Why We Swear By Squarespace: A Decade of Designing on the Platform
There are lots of website platforms to choose from! And, we’ve worked with many of them out there. So why are we Squarespace designers? In this complete guide, we dive into how we began using Squarespace and what our team has to say about Squarespace 10 years later. We talk about why we continue to create clients’ websites on Squarespace today — whether they are a service provider or a product-based business. We compare Squarespace with both Shopify and Showit in detail. We also cover why we are confident Squarespace will continue to lead the Content Management System world of site platforms and answer commonly asked questions we get about Squarespace.
Our story for how we started using Squarespace
Squarespace fills a unique gap in the website platform world, and it always has. When we were first introduced to the platform in 2013 when Crème was founded, the tools to get a custom site were cumbersome and the ongoing maintenance was a HEADACHE for clients. Even simple updates could break your website. Back then, what should have been easy updates required you to hire a professional developer. Most clients at the time were using WordPress, but Showit was also getting popular.
When a client came to our founder Kathryn wanting to use Squarespace, she was skeptical. How could a website platform like Squarespace allow for the level of customization clients would want? Could their uptime be relied on?
From that first project on, we were believers.
Now, over 10 years later, we’ve grown. We’ve done more and more sites on Squarespace and we’ve added to our team! Our team members all love this platform.
All of our team members have worked with multiple platforms — we have experience building websites on WordPress, Wix, Shopify, Showit, Webflow, and Weebly. Yet, Squarespace is our number one. Why is that? Hear it from our team themselves:
What our team has to say about Squarespace
“I love Squarespace because it helps ensure our clients don’t just have a pretty website on launch day — they will have a tool that’s easy for them to update to grow their business. It’s always so rewarding being on training calls with clients and showing them how easy updates will be for them because of the way we leveraged the platform with custom coding and their custom branding!”
— Kathryn Joachim, Founder + Creative Director
“As a designer, Squarespace’s capabilities are unmatched. With the rollout of their Fluid Engine, we’re able to design and develop sites like never before. They consistently add new built-in features, reducing the need for CSS with each update. Outside of their built-in features, Squarespace makes any coding and CSS implementation a breeze. Live front-end editing allows us to see changes happen when writing code, creating a much more efficient development process.
From a client perspective, Squarespace’s UI presents an easy solution for even the most technologically inexperienced clients. The platform makes it easy for clients to make text and image updates, empowering them to keep their site up to date.”
— Kathryn Bethard, Lead Layout & UX Designer
“Squarespace is an amazing platform for businesses across all industries and at all stages. From a technical perspective, there are so many built-in tools on the platform that support business operations. From appointment scheduling to event and restaurant reservations to digital and physical commerce, our clients can have everything they need all in one place. Additionally, SEO and Domain connections are easy to keep track of with their easy-to-navigate back-end.
Not only can you build elegant websites natively using Fluid Engine, adding in bits of CSS can transform it into something that makes people go “wow you built that on Squarespace?!””
— Francisca Li, Technical Lead, Layout Designer, & SMM
“The amount of control and flexibility the new Squarespace Fluid Engine gives us is unmatched by other website platforms I’ve used. I especially love how we can have full control of mobile layouts, separate from the desktop ones, which is so critical given how many of us are viewing sites on our phones these days! It’s great to be in the design process, come up with a layout, and think ahead about how seamlessly we’ll be able to build it in Squarespace.
I love being on training calls with clients and showing them how intuitively they’ll be able to edit their site moving forward. It’s gratifying to hear them say, ‘I can definitely do that!’ as we show them around how to update their site.”
— Sophia Kaplan, Lead Packaging Designer & Layout Designer
Squarespace is our top recommendation for clients across industries!
We work with clients in dozens of industries. Unlike some agencies, we aren’t niched by working exclusively with just one industry or even just service providers or product-based businesses. We love bringing fresh ideas to our clients’ unique situations. Part of that is recommending a platform specifically for their business.
For every client we work with, part of our website research process is to thoroughly weigh the pros and cons of different platforms for that specific business needs. We do not just arbitrarily recommend Squarespace without thoroughly investigating every feature, bell, and whistle they need and whether or not it will work well within the site platform.
