. And don't even get me started on their templates - GORGEOUS! I'm so impressed. I was ready to give up and pay thousands of dollars to someone to build this for me. For anyone who is on the fence - let me help push you over the fence - don't even bother with anyone else.

The small monthly fee I will be paying is worth gold compared to all the "freebies" that are out there! Great job and thanks again!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hey Jael,
  
  Thanks for sharing your experiences with Squarespace here! Glad to hear that you're enjoying it thus far. Their live chat service, and the fact that they answer emails within 1 hour even in the middle of the night are both major thumbs up points for choosing Squarespace.
  
  I've used a lot of different services before (beyond website builders) and paying a bit more for solid support is definitely worthwhile over the long term. I value my time so for me, paying for good support is a no brainer.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Angi 12 years ago

Hi!
I found this review to be very enlightening, and thank you very much.
I'm a hairstylist in a pretty high end salon, but I also do photoshoots with other artists/designers and editorial work. I have gotten to the point in my career that I need to have a website for promotional purposes which is great. However, but after spending hours searching the internet, I was disheartened to find that most salon/ stylist website seem to be lacking creativity, too basic, portfolio exclusive, too flashy, and or not really attention grabbing. While I do want a portfolio, I would also like to blog and have a site that looks just as professional as any other industry. It should also have great Customer support and be able to be built on my my ipad. After reading this ( and many other reviews) I'm gonna give them a chance . Do you agree?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Angi,
  
  If you want a very professional and attractive portfolio site, that also has a good blogging platform, then Squarespace is worth a try. Their templates are one of the more attractive ones in the market for displaying portfolio and are responsive so they look great on all viewing devices.
  
  The only thing I would say, if you want to build your site directly with your iPad, is that Squarespace isn't tailored for that. For best, most efficient results, it is best to build your Squarespace site using your desktop computer.
  
  If being able to build content directly with your iPad is critical to you, I would suggest checking out Jimdo as their mobile app allows you to create pages and build content with on your iPad (their mobile app was an award winning app in 2013). The drawback is that their templates are not as "pretty" as Squarespace's.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Angi 12 years ago
  
  Thank you so much for responding to my question. This site is helping to navigate the wonderful ( and often frustrating) world of website building. I am in the process of checking out both, and so far Squarespace seems to be the better host for the the type of site I want. With that said, I have no problem building the website on my PC. I just need to be able maintain, add, and remove content from my ipad. In that case, should I just chalk up pretty (squarespace) for what's most efficient (jimdo)?
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Angi,
  
  To be honest I haven't tried maintaining websites with my iPad as I'm more of a desktop type of guy when it comes to creating and maintaining content!
  
  What I'd suggest is to sign up for a trial account with Squarespace and Jimdo (if you want to test out their iOS mobile app) and see which one works best for you. You don't have to build out your entire site yet, but just test it out with your iPad and see if it suits your needs at all.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Silas Jura 12 years ago

Hey Jeremy & Connie,

I had a quick question for you. I am looking to build a real estate website and wondered if SquareSpace or any other visual website builder would be able to get the job done without too much customization of coding. The main function it would need to do is be able to list rental properties in a consistent manor (i.e. page template for property) that would have a picture slide, pricing, info, amenities, contact form, etc. I know I could probably accomplish this if I manually built out each property page but I was wondering if it would be possible to have a custom page template built and then just be able to fill in the info using a visual editor and just rinse and repeat. I bought a custom template for Wordpress for doing just this but like one of the other comments below mentioned, it's like hitting your head against a brick wall. I appreciate any input you can provide.

Thanks in advance,
Silas

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hey Silas,
  
  We did too smash our heads against the WordPress brick wall once too many times already!
  
  As for your question, I don't think there is a way to code up a custom page layout for Squarespace. But a workaround is if you can manually create an "ideal" page layout, then you can use the duplicate page function to start copying the same page over and over again. The downside, still, is that you will need to go to each page and enter the different listing details.
  
  But at least you can duplicate your page, so you don't have to keep dragging and moving blocks around.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Chris 12 years ago

I already have a site and a host, but am interested in rebuilding using Squarespace. Do I need Squarespace to host or can I use my existing host and plan and upload the site I build with Squarespace?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Chris,
  
  Squarespace is a hosted solution, so if you want to use their website builder, they will provide you with the hosting service (it comes as part of their services to you). You don't need to get your own hosting at all!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jael Torrez 12 years ago

Another great comparison! Thank you for this! I have the same question about Squarespace as I had about Wix - if I create a DIY website with squarespace will I have the capability of adding advertisements from companies wanting to advertise on my website?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Jael,
  
  Yes you can. Your advertiser can either give you a tracking URL so you can hyperlink your advertising images or text, or if they give you some sort of codes to insert, you can always use Squarespace's Code Block.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Sam 12 years ago

Dear Jeremy and Connie
Thanks so much for your helpful review. I am quite a novice when it comes to web design and so Squarespace does make it look so easy. However, I am not sure it is for what I am looking for. I am setting up a website where users can upload their profiles and communicate with other users/profiles that are registered. Is this possible with Squarespace?

Thanks in advance for your expert opinion!
Best wishes

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Sam,
  
  Squarespace doesn't have a native function for forum-like set up. If this is important to you, perhaps you can consider Wix? In Wix's app market, there are a couple of forum apps where you can "bolt on" a forum to your Wix site in which people can sign in and interact with other members within the forum.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Melissa Roberts 12 years ago

Very helpful review! Thanks.

Reply
Karen 12 years ago

I am the owner of a UK family business have been researching website platforms for my business. I have reviewed Weebly, Wix and Squarespace6. So far Squarespace is my favourite, as I like the templates so having been researching the review sites to see why I shouldn’t go for it.

I found out that isn’t great with IE8 – but found out only 5% of web users still use IE8. It also uses Stripe, which was USA based only, but has since been extended to UK, Oz, Europe etc. more recently.

I contacted a really helpful UK business that uses Squarespace and Stripe and had problems using IE when I tested their checkout. I really want to commit to Squarespace but am looking for some reassurance that I am making the right choice. All of the providers seem to be good at telling you why you should go with them… not so much as to what you won’t be able to do. I currently have my domain names with Easily and would need to transfer them to Squarespace.

Any advice or links to other UK businesses using Squarespace with Stripe appreciated.

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Karen,
  
  I don't know of any examples of UK businesses using Squarespace + Stripe, but website builders, in general, are advancing and improving and as such, IE 8 (which is really outdated) is left behind.
  
  I suppose website builders, designers or programmers alike are moving forward to adopting newer technology to enable websites to do much more sophisticated things, rather than remaining with outdated technology. So in a way it's a good thing if you take a long term view.
  
  One other option if you prefer not to use Stripe with Squarespace is to create an online store using Shopify (a really good online store builder), and use their widget to embed your entire store (or just various products of your choice) to your Squarespace website. This way, Shopify will power your shopping cart, while you still get to use Squarespace's website building tools. You can see our discussion about this option here.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jean 12 years ago

Thanks so much for the informative website comparisons. For the moment, I feel Squarespace most answers my needs and I've just begun my trial with them and have a question needing your help with.

I’m a designer/maker who works with a vast inventory of fabrics and parts allowing customer to choose and create their personalized items. I have an Etsy shop and have been reliant on their “Variations” feature. It allows me to add up to two properties each capped at 70 variations (not enough for me). Would I be able to do the same or similar with Squarespace or another website builder? Thanks in advance for your help.

Here’s the link on Etsy to listing variations https://www.etsy.com/help/article/3385

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Jean,
  
  You can definitely add a lot of product variants for Squarespace's e-commerce product function, but I'm not entirely sure if you can go beyond 70 variations. Based on Squarespace's support guide, it didn't say that there is a limit? I'd be interested to know though - have you tried asking their support team?
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Marit 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy & Connie,

Great review thanks! But once again I don't know if I should choose Wordpress or Squarespace ;). We want to build a website where the blog is the main thing, but we also want to be able to have a shop where you can buy daily 'deals'. Also, we would like to give our visitors a log in, where they can collect favorite blogs, have a calendar with reminders, etc. And last, but not least, we would like them to be able to insert an end date, so we can send them e-mails with what to think about at a certain point in the planning (it will be a website about getting married). Any tips?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Marit,
  
  Check out our article comparing Squarespace and WordPress here (if you haven't seen it yet).
  
  It sounds like what you're looking for is pretty customized and so perhaps the website builders that we've used and reviewed may not provide all the solutions for you.
  
  Squarespace has both e-commerce and blogging functions, and if you want a log in function you might want to consider using Sentry Login which is an independent service provider which can help you turn Squarespace into a membership-type website.
  
  For the ability to configure a time of when your customer will receive an email, Squarespace's e-commerce function can be integrated with MailChimp (which is a newsletter service provider) so you can configure in MailChimp to automatically send out emails to your customer after "X" number of days!
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Christine 12 years ago
  
  Hi! I'm looking into building my wedding website and was curious what you recommended between Squarespace and using Go Daddy's Web builder which is on sale right now for $1.00/month with a free domain name as well. Is Squarespace worth the extra $60 for the year in your opinion? Thanks for your help.
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Christine,
  
  I think Squarespace has much better template options and they have a much more advanced set of website building tools.
  
  So if design and style is really important for you, I'd give Squarespace a try as they have a 14 day trial period for you to test things out for free.
  
  I also like GoDaddy's support though as they offer 24/7 support via phone, email, live chat. Squarespace also has great support as they have 24/7 email support and they promise to answer all emails within 1 hour, and they also have live chat during day hours. But they don't have a phone support option. So if that's important for you, you might consider testing out GoDaddy (they also have 45 day refund policy if you get their annual plans)
  
  If you haven't seen our review on GoDaddy yet, click here.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Rich 12 years ago

Thanks for the reviews and advice. I'm a print journalist (yeah, I know ...) and I want to feature PDF files (not links) of my old stories as part of a planned website that would be all about me, me, and me. I also have shot a lot of video clips that I'd want to put on there as well. Would Squarespace be good for this, or some other site like Wix or WordPress?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hey Rich,
  
  Yes you can embed PDF files to a Squarespace website by following instructions found here.
  
  You can also upload your own videos using Squarespace's Video Block. Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Heather 12 years ago

Wow! Thank you for this incredibly helpful review.
I've never come across such a thorough and expert review.
Especially appreciated was the your video!
You tricked me out of my nervous aversion to the tech side with the video and got me started without me having a chance to freak out! Thanks!

