Wix v. Squarespace
When we decided to start a small business, we didn't know we were going to become UX designers as well. Although a lot of people starting out worry about whether to be an LLC or an INC and getting the logo perfect and whether or not they need an attorney to draw up certain paperwork, the reality in starting a small business is you first need a customer and you need payment. That's pretty much it.
But as you go along, you also need all those other elements and most specifically, a website. Because in today's world, if you don't have a website, in the customer's mind, you really don't exist. And if you don't exist, you don't have a business. A website is your premiere advertising tool and a way to engage a customer base and find your one thousand true fans.
So while we're not going to go deeply into the pros and cons of Wix vs. Squarespace (we are leaving the more code-dependent Wordpress out of this conversation)—there are many other blogs and vlogs dedicated to the technical aspects of this conundrum—we do want to say a few words about the user-friendliness and pros and cons of each from a non-coder, non-designer standpoint.
Squarespace's design templates definitely cater more to art and photography portfolios, restaurant menus, and bespoke shopping experiences. Wix, however, has more of a utilitarian feel to it, and feels like the preferred venue for service professionals and corporate entities. We've used both, and as service professionals, like the easier design capabilities of Wix which allows you to make more direct alterations to fonts, colors, and spacing of photos and graphic elements.
Squarespace has serious graphic design limitations which rely on code to make alterations and insists on creating font families and color families so that the site is consistent across the board. However, it's less intuitive in that regard and the designs and lettering in Squarespace sometimes do squirrelly things that we did not experience in Wix.
Squarespace has a seamless integration with Printful for no extra charge, so if you are selling merch, this might be the way to go. Wix has many widgets that integrate with its website that offer forms, shopping, scheduling, etc, but they aren't integral to the site which means some integrate better than others.. Both have blogs. Both have the ability to create newsletters. On this, I still prefer Wix because, while limited, the Wix newsletters are a bit more colorful and a bit more user-friendly. I really struggle to make sense of Squarespace's design functionalities—or lack thereof.
The one above and beyond thing that Wix offers that Squarespace doesn't is that Wix allows you to create more than one website and have multiple landing pages whereas Squarespace charges you for each additional website that you want. So if you want separate websites for your event and commercial cleaning businesses (our Paige Blu website can be found here), or you want a separate landing page for a one-off event, Wix allows you to do that more affordably.
One thing I do appreciate about Squarespace (aside from the fact that it does just sort of look better, is that it has more areas to improve SEO, specifically in the blog section. Apparently Squarespace does SEO better than Wix, but I still feel like SEO is like the character of Vera on Cheers. We hear about it all the time, but it's this nebulous concept that's hard to grasp with results you can't really see.
What is great about both platforms is that even a non-UX designer can create a site that a UX designer would be proud of. And after all, at least if you have a website or any kind, people can find you, which is the most essential part of marketing and advertising there is.
PopUP CleanUP is an event cleaning business. Our sister company, Paige Blu, offers commercial cleaning.