And the result?
In just the past couple of years, we’ve recommended Squarespace 9.75 times out of 10 to clients across at least 20 industries. That’s because we truly believe that it is the best platform for their unique situation and needs.
Squarespace is our top recommendation for clients from boutique hotels to medical offices to the wedding industry to boutiques and beyond.
What kinds of businesses have we recommended Squarespace for?
20 real client industries Squarespace was ideal for
Accountant
Boutique and Retail Store
Brick & Mortar Florist
Candy Company
Catering Company
Construction
Corporate Consultant
Floral Designer
Fragrance Brand
Home Renovation
Hotel
Lifestyle Blog
Medical Office
Medspa
Motorsports Brand
New Builds
Photographer
Real Estate
Spa
Wedding Planner
Why is Squarespace our number-one recommendation for our clients across industries?
We think Squarespace’s features are unmatched.
Squarespace has the best overall CMS features:
Created to convert — Squarespace has all the tools to turn visitors into newsletter subscribers, active leads in your sales funnel, and paying customers on your online shop. With built-in features like the announcement bar to easily change out your promotions, the ability to create beautiful user-experience-friendly sales pages, take appointments right on your site, and have a fully hosted eCommerce store, running your business online has never been better.
List building tools — Squarespace helps you build your newsletter list with pop-up and inline sign-up options. They even offer integrated newsletter software or you can hook up any newsletter platform.
Works great on mobile, tablet, and desktop — Squarespace prioritizes modern responsive website technology and dramatically beats competitors on mobile and tablet. You have full control over the layout of mobile pages and the order they display things, without having to build an entirely separate page like you do in Showit!
Allows your brand and the design to be consistent across the site — They emphasize a consistent approach to your unique website design. The ability to turn your brand styles into global website styles easily is the best we’ve ever seen! This makes it possible to have a cohesive website experience on every page.
Easy to expand tools as your business grows — While we’re always happy to have clients come back to us when they are ready to add a new page to their website, we also love empowering clients who want to be able to make updates on their own and have it turn out professionally post-launch! We love the ability to favorite sections where we can set up all the custom sections for a client, making it easy for them to build a new website page quickly.
A breeze for you to keep up-to-date and maintain — When you run your business, it’s crucial that every tool you use works for you! In our design opinion, there are just not enough hours in the day to work with clunky, outdated tools that are not clean and calming. Squarespace has a pleasant backend interface that you can intuitively understand. (Plus, we train you on every aspect of their site and it’s easy for you to update later!)
Squarespace is now our preferred eCommerce platform for product-based businesses.
Really! We’re sure you’ve heard that Shopify is the best for eCommerce, and at one time years ago, that may have been the case. We have experience in both platforms and think Squarespace is a better platform for most eCommerce clients. Our comparison of the two shortly, skip ahead to that here.
If you’re looking to sell physical products, digital products, or even services in an online shop, Squarespace brings powerful features that they’ve up-leveled dramatically in the past three years.
Our favorite Squarespace eCommerce features
Ability to import products via spreadsheet.
Easily add new physical, digital, or service products.
Sell live or online events or workshops.
POS integration options.
Embed multiple payment processors.
Robust eCommerce analytics.
Range of shipping integrations and shipping methods and rates.
Local delivery zones based on specific zip codes and set-up delivery fees.
Pickup options for shopping.
Add a custom product or order-specific form when checking out to capture necessary customer information.
Send abandoned cart emails.
Connect your email CRM.
Offer gift cards.
Squarespace comes out of the box with all these features. Even if you initially don’t need a shop for your site, the platform is flexible and you can easily upgrade to commerce plan options as your business grows, all without having to start over or move to another platform.
But, you may have heard that Shopify is better for eCommerce. Let’s walk through the differences between the two eCommerce platform features between Squarespace and Shopify.
Squarespace vs. Shopify Platform Comparison
PLAN PRICING
✓
Squarespace
Commerce Basic: $27/month
Commerce Advanced: $49/month
✗
Shopify
Basic: $39/month
Shopify: $105/month
Advanced: $399/month
DESIGN
✓
Squarespace
Much more user-friendly and flexible to create a storytelling design without having to go to a developer.