I think I'll try Squarespace. Wordpress has just been like hitting brick walls.
Thank you for doing all the lead work!

Heather

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Thanks Heather! Glad you found our review helpful!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Diana A 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy and Connie!
So far I found the review and all the questions below excellent and very helpful.
I want to build a website where the customers are able to customize and create artwork (for example pick different shapes, colors, content and so on...) and then placing their orders.
Would you recommend Squarespace for this type of website?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Diana,
  
  I think you can try using Squarespace's Form Block to create a contact form where your visitors can submit product / artwork specifications to you. You can then correspond with your prospective customers on price quotes and whether the customizations are possible.
  
  Check out Squarespace's Form Block here which allows you to capture a lot of different information from your visitors. You can customize it quite a bit to suit your needs.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Shailesh Phansalkar 12 years ago

Hi Folks

I am looking to have a website which let's me host my photography portfolio. I should be able to upload and display and sell my photographs through the website. I also want the website to host my blogs, my travelogues and a few other sundry things.

I have researched smugmug for this but that website is more geared toward photography. I do want photography to be my main objective on the website, but I do want to have a couple of blogs and travelogues etc.

Is squarespace good for this ?

thanks
Shailesh

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  hi Shailesh,
  
  I think Squarespace can be a good choice as their templates are really great at displaying photographs, but at the same time, Squarespace has tools that can be geared towards other aspects of website building such as blogs, creating pages to display different information (such as your travelogues), and also set up e-commerce functions (to sell your photographs).
  
  Best way to find out is to sign up for a free trial account and test it out for yourself to see if it's a good fit with your needs!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Shailesh 12 years ago
  
  thanks Jeremy; I will try it out.
  
  Reply
Estelle 12 years ago

We are considering Squarespace for our membership organization. Do we have to use Sentry or can we use a membership opton like Membee with it?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Estelle,
  
  I'm aware that Sentry Login say that their membership gateway software works with Squarespace, but I haven't tried it myself before. I haven't heard of Membee so I can't quite comment on that.
  
  Squarespace has a 14-day trial period and Sentry Login has a 7 day trial period. MIght be worth it to sign up for both on trial bases, and test to see if you like how they work together!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Laura 12 years ago

Hi! Thanks so much for the information and your review of squarespace, I want to start a travel blog and also I want to do a website for musicals for children. Do you recommend to use squarespace for doing both?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Laura,
  
  I think a travel blog works great with Squarespace, especially if you want to share some of the pictures that you may be taking for your trip. Squarespace templates are awesome in a way that they allow you to create visually stunning websites. So it will really enhance the whole experience of your visitors, especially with your travel images.
  
  As for musicals, I think Squarespace works well for this as well. Other website builders you can check out that may work include Weebly and Wix.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Art 12 years ago

Hi Jeremy/Connie, Thanks, this is very informative. It is along the lines of what I am looking for, but am wondering if it is the best for me or if you have other suggestions for my speciality. I am a copy writer and novelist, and this niche is not listed above. I like the clean, polished, minimalistic look, but do not need or want anything complex to work with, and you state that this can be overwhelming, especially for novices at website building. I don't require advanced tools, so don't want to pay for them (though $10 monthly easily pays itself back for high quality). Any help would be appreciated.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago
  
  Hi Art,
  
  I think Squarespace will work well for you. The main reason is that their templates a very stylish, yet minimalistic. They are also responsive so that your visitors get a great visual and user experience when they visit your website.
  
  Having said that, Squarespace is not as easy to use other builders such as Weebly, but they're not that difficult to learn. I'm sure if you invest an hour or two you can create something quite nice within that time frame - assuming you are not setting up more advanced features such as their e-commerce tools!
  
  Besides, they have a 14 day trial period so the best way to find out is to give the trial a run. Hope this helps.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Dave 13 years ago

Hi, I wonder if you could help me with something regarding web site builders, please. We are setting up a city guide business similar to Time Out - other than it will only be available only in digital format, either online or via mobile applications, monthly newsletter and quarterly digital magazine. We plan to have the apps and magazine downloadable so that you can use the guide offline.

The guide will be designed to have lots of information and content that covers a city overview, culture, travel information, restaurants, bars, shopping, entertainment, tourist attractions and sports. Basic listings will be free and site access, app downloads, newsletters and the magazine will be free. We plan to offer honest reviews of bars, restaurants, hotels and attractions for our customer base and would like to build in the ability for a blog and user reviews and comments, which we will moderate before they go live! We also want to build in some interactivity and social networking so that we build a user community. All this will be paid for by advertisers on our digital formats. Although we have a technical background, I want to to save as much on the technical resource side and for hardware and software, allowing us to concentrate on content and making our guide exciting, useful and informative - along with leaving us more time for marketing and ad sales!!

Having looked at your very helpful and informative reviews, i think that Squarespace can provide a lot of what I am looking for, but I am still slightly confused about advertising and social networking and how easy that is to insert into the site. I have tried to get to the mobile apps section in the Squarespace site, but cannot get it to load. I have assumed that our digital magazine can be downloaded easily enough. Could you recommend a web builder for this type of business, or do you think I am going down the right road looking at Squarespace.

Once again, thanks for the informative and well laid out site. So often the web is a disappointment full of poorly laid out sites lacking specific and useful content, some of it downright misleading or even lies!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Dave,
  
  I think for such an extensive site, it's best if you a much more advanced content management system such as WordPress to manage your content. WordPress has a lot of magazine style templates which may work very well for you. Also, because the template / site is built on WordPress, it automates a lot of updating and once it's set up, makes it a lot easier for you to expand and grow going forward. They also have plugins that allow you to run ads, as well as forum / membership type plugins.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Liz 13 years ago

Just curious if you think Squarespace would be better for a blogger vs Vix - Thanks!

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Liz,
  
  I'd prefer Squarespace as their templates and user interface looks a lot cleaner and modern. Also Squarespace's templates are responsive so your blog posts will look great no matter what your visitors are using (desktop or mobile devices).
  
  The upside of using Wix is that you can build your site for free, but in order to connect your own custom domain name, you will have to upgrade to their premium plans. For Squarespace, there is no free plan but you get a 14-day free trial to test them out. So it really depends on how much you are prepared to invest in your website / blog. In general, running a professional looking website and building it with professional tools for less than the cost of a couple of fancy coffee, isn't a bad trade! But again, that depends on how you view your website - whether it is just for fun or if you have a bigger plan for it.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
S. Clifton 13 years ago

Very impressed with your reviews. Great detail and objectivity. Keep up the good work.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Thanks S! - Jeremy
  
  Reply
b ston 13 years ago

just discovered your site, amazingly helpful, thanks for all this info

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Todd 13 years ago

GREAT review! Thorough, and comprehensive, and addressed all my concerns. I'd wondered the same things as you, and I'm grateful for your giving it the once-over.

Thanks!

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hey Todd,
  
  Thanks! Glad you found our Squarespace review helpful. You can also click on any of the social buttons on at the top of this page or on the left hand side to share this review with others – you never know who else you can help!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
June 13 years ago

Thank you for all the informations you provided, I've been searching for days to have answers and up until now your blog have it all. Your explanations are simple and useful.

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Thanks June! Glad you're finding answers on our site. Please click the social buttons on at the top of this page or on the left hand side to share it with others - you never know who else will find this website helpful!
  
  Thanks!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Theresa 13 years ago

Love your review! After days of research and comparisons, I'm ready to go with Squarespace. However, one important question remains.

I'll need a solid plugin that allows site visitors to create their own profiles, follow other profiles, and search for related profiles (by topic or keywords).

I really like Envato's USERPro plugin and wonder if there is a way to make it work with Squarespace? (It's a wordpress plugin, but I'm hoping there is a fix to convert to a SS plugin.). If so, does it work as seamlessly?

If not, does SS have a good plugin for creating and searching member profiles?

Thanks for any input!

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hey Theresa,
  
  I'm not sure if that plugin is adaptable with Squarespace - perhaps you can ask Squarespace's support team if they have any technical suggestions?
  
  I haven't seen any widgets / plugins that will help you create member profiles on Squarespace, but I do know that Sentry Login allows you to create a membership gateway with Squarespace in which your members can only access certain parts of your site if they are paying members.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Anna 13 years ago

Hi, I need your help for which one best website builder for small business photography and SEO searching too because i want everyone can find my name for my website it is easy instead can't find something like this. i will be appreciate that if you help me out about which one best for website? i am a little confused because there are many websites are best but on depend websites and prices.

Thanks,
Anna

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Anna,
  
  I think Squarespace will work very well for Photography sites. Amongst all the website builders we've used, they have the best SEO options available. This is not to say that once you've built your website, people will automatically start finding your website. You have to do a lot of work to make sure your website can be discovered by people. SEO (search engine optimizatoin) is a very in-depth and broad and is beyond the scope of our discussion. But you can find a lot of information on SEO on the internet.
  
  In general, just make sure that you have a lot of useful content on your website (blogging about photography and offering helpful tips can be very powerful here). This is so that when people are searching for some help on photography, they may find your site that way.
  
  Also, I'd encourage you to go on to some popular photography and actively participate in the discussions there. This gets you more attention from others and you never know who will decide to share your website.
  
  If you haven't seen some of our other recommendations for photographers yet, see this.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Barrett R. 13 years ago

Thank you very much for the insightful review!

I have a trial account and have already built a small portion of a demo website and am happy with what squarespace has to offer.

That being said, I just took a look at the pricing page and noticed under the custom domain features squarespace does not offer .CA selections. Seeing as how squarespace offers Canadian support I don't see this as a positive in terms of their commitment to Canadian customers now and into the future - unless they offer an alternative option I'm unaware of?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Barrett,
  
  That's a fair point. I'm not sure why Squarespace doesn't offer .CA domain name options. Have you had a chance to reach out to them to inquire why?
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Barrett R. 13 years ago
  
  Hi Jeremy,
  
  I did happen to reach out to them and got the following response:
  
  "Hey there,
  
  Thanks for reaching out. That is correct, Squarespace does not offer .CA domains however we do offer .com, .net, .org, .info and .biz. If you are interested in using a .CA domain, then I would recommend purchasing the domain at a domain registrar such as GoDaddy.com or Hover.com.
  
  We have a great general guide for mapping a domain to your Squarespace 6 website here
  
  Our free domain names are offered when you sign up for an annual account and you can select whatever domain you'd like, if available and using the endings that we offer.
  
