Overview of Squarespace
Squarespace is one platform that has been very successful despite the fact that the market for website design is saturated with many different companies that provide drag and drop site builders.
Since its founding in 2004, millions of people all over the world have used Squarespace as their website creation platform of choice. In point of fact, some of the most well-known brands in the United States, such as Target and HBO, have used Squarespace.
Attractive Aesthetics and Features
With Squarespace’s aesthetically pleasing, modern, and mobile-responsive template designs, along with its round-the-clock support and one-hour turnaround time for email responses, as well as its powerful and flexible styling editor, it is a breeze to create stunning websites using Squarespace.
You will also receive a “no questions asked” money-back guarantee for the first 14 days, unlimited storage and bandwidth, a free domain name, and a ton of other features that are at the forefront of their respective industries. The price of their most affordable plan is $16.00 per month.
Our updated Squarespace review from 2022 will provide you with the information you need to make the most educated decision possible regarding whether or not you should purchase a website builder from Squarespace.
About Squarespace
In 2004, Anthony Casalena launched Squarespace from his dorm room at the University of Maryland, where he was a student at the time. Squarespace was established in 2004.
Squarespace is a company that has been in business for more than ten years and specializes in the construction of websites. They are extremely proud of the fact that they provide individuals with the tools necessary to design the website that best suits their needs. Since its inception in 2004, millions of people all over the world have used Squarespace as their website creation platform of choice.
Squarespace has been utilized by a number of the most well-known companies in the United States, including Target, Cisco, and HBO, amongst others.
Squarespace Features
Squarespace is a website builder that has been very successful despite the fact that the market for web design is saturated with many different companies that provide drag-and-drop site builders.
Squarespace is one of the oldest site-building companies around, having begun operations in 2004, when it first opened its doors. After more than a decade of service in the industry, this platform has been utilized to develop millions of different websites.
What Is Special About Squarespace — Premium Features
Squarespace markets itself as the platform of choice for developing blogs, online portfolios, and online stores. They do not provide a free plan for building websites, in contrast to many other site builders. Instead, Squarespace offers a risk-free trial period of 14 days for users to test out their website builder at a cost that is more accessible.
To summarize everything, here is a rundown of what Squarespace’s premium features can actually provide for you, as well as how the platform can benefit your company:
- E-commerce Solution — permits you to open a storefront on the internet with minimal effort.
- Integration with Mail Chimp — one of the best email marketing services available to businesses in the modern era, giving you access to Premium Amazon Block allows you to highlight products that are Amazon referrals with the click of a mouse.
- Bar for Custom Announcements — you can choose to show your visitors messages above the content of your site when you want to.
- Injection of code — you can add personalized code to your Squarespace website, which is a useful tool for customization.
- Block OpenTable — might not make sense, but could be helpful. A reservation system that is simple to use and is geared toward webmasters of websites for restaurants or other tertiary services.
- Integration of Zapier — integration of different kinds of forms, newsletter blocks, and other helpful applications for your team, such as Slack or Salesforce.
- Cart Recovery — in the event that a user accidentally deletes their shopping cart, they have the option to restart the process of abandoning their cart (only available with e-commerce plans).
- Special Developer Access — access to the unprocessed code that runs your Squarespace site. This is a fantastic component of freedom to have if you are fortunate enough to have a developer.
There are three primary packages that can be selected from when creating a new website with Squarespace.
Each plan comes standard with unlimited bandwidth and storage space, free domain registration for any site name of your choosing, robust website reporting tools, and round-the-clock customer service and support.
Standard vs. Higher-Tiered Plans
In the category of ‘Website’ builder plans, Squarespace offers two different packages, and in the category of ‘Online Store’ packages, they offer two different packages.
To get you started, we have a Personal Plan that gives you the ability to design an unlimited number of websites, but it restricts you to selling only a single product and charges a 3% transaction fee on all sales.
Those interested in constructing online stores can benefit from Squarespace’s Business Plan. This package includes complete e-commerce integration, the capacity to create an unlimited number of web pages, 100 dollars worth of AdWords credits, and a Google email address with a professional greeting.
In addition, Squarespace offers two more plans that are tailored specifically to e-commerce.
Plans Comparison
Personal Plan
- Number Of Responsive Websites — Unlimited.
- Responsiveness — Mobile-friendly.
- Web Analytics — Simple Metrics.
- Customization — No access to custom code.
- Block Integrations at a Premium — Not accessible.
- Price — $12/month.
Business Plan
- Number Of Responsive Websites — Unlimited.
- Responsiveness — Mobile-friendly.