More user-friendly for making ongoing site updates, resulting in lower maintenance costs.
Can control mobile designs.
Allows you to select a focal point in all images to ensure a good experience across devices, while Shopify does not allow this on product or collection images.
✗
Shopify
Requires much more custom code to execute designs, resulting in a higher initial development cost.
Not as user-friendly for clients to maintain, resulting in higher ongoing maintenance costs.
Requires mobile refinements to be coded in.
Does not allow image focal points on product or collection images.
MARKETING
✓
Squarespace
Options to automatically send abandoned cart emails.
Allows you to connect to any email CRM through Zapier.
✓
shopify
Options to automatically send abandoned cart emails.
Many options for platforms that integrate directly.
SHIPPING
✓
Squarespace
Integrates with very popular ShipStation if desired.
Ability to restrict local delivery to certain zipcodes and change the shipping rate based on those zip codes.
Delivery date picker plugins are needed for both to be able to block off certain delivery dates.
✓
shopify
A wider range of integrations with shipping platforms.
Ability to restrict local delivery to certain zipcodes and change the shipping rate based on those zip codes.
PRODUCT OPTIONS
✓
Squarespace
Allows for six options (i.e. flavor, size, etc.) per product. You can extend this by purchasing a third-party app.
Allows you to sell subscriptions in the Advanced plan.
✗
Shopify
Allows for three options per product.
Requires the purchase of a third-party app to sell subscriptions.
POS
✓
Squarespace
Allows you to accept in-person payments with Square Hardware (connecting Square Account, Square Reader, and the iOS Squarespace Commerce app on your phone.) Note: Some clients may need a different integration and we recommend looking into your specific in-store needs.
✓
Shopify
Allows you to accept in-person payments with Shopify POS.
PAYMENTS
✓
Squarespace
Allows you to accept payments via Stripe and/or PayPal. Connect Stripe to accept Visa (credit and debit cards), MasterCard (credit and debit cards), American Express, Discover (US merchants only), Diner’s Club, JCB, Afterpay or Clearpay, and Apple Pay. Connect a PayPal Business account to accept PayPal and Venmo.
0% added transaction fees from Squarespace. Payment processing fees from Stripe or Paypal.
✓
Shopify
Allows you to set up virtually any payment method.
2.9% + 30cent credit card rates when paid online. 2% transaction fees if not using Shopify Payments.
ANALYTICS
✓
Squarespace
Both have robust analytics. connect Google Analytics for the most in-depth reporting.
✓
Shopify
More in-depth analytics especially as you get to higher tier plans.
Reasons Shopify or another eCommerce platform might be best for you:
If you already have your entire inventory for in-store and online order on another platform and have a strong preference not to change or migrate your products over to another platform.
OR If you have multiple store locations already set up on the POS system that Shopify connects with, you might want to prioritize a platform that doesn’t require changing your POS system.
OR If you are heavily emphasizing international product sales, Shopify can change on a page which currency a product is shown in automatically.
AND if you have a dedicated, in-house website team or the budget to pay for a developer on retainer for most website updates.
You may just find that the above doesn’t apply to you, and we encourage you to look into the power features of Squarespace eCommerce! For our clients, we not only love their integrated features, but we also love adding on additional advanced eCommerce features.
Advanced eCommerce Integrations for Squarespace
Squarespace is flexible to be able to add even more advanced eCommerce features. Here are just a couple we leveraged for clients recently:
Add upsells on to orders
Case study: Brick and mortar floral shop wanted to be able to add a ’la carte gift items with order.
When our St. Augustine floral shop client came to us, they wanted to continue local delivery for floral arrangements and take them to the next level by offering customers the ability to add on special gifts to accompany the floral arrangement.
By integrating a redirect plugin alongside Squarespace’s eCommerce tools, we created a page customers were instantly directed to after adding a custom arrangement and order details to their cart where they can choose between a spa gift set, a bath bomb, and a candle to add a thoughtful touch to their gift. The checkout process is all seamless and aligned fully with their custom branding and site look.