  Hope this clarifies. Let us know if you have any additional questions. Thanks!"
  
  Fortunately there's a workaround although a bit of a hassle and more costly. Not sure if I'll stick it out with squarespace or go an alternative route.
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Barrett - thanks for sharing your findings. What you can do is purchase a .CA domain address from a registrar such as what Squarespace recommended, and hook it up to your Squarespace site. A domain name is about $12 per year ($1/month) so it's not too bad.
  
  I think the most important part, if you are okay with the extra cost of getting your own domain name, is to find a website builder in which you are comfortable in using and that it has the tools to help you build what you want to build. So if you think Squarespace can do this (after trying them out first of course), I personally won't let the domain name issue stop me from using them.
  
  Over the medium to long term, finding the right website builder that suits your needs isn't easy. So in my own personal view, the domain name is relatively minor. But again, that's just me and my suggestion!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Sean Law 13 years ago

Hi,

Great review!

I have a question regarding the flexibility with the functionality of a Squarespace website, when compared to a WordPress website - do you have access to a vast array of plugins to add more functions onto your website?

Thanks,
Sean

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Sean,
  
  WordPress has a lot more plugins available as it is a open source platform - meaning that everybody who can (or think they can) code can create a plugin for WordPress users to use. This is a double edge sword though as while there are many great plugins, a lot of them are not great and may potentially pose security risks to your website.
  
  For Squarespace, all the tools that they provide are created by themselves so they have full control over how the tools work, and can ensure that everything runs smoothly and bug-free.
  
  We go over how Squarespace compares to WordPress here. Each platform has its own pros and cons.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
John Anthony 13 years ago

Excellent, thorough, well balanced review. It has made my mind up to build our new website and online store with Squarespace. It has answered all the questions I had about which website builder to use.Thanks very much!!

John

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi John,
  
  Glad you found the information helpful. Happy New Year!
  
  Best,
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Thibaud 13 years ago

Hi guys,

Very nice review, much appreciated !

Quick question: can I start a simple blog with Squarespace (with the $8 per month offer) and in the future upgrade to a more expensive plan to - for instance - add an e-store and start selling stuffs related to what my blog is about ?

Thank you !
Cheers,
Thibaud.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Thibuad,
  
  Yes you can start off with a lower plan then upgrade later when you are ready. You just have to contact Squarespace's support team through email (they respond within 1 hour) or their live chat support (when they are online during their day time).
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Tammy and Brenton 13 years ago

I want to have a site that people can send me jpeg. files, that I will need to download. Does Squarespace have this option within it's store? I will receive files, then print them, and send away. Does it incorporate shipping costs, and different tax per different provinces?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Tammy and Brenton,
  
  I don' think Squarespace has functions where your customers can complete orders and send you image files. What you can do, is have your customers complete a purchase, then email you the image file directly to your email address.
  
  Yes Squarespace does allow you to configure shipping cost either by weight or you can set up a flat fee (see our review on Squarespace's e-commerce functions)
  
  If you are from Canada, you can also configure taxes down to the provincial level (see our post here for more details).
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Wilson Wood 13 years ago

Thanks for the good review. I've jussst started using squarespace - and I'm happier with my choice because of your review.

Reply
Ashish 13 years ago

thanks for the great review. after seeing this(and playing around on squarespace), i am definitely going to use it. i am starting a small concierge medical practice soon. do you have any advice as far as templates go?

i am having trouble deciding between them to even get started. i picked devlin and started setting it up. is it very important to make sure you pick the right one up front?....or are they customizable to the point where they can be taken to a similar endpoint no matter where you start? thanks.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Ashish,
  
  Squarespace is definitely a great choice when it comes to building websites. Great to hear that you've tested them out. I don't really have any advice when it comes to selecting templates as it is a very personal decision as to how you envision your website will look. But with Squarespace you can select one template and switch to another later if you wish. However, if you make any styling changes using their editor, the modifications will remain with the template that you are using, meaning if you switch templates you will lose those styling modifications. But your content will be transferred into the new template.
  
  There is more discussion on this in Squarespace's help page if you search for "Switching Templates".
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
mark fewtrell 13 years ago

Hi, in what ways is Squarespace a gain over say blogger or wordpress.Thinking of moving from these.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Mark,
  
  See our thoughts on Squarespace and WordPress here. At the end of the day I don't think there is an absolute right or wrong answer, but your choice should be driven by what you need, and also what resources you have available. We go deep into these discussions in the article.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Tony 13 years ago

Thanks greatly for all of your reviews. I am currently running a web hosting business and looking for a good website builder to build simple websites for clients.

That said, based on all of the builders that i have seen and those in your comparisons, the ones that im considering are, SS, Weebly, and IM Creator. In saying that, i would like to use those services to design the sites, and then export the site once theyre completed to my hosting service.

My question is: is it possible to do that with any of those services/builders, and does it have to be in Wordpress only or just as is, and will they function just as they did (meaning finished product - assuming i would be updating the site once finished)? If it has to be exported in Wordpress, will it look and function the same assuming i would not be adding to it or changing anything on that site?

Which one would you recommend, knowing what i would like to do?

The idea is that i would like to make the residual income for the hosting. S if i was to use those companies, and their hosting, there is no way for me to earn an income past the designing of the site.

Now on the flip side, if you are aware of a company that offers a resellers program that utilizes those web builders, i would be interested to know if possible.

Any assistance you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Again thank you for all of your assistance. Your website is truly helpful and very informative. It has been a real eye opener and helpful as far as researching the best possible options out there. Thanks again.

Tony

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Tony,
  
  All 3 builders (Squarespace, Weebly and IM Creator) allows you to export its website. For Squarespace, you can only import it into WordPress. For Weebly and IM Creator, you can export all the codes and upload it into your own host if you want. However, I know for Weebly, their blog function cannot be exported.
  
  Just note that for Squarespace, at least when you import it into WordPress you can use WP's CMS to continue to modify and build the site. Whereas for the other two, if you want to make edits you will have to do them directly in the codes, or make the changes in Weebly / IM Creator, then export and re-import them again. It's a hassle unless you can quickly modify the codes directly.
  
  I think it's best if you just signed up for a free account (or trial account for Squarespace) and test out the export functions, just so you have a hands on experience to see which one works best for you.
  
  Just FYI, for both IM Creator and Weebly, they have "White Label" options where you can use their CMS / website building platform, rebrand it as your own and resell the services to your own customers. Your customers won't know that it's Weebly or IM Creator powering it. Just an option.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Tony 13 years ago
  
  Thanks for the speedy reply. Would you be able to direct me to the link referring to while labeling weebly as I would very much be interested in that option? And as for the two IM Creator and Weebly, which of the two would you recommend for white labeling in your opinion if you don't mind me asking?
  
  Thanks again.
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Tony - Visit Weebly and scroll down to the bottom and click on Designers.
  
  I've seen the Weebly designer platform in action and it looks good and functions well. I haven't seen IM Creator's so can't quite comment on that.
  
  Hope this is helpful!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Tony 13 years ago
  
  Thanks Jeremy. Definitely helpful. I appreciate your speedy replies and helpfulness.
  
  Tony.
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Tony 13 years ago
  
  Jeremy,
  
  I have seen online and through quickly going through the SS site, that it exports in XML. With that said, are you familiar with how to import it into Wordpress. From what I have seen online, there doesn't seem to be a straightforward answer as to how. From my understanding there is not section within Wordpress to import the XML file like adding a theme. I could be wrong however I do value your opinion and suggestions.
  
  Would you be aware of how to do so ?
  
  Tony.
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Tony - just search on YouTube I think there are some tutorials there. Also, if you have any other specific questions on Squarespace, you can email their support team and they will get back to you within an hour. If the time is right, they also have a live chat function where you can direct your Squarespace specific questions to them as well.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
PKLoffreda 13 years ago

Jeremy,

Liked the article, it was helpful.
My questions are how fast do the pages load and how reliable are they with regards to sites staying up and accessible without going down?

Thanks,
PKLoffreda

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi PKLoffreda,
  
  In my experience, the pages loads reasonably fast, but not the fastest amongst all websites out there. The main reason is that at the end of the day, all hosted website builders, which hosts your website for you, can only provide shared hosting services. So some websites out there have their own dedicated hosting services, which is much faster as the bandwidth / hosting capacity isn't shared. But again those websites do pay through the roof for dedicated services.
  
  As for accessibility, sometimes the hosting services do go down temporarily which is frustrating. But this happens to all hosts. I've seen it happen to Weebly, Jimdo, and those are the only times when I saw it. Even our own hosting services have gone down temporarily before. I guess what I'm trying to say is that nothing is "bullet proof" and while there will be temporary interruptions (due to server updates, malicious attacks on the servers), generally speaking things get patched up fairly quickly and most people won't even notice.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Michael Cooper 13 years ago

Hello Jeremy & Connie,

I am a yoga instructor in the very beginning stages of researching whether I will use a company like Weebly or SS and build my own website, or, use a company like bewellwebsites.com who offers a website for $495 where you choose from their templates, supply the content, and they build it for you. They look pretty good on the surface, but for some reason I cannot find any solid reviews on bewellwebsites.com. Any knowledge or experience with them?

Thanks,
Michael

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Michael,
  
  We haven't seen or used them before, so I'm assuming that they are some sort of website designer. I just took a quick look through the site and for some reason I just didn't find a whole lot of trust factors that compels me to leap at their services. I'm not even sure who I would be dealing with and it just feels way too "corporate" for a small business, without evidence of any human interaction / touch.
  
  I also don't know how the website handover process works, and whether you will have full control / ownership of the site, or do you have to run back to them for every single small update. Of course this could be mentioned somewhere but I just didn't go through the entire site in detail.
  
  What about monthly fees? I'd be very suspicious if there is no monthly fee - even just hosting a website will cost money. Also, asking for an upfront non-refundable deposit by just filling in a form is a bit weird, don't you think?
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Laura 13 years ago

Let me preface by saying I'm on Squarespace 5, because is allows me to have a "member" database that I need to keep the public out and employees in, so it's not the latest version. [Editor's Note: Squarespace is now running on Version 6 which has superceded Squarespace 5 as of July 17 2012.]

