Why We Build Websites On Squarespace
We get a ton of website inquiries (ok, not really - actually we barely get any) but regardless of that personal information, I wanted to share why I build websites on Squarespace, and make everyone who has worked, works, or will work with Create Uplift to also build websites on Squarespace. I may touch on my distaste for Wordpress in this post as well but these are just my personal opinions, which is also my professional opinion? I don’t really know how that works but you’ve probably already jumped down to the first bolded header anyway.
The Front-End Design SYstem Fluid Engine
The ‘front-end’ of a website is basically this, what you’re looking at right now. Unless for some reason you’re inspecting our website in developer mode in which case please stop. Squarespace uses the Fluid Engine system, a super intuitive and adaptable design system, capable of handling most of our creative needs directly on Squarespace. This means we use less images, less work in Adobe, and are able to design lighter and quicker. I’ll admit - you can’t accomplish everything in Fluid Engine, but for the larger majority of websites, especially consumer level ones, Fluid Engine is easy to use and creates beautifully webpages.
All-In-One Platform
Here is where I really dislike Wordpress. On a Wordpress platform you’ll need to have multiple softwares from multiple vendors paying multiple subscriptions with multiple logins and multiple upgrades etc etc… With Squarespace you get everything in one dashboard from one supplier and one very manageable annual fee. This helps reduce the risk of something going wrong, and also reduces the time to fix it if something were to happen. Also - there’s nothing to update - it’s just always on the latest system. Squarespace even gives you a pretty powerful analytic dashboard with lots of insights which leads me to my next point
Squarespace Analytics.
GA4 is super awesome, I don’t have any beef with them, but most of the time I prefer to use Squarespace’s built in analytic system, Squarespace Analytics (they don’t have a catchy recognizable abbreviation). 95% of the time, we don’t need super powerful data like customer journey, heatmaps, or unique URL slug attribution. While those all come in handy when needed, most of the time we just need to grab the top level traffic KPIs like visitors, visits, and engagement. Squarespace Analytics provides the first hand data, which I trust more, in an easy to use dashboard all housed in the Squarespace account.
Squarespace Is Still Evolving
I have been using Squarespace for roughly 10 years now, and during this time they have proven to be committed to innovation. CMS style web building has definitely become much more popular and lots of new platforms like Webflow and Wix are being used today, and rather than just take a backseat to the competition Squarespace has continuously developed new services and products that are in alignment with what most small businesses (and big ones) need in a website platform. Email Campaigns and the advancement with e-commerce like Squarespace Payments have been a huge help to many of our clients as they expand marketing operations and services. It’s also helped our own agency in expanding as well. With developer-focused tools like Circle and the new Circle Program I am confident Squarespace is heading in the right direction and will continue to do so for years to come.
Tl;Dr
Squarespace has proven over the years to be a reliable web building platform that is suitable for all sorts of needs. Their all-in-one system which includes tools like email marketing, analytics and e-commerce make managing your website (or in our case lots of websites) super manageable and stress-free. While they are a well established CMS platform, they’re still committed to growth and innovation with new tools and provisions. If you’re thinking about creating a new website talk to us and we can see how Squarespace aligns with your needs.