Attract more in-person visitors
Case study: Motorsports brand wanted to draw more in-store visitors in to see the product in person
For the newly launched motorsports website, we had the unique challenge of creating bike listings for potential customers to view and get interested in, but the products were only purchasable at their location.
We focused on clean, simple, and direct designs for these model pages. Starting with basic product information, the first section of the page included the bike name, color options, starting price, and images of all the colorways.
Then we had a section that included descriptive text of the bike, housed in a carousel design.
Our favorite part is the expandable/collapsable specification section. Some of the bikes had up to 30 specs that needed to be listed, so this design featured an on-screen space-saving way to display all of the information.
Then a stunning full-width image visually breaks up the page, leading into related models that interested clients could explore, culminating in a call-to-action section to prompt an in-store visit, so the team of experts could help with the purchasing process.
Clients are often selling not only products on their site but also services. Some clients list services as part of their shop to make invoicing a breeze, and other clients prefer that their website sell their service on landing pages and then facilitate setting up a phone, video, or in-person consultation.
We love Squarespace for service providers with portfolio sites looking to drive inquiries and consultations.
Show off your work with integrated portfolios
When setting up your site as a service provider, it’s important that your website clearly explains what you do and why someone should hire you. And that’s true whether you’re selling a visual service like photography or botox treatments or selling something harder to show like accounting or legal services. For all of our service-based clients, we recommend including examples of the work they do to show website visitors what it’s like to work with them. This can be through either a visual portfolio page that shows off images of your work or a problem-solution case study format.
One thing we love about Squarespace is how easy it is for our clients to keep these pages up to date with fresh examples of their clients and work. Take a look at these examples of gorgeous portfolio and case study pages on Squarespace:
Book appointments on your website
As a service provider, your top priority for the site is most often to get website visitors to convert into warm leads. Squarespace makes it easy to offer on-site scheduling and appointments to start growing your sales. It’s easy to embed popular scheduling tools like Calendly and Acuity right into your site to line up more sales meetings and discovery calls.
When Charleston, South Carolina wedding planner Spellbound Events came to us, they wanted website visitors to be able to book a consultation with the wedding planner that had availability for their wedding date. Instead of going back and forth over email to set up a call, we wanted to build this feature right into their website to create a seamless sales experience that made prospects feel taken care of, right from the beginning. So, we created scheduling pages that their admin can easily link inquiries to, depending on their wedding date availability. These helpful pages not only have an embedded calendar where you can pick your consultation time with that planner, but they also include other helpful links and resources so couples can make the most of their call.
Learn more about scheduling with Squarespace
Easily add products and digital offers
One thing we consistently see across all businesses is the importance of being able to later incorporate multiple revenue streams into your business model and adapt to market changes on the fly. Even if you embark on a new website only selling services, your business will change and grow in the future and we want your website to be able to change and grow with it.
Squarespace makes adding products and digital offers to your business model simple.
Many of our clients, especially those with a physical location, end up wanting to add branded apparel or white-label products to their line. For example, our client Rose Joy has several Rose Joy branded products they offer in their Lincoln, Nebraska boutique.
Other clients like our medical office clients, add on the ability to purchase white-label products. Many of our medspa and spa clients add in branded after-care products and toiletries their customers can enjoy at home. Our podiatrist client added a line of beautifully branded orthotics for her patients.
Whether you want to sell an eBook, webinar, tipsheet, workbook, guide, or supplement your main product or service line to your primary audience B2C or you want to develop digital products that help other businesses in your industry B2B, it’s easy to add on these offers on the fly on your Squarespace site
Squarespace has all the backend options to customize and set up even the email delivery of those digital files or links.
The number-one competitor we see clients evaluating for their service-based business is Showit. Often, they’ve heard that Showit has more design flexibility for a more custom website look and feel. Or, they’ve seen big-name industry leaders in their field use Showit who have affiliate deals with the platform and assume it’s the best option for them. While there are many designers, friends, and businesses we respect that use and love Showit, we ultimately do not recommend the platform due to several downsides. Let’s walk through the features and show you why we think Squarespace is better than Showit.