That said, I use SS and Weebly and I hate SS. With Weebly, I have columns, buttons, divider lines, carousels, and it's all super easy. With SS, the drag and drop feature set is limited. Also, in terms of architecture, you can only go three levels deep. Once I added a subpage at a 4th level, and it crashed the site, with no error message. The area where you arrange your pages is a nightmare, where the drag and drop function only works in certain browsers, and even then it is still awful. For instance, when you have a lot of pages and you create a new one, it goes to the bottom, so you drag it up about 12 inches of screen real estate, but the page won't scroll when you hit the top of the screen, and then it's mysteriously back where it started and you get to start again. The nesting function has a drop zone of apparently 1 mm because it's almost impossible to drop something in and have it stay. IN short, SS has made me Weebly's biggest fan.

Reply
2 replies
- Mike Power 13 years ago
  
  I like simplicity, readability and ease of navigation, so I don't run into problems with SS. I don't use carousels, acordians, paralax, 4th level subpages etc. so SS is fine with me. I used Version 5 for years with no problems. But then, it all depends on the type of website you want. Buttons and dividers are not important to me but they are for some. We just need to use the platform that suits our needs best. Simple as that really : )
  
  Reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Laura,
  
  Thanks for sharing your experiences with Squarespace 5. I guess that's why the entire platform has since upgraded to Squarespace 6! I haven't personally used Squarespace 5 before, but I've heard that the entire user experience is quite different and has improved. At least that's what I heard from some users.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Mike Power 13 years ago

I may have posted here before but I'm happy to reiterate my support for Squarespace. I've been with them for almost 10 years now and they have just got better and better over that time. The support is the best in the business and I haven't had a single moment's downtime.

Reply
2 replies
- charles hurst 13 years ago
  
  Hi Mike
  
  I have been using godaddy for a year and have not been extremely happy with them at all. They have nice customer service but obviously are limited in problem solving. mainly my largest grief is that on the blog portion I have had about four friends test it and tell me they could not subscribe and godaddy just keeps telling me it is running fine on their tests.
  
  How would you compare to godaddy if you know anything about them as I was sold godaddy was great as well and I am quite not the tech guy at all.
  
  Thanks
  Charles Hurst
  
  Reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Mike,
  
  Thanks again for sharing your experience with Squarespace! It's hard to find a business that provides solid support, and it's pretty awesome that Squarespace provides it.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Peter 13 years ago

Thanks. The review is very informative and helpful.
We have a website built for us 10 years ago and look outdated. I want to rebuild it myself but not a technical person. Do you think Squarespace is easy to learn and use? How much holding hands will they provide?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Peter,
  
  I think Squarespace is relatively easy to use, compared to other more advanced web builders such as WordPress. However, don't just take my word for it and the best way to find out is to sign up to their 14 day free trial to evaluate if it's a good match for you.
  
  One of the things that stand out about Squarespace (aside from their templates), is that they provide 24 hour email support where they respond to your emails within 1 hour. So you will definitely get your emails responded to if you have questions. They also have a live chat function during day time so you can interact with their support team live if you prefer it that way.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Conor 13 years ago

Thanks, I just read the review and realized that I should have read it a long time ago.
I am in the process of setting up a service based business and was looking for a really original website to get me off the ground. As I was concerned that my desired domain name would be gone soon, I purchased it and with with monthly web hosting as a functioning email address has been useful thus far. I used a crowd-sourcing webdesign company to come up with the layout of my desired website and have some great designs however I jumped the gun way too fast with this and realized much too late that there was a huge amount of coding to be done independently after I choose the design. (I see this money gone down the toilet now) but my question is as I already have a domain name and hosting for 12 months is there any way I can transfer this to squarespace etc? i.e. do my website on squarespace and host it on my local provider?
Thanks for your help and definitely the best review website I have seen (just a little too late)

Conor

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Conor,
  
  Squarespace provides hosting services as part of their package, so if you build a website using Squarespace, you can't host it with your local host. You can only host your site with Squarespace as their platform has proprietary technology so that certain functions can only function within their own operating environment.
  
  But as for the domain name, you can certainly point it to your Squarespace site, and use it after you build your website. There are a lot of instructions in Squarespace's support center for this (or you can email them directly or use their live chat).
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Conor 13 years ago
  
  Hi Jeremy,
  
  Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.
  Great advice on the page and I know what to do exactly the next time.
  
  Conor
  
  Reply
Jolie 13 years ago

Thanks so much for your wonderful reviews! I'm quite a techno-saur and have been overwhelmed with all kinds of technical jargon and information over the internet, so your reviews have really helped me understand what I need and what to look out for!

Quick question: once I build a site with squarespace, can it be exported and hosted with a local IT company in future? Am just thinking about worst case scenarios if squarespace or wordpress close for some reason in future...

Thanks for your help!

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Jolie,
  
  Thanks for your comment. Squarespace does allow you to export its pages and blog posts to WordPress, which is quite flexible. Now admittedly I haven't done this myself before so I can't share my experience with this with you. But what you can do is sign up for a free trial account and test the export function just so you are satisfied with it prior to investing in a plan.
  
  There are 2 WordPress platforms - WordPress.com (which is hosted for you) and WordPress.org (which you require to get your own hosting, and is a much more flexible platform). Just so that you are aware of it.
  
  I think your worries of a web builder closing up shop is a legit one, and it's always wise to think ahead! But I really think Squarespace and WordPress are going to be around for many years to come. There isn't any guarantee that any businesses / platforms will sustain "forever", but I think these two are in pretty good shape!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Ken tanaka 13 years ago

If i already have my website hosted with another company but want to switch to square space is that possible?
I have my site registered with go daddy already, but want to change the site I have it linked up to while maintaining the domain name.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Ken,
  
  Squarespace allows you to import content from WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger and Posterous. Transferring data from another hosting service / website builder is always challenging, as drag and drop builders have their own unique platforms, resulting in a lot of incompatibility.
  
  For instance, the way a slideshow works within Weebly's proprietary system will be different from how a slideshow works within Squarespace. Best to ask Squarespace's support team to see what you have in mind can be transferred into Squarespace.
  
  But what you can do, is keep your existing site running, then build out a new site with Squarespace. Once the new site is ready, just switch your domain name over to Squarespace so the transition process is smoother.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Ken Tanaka 13 years ago

Thanks, I just read this review and the wix review. I'm an artist and video maker and need a website where people can see my art portfolio, buy work, and also see my videos. I also would like to link a google blogger blog to my site (which I understand is not really possible in Wix.

I have messed around on wix and found that load times are slow.

Which builder do you think is best for my needs? Wix, Weebly, Squarespace...?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Ken,
  
  I think in terms of visual impact, Squarespace would be more appealing compared to Weebly. But then again, each user has different preferences - so best to try both builder before you commit for the long haul. Squarespace has a 14 day free trial, and Weebly has a free plan in which you can test it indefinitely. I would suggest investing a day or two with each builder and see which one suits your needs better!
  
  But based on pure cosmetics, I would suggest Squarespace.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Ed Mathews 13 years ago

Awesome video and review. My small business is looking for a website and got quotes from pros between 3K and 15K just to develop. Then they want $60 a month to host. I got the square space tip from a computer geek cousin. I was a bit overwhelmed at first signing up with square space, but your video was a GREAT basic tutorial on how to set it up.

I think we will build our own website now, it will take more hours on my part, but going from $720 per year down to $290 at the most, plus no up front cost makes a lot of sense for us. Thanks for your time and effort that you put into this.

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hey Ed,
  
  Thanks so much for sharing your story! Getting a website custom developed is always a hefty investment. That's why DIY website builders are getting so much more popular nowadays as it opens up a lot more options for people who don't mind doing it themselves, and the technology makes it so much easier than before when everybody HAS to know code to build any websites.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago

Hi Erica,

Squarespace can work very well with your website if you are focused on showcasing high quality images and want a website with very clean lines.

Weebly also works very well as they are a very simple drag and drop website builder yet have the ability for you to create high quality websites.

What I would suggest is to test out both website builders before making your decision. Weebly is free to use indefinitely but if you want more features and to use your own domain name, you will need to upgrade to their premium plans.

Squarespace has a 14-day trial program, so you can use this time to test them out as well.

Hope this helps!

- Jeremy

Reply
Erica 13 years ago

Hi Jeremy

I am currently researching into the best website builder for my yoga studio business. Thank you for such a great informative review with the video. I love square space and wasn't aware of them until I did a search on wix and weebly and came across your review. I am a small business starting up and while weebley is cheap their designs are very basic. I love the professionalism of square space and the flexibility.

I wasn't sure who to go with but now I do. The 8/month might be a little more then the other sites but after seeing your video I think it warrants the cost.

Thanks again for an amazing professional review.

Reply
1 reply
- ek 13 years ago
  
  I must say ditto. I have spent countless hours researching websites. I never heard of squarespace until i read the weebly/wix review. As soon as i opened the site i went THAT'S IT. Ty for your insight.
  
  Reply
Andrei Potorac 13 years ago

Hello Jeremy,

This is a great review, but although I read their press release, I still find it hard to believe they power 1.8 mil websites. A simple math brings them to an average of $345.600.000 every year!

This puts them higher than Wix. Wix has only about 700.000 paying subscribers, from their SEC filling earlier this month.

Even in worst case scenarios, where all the users would only pay for the smaller subscription, it still generates a healthy $172.800.000 per year. And this is minimum!

Is this really possible?

How big do you estimate the market size of the Website Building industry?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Andrei,
  
  I got the 1.8 million websites figure from a press release by Squarespace. So I'm just taking this piece of statistic at face value. This could mean that they have helped create 1.8 million sites (inclusive of active sites and inactive ones), or this figure could be for only active sites!
  
  But I do agree with you that it sounds a bit on the high end, but their financials and business metrics are private and so I haven't seen any other updated numbers.
  
  What I can share based on my observation is that Squarespace is actually growing pretty fast and in our view is one of the best drag and drop website builders currently available to those looking to build a website without knowing code. This is the focus of this article!
  
  Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Andrei Potorac 13 years ago
  
  Thanks Jeremy. The reason I'm asking is because we're working on a tool adjacent to these services, who builds on top of them, called Blogvio.
  
  We've been prospecting the entire market of site and blog and content creators (for example guides, flyers, etc), and there are about 300 of them out there. The biggest ones are obviously WP, Tumblr, Blogger, Wix, Weebly, SquareSpace, Jimdo, Webs, Web, HomeStead. : )
  
  But none of them go that high when it comes about numbers. I would figure Squarespace have created all these websites from start, in 2004. So that would be the approximate number of $ they did so far. This means in about 9 years, it makes it more realistic. : )
  
  Reply
Ariel 13 years ago

I've been doing some looking around for websites. I really appreciate this detailed review. As far as creating a website dedicated to online food ordering, do you think Squarespace is a worthy candidate?

