One of the most important business assets —whether big, medium, or small—can have, is a solid website. Emphasis on solid.
Because websites are so essential to the success of drawing in and converting new customers, many business owners have concentrated their efforts on creating unique websites for their companies. However, just because a business has a website does not necessarily mean it’s a good one. There are several factors to consider when it comes to creating an effective and well-designed website that moves potential customers further down the marketing funnel and keeps current customers happy.
This is why it’s imperative to choose wisely when it comes to the platform you build your website. While there are many website platforms available to businesses today, such as Wix, HubSpot, WordPress, and more, here are five problems with Squarespace websites and why you shouldn’t use their website platform.
5 Problems with Squarespace Websites
1. You won’t have complete control over your website. For business owners, it’s crucial to maintain a great amount of control and visibility over business functions and factors that drive conversions—and this includes websites. When a website is built on Squarespace, it can no longer be transferred to a hosting account, despite having been paid for by the business. If you ask us, this doesn’t sound like the best deal.
As a result, companies often find themselves spending more time, effort, and most importantly, money, on hiring designers and coders to be able to move their website and build it somewhere else. Additionally, companies end up doubling their work this way, decreasing productivity and focus that could be directed elsewhere.
2. You’ll have terrible SEO. If there’s one thing many disgruntled Squarespace users can agree on, it’s that the website platform does not support SEO well. Why is this such a big deal? Well, having a platform that allows you to optimize your SEO strategy is what will eventually enable customers and web surfers to find your business, browse your website, and in some cases, convert it into customers.
While conversions should not be your only priority, it’s a pretty big one. SEO provides a way for your business to cut through the noise of all the competing voices in the market by helping those most likely to use your services find you. The more people you can drive to your website, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to gain more customers. This is all, of course, dependent upon your company’s ability to implement successful keyword and SEO strategies in the content you produce. However, it’s best to choose a platform that can support the optimization of your website to appear in search engine rankings.
3. It’s expensive. Squarespace is a pretty costly investment, and not always worth it for small businesses that are looking to maximize their ROI and spend. There’s almost nothing worse than paying for something that you’re not able to get the full value out of, due to unexpected changes, the complicated nature of adding features to a website hosted on Squarespace, and the challenges of learning how to use the platform. Instead, there are plenty of other options to consider that are far less costly or even sometimes free.
4. You don’t want to make things more complicated than they already are. During digital transformation, some services and companies have adopted a greater implementation of automation. Squarespace has done this by offering drag-and-drop elements that are supposed to make the customization of a web page easier. However, it often does the opposite and overcomplicates the design process. Not only that, but their pre-designed templates can hurt more than they help by homogenizing various companies’ websites to look the same. In business, the one thing you don’t want to be is no different from anyone else.
By using an alternative website platform or your own outsourced designer or digital marketing firm, you can save costs while creating a website that’s unique to your company’s goals, vision, and brand. This way, you can also continue to make changes over time without facing the complications of figuring out Squarespace’s features and creating an engaging website that keeps visitors on the page.
5. Simply put, there are better options out there. One website platform that stands pretty much uncontested when it comes to capabilities, features, flexibility, and search engine friendliness, WordPress seems to be a clear winner. This is because WordPress allows its users access to the system through its various themes. Not only that, but the platform is free, meaning small business users don’t have to shell out money they don’t have to spend—all without sacrificing quality. WordPress is built and developed by talented designers and dedicated developers who have created unique layouts and themes that can be customized for business users according to their website needs.
Let’s face it—no website or website platform is or will ever be perfect. If you look in the right places, there are always flaws that can be found. However, why not start with a platform that has fewer limitations and more flexibility? Or why not use a marketing agency or freelance designer and developer to help shape your website to its specific needs and functions? Despite popular belief, there are many favorable options for how you can build a website apart from using Squarespace.
Ready to get started? At Lift Digital, we pride ourselves on having a talented, seasoned team of professionals who have been in the business of optimizing websites for quite some time. Get in touch today to get started.
