Is Squarespace Good for Small Business?
There is one crucial question that I always see many business owners keep asking online. Also, many of my clients and friends ask me this one question: is Squarespace good for small business?
Well, the answer to this question depends on a lot of factors. You need to know all the features Squarespace offers to see if it would help you achieve what you want.
However, I can say yes if you’re looking for a quick answer. Squarespace is a good website-building platform for small businesses. It gives you all the tools and features that you need to quickly build a professional website. It’s an all-in-one platform that has everything in one place.
I know there are a lot of alternative platforms and website builders that you can use. But based on my experience using Squarespace for my website, I can guarantee that you will get the best value for your money.
I also wrote a comparison of Squarespace vs Showit, you can check it out if you’re interested. It will help you decide between both platforms depending on your needs.
So in this article, I will help you learn more about the power of Squarespace to see if it’s a good fit for your small business.
We will uncover all the advantages and potential downsides of Squarespace so that you can make an informed decision and take your online presence to new heights. So let’s get right into it.
What is Squarespace?
Before diving into all the features and tools of Squarespace, we need to learn about the platform first to know its purpose.
So for those who don’t know, Squarespace is a popular website-building platform that targets different types of small businesses to help them have an online brand. It’s an all-in-one platform that gives you everything in one place to build a professional website and brand.
Squarespace provides its users with a range of tools and templates to create professional-looking websites in a short time. What I like about the platform is that it’s very user-friendly and it has a lot of powerful features that I can use.
Another advantage is that there are a lot of Squarespace templates that you can use for every purpose. Templates in Squarespace are a bit similar to themes in WordPress, but they are more flexible and easy to customize.
You can start with any template you want and make it your own by customizing its design and content. With easy drag-and-drop features, you can do all of that to design the perfect website for your online business.
The Squarespace editor is easy to use allowing you to simply edit your website and do whatever you want. You can learn the platform in less than 30 minutes, there are a lot of Squarespace Youtube videos that can teach you that.
So in summary, Squarespace gives you a user-friendly interface, customizable designs, and integrated features for e-commerce, blogging, and more.
It aims to simplify the process of building and managing a website, making it accessible to individuals and small businesses without extensive technical expertise.
Is Squarespace Good for Small Business
Squarespace is a great choice for small businesses. It's user-friendly, offers beautiful templates, and works great on mobile devices. You can sell products and write blog posts easily. In addition to that, the platform handles all the technical stuff for you.
So based on my experience of using the platform for more than 3 years, I can guarantee that Squarespace is good for a small business.
When it comes to building a professional and visually appealing website for a small business, Squarespace can do an excellent job for you. It is a platform specifically created for small businesses and entrepreneurs looking to build a website without having technical knowledge.
With its user-friendly interface, customizable templates, and robust features, it offers powerful website-building features that empower small businesses to establish a strong online presence.
Squarespace’s design tools allow even those with limited technical expertise to create a good-looking website that showcases their brand in a professional way.
In addition to that, Squarespace provides many business features like e-commerce capabilities, analytics tracking, and SEO tools, enabling small businesses to expand and connect with customers seamlessly.
With its design tools and functionality, Squarespace proves to be a reliable choice for small businesses seeking a high-quality web design platform.
If you want to give it a try, Squarespace has a 14-day free trial that allows you to fully try the platform without having to use your credit card. As a result, that will give you more vision to see if Squarespace is the type of website builder you need for your small business.
Advantages of Squarespace
Squarespace has a lot of advantages that you really need to keep in mind. By knowing the power of this website builder, you will realize that it’s a good platform for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Here are some Squarespace advantages that you need to know:
Flexible Templates
First impressions matter because most people judge books by their covers, and Squarespace understands that very well.
With a wide selection of professionally designed templates, Squarespace empowers you to create visually stunning websites that capture the essence of your brand.
Each template is fully customizable and you can use it for every purpose, allowing you to personalize colors, fonts, and layouts to match your unique style.