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Ariel,
  
  I think so, if your need for your online food ordering system doesn't require a very sophisticated, customized engine to power it. If it does, then I think your best bet is to create a custom website by hiring a capable developer.
  
  But if you are just using a simple system such as your visitors submitting their orders via the contact form provided by a website builder (such as Squarespace), then I think Squarespace can do the job pretty well, especially that their templates really professional, and you can upload some beautiful, high quality images to promote your business!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Steve and Sally Wharton 13 years ago

Great review Jeremy & Connie! Thanks for the in-depth analysis and presentation. With your excellent reviews in-hand, we have just decided to not use WordPress for our photography studio website. We're down to deciding between SquareSpace and PhotoShelter.

A question: With the apparently unresolved issue [https://goo.gl/cNVrK1] about SquareSpace site photos not showing up in Google Images search results (something about SS storing site photos on their servers which cannot be verified by Google as being owned by each individual website...), do you feel that the SEO-hit from this issue gives PhotoShelter the edge in terms of a better provider for our new site?

Your thoughts on a comparison of PhotoShelter and SquareSpace in general would be appreciated. We do not have the resources (e.g., time!) to simultaneously develop our new website in both providers even though they both offer a free 14-day trial. Thanks!

Steve & Sally Wharton | Seattle

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Steve & Sally,
  
  I'm assuming that since you are considering Photoshelter that you are conducting a photography business and that you are selling prints and managing clients?
  
  If so, it really comes down to what you want to get out of the website. If you are pitching clients to take on photography engagements with them, and sharing your end products with them and delivering prints, then Photoshelter is the way to go since they have the necessary and relevant tools for you to scale your business.
  
  But if you are just going to post some pictures on your website, without the need for more sophisticated photography business related tools that Photoshelter offers, then using Photoshelter would be a bit too much, and I'd recommend Squarespace for that.
  
  I think having your images picked up efficiently by Google is definitely important, but I think the bigger picture questions that I asked above should carry more weight (at least in my mind anyway). Just my two cents : )
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Chris 13 years ago

Such a helpful and non-biased review. Very much appreciated. I found your site while looking for reviews of Squarespace. I currently have a wordpress site and am so frustrated with trying to get it to look the way I want it - the developer of the package I chose said it was easy-squeezy - NOT! Paying for something once and being able to fumble your way through using it for multiple sites, none of which you can publish because you can't get the dang things to look right is not such a hot bargain in the end.

I thoroughly (I think) read/watched the info for Squarespace and still have a couple of questions -
1. Can each content page on a Squarespace site function as a blog?
2. Is it possible to host a forum on a website through Squarespace site?
3. What are "Flares" and "Remarketing?" (I googled remarketing, but the explanations found are all greek to me. Thanks again for the assist, and the excellent info!

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Chris,
  
  WordPress is definitely more technical and has a higher learning curve than Squarespace.
  
  Here are my thoughts to your questions:
  
  1) I dont' think so. I think you only have one dedicated blog page per site. If I'm wrong about this, someone let me know!
  
  2) Don't think they have this function as I haven't seen it. I also checked in their support pages but can't seem to find anything on creating a forum within Squarespace.
  
  3) Not sure what are flares, but remarketing is basically showing you advertisements after you leave a website. Sometimes when you land on a site, then leave and all of a sudden you start to see ads from that site appearing on random sites that you subsequently visit, trying to draw you back to the website. So it's a pretty neat marketing and branding tactic.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Zarley Zalapski 13 years ago

Thank you for this review. I have used SS to build sites for a few friends and non-profits who are grateful to have a precesence on the web. I am curently evaluating whther SS is appropriate for a larger client. I originally had two concerns.

The first concern had to do with multilingual sites. My searches seem to indicate that SS isn't really ideal at this time for anyone looking to publish a multi-language site. You can embed Google Translate on a SS site, which is fine in some cases, but not always the best solution.

My second concern has to do with SEO. I'm still on the fence about how well SS is designed for SEO. When I look at the code for any SS site, it is anything but clean HTML.

Do you know any large, well known organizations (private, public, education etc.) that use SS?

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Zarley,
  
  Thanks for your questions.
  
  1) I think for most drag and drop web builders, creating a multi-language site will always be a challenge. What you can do is create a sub-domain for your site (such as spanish.example.com or something along that line) and connect it to your main website. The site with the subdomain, of course, will be in a different language. Just have a link on your main site to point people to the second site if they prefer to consume the content in another language.
  
  2) We haven't seen any yet. This might be a great question for Squarespace. If you do find out, please do let us know! If I was to guess, I wouldn't think that they have any large institutions using their builder, not because Squarespace can't handle it, but because it's very typical for larger institutions to hire contractors to create their sites. It's just the way larger organization do things - contract out and not very D-I-Y when it comes to these things. Just my opinion!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Tricia 13 years ago

Hello, I previously had a comment on this site and someone else asked me something but it got erased somehow. Either way I wanted to know your expertise opinion on which website would be best for a small business painting company that will be showing video examples of our work, slide shows and bringing people to the website. I would like to make it appealing, modern and easy to navigate for our clients. Thank you

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hey Tricia,
  
  I think Squarespace would be a really good candidate for this project. They're easy to use, mobile friendly and have really gorgeous templates for you to choose form.
  
  Weebly or Wix can also get the job done. In our view, Weebly is probably the easiest drag and drop builder to use, but the downside is that they don't have really good looking templates. Wix is also a solid candidate and they have better looking templates, but not as polished as Squarespace's.
  
  All the web builders I mentioned will have the tools for you to showcase your work through images and slideshows.
  
  Here are our reviews for:
  
  Weebly - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/website-builders/weebly-review/
  
  Wix - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/website-builders/wix-review/
  
  Hope this helps
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Tricia 13 years ago
  
  Ok great ! Thank you so much
  
  Reply
Ollie 13 years ago

Are you sure that 1.8 million website figure is correct for Squarespace? It seems pretty high and I haven't seen it referenced anywhere else.

Although it's two years old, this quora post (https://www.quora.com/Squarespace/How-many-users-does-Squarespace-have) puts their user base in only the tens of thousands.

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Ollie,
  
  I think the figure quoted in Quora is the approximate number of "users" and those are unofficial guesses.
  
  HEre's a blog post from Squarespace and it will tell you that they power over 1.8 million websites - https://www.squarespace.com/press/2013/5/1/web-based-firm-to-create-100-new-dublin-jobs
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Sally 13 years ago

Hi, Jeremy --

Thanks so much for all of your wonderfully helpful reviews!

I am in the process of setting up my own small business site (for writing/editing), and have narrowed my site builder choices to Jimbo or Squarespace. I do intend to try both out for free before I commit, but I am hoping you could share a few insights that might ultimately make my decision a bit easier. I keep thinking I need a site with a lot of ecommerce possibilities, but really what I want is something that will allow people to pay for a limited number of services online and possibly to purchase a few digital products (such as e-books). I would also like to be able to incorporate a blog, social networking links, and possibly a newsletter. Since I am not sure how I will want my online presence to grow in the future, I am also looking for something that will give me plenty of options for expanding/incorporating new features down the road. I have big hopes and dreams. : )

Based on the above, would you have any recommendations?

Thanks again!

Sally

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Sally,
  
  Thanks for your note. I think Squarespace might work better for you based on your description. They have a really set of e-commerce tools including the ability to sell Digital products (ebooks). You can also insert blogs, social buttons, and even integrate Mailchimp (which is a newsletter system).
  
  You can check out our review on their ecommerce tools here - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/squarespace-e-commerce-business-review/
  
  If you go to their support forum and search for "newsletter", it will show you how to integrate Mailchimp into Squarespace.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Greg 13 years ago

Jeremy,

One thing you did not address in your review (and I did not read through all of the comments to find it there) is the integration with an email marketing service, namely aWeber. I like my Wordpress blog because of the ability to do email marketing through aWeber. I wonder if it works the same with SS.

Also, you mentioned how great SS is with photo galleries, but what about videos? Is there a simple YouTube or Vimeo plug-in, like they have on WP? I haven't been able to tell yet.

Otherwise, thanks for the thorough review. I'm still undecided as to whether to switch from WP.

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2 replies
- Craig 13 years ago
  
  Yes very simple video plug ins from Youtube - you can add your own front end pic - which SS suggests this helps the link to Youtube load quicker to see the video - it is also neat that you can add more creative front end to the Youtube start so that if you have a blog and the Youtube automatic front end pic does not look cool or not match your design you can add what you like - I have used this on my start-up blog at square space.
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hey thanks Craig, for adding to this discussion.
  
  You're right and that's a really great point you brought up. It's pretty awesome how Squarespace allows users to add their own custom thumbnail instead of the default YouTube one (for others reading this, Squarespace calls this "Image Overlay" in their Video Block)
  
  This way, users have more control over what exact image they want to display and it also does help improve load time marginally as the thumbnail you choose is cached in Squarespace's system (versus having to reach out and "grab" the YouTube image).
  
  I think YouTube now allows you to upload specific images as well now. Nevertheless, it's an added flexibility from Squarespace which is great.
  
  Thanks for pointing this our Craig.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Greg,
  
  Great questions. Here are my thoughts:
  
  * Yes you can do that. Aweber (or other email newsletter services) will provide you with some codes to insert into your website and so you can insert the snippet of code into Squarespace through their "Code Block". Just drag and drop it to wherever you want on your site and insert the codes. That will work right after you publish your site.
  
  * As for videos, in addition to insert images into their "Gallery Block", you can also insert videos as well. They give you a choice to do that. Another option is to add a "Video Block" which will work as well.
  
  If you are deciding between Squarespace and WordPress, have a read through our comparison review here - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/website-builders/comparisons/squarespace-vs-wordpress/
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Sara 13 years ago

Hi there,

Great review, almost sold on squarespace after loads of web hosting research.

I am an artist intending to sell my work online. Would squarespace be good for me?
does it offer the PayPal feature when you create a store?

I haven't uploaded my best art pieces anywhere yet as I'm on the hunt for the perfect web host. would you say squarespace is the best for showcasing and selling art?

Thank you for the helpful review

Sara

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Sara,
  
  Squarespace does have a pretty good set of e-commerce tools (our review here - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/squarespace-e-commerce-business-review/), but if you want to access those tools, you will have to sign up to their Business plans.
  