- Web Analytics — Modern Metrics.
- Customization — Java and CSS are available.
- Block Integrations at a Premium — Available.
- Price — $18/month.
Both plans additionally consist of:
- A free domain with every purchase.
- 24/7 client assistance.
- SSL encryption.
Squarespace’s Online Store
Despite the fact that Squarespace recommends two different bonus plans to online retailers who are interested in beginning an online store, These plans are referred to as “Online Store” plans, and in comparison to their website builder plans, they include a significant increase in the number of store-related features.
Let’s compare the Basic Online Store Plan with the Advanced Online Store Plan and see which one comes out on top. These plans come with more advanced tools, and in addition, there are no transaction fees or product limits associated with them.
Basic Plan for Online Store
- All Business Plan Features — Included.
- Responsiveness — Mobile-friendly.
- Recovery of the abandoned cart — Not Available.
- Gift Cards — Not Available.
- API Requests — Available.
- Price — $26.
Advanced Plan for Online Store
- All Business Plan Features — Included.
- Responsiveness — Mobile-friendly.
- Recovery of the abandoned cart — Available.
- Gift Cards — Available.
- API Requests — Available.
- Price — $40.
What Kind of E-Commerce Features Are Available?
The website builder platform provided by Squarespace comes equipped with a variety of in-built e-commerce solutions that are designed to assist you in making sales of your goods and services via the internet.
If you have plans to expand your company in the foreseeable future, this is an advantageous feature to have.
In addition, the end-to-end security of your company’s transactions is ensured by the e-commerce platform provided by Squarespace. This platform also has the capability to send reminder emails to customers who have abandoned sales. In addition, the following options are also available:
- Shipping in advance.
- Payment capabilities.
- Mobile-friendly checkout page.
All of this from Squarespace has been developed to make the process of purchasing your products for your customers as simple and uncomplicated as possible.
Ease of Use
Squarespace is one of the most user-friendly drag-and-drop website builders available today. The most recent update, version 7, combines the preview page and edit mode into a single unified experience. This means that the appearance of your website after you publish it will be identical to what you see when you are editing it.
The WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) site editor offered by Squarespace is not only straightforward to operate, but it also helps users save time by eliminating the need to toggle between edit mode and preview mode repeatedly.
Interface That Is Simple to Use
The interface of the site editor is also very easy to understand. Squarespace does not make use of a permanent toolbar; rather, it displays a dialog box that asks you to choose elements of the webpage that should be positioned at the location where you have just clicked. Simply move the mouse pointer over the available content block and then click and drag it to add, edit, or remove elements.
Squarespace lets you add pages using a side menu panel. Simply click on the arrow in the top left corner of the screen to show or hide the side menu rail. This feature is also very simple to use.
Because both the user interface and the design tools are straightforward, even a layperson can easily create a website that gives the impression of having been designed by a professional.
Customization, Themes, and Design
The user interface of Squarespace is one of the best features of the product. There is almost no learning curve, and even inexperienced users will have no trouble figuring out how to use the platform.
The designs available in the Squarespace templates can be grouped according to their intended use. Some of the template options, for instance, are developed specifically with photographers, musicians, restaurant owners, online retailers, wedding websites, and bloggers in mind.
There are dozens of different themes available to select from, and you can use them for things like online stores, personal websites, or even just a single cover page. Squarespace allows you to view a live preview of each theme in full screen mode, which can assist you in selecting the format that will work best for your website.
You can edit anything, even photos
After selecting the format you want to use, you will be able to customize it to your specifications. The style editor incorporates all of the standard components that one would anticipate to find on a contemporary website. Text boxes, image placeholders, spacers, buttons for social media sites, charts, web form fields, and links are just a few examples of these types of elements.
An undeniably rich visual experience can be had when using a website built with Squarespace. This can be attributed, in large part, to the fact that this platform provides access to the full Aviary editing suite.
In addition to being able to edit images, users of the photo editor have the ability to search Getty Images, preview images, and purchase stock photography licenses. You also have the option of creating a gallery page where the photos can be displayed in a slideshow, stack, grid, or carousel.
Additionally, the Aviary image editor offers a wide variety of behavior customization choices to its users. You can use the lightbox option for grid-style galleries, for instance, or enable pop-up texts to appear whenever the mouse pointer is moved over an image. Both of these options are available to you.
CSS Code Editing
Editing CSS code gives you the ability to design your website on a more sophisticated level when using Squarespace. This option is a wonderful addition for users who have some knowledge of code or who wish to hire a professional to modify the selected template in order to obtain a website layout that is more distinctive than any other.