So whether you're in the fashion industry or run a restaurant, Squarespace has a template that will leave your customers impressed and eager to explore your website further.
Once you start with Squarespace and create your account, they will give you a library of templates where you can choose the right template for your business. And no matter which one you choose, you can still edit and fully customize it to match your branding.
From that library, you can filter the type of templates that you want to see by selecting the type of your business(photographer, restaurant, etc). You can have a look at the Squarespace templates below.
Ease of Use
Squarespace is known for its exceptional ease of use, making it the ideal platform for small businesses looking to create professional websites in a short time and without having technical experience.
With its simple drag-and-drop interface, even those with zero coding or design experience can effortlessly build a visually appealing site. You can easily add elements to your website like images, text, videos, and forms with just a few clicks.
Within less than 30 minutes, even individuals without prior experience can grasp the fundamentals of using Squarespace, thanks to its clean and user-friendly interface.
Moreover, the platform has a very simple editor which means you can easily add pages, write new blog posts, edit content on your site, and much more.
With Squarespace's user-friendly interface and robust support, entrepreneurs can focus on growing their businesses instead of getting caught up in the technical stuff.
Good SEO Features
When it comes to search engines, Squarespace takes SEO very seriously in order for our websites to easily get crawled by Google, Bing, and other search engines.
One of Squarespace's notable strengths is its robust SEO capabilities, designed to help websites rank higher in search engine results.
It offers a variety of built-in SEO features, including customizable page titles, meta descriptions, and URL structures, which are all essential elements for optimizing content for search engines. You can also connect your site to the Google Search Console app for better SEO.
In addition to that, Squarespace provides automatic sitemap generation and integration with Google Analytics, making it easier to monitor website performance and track visitor behavior.
With Squarespace's powerful SEO tools, small businesses can easily implement SEO strategies to improve their chances of being discovered by a broader audience and ultimately drive more organic traffic to their websites.
Squarespace Blogging Features
Squarespace is also a good blogging platform if you want to start a blog on your website and have a simple blogging editor to easily edit your content.
With Squarespace’s simple interface and stunning templates, creating a professional and engaging blog has never been easier.
Squarespace offers a wide range of customizable blog designs, allowing bloggers to effortlessly build their brand and showcase their unique style.
The platform comes with a variety of features tailored specifically towards bloggers, such as built-in SEO tools, seamless integration with social media platforms, and flexible content management options.
So whether you're an experienced blogger or just starting, Squarespace provides the perfect blogging tools and support to help you create an attractive blog that drives traffic, builds a loyal audience, and achieves your business goals.
I use Squarespace for my blog that you’re reading right now and it never disappoints me. Managing and adding new blog posts is very simple on Squarespace. You don’t even need to use any plugins because the platform has a lot of built-in features that you can use.
Check out the YouTube video below where we talked about why Squarespace is a good platform for bloggers.
A video that explains why new bloggers should use Squarespace.
Automatically Mobile-Optimized Design
Having a website that is fully responsive and optimized for mobile devices is an important thing nowadays. If your website doesn’t look good on mobile and tablet screens, then you will lose a lot of traffic and customers.
That’s why Squarespace automatically optimize all the pages on your website to make them look good on all screen sizes. In addition to that, you can also edit your site for mobile screens if you want to change something on the responsiveness.
You can add custom code snippets to even make your site more mobile-friendly if you want. So unlike other website builders, Squarespace automatically adjusts your site layout and design to provide an optimal viewing experience across different devices, including smartphones and tablets.
Ecommerce functionality
Squarespace has a lot of e-commerce capabilities that provide entrepreneurs and businesses with all the necessary tools to create and manage their online stores seamlessly.
The platform offers a wide range of customizable templates specifically designed for e-commerce, enabling businesses to showcase their products with stunning visuals and engaging layouts.
Squarespace also facilitates secure transactions by integrating with trusted payment gateways(Stripe, PayPal, etc), ensuring a smooth and safe purchasing experience for customers.