  With Business plan, Squarespace don't have PayPal integration as they use Stripe as their primary transaction services provider.
  
  But what you can do, if you want to use PayPal to manage your sales, is to embed a PayPal payment button using the "Code Block". This way, after you publish your site and you will have a payment button from PayPal. Further, you don't have to upgrade to the Business plans to use this approach, so to save yourself a bit of money.
  
  Since Squarespace has really good looking templates, I think that using Squarespace to showcase and sell art pieces is a really good option. I"d suggest you sign up for their 14 day free trial and test it out for yourself, just so that you are comfortable with them before committing to a premium plan!
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  UPDATE: You can also consider using Shopify to power your ecommerce functions while using Squarespace. Shopify is one of the leading ecommerce online store builder, and they offer you the ability to embed an entire store or just products into your Squarespace website. We have more discussions on how to use Shopify Widget with your Squarespace website here.
  
  Reply
Ed 13 years ago

Hi......very good review. We have two business websites: one is a Yahoo Store where we sell our products, and the other is strictly a small, informational site for displaying our products to prospective distributors and/or retailers. Our current site on Weebly isn't professional enough for us....kind of "backyard".

I'm looking for a better platform for the informational.......heavy on rich visuals. Our product labels are colorful. SS might fit the bill. One question, though.

I would like a slideshow at the top of the home page. I find them to be appealing and impactful. Can this be done with SS?

Thanks......

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Ed,
  
  I believe so. I think a lot of the templates that Squarespace offers provides you with slideshow gallery and I think I've seen some examples where they displayed header slideshows.
  
  But best to shoot Squarespace an email or use their live chat during their support hours to re-confirm this. Do let us know what you find out as we're also curious.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Susan 13 years ago

Hi, I've been attempting to figure out which will work best for a new business I'm launching, squarespace or shopify... they're both pretty great, and there are features I really like about each of them.

I just wanted to compliment you on this review. It's been really helpful. : )

The one thing I would say about squarespace is that I wish they would publish some of the # tags for css customization of each template, within the editing panel, for people who know a little css, and only want small tweaks made. Though, I have not tried contacting support about my tweaks - after reading this it seems like they would actually help me. (!)

Anyway, thanks a lot for this. Really appreciate it.

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Thanks Susan!
  
  I think there is actually a CSS Editor that you can test out. Go to their support page and type in "CSS Editor" and it will show you where to find it on your Squarespace editing dashboard.
  
  As for Shopify vs Squarespace, it is a difficult choice. I like Squarespace for all the reasons I listed above, but there are also a lot of good reasons to consider Shopify. I would say the biggest reason to test out Shopify is if you have a lot of different products to sell, to a point that you need a much more powerful e-commerce engine to help you manage your store.
  
  So if there is a potential of you building a "big" store and may potentially need add-on's (Apps) to help you support your store, definitely consider Shopify. Here's our detailed review - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/shopify-review/
  
  Thanks for sharing!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Tracey 13 years ago

Good review! I set up my site with Squarespace about 9 months ago and due to various bugs with pictures and long blog posts with multiple pics have regularly thought about making the change to WordPress. However, not being an IT person and after investigating and realizing that WordPress also has its challenges and can be even more time consuming, I decided to stick with Squarespace. I also dearly hope SS iron out the bugs.

I use the Five template. My site is still a work in progress (a weekend thing when I have time). But I like the fact that it has the side bars, however....... I have numerous pages/tabs (menu items) set up as blog pages. eg Travel, Gold Coast, Movies etc. My pet hate is that you cannot have different items on the side bars for different sections/pages. Whatever is on my Travel sidebar will appear on every pages side bar including my Movies page sidebar - that seems crazy to me.

But, I have stuck with SS so far because they do offer support which is included in the yearly or monthly price and I don't have to spend as much time on setting up and maintenance as I would on a WordPress site.

If I was prepared and happy to spend time learning and forever tinkering and researching how to do things, I would rather set up a Word Press Site for the flexibility! However, for the person (like me) who just doesn't have the time or inclination and wants support without having to hire someone each time, then Squarespace is very convenient and worthwhile indeed.

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Thanks for sharing your experiences and opinions Tracey. I just had a look at your site and it looks really nice! Good job!
  
  Regarding the repeating sidebar, I suppose it automatically repeats so that it can save some users times from rebuilding the same sidebar for every single page, especially if a user wants to insert the same content such as search bar, contact info, etc on all the pages.
  
  Have you considered not using the sidebar option, but just manually building in your specific content for each page? It's a bit manual, but may work? I wonder if Squarespace's support team may offer any creative workaround as well.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Ed 13 years ago

Jeremy, Great review about Squarespace. Loved the video also. I'm a novice website builder thinking about creating a website for the marketing of training videos and slide shows. It will be for virtual sales online only, no material products. The E-commerce features of Squarespace seems to provide much more functionality than I would ever need, but the other features of the site would seem to suit my needs. However I'm having a hard time finding a template with a search tool that would allow my customers to easily find exactly what they are looking for. Also, I haven't read anything about any of the website builders providing membership options for premium access versus public access. Additionally, I have foreign markets to consider and was wondering if any of the website builders provide bi-lingual options, or am I forced to create duplicate web sites in two separate languages for the same content? Hope I haven't asked too many questions. Thanks for your advice.

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Ed,
  
  Thanks for your comment. Squarespace does provide a search bar tool (they call it a "Search Block"). So your visitors can find information through it. Alternatively, you can also use Google Custom Search Bar which you can insert into your site through the "Code Block". But try using Squarespace's native search tool first and see if you like it.
  
  In general, the website builders will suggest that you duplicate your website content and connect them through sub-domain set up which is fairly common (for example - spanish.example.com). Google also has a translation widget that you can insert into your site through the Code Block. It allows you to translate everything on the page into another language. I'm guessing it's the same translation engine that runs Google Translate. Not the ideal solution, but it is a solution.
  
  As for gated community membership sites, I haven't seen anything done very well with website builders. There is a service provider called Sentry Login that works with Weebly. It just might work with Squarespace as well. But if you want a very sophisticated set up, I know WordPress can manage active membership sites, including helping you manage your membership billing cycles. Perhaps you can run your premium membership site on WordPress, while your main website on Squarespace.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Ed 13 years ago
  
  Thanks Jeremy. That's a big help. I'll continue to search for a gated membership option using one of the web builders. As a startup operation, I don't have time or money to do a lot of sophisticated web site development, so a web builder is my only option at the moment. I'll see what I can do with the tools you mention. Thanks for the great web info.
  
  Reply
Gary Perkins 13 years ago

Hi Jeremy and Connie,
as you might guess I'm searching for a suitable website for my imminent business launch. I've pretty much browsed all the best/common site-builder websites including 1&1, and Go Daddy. I have also read all your appraisals of the same sites.

I'm going to ask your advice as you are the experts and I am a novice (but learning)

My new business is in the field of word games and word/number games, all of which I have created and which I believe are different from the usual games we all see in newsagents, book shops etc... so I would call them original and they all have a common theme..a unique quality.

Anyway...to get to my point in question, what site builder have you come across which would serve my business model best, as I'm assuming I will need a page per game or grid (per game type of which there are many, but I will concentrate on one or two for now)
Initially I want to provide 'freebies' maybe on a daily basis which I can forecast will accrue rapidly or rather munch through pages pretty fast! I will also be looking to get a printed booklet created containing various games which will be for sale through the site (and elsewhere)

I don't mind paying for the service but are on a budget (naturally) but want a site builder to provide the website building, hosting, business email, mobile device adaptor - pretty much what a middling service is, provided by many sites.

For example, game type 1 - each game or grid with a little text will be 20 cm across and 13 cm down (this is the standard game and I have a lot of variations of the same game - different sized/shaped grids) then allowing for space around the grid to present it properly.

I hope this makes sense ;0) and if you require any more information before possibly advising, please contact me at the above email address or [email removed]

Many thanks for all your work in providing people like me with great advice and a balanced perspective/overview.

Kind regards

Gary

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Gary,
  
  Thanks for your feedback and questions. I think what you need is most likely a custom solution that WYSIWYG website builders won't be able to cater to. I'm not entirely clear on your business model but assuming that part of your games that are embedded on your site will be free, part will be paid, it sounds to me you will have to hire a developer to build a custom website for you, in order to tailor your site to how you want to present your business.
  
  One of the weaknesses (and strengths - depending on how you look at things) of WYSIWYG web builders is that they are simple, and straight forward to use. The drawback of providing such simplicity is that there isn't a whole lot of flexibility to bolt on very complicated programs such as how you want to run your business.
  
  I'd suggest that you sound out some professional developers to see if see what they say. Most "good" developers will be able to communicate the hurdles and potential costs of coding up such a website.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Antara 13 years ago

Hi,
Great review. I love the themes---but-- I am wondering if any of them are appropriate for long text, like short stories and journal entries, without resorting to blogs? I want a site to publish not only my photos and artwork, but also writings.

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Antara - absolutely. You can check out a category of themes they call "Personal". I saw some examples that has the potential of displaying longer text / pages. I think the theme called "Five" has some good potential for this!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Robson Desa 13 years ago

Dear Jeremy

Greetings… first I would like to thank you for all of the reviews posted. Second, planning to put my small home base t-shirt (plastisol heat transfer, screen printing and vinyl cad cut) business online, I was wondering: Which way could be quicker and easier to achieve it? I’m a sign and t-shirt designer but not web programmer. My main focus will be on the daily business (advertise, sell, produce and ship the t-s) attributes not the technically issues and security to manage a website. Initially I plan to have 100 to 300 products (3 pictures each).
I’m checking into SquareSpace e-commerce, Shopify and BigCommerce. I did read all of your 3 reviews. My inclination (newbie) is for SquareSapace. Do you think will it be good start or should I better be off with BigCommerce?
Thank you in advance for take the time to answer this question.

Robson
o have a small

Reply
1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Robson,
  
  Thanks for your email. If you are planning on having 100 - 300 products with 3 products each, I wouldn't suggest Squarespace. As much as I like their e-commerce features, I just don't think they are ideal for you if you plan to have this many products.
  
  I would actually suggest Shopify or Bigcommerce. Both are great platforms to build your online store and it really comes down to which one you like better. You can see our Shopify vs Bigcommerce article here - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/comparisons/bigcommerce-vs-shopify/ - and at the end of the day, you can sign up for both to test them out. But I layout my thoughts on each one of them in the article. Hope you find it helpful!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jeremy 13 years ago

Hello Jeremy (from another Jeremy!)

