Nowadays, it’s simpler than ever to create a website or an eCommerce storage. For instance, anyone can create a website and begin selling their goods using platforms like Wix, WordPress, and Squarespace.
Since Squarespace has been active for more than 18 years, it has become very well-known in the sector. I will thus introduce you to Squarespace’s main features, advantages, and disadvantages in this in-depth analysis. This will make it simple for you to determine whether Squarespace is the best tool for you.
What Is Squarespace: Benefits and Drawbacks
Squarespace, a well-known online platform for building websites and eCommerce storefronts, was established in 2014. Over 3 million subscribers already use the company’s various services, according to Squarespace.
One of Squarespace’s biggest features is that it enables us to create original websites devoid of any coding. To create your online space, you can utilize its pre-made themes or drag-and-drop widgets. In addition, you may immediately purchase domains on Squarespace and use its built-in statistics to monitor the effectiveness of your website.
PROS:
- Numerous website construction and analytics tools are available in one location.
- Since Squarespace doesn’t require any prior design knowledge, using it is really easy.
- It has good uptime and solid security features.
CONS:
- Squarespace is sometimes quite pricey when compared to its immediate rivals.
- There are few third-party integration tools and few payment choices.
- It can be challenging to scale up using Squarespace if you operate an online dropshipping business.
- Review of Squarespace: Key Features and Cost
- After going over the fundamentals, let’s examine a thorough Squarespace review by going over its standout features. In theory, Squarespace allows you to build websites and even host online shops. As a result, while writing this assessment, I took into account the features of each of these options.
Effortless Use
When choosing any online B2B tool, we start by looking for this. The great thing about Squarespace is how easy it is to use. Squarespace has made significant changes to its website builder tool over the past few years. With its block editor and widget-based website builder, practically anyone can now create a distinctive website design.
With Squarespace’s What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor, you can see how your designs will appear right away. You can also examine a screen-by-screen interface preview of your website. To make your task even simpler, try using its reusable pages for things like contacts, bookings, calendars, and more.
Present Templates
This is yet another significant factor in the popularity of Squarespace as a website creation platform. At the time this Squarespace review was being written, the platform offered various templates, each of which was classified in a separate category.
On Squarespace, you may choose from a variety of themes for businesses, blogs, online shops, and more. The majority of Squarespace designs have a simple, clean aesthetic, making them both online and mobile friendly. Any publicly available template can be used right away and afterwards customized using the website editor.
Features for SEO, marketing, and analytics
The majority of Squarespace’s marketing features are only offered for business and commerce accounts, I found out while writing this evaluation. Therefore, you could not have access to these choices if you are using its personal plan.
Marketing and SEO
Making it more engaging is as simple as connecting your Squarespace account with popular social networks. You can alter pages and aspects on Squarespace using an SEO tool that is user-friendly for beginners. However, Squarespace lacks a number of important SEO capabilities that are included in WordPress. You can connect a Mailchimp plugin or use a Squarespace native functionality to do email marketing.
Analytics
All subscriptions get access to the basic website metrics, but only the business and commerce plans can use the advanced analytics. You will get access to specific website analytics to calculate the return on investment from your advertising efforts. You can also have access to the Squarespace Studio and add a dashboard integration for your Google Ads account.
Extensions
Like other well-known commerce systems, Squarespace has an extension store built right in. However, Squarespace only has a well limited collection of 25+ extensions, unlike Shopify or WordPress. Various sectors, including finance, sales, marketing, shipping, and others, offer these suitable extensions. By purchasing the necessary membership, you can easily utilize any extension and integrate it with your account.
Dropshipping
You must exercise caution if you want to launch a dropshipping store using Squarespace. It currently only supports Printful and Spocket as dropshipping providers. Consequently, you can be constrained by these constrained possibilities. On Squarespace, you can use strong commerce solutions including cart recovery, subscription management, commerce APIs, dynamic discounts, and other merchandising tools.
What’s Next
In order to wrap up this Squarespace review, it is crucial to discuss a few other key features.
Payment
The majority of the widely used payment methods are available on Squarespace. Your commerce account would automatically include Stripe as part of its payment capabilities. You can also switch to Apple Pay or PayPal if you’d like. Please be aware that users of its business accounts are required to pay 3% of each transaction. Additionally, just a few currencies are supported for local payments.
Security
As I mentioned previously, Squarespace adheres to stringent security standards right away. No matter what type of account you have, you will have free SSL layer protection. Applying an additional HSTS security layer to your website is an option.
Support
Regardless of the type of account you have, Squarespace offers internal customer service around-the-clock. To get your questions answered, you can speak with any representative directly. Additionally, Squarespace includes a comprehensive learning center with a selection of manuals, video lessons, and other resources.
Pricing
Without mentioning all of the pricing options offered by Squarespace, our evaluation would be lacking. If you choose one of their yearly subscriptions, they will run you the following prices:
- Individual: $25 monthly
- Commercial: $23 per month
- Basic Business: $27 monthly
- Advanced Business: $49 monthly
The unlimited bandwidth offered by any of these Squarespace services is a blessing. You can try its personal plan if you own a blog or a small business. However, its basic and advanced commerce plans are advised for proprietors of online stores.
Additionally, while its commerce plans are free of charge, Squarespace’s commercial plan levies a 3% transaction fee. For the first 14 days of its trial period, Squarespace also offers a free exploration option.
Final Conclusion
Squarespace might be a great option if you own a small or medium-sized business and want to create a beautiful website. People without a background in design can also utilize it to build a powerful online presence.
By way of the widgets and apps it offers, Squarespace may also function as a content management system. Thanks to the integration of the eCommerce platform, it may even assist you in creating an online store.
However, you should be aware that it is less adaptable than other options like WordPress or Wix. Squarespace may undoubtedly be of assistance if you are just getting started and don’t have many resources. However, despite its cutting-edge features, its high cost, and a constrained environment, it can be a deal-breaker for expanding organizations.
Last Words
All of the main features that the tool offers are discussed in this comprehensive Squarespace review. However, I have also added its advantages, disadvantages, and pricing options to further simplify things for you.
Squarespace’s limited environment can limit the growth of your online business, so you might want to look at its alternatives. Additionally, dropship-empire, the authorized AliExpress dropshipping supplier, might be of aid if you wish to build an online dropshipping store.