In addition to that, it also has a useful inventory management system that enables businesses to easily track their stock levels, set up automatic notifications for low inventory, and manage product variants efficiently.
Moreover, Squarespace empowers businesses with advanced marketing features such as email campaigns, discounts, and promotional pop-ups to boost sales and reach their target audience effectively.
With its user-friendly interface and comprehensive e-commerce capabilities, Squarespace empowers small businesses to thrive in the competitive world of online commerce.
Great Customer Support
Squarespace customer support team is known for its excellence and efficiency. As a small business owner, you can rest assured knowing that help is just a click away.
The dedicated team of professionals at Squarespace is available 24/7 to assist with any questions or concerns you may have. Their prompt response time and extensive knowledge base ensure that even the most complex issues can be resolved quickly.
Whether you need guidance in designing your website, troubleshooting technical problems, or simply seeking advice on how to maximize your online presence, Squarespace customer support is always there to help you out.
With their friendly and patient approach, they make it easy for small business owners to understand and navigate the platform, allowing you to focus on what you do best – growing your business.
Disadvantages of Squarespace
Like any other website-building platform out there, Squarespace also has its own cons and disadvantages. So it's important to evaluate these disadvantages in the context of your specific business requirements and priorities.
Limited Customization Options
Squarespace offers a lot of customizable templates but the level of customization is a little bit limited, especially if you want to add some complex functionality to your website.
While you can edit your site to some extent by changing fonts, and colors or uploading your own logo, the overall layout and structure of the templates remain fixed. Yes, you can do many customizations to sections and elements, but not to the overall layout and template structure.
This limitation can be a drawback if you have specific design requirements or want complete control over the placement of elements on your website.
Nonetheless, Squarespace's limited customization is well-suited for entrepreneurs who prioritize ease of use and who don't necessarily need extensive coding knowledge or the need for complex integrations.
However, now the new Squarespace’s fluid engine makes the web design process a little bit more customizable because you can now move elements wherever you want on the page. You get more control when designing your website.
Less Flexibility for Advanced Functionality
Squarespace prioritizes ease of use and simplicity, which means it may have certain limitations when it comes to more advanced functionalities.
If your business requires complex features, intricate workflows, or extensive database management, Squarespace might not be the most suitable platform for those specific needs.
However, for small business websites, Squarespace is a good option that you can use. Squarespace can do a good job if you’re not having a lot of complex functionality on your website.
No Autosave
As of now, Squarespace doesn't have an auto-save feature available. Therefore, it's important to remember to manually click the Save button frequently while updating or customizing your pages.
This ensures that your changes are securely stored and prevents any potential loss of progress. So, make it a habit to hit that Save button and keep your work protected!
Squarespace Pricing Plans
When it comes to paying for your website, Squarespace provides you with several plan options to get started. They offer four main site plans: Personal, Business, Basic Commerce, and Commerce Advanced.
Each plan is designed to meet different website needs, allowing you to choose the one that aligns with your specific goals and budget. Whether you're an individual looking for a personal website or a business aiming to establish an online store, Squarespace has a plan to suit your unique requirements.
The Personal plan is priced at $16 per month when billed annually, or $23 per month for monthly payments. This plan includes essential features like a free domain name, SSL certificate, and SEO tools to build your website.
However, it does not include e-commerce functionality. It's important to note that coding customizations using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are not available with the Personal plan.
For a better option, I highly recommend the Business plan, which costs $23 per month when billed annually, or $33 per month for monthly payments.
This plan includes all the features of the Personal plan, plus the ability to create an online store using the e-commerce functionality. It also allows coding customizations, giving you more flexibility to customize your website. This is the plan I personally use for the blog you're currently reading.
If you're aiming to establish a professional online store for your e-commerce business, the Commerce plans are ideal.
These plans range from $27 to $65 per month. With the Commerce plans, you gain access to advanced features such as customer accounts, marketing tools, commerce APIs, and more. Additionally, you'll benefit from 0% transaction fees when customers make purchases on your website.