Thanks for the awesome reviews on multiple web hosting sites. Your info is unparalleled to anything else I've seen regarding this topic. I'm very close to switching to SquareSpace from Webs. (Webs was terrible with loading all of my items when others visited my site.) My only concern in switching is the problem with the live mode. While the live mode differs from editing mode, is it still possible to create a great looking site? I'm nervous that I may not be able to get my site looking exactly how I want it to. Thanks in advance!

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hey Jeremy - thanks!
  
  Great question. The main reason the "live" mode looks different from the "editing" mode is that their themes are fully responsive - this ensures that no matter what screen sizes you and your visitors are looking at (desktop monitors, mobile devices), your website will be "optimized" so your visitors can consume your website content better.
  
  So in a way, it doesn't really matter if the layout looks a bit different in your editing vs live modes, you can be fairly confident that it will look really good with Squarespace's responsive designs.
  
  I think the best way is to sign up for a trial account (14 days) and quickly build a few pages, and see if you like the results. If you do, then you can invest a bit more time to build out the site, and change your domain name over (point it over to Squarespace).
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Sarah 13 years ago

I currently use Wordpress and my site has a separate hosting service. It's a nightmare to log in to the host then to log in again with wordpress. Then editing in wordpress is very time consuming. If this is faster and I can sell my product online then I think I'll give it a go. I had someone recommend it to me but your review addressed 95% of my reservations. I spent too much time editing and not enough time working on my product so I hope this will put time on my side!

It would be nice to focus on what I want to do instead of constantly messing with code and hitting refresh.

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hey Sarah,
  
  Glad our review answered most of your questions. It is frustrating when one is spending too much time figuring out technology instead of "working"!
  
  Squarespace does have really good ecommerce functions. If you haven't seen our review of it, here it is - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/squarespace-e-commerce-business-review/
  
  Hope it helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jon 13 years ago

I spent several days researching different options concerning a website. I initially liked the integration with MailChimp, Facebook, ect., and I now have no regrets choosing them, customer support is like none I have ever experienced! They are true to their word about a timely response and in the end, you have a clean, crisp, professional looking site. While the site takes time to learn and navigate, it is simple and an excellent choice for those on a budget.

I would recommend Squarespace without hesitation.

Thanks,

Jon

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hey Jon - thanks for sharing your experiences with Squarespace. They are really exceptional when it comes to 24/7 support!
  
  I just saw your site as well - looks pretty awesome! Thanks again for sharing!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago

Hey there,

Thanks for your detailed feedback. I think I've also experienced some minor bugginess as well - I went over this in the "Cons about Squarespace" section towards the top. However, the issue is very minor and not as extensive as yours. Did you try reaching out to their support to see what they say?

Sometimes on shared hosting where platforms have to support tens of thousands of websites (sometimes millions!), it gets tricky when ensuring everything works well. It is, however, their job to do so and so I can totally understand it gets frustrating.

I suppose everybody's experiences are different, and I want to thank you for sharing your experiences with all of us! I really like your in-depth analysis of Squarespace as well - thanks so much for sharing!

- Jeremy

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Sophorn Chhay 13 years ago

Jeremy, this is probably the best review that I've read on Squarespace. You are currently ranked #1 for Squarespace Review. Congratulations! Many people are going to find your review very helpful. Anyhow, small businesses with out the technical expertise will find services like squarespace.com, wix.com, and webestore.com very useful as a starting point.

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Robert I 13 years ago

Hello, I just wanted to add my thanks for your review - very helpful. I also wanted to say how impressed I was with the attention you give to your viewers, I found the conversation trail to be very helpful as well!.

Thanks, R

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Thanks Robert! Do click on one of the social buttons on the floating bar on left side of the article to share this article with others! : )
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Tom 13 years ago

Now only if there was something similar to squarespace for creating iOS mobile applications. Any recommendations?

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Tom - interesting question and I don't know of any. If any one knows of one, please do share!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
jim jones 13 years ago

Thanks for the assessment of Squarespace. Just what I was looking for. My websites (to be) are reflectionsby jim.com, which will be a platform to promote my writing and photography, mostly about the outdoors and travel. I need to be able to include samples of my magazine newspaper articles as well as galleries.

The other website, essenceofU.com is for my portraiture work.

Jim Jones

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Ted 13 years ago

Hi,
Great review. One thing missing though is mention of Remarketing TAGS. Can't do them with SquareSpace. I just switched from Weebly to SS and this is a dealbreaker for me. The switch was wasted. I've got to be able to paste the remarketing code in the body, and SS only allows it in the header or footer. They also have "code blocks" that you can put anywhere, but you're pasting them blindly, and the remarketing tags can't be between any other tags ie. div tags etc. So my tags keep having errors because I can't get them placed in the right spot. Bottom line is I'm going to have to switch to WP.
Something to consider if you plan on doing Remarketing Campaigns

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hey Ted - thanks for sharing your experience - very interesting. Something other users should definitely consider if they're interested in doing remarketing!
  
  Thanks for adding to this discussion.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Bart 13 years ago

Thanks for the great review. Before I make the plunge, do you see SS as a good source for sharing .audio and video clips. My sight will be a portfolio for my music and short films.

Thanks!

Bart

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hey Bart,
  
  Squarespace allows you to embed video blocks (YouTube and Vimeo) as well as audio blocks on your website. So you'll definitely be able to share your videos and audios with your visitors.
  
  One of the things you can do is just sign up for a free trial and test things out to see if you like it or not. The best way is to just dive in and investing a few hours so you can see for yourself.
  
  Hope this helps.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Alex 13 years ago

Thank you so much! I have been waffling for a while over whether to move from Blogger to my own domain, and Squarespace has been the most attractive option for the past few weeks. I really appreciate your thorough and thoughtful review; it's convinced me to take the plunge and move my blogs there! : )

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  No problem Alex - glad we can be helpful. Congrats on moving over to Squarespace! I think it will really make a huge difference to how your site looks : )
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Dee 13 years ago

I wish I found you a few days ago! Your review was one of the best I have seen.You should review everything. It was fast and so much info about Squarespace. I made up my mind very fast. I will sign up to your site also! I am new at this and need all the help I can get.I would never had signed up with Wordpress.They would not talk to me. If I paid $9. No way! No chat only email and it took a long time to get back to me.I also had to pay for my domain name. That is not a free trial. I could not sign up or in for hours.They sell their web site as easy. No way! You helped this old lady and made my day and night! Thank you Jeremy & Connie!

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Thanks Dee! Glad you found our review helpful. WordPress is a much more complex builder to use, so they're not great for everybody. But they do have their benefits if one has the time and resources to get to learn it.
  
  In any case, glad you found our review helpful : )
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Desiree 13 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

I love this review! I'm going through the process of choosing which website host to use. I've been debating on a few different ones. How would you compare SquareSpace and Creative Motion Design (if you've heard or tried them out)?

I'm a photographer looking for design quality, password protected galleries, space and basically more bang for my buck.

Thanks,
Desiree

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Desiree,
  
  Thanks! I haven't seen Creative Motion Designs before, but looks like they are a web builder that's targeting photographers. Based on my quick peek of the site, you may want to consider whether you are selling images or not. It looks like CMD has e-commerce features that's built specifically for Photographers. This is not to say that Squarespace doesn't have good e-commerce tools b/c they do (our review here - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/squarespace-e-commerce-business-review/) and you can still be successful using Squarespace e-commerce.
  
  One thing that I'm still a bit confused about CMD is that in their pricing page, they sell templates for $150 (1-time fee), hosting for $100/year and custom designs. I'm not entirely sure what the template comes with and if their platform updates, will they be updating the template you purchased to remain compatible or not.
  
  For Squarespace, you can be pretty comfortable that all of their responsive templates will be updated together with the builder. This is not to say CMD won't, but it's something to consider.
  
  Lastly, Squarespace has a very strong reputation and credibility in the web builder market. So if you're on the fence, go with the one that has a bigger presence and reputation.
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Nik Cannon 13 years ago

Hi, like many I've been pouring over the articles swaying one way then the other as to which website builder to go for!
I have a few questions, I'm a graphic designer/ illustrator but didn't get the web design bug that many did, I tried but just got turned off by coding etc...!
I'm looking to start my own site, with a view to selling posters and t-shirts, I like the thought of a simple website builder that looks good, but is easy to maintain, as I obviously want to spend time generating product!
Which platform offers the best in terms of looks, and ability to incorporate selling, functionality etc.. Squarespace, Weebly etc.. and how difficult is Wordpress to learn if I went down that route?
Thanks,
Nik

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Nik,
  
  If you're afraid of codes - You've come to the right place! : ) Your approach of leveraging off technology so you can focus on other aspects of your business is the right approach. There are way too many things to worry about and codes is one of the last things you want on your plate! We can totally relate on our side.
  
  If you want to build an e-commerce site that looks good, Squarespace has really good e-commerce tools that are often over-shadowed by their good looking themes (so people underestimate their e-commerce tools). Here is a review that we did on their tools - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/squarespace-e-commerce-business-review/
  
  Also check out Shopify (https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/shopify/shopify-reviews/). They have awesome themes as well, and they are a pure e-commerce site builder. One of the best parts is the apps market. If you need any more tools to extend the functionality of your online store, they have a lot and they're helpful for you to leverage off down the road when your business gets larger.
  
  Weebly's e-commerce tools are known to be a bit weak. It has been a well known weakness for a while now, so hopefully they'll come up with some new and improved tools soon.
  
  As for WP, it's powerful, flexible, but has a very steep learning curve. Here is an article that we wrote which you may find helpful - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/website-builders/comparisons/squarespace-vs-wordpress/
  
  Hope this helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
TN 13 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks as always for a great insight. I am just starting up my own website now and have found your feedback invaluable.

I just have a query though which I was hoping you would be able to help me with? I am deciding between Wix and Squarespace as my website builder, and both of these offer a free domain name on sign up. If I do this and then decide to switch from their hosting after the year, can they do anything to prevent me from using that domain name on another host? i.e.. Is it best to buy the domain name outright and just connect it to the host?

Many thanks again,

TN

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hey TN,
  
  That's a great question! In general, if you pay for a domain name, you keep it as it is yours and you can transfer it out of a registrar into another if you want to. However, if it is given to you as a "gift" such as what Squarespace and Wix offers, that may work differently.
  
