Squarespace Website Builder Review 2023

It's been 40 years since the creation of the Internet and it continues to revolutionize daily life for businesses and consumers alike. The rise in e-commerce and remote work has pushed more consumers to use the internet to discover local businesses. It's more important than ever to have a strong online presence, but knowing where to start can be difficult. Squarespace is an easy to use, all-in-one platform for those looking to grow their business online.

What is Squarespace?

Squarespace is an all-in-one website building and hosting platform. With one affordable subscription, Squarespace offers all the tools you need to get started and continue growing your business like their suite of analytic and commerce tools, customizable templates, and domain management. With business plans starting at $23/month, Squarespace offers the most bang for your buck for companies just starting out building their online presence, or those looking to take their website to the next level.

Key Features of Squarespace

Website Creation

Squarespace makes it easy to design a beautiful and professional website with no graphic design required. With more than 100 award-winning templates to choose from across multiple industries, it takes only minutes to kick off your website. Each template has curated color palettes and font packs that are fully customizable to match your brand. Squarespace is constantly ramping up their offerings- the new Fluid Design drag-and-drop editor makes it easier than ever to manipulate designs for a perfect fit. Layer management, grid backgrounds, and alignment precision ensure that your website is looking beautiful on all devices. More than 61% of website engagements now come from mobile devices, and other website designers make it difficult for seamless mobile optimizations. Squarespace templates are automatically optimized for all devices and you can easily preview and change how your layout appears on different screens.

In-Depth Analytics

The Squarespace dashboard provides useful insight regarding site visitors, engagement, and commerce reporting. Learn more about where your visitors are coming from and what content is performing the best. You can also track which keywords your site is ranking for and make adjustments accordingly. Commerce reporting includes revenue, repeat customers, and abandoned cart rates. Analytic information allows you to optimize your site to increase conversions.

Member Areas

For those with businesses centered around sharing information, Squarespace offers member areas that allow you to connect with customers through member-only content. Whether you're sharing cooking classes, language courses, or workout plans, Squarespace has pre-integrated tools to protect your content and analytics to help you better connect and grow with clients. Member areas are an add-on starting at $9/month with any other Squarespace plan.

Domain Management

Squarespace allows users to search for available domain names or easily transfer an existing domain name from a different provider. Your domains renew at the same price every year with no additional fees for transferring. If you have multiple websites or domains, you can manage all of them through the intuitive dashboard. Each domain also comes with an SSL certificate so e-commerce visitors can feel confident knowing their personal data and payment information is secure. WHOIS security is also automatically included for all eligible domains.

How much is Squarespace?

Squarespace has three plans for business that each include a 14 day free trial. Each plan also includes access to the suite of templates, mobile optimized websites, advanced analytics, and integrated e-commerce abilities. When you subscribe to an annual billing plan for a new website, you may be eligible to get a free year of your domain.

Business

The Business plan starts at $33/month if you're paying monthly, but you can save 30% and qualify for a free year of your domain by paying annually at a rate of $23/month. The Business plan also has e-commerce integration, but there is a 3% transaction fee, so if you're doing a lot of transactions it's better to upgrade to one of the Commerce plans.

Commerce Basic

Squarespace's Commerce Basic plan includes all the features included with the Business plan, plus the addition of built-in merchandising features like related product display, product waitlists, and low stock notices. There is also a 0% fee for e-commerce transactions. The Commerce Basic plan is $33/month when billed monthly, with the option to save 25% when paying annually at $27/month.

Commerce Advanced

The Commerce Advanced plan comes with all the features included in other plans with more tools for advanced sellers. This includes advanced shipping features such as free shipping for an order threshold, options for automatic discounts, and product subscription options. This plan is $65/month when billed monthly, or $49 monthly for 24% annual savings when paying annually.

Squarespace vs Wordpress

Squarespace and Wordpress are both popular website builders: but which is better? It depends on what you're looking for. Squarespace is better for those looking for a seamless website building experience. Since Squarespace offers comprehensive website building and hosting, it takes the grunt work out of building an online presence or marketplace. The customizable templates and e-commerce features are top-tier for those looking to build a beautiful website, quickly. Wordpress has thousands of plug-ins that can be downloaded to your site, but Squarespace comes with important apps already fully integrated. If coding and technical tasks aren't your thing, Squarespace has a more intuitive interface and dashboard. However, If you're willing to roll your sleeves up, delve into code, and start from scratch, Wordpress could be a good option.

Bottom line.

Squarespace takes all of the guesswork out of building your online brand. With no upcharges on domain renewal, built-in tools and dashboards, and professional templates, it's no wonder that big brands like Etsy, DoorDash, and Princess Polly use Squarespace. If you're looking to build your online presence, it only takes minutes to get started building your site with Squarespace.