For more information, you can have a look at the Squarespace pricing to get a better idea of which plan suits your website.
Is Squarespace Good for Ecommerce
Yes, Squarespace is a good option for e-commerce if you need to create an online store. With its built-in ecommerce functionality, you can easily integrate store pages into your website and start selling your products or services hassle-free.
The best part is that Squarespace doesn't charge any transaction fees for e-commerce plans, although you will need to pay a small additional fee for hosting if you choose the ecommerce plan. Keep in mind that payment processors(Stripe, PayPal) typically charge a fee of around 2-4% for their services.
Let's say you run a service-based business but decide to diversify by introducing merchandise. Squarespace allows you to seamlessly incorporate user-friendly ecommerce features into your website, enabling you to sell your products alongside your services.
Whether you're a hair or beauty salon or a nutritional therapist, you can easily expand your revenue streams by offering complementary products like hair and beauty items or nutritional supplements. It's a simple process to upgrade your site and start selling these additional products.
While Squarespace is a great choice for ecommerce, it's also worth considering Shopify as an alternative. If you'd like, I can provide you with more information comparing the two platforms to help you make an informed decision.
If you're torn between a Squarespace website and an Etsy store, I've written a blog post about Squarespace vs Etsy that compares the pros and cons of each. Feel free to check it out for more insights on choosing the right platform for your independent business.
Do I Recommend Squarespace for Small Businesses?
Absolutely, I always recommend using Squarespace if you’re a small business. It’s an all-in-one website-building platform that gives you all the tools and features that you will need to build your online brand.
With its user-friendly interface, visually stunning templates, mobile responsiveness, e-commerce capabilities, SEO-friendly features, integrations, and reliable customer support, Squarespace continues to be an excellent option for small businesses nowadays.
It offers a comprehensive set of tools and features that can empower entrepreneurs to create impressive websites and effectively reach their target audience.
However, it's important to note that Squarespace may have some limitations depending on the specific needs and requirements of individual businesses.
By carefully assessing those needs, small business owners can determine if Squarespace is the right fit for their unique circumstances and goals.
By the way, if you want to try Squarespace for 14 days for free, you can click the button below. You will get a free domain name and 10% off if you use my affiliate code MEHDI10.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How much does it cost to use Squarespace for a small business?
Squarespace has different pricing plans to choose from, like personal, business, basic commerce, and advanced commerce plans. The cost depends on what features you need for your small business. Keep in mind that prices might change over time, so it's best to check Squarespace's official website for the latest info.
2. Can I sell products on Squarespace as a small business?
Absolutely! Squarespace offers e-commerce tools even on its basic commerce plan. This means you can create your online store, list your awesome products, manage inventory, and easily accept payments through different payment methods.
3. Will my small business website be SEO-friendly on Squarespace?
Yes, it will! Squarespace has built-in tools to help your small business website show up on search engines. You can customize things like page titles, meta descriptions, URLs, and image descriptions to improve your website's visibility online.
4. Can I get a domain name for my small business through Squarespace?
Yes, you can! Squarespace allows you to buy a domain name directly from their platform. You can either get a new domain or transfer your existing one to Squarespace, making it super convenient.
5. Can I use other tools and plugins with Squarespace?
While Squarespace has a limited selection of third-party integrations compared to some other platforms, it does support popular tools like Google Analytics, Mailchimp, and PayPal, which are super useful for small businesses.
6. Is there a free trial for Squarespace?
Absolutely! You can try Squarespace for free before you make any decisions. This way, you can explore all its features and build your website with no strings attached. The platform gives you a 14-day free trial then after that period, you will need to choose your paid plan.
7. Is Squarespace Good for Small Business?
Yes, Squarespace is a great option if you’re an entrepreneur or a small business. It has all the tools and features that you will need. All in one platform to help you build a strong online brand for your business.