  To be honest we don't have any experience with this specific scenario, so the best way forward is to clarify it up front with Squarespace and Wix. Do share your findings with us though, as this will be helpful for all the readers as well!
  
  Thanks in advance,
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  TN 13 years ago
  
  Hi Jeremy,
  
  Thanks so much for your response, I had a look around Wix and thought I would share what I have found.
  
  The following is taken from the Wix website:
  "Currently a domain can only be transferred from Wix to another domain host. You will not be able to transfer a non-Wix domain that you already own to Wix.
  
  Please note that you will only be able to transfer your domain 60 days after you purchase it from Wix. In accordance with ICANN rules, there is a mandatory 60-day waiting period between registering your domain and transferring it."
  
  So I think I'll receive the free domain name, stick it out for the year and re-evaluate where I want to go from there (ie. transfer or stay), but at least I would have one year free domain. I think that is best?
  
  Would love to hear if anyone has had this scenario as well!
  
  Reply
  
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi TN,
  
  Thanks for sharing your findings! I think that makes a lot of sense. When we use GoDaddy as our domain name register, it's true that we can't transfer the domain name within 60 days. But at least if you can transfer the domain name out of Wix to somewhere else, it's an added flexibility, which I wouldn't know why they should restrict you anyway.
  
  In any case, thanks so much for adding to this discussion. Much appreciated!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Mike 13 years ago

Looks like a great tool, and you gave a great review. One concern is there seems to be no self-hosting option. So you're always on a shared server with no guarantee of up-time or performance, etc. What happens if your site grows beyond their capabilities or expectations?

It would be great if like Wordpress you could use their software with the host of your choice. Maybe that makes it too difficult to manage their own billing.

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hey Mike,
  
  Thanks for adding to this discussion and you brought up some very valid points. One of the downsides of using a hosted website builder is that if your site gets big, or "outgrows" the capabilities of the website builder, you might have to find another solution - but of course, this is a great problem to have as it suggests that you're growing!
  
  Most of the reputable website builders (such as Squarespace) has solid up-time and decent speed so I don't think that's a huge issue to be concerned about.
  
  Hosting your own site (such as using WordPress) is probably a better solution, but there are pitfalls with it too if you don't have time, financial resources or the technical know-how. I went over some of these issues in this article here - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/website-builders/comparisons/squarespace-vs-wordpress/
  
  Thanks for leaving a comment!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Ken Richman 13 years ago

Thanks for the review. I'm a WordPress developer but always interested in other platforms. I think Squarespace will suit some people but is not the answer for everyone, by any means. Nevertheless I will certainly try it for some projects.

It looks shiny and gives Wix a run for its money; I don't see it denting WordPress seriously. Maybe WordPress.com but not those who take the trouble to look into self-hosted. (wordpress.org)

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Frank 13 years ago

J & C thanks for the review and I thought it very comprehensive. I am still to decide what platform to use for my new website (my first) and Squarespace seems to be the leader so far (WIX was my other preference - but for a newbie???) I am also intrigued by the soon to be released 10 minute pages so i may hold off for a few days. Interested in your views on 10 min pages when it's released.

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hey Frank - I think both Squarespace and Wix are just fine for newbies. They have good supporting material (Wix has a good support center with videos and Squarespace has live chat and also 24/7 email support). So you should be in good hands.
  
  As for the website builder you are referring to, we haven't heard about them but are happy to check them out when we get a chance.
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Howard Steele 13 years ago

Great platform, I think it's the perfect candidate for those who're striving to create a 'wow-effect' website : ) - musicians, artists, designers.. and those who are ready to invest in their web presence.

The only 'drawback' is that there's no completely free plans on Squarespace.

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JC 13 years ago

Excellent review w/substantive comparisons and detail.

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Sheila 13 years ago

Hi Jeremy,

I have read a lot of your articles now on the different website builders and I have narrowed it down to Weebly or Squarespace. I want to start a Blog and eventually make money with affiliate marketing so SEO and analytics are important to me. I am new to building websites, but I have worked for a retail company in the ecommerce department so I have a very basic understanding of a lot of the components. Simplicity is very important right now while I am still learning, but I also need to consider what builder will give me flexibility to grow or make my transition to another platform easy. Hopefully you are already working on a Weebly vs. Squarespace article. :0)

Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge and insights! They are greatly appreciated!

Sheila

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1 reply
- Frank 12 years ago
  
  Hi Sheila
  
  My situation is practically identical to yours. I'm intending to start blogging with a view to expanding, making some money in time. After much reading I have narrowed down to two, Squarespace and Weebly. I would have liked to see the Squarespace v Weebly article.
  
  Have you chosen?
  
  Frank
  
  Reply
  1 reply
  
  Jeremy 12 years ago
  
  Hey Frank,
  
  We don't have an article addressing both Weebly and Squarespace, but you can check out this comparison chart which will give you some quick highlights addressing the differences. Make sure you also read the footnotes to get the most out of the chart!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Doug 13 years ago

Thanks for the review. It is very helpful and I learned a lot from it.

I've never built a website. Do you have any recommendations for books or sites to learn general content principles. We just want to create a family website, with information about our local area,

Thanks again for putting all the time into the analysis and review.

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hey Doug,
  
  We haven't seen any books that teach how to have great website layouts, but what can help is if you start studying how others are constructing their websites. Maybe go to Squarespace's website and see if they have any real examples, and just start observing them. What you like, what you don't like, and use those inspirations to create your site.
  
  Most people will take a few tries in designing websites. So using website builders such as Squarespace allows you to do this fairly quickly (you don't need to hire a professional designer to help you) - just drag and drop!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
JC 13 years ago

Question: Can you export an entire Weebly site into Squarespace without losing the slide shows, photos and blog and continue our normal editing?

In other words, is Weebly editing (we have the Pro) compatible if we were to switch to Squarespace?

Our domain is hosted elsewhere and email pointed to Weebly. While it's a great program, we may outgrow it very quickly as we're already beginning to see.

We would prefer to have the ability to download/archive our site as with Weebly, but without losing the slide shows, photos, blog, etc.

And while we can check it out, just wanted to throw this question out there.\

Since we have an e-commerce as well as relevant content site, there's obviously lots of information to relocate if we change. That said, better to do it now vs later when the site grows even more.

Thanks and we look forward to your reply soon.

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  JC - While you can export your website on Weebly, I don't think there is a way to import the site into Squarespace (best to check with their support team to confirm this of course). The core issue is compatibility. Weebly and SS both have their own unique website building technologies, and they are most like not compatible (e.g. the slideshow for Weebly works differently from SS).
  
  The last time I checked, I didn't see a function to import external sites / data. Again, best to check with SS's support team. If there is a way to import a site, do let us know!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  [UPDATE - Squarespace can now import content from WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger and Posterous. Just go to Squarespace's help page and type in "Import" in the search field and you will see how!]
  
  Reply
tim hollings 13 years ago

Hi guys, nice review. Unfortunately I had already chosen Squarespace before reading it. Have been live with the new site 3 weeks and already in page one Google searches for my keywords.

Squrespace do indeed answer queries within the hour, I have asked two questions of them and they replied and followed up on both occasions.

The websites look very polished and easy to use and create and make my old Wix site look very poor by comparison.

Thanks again for the review. Tim.

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Time - thanks for your feedback and sharing some of your experiences. Customer service is one of the things that Squarespace do excel in (especially the turnaround time).
  
  Also interesting to hear that you're ranking very well in Google with with Squarespace : )
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Des 13 years ago

Hi Jeremy & Connie

Thanks for your in-depth reviews. However, with each of them there's no mention about creating multiple sites. And I couldn't find on the various sites about the ability to create multiple sites.

Which of the website builders supports this aspect? Or are they only allowing single sites to be created?

All the best

Des

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hey Des - Thanks for pointing that out. Weebly, Wix and Webs support multiple sites.
  
  Hope that helps!
  
  - Jeremy
  
  Reply
Debbie 13 years ago

Thanks so much for all the information you have provided. I am very new to site building and having recently started a new business with almost zero budget, I am leaning toward SquareSpace. Do I need to purchase my domain and email addresses elsewhere - sorry if that sounds dumb, but it really is all very new to me.

Thanks

Dx

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hi Debbie,
  
  You can purchase a custom domain name from registrars such as GoDaddy or NameCheap. But I believe if you sign up for an 1-year or 2-year plan, Squarespace gives you a custom domain name to keep.
  
  As for custom email addresses, you can get one fairly quickly with Google Apps. Here is a link to Squarespace's help page for more details.
  
  You can always reach out to their support team if you run into any installation questions!
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply
Darlene 13 years ago

This is great Jeremy!! Awesome. I trying to decide between Squarespace and Wordpress.

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Hey Darlene, thanks for leaving a comment.
  
  I think Squarespace vs WordPress is definitely a good "battle". Both are great website builders, but I think one key thing to consider is how "hands-on" you want to be with regards to your website building process.
  
  With WordPress, you will have to roll up your sleeves and deal with setting up of hosting, purchasing and installing of templates, etc. WordPress is super flexible if you don't mind learning how to use it properly, but that's IF you want to spend that time to climb the learning curve.
  
  With Squarespace, everything they offer is integrated (such as hosting, themes, website building tools), so you don't have to spend time fixing bugs yourself if they arise (and believe me, they will always come up if you decide to build a website yourself using CMS such as WordPress).
  
  Another major issue to consider is availability of support. Currently, Squarespace commits to respond to all questions within an hour. That's a pretty impressive promise. With WordPress - you're pretty much on your own. If you run into issues or want to get some advice, you'll most likely have to hire a developer of some sort to fix things (if you don't do it yourself that is).
  
  So I think the pros with going with WordPress is that it is very flexible and you can almost do anything you want (if you are willing to learn, or have the money to hire developers). The negative side is that you won't get a whole lot of support along the way (unless you hire that is).
  
  Reply
Dan A. 13 years ago

Jeremy, This is a spectacular review: detailed, not biased, professional, competent. I have built sites in the past and you expertise has really influenced my decisions.

BTW, I'm leaning toward SquareSpace.

Thanks again.

Dan

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1 reply
- Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago
  
  Thanks Dan - glad you found it useful.
  
  1) You should also take a look at our review of Squarespace's e-commerce functions in this article here (if you haven't yet) - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/squarespace-e-commerce-business-review/
  
  2) Share this review article with others who might find it helpful by clicking on the social sharing icons above! : )
  
  Best,
  
  Jeremy
  
  Reply