Squarespace vs. Showit Platform Comparison
PLAN PRICING
✓
Squarespace
Business: $23/month
Commerce Basic: $27/month
Commerce Advanced: $49/month
✓
Showit
Basic: $19/month
Starter Blog: $24/month
Advanced Blog: $34/month
EASE OF USE
✓
Squarespace
Very user friendly with a simple interface and intuitive editor.
Convenient all-in-one platform with built in options for blogging, e-commerce, SEO, memberships, email marketing, scheduling, etc.
✗
Showit
Easy to use in terms of drag and drop, but a more difficult to understand interface with a steeper learning curve.
Requires plug-ins for most features beyond a basic site.
DESIGN
✓
Squarespace
Ability to control mobile layouts independently.
Fluid Engine editor allows for tons of flexibility and control, while keeping an underlying grid structure of 24 columns. This allows the best of all worlds in terms of design control, alignment, and responsiveness.
✓
Showit
Ability to control mobile layouts independently.
More freedom and customization options with the ability to position elements anywhere. Although with no underlying grid, it can be time consuming to create consistent designs.
BLOGGING
✓
Squarespace
Easily and conveniently blog within the platform.
✗
Showit
Blogging done through WordPress.
SEO
✓
Squarespace
Ability to add SEO titles, descriptions, etc.
✓
showit
Ability to add SEO titles, descriptions, etc.
We’re confident Squarespace will continue to lead the Content Management System (CMS) world of site platforms
In addition to the major recent upgrade to the Fluid Editor, Squarespace continues to roll out new features, further enhancing the all-in-one quality of the platform. In recent years, Squarespace has added a huge eCommerce feature expansion, the ability to favorite sections, video blocks, image animations, smart guides, and more:
Image library
When you upload images to your site, they are now stored in an easy-to-access library, which makes it easy to name them for SEO and to find and use images for double duty in a blog post.
Section dividers
Choose between tons of different shapes to create visual interest as you break up the content on your pages into sections.
Image masks
Squarespace has tons of shapes included to mask out your images, from classic circles and ovals to fun starbursts.
Text accent details
You can now easily add in fun accents to your text like handwritten circles and underlines.
Common FAQs we get about Squarespace
Can I add a video to my Squarespace website?
Yes! You can either embed or upload videos to your Squarespace site, with options to include play and pause buttons or play soundless looping videos automatically.
Is Squarespace a good e-commerce platform?
Yes! If you’re looking to sell physical products, digital products, or even services in an online shop, Squarespace brings powerful features that they’ve up-leveled dramatically in the past three years.
Will I need to hire a designer or a developer to make updates to my Squarespace site?
No! Squarespace is very easy and intuitive to use. We provide a training call to all our clients, empowering them to easily make text and image updates, duplicate products or portfolio items, and even build new pages using pre-designed favorited sections.
Will I own my website and my domain for my Squarespace website? Will I have control and ownership of my site or will my designer own it?
Yes, you will own your website and domain for your Squarespace website.
Can I integrate third-party tools with Squarespace?
Squarespace’s built-in integrations include OpenTable, Zola, Apple Pay, Stripe, Square, Instagram, ShipStation, and more. Squarespace also integrates with Zapier, allowing key forms on your site to connect to over 1,000 apps such as Flodesk, Slack, Salesforce, and more.
What if my current site is built on another platform? How does that process work?
We will leave your current site up until your new site is ready to launch. A few days before, we will transfer your domain to your new Squarespace site, put up a beautiful Coming Soon page, then publish your site on launch day!
Is Squarespace secure?
Yes, Squarespace prioritizes security to ensure that websites built on its platform are protected against potential threats. This includes SSL encryption, regular software updates, data backup and recovery, and DDoS protection.
My website is getting traffic but not converting into sales – what could be causing this?
While it’s hard to say without looking at your specific site, you may want to consider whether your site has unimpressive imagery, incomplete storytelling, or and overwhelming and confusing design. Read more in our article all about 7 website mistakes that may be turning customers away.
Ready for a new Squarespace site?
Our approach to building your Squarespace site is unique in that we first create a site blueprint before we ever start the build! This allows us to not only give you a site that meets your business needs but give you a smooth experience during the process! Our clients start with Phase 1 (custom branding), then work with us on Phase 2 (website plan), and then finish out with Phase 3 (website build).