Why I Moved My Website from Wordpress to Squarespace
When I first started Ink & Olive in 2018, creating a website for my business was top priority but I didn’t know where to start. I was comfortable creating and publishing content, having managed my own travel blog several years before, but technology changes quickly and I knew that I would be doing more than just blogging.
Overwhelmed by the number of platforms, their functionalities, and the maintenance required, I took courses and joined communities that helped me narrow down my choices to Wordpress and Squarespace. As the wordpress.org homepage boasts, 35% of the web uses their platform. The popularity and therefore support, drew me to Wordpress, where I designed and grew my website for about two years. After designing my own as well as several client websites on Wordpress, I kept hearing about the benefits of Squarespace and debunked falsehoods I had heard; namely, the common misconception that users do not own the content they publish on Squarespace. Squarespace’s own terms of service disproves this myth. After learning the ins and outs of Squarespace and designing several trial sites, I compiled 8 reasons why I recommend Squarespace to my clients, which brings me to the first reason why I moved my own website from Wordpress to Squarespace:
I Recommend Squarespace For My Clients
It is important to consider your business goals before choosing a platform and whether you are a blogger, sell products, or promote services, Squarespace offers tools to support your business and help you reach your goals.
Because I recommend Squarespace for my clients, it made sense for Ink & Olive to be on the platform as well. Otherwise, why should clients trust a recommendation that I don’t use it for my own business? As a service based business with a blog, I have not run into anything that I’ve been unable to accomplish through Squarespace.
Squarespace is Less Maintenance
I prefer to use the time I spend on my website creating content to attract and educate clients, not running updates. Any updates available for Squarespace are run by Squarespace and require nothing from the user. While Wordpress updates never took a long time to complete, they were just one more thing I had to have on my calendar and be sure to execute each week.
Not only do Squarespace updates require nothing from the user, they often include benefits like additional features. You can check out all of Squarespace’s features here.
All in one
The simplicity of using one platform, rather than having separate hosting, goes hand in hand with less maintenance. There is only one platform to log into, manage, and worry about. One platform also means one cost. While Wordpress is free, users still have to pay for hosting, a domain, and an SSL certificate. With Squarespace, you don’t need separate hosting, your SSL certificate is included, and your domain is free for the first year.
Some may argue that additional resources, like plugins, make Wordpress the superior platform. With over 50,000 Wordpress plugins available, analysis paralysis sets in. There is more to research, sift through, and (sometimes) pay for when choosing plugins and more to update as well as that can go wrong. Squarespace, however, offers internal features that, because they are built in, are not going to conflict with your site.
The choices remind me of living in Yosemite, where I had the option to shop from two grocery stores that essentially sold the same things. While my options were more limited than living in a city, I still had plenty of choices and was not worried about what I may be missing. Yosemite is Squarespace, providing simplicity, yet everything I could possibly need, while the city is Wordpress with too many choices, overwhelm, and a price tag on everything “extra”.
Squarespace Circle
Specializing in Squarespace design gives me access to Squarespace circle, a members only curation of user generated tips, customer support access, and webinars as well as networking and community events.
Squarespace circle also provides me with perks that I am able to pass on to my clients, including a free domain for the first year and 20% off the first payment of an annual plan.
When I started Ink & Olive, it was more important for me to get my business online than ruminate too long over what platform and tools to use. I knew that progress was more important and attainable than perfection and Wordpress was a great first step. As my needs, skills, and services evolved, it became clear that Squarespace was the best platform for inkandolivemedia.com. Check out 8 Reasons Why I Recommend Squarespace to My Clients to find out if Squarespace is the best platform for your business.