Squarespace gives you the option to revert back to the default CSS code for the template you select in the event that you decide you want to undo any changes you made.
Mobile friendliness, customer support, and SEO features
Standard SEO features are typically included with the majority of drag-and-drop website builders. These features may include access to page title tags, image alt tags, and meta descriptions. When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO) features, however, Squarespace goes one step further.
It helps search engines crawl and index your website by providing support for rich snippets, setting up 301 redirects, and also having the capability to generate an XML sitemap for the website.
Analytics for Your Website
You will have the ability to track website statistics with the help of Squarespace’s built-in analytics program. These statistics can include traffic sources, devices used by visitors to access your website, periodic traffic amounts, and a great many other things.
You have the option of integrating Google Analytics into your Squarespace website if you want to use a more robust program to track the statistics of website visitors.
Categories
The following are the 10 analytics categories that Squarespace offers:
- Sales Summary.
- Traffic Situation.
- Internet Sources.
- Public Domain.
- Buying Funnel.
- Unattended Cart.
- Website Search Requests.
- Subscribers to RSS.
- Queries on search engines.
- Activity Record.
In addition, Squarespace automatically generates websites that are friendly to mobile devices right off the bat. You are able to enable mobile sites to show a bottom menu on mobile devices by making use of the mobile information bar. This menu displays contact information, location, and business working hours.
Help and Support
If you are having technical difficulties while operating a Squarespace site, you can contact the support team through either the live chat feature or by sending an email. Additionally, Squarespace makes it simple for new users to get up and running on their platform. They offer a comprehensive collection of video tutorials in addition to a sizable number of articles in their knowledgebase.
When it comes to gaining knowledge about the site builder or searching for answers to common issues, these resources will prove to be extremely helpful. In addition, you have the option of posting questions on the Squarespace forum, where both more seasoned users and even members of the customer support team can respond with answers.
Comparing Website Builders: Squarespace vs Wix
Wix and Squarespace are both website builders that are comparable in many respects; however, Wix lags behind Squarespace when it comes to ensuring that all templates are mobile-responsive. Squarespace is the clear winner in this category. In this day and age, when a significant portion of website traffic may be coming from mobile phones, this is an extremely important point to keep in mind.
One of the problems with using Wix is that once you choose a template, you cannot make any changes to it. On the other hand, Squarespace gives you the flexibility to make use of any new ideas that come to mind. Despite all of this, Wix continues to provide users with access to a significantly larger variety of templates than Squarespace does at the present time.
Weebly vs. Squarespace
Both Squarespace and Weebly provide users with access to a variety of tools that make it possible to construct a fully operational website with minimal to no knowledge of computer programming. One of the most significant benefits of Squarespace is the website builder’s beautiful templates, while one of the most significant drawbacks of Weebly is the same thing.
When compared to Squarespace and other website builders, the templates that come packaged with Weebly’s website builder aren’t nearly as inspiring as those offered by other platforms. However, the website that Weebly creates for you will be simple and fully functional. Weebly is a good performer overall; however, you shouldn’t expect anything too fancy from it.
Squarespace: Pros and Cons
Is it true that Squarespace is an excellent website builder? Think about the advantages and disadvantages listed below.
Pros
- Designer templates with a beautiful design and a wealth of imagery that also have an excellent presentation on mobile devices.
- Because modifying the CSS of each template is possible, even experienced web developers will find this platform to be an excellent option.
- Users are given the ability to export their pages and blogs to WordPress, ensuring that they are not bound to a single platform.
- Superior capabilities for blogging as well as search engine optimization functions.
- An enhanced editor for the website that supports interactions using point-and-click.
- Excellent analytics tools and a comprehensive online support system for users of all skill levels.
- Free trial with a 100% money-back guarantee after the first two weeks.
Cons
- At this time, Squarespace does not offer a marketplace for third-party widgets or applications.
- There are currently no plans in place to develop a free website.
- There is no telephone support available.
- Some restrictions in comparison to other builders such as WordPress.
Summary
If you are looking for a platform that will assist you in easily creating websites that are beautiful, modern, and responsive for both desktop and mobile devices, then Squarespace is an excellent choice for a website builder.
All of the templates that it provides are optimized for use on mobile devices and can be modified to create a website that is truly one of a kind.
The best part about the revamped version 7 is that it now supports genuine point-and-click interactions by enabling users to make modifications while viewing the preview page. Having said that, Squarespace is not the easiest website builder to use, nor does it provide integrations with third-party apps like other leading website builders such as Wix and Weebly do.
