7 reasons why a Squarespace website is smart for small business

Fundamental to the success of any business is having a website that works. Not only does it need to look good, but it’s got to meet the expectations of your customers too.

From securing your domain name, to deciding on the style of your site and what the hell your going to write - creating an effective web presence, or even preparing all the elements for someone else to do it for you, can quickly become overwhelming.

So is there a way to create a website without all the angst?

A smart solution that more and more small businesses are turning to is Squarespace. Of course, it’s also my platform of choice, which I use for my website and what I recommend to my clients. It’s easy to use, beautiful to look at and frankly saves a whole lot of time and headache.

Squarespace is perfect for small businesses who value the peace of mind that comes from having a website that works seamlessly and effortlessly.

I’ve outline below the 7 reasons why I choose to use Squarespace in my business and why it could be a smart choice for you too.

1. It’s easy to use

Squarespace is easy to use. This means its easy to update, maintain and monitor your websites yourself. It’s empowering to have know-how and tools to manage your own online presence.

You don’t need to know any code. The ‘drag and drop’ Squarespace page editor makes it a snap to update and refresh your content. No more hours spent down the rabbit hole updating a single webpage or waiting for your website designer to make a small update.

Site maintenance is made a breeze too with clearly labelled menus and step-by-step instructions for anything you might need help with. Plus, it’s easy to add google analytics to your site to review your websites traffic, see the most popular content and track how visitors find your site. Squarespace also has a suite of mobile apps so you can track your site performance from your phone when you’re on the go.

2. It’s beautiful and functional

Squarespace templates are beautifully and thoughtfully designed to create a seamless user experience for your customers. This means your website will have the very best in form and function right from the get go.

Squarespace is designed to grow with you and your business. You can be confident that its flexible and robust enough to adapt as your business changes and evolves.

3. It will save you time (and headaches)

Squarespace is an all-in-one platform that offers domains and hosting as well as solutions for managing email campaigns and helping people find you online. The platform is fully managed and supported to ensure it works seamlessly. This means you don’t need to worry about updating software or plugins to keep everything working.

4. Your website will look good on any device

Mobile traffic now account for more than half of all website traffic. With that in mind its essential your websites performs across a range of devices and screen sizes.

Every Squarespace template includes a unique mobile experience in keeping with the overall style of the website.

This means content will display optimally on whatever device your customer is using.

5. Built-in SEO will help people find you online

Every Squarespace website has built in SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) making it easier for people to find you online. Site descriptions, page titles, custom urls, search friendly URLs, search friendly formatting, and other key elements are easily managed. If you’re new to SEO then Squarespace gives an easy-to-read overview of what you need to know and guides you through the steps to execute your own SEO.

6. It’s secure

Squarespace offers free SSL (secure sockets layer) certificates for all Domains connected to a Squarespace website. This means you can have the peace of mind that visitors to your website will have a secure connection on every page they visit.

7. Excellent customer service 24/7

With now over 1 million users Sqaurespace is well regarded for their timely support and customer care.

Customer Service is available 24/7. Just email them with your problem and they’ll step you through what you need to do or direct you to where you need to go.

They also have a fantastic help section with easy-to-read user guides as well as an active community forum and interactive webinars for those who want to delve in and learn a bit more.

So what about the downsides? Is there anything Squarespace doesn’t do?

While Squarespace is a powerful and smart choice for many small businesses, there are times that it might not be the best fit for your business. Squarespace doesn’t support:

• Recurring payments like for a subscription service

• Anything that would require integrating a third-party API, other than integrations with their Orders API

• Inventory management software or Point of Sale systems.

• Duplication of entire sites like for a franchise business.

You’ll also come across people who are of the opinion that by using a platform like Squarespace you relinquish some control over your website. In some respects you do, but I think the benefits far outweigh any trade off, especially for small businesses.

I liken it to designing and building your own home. You can contract an architect who creates a one-off, unique design and then contract your builder and line up all the other trades to create your own custom build. The process is expensive with budgets often stretched beyond what was originally anticipated and its inefficient, taking significant effort, coordination and time.

An emerging alternative is building a modular or pre-fab style home. The designs are pre-done, tested and tweaked again and again for maximum efficiency and liveability. As the customer you pick the design that best suits your budget and lifestyle, then add your preferred finishes from a list that has been tried and tested. The materials are pre-cut and assembled before being transported to your chosen site to be put together like lego. It’s efficient, fast and provides the customer with the peace of mind of knowing what they’re getting, when they’re going to get it and how much it’s going to cost.

Do you lose some control with a pre-fab style home? Sure. But who wouldn’t want a smartly designed, beautiful and energy efficient home in 12 weeks? Of course, if you want something especially different, like a treehouse or a home cantilevered off a cliff, then it’s clearly not going to work. But for most of us, it makes so much sense and I expect we’re going to see a whole lot more of it in the future.

Still undecided if Squarespace is a smart move for your business? Then the best thing to do is try it out for yourself. Squarespace offers a no obligation 2 week trial so you can test it out before making any financial commitment. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details.

So what are you waiting for? Give it a go! Sign up to get started. If you already have a Squarespace website then I’d love to hear how it’s benefited your business. Or perhaps you’re already a step ahead and have built a pre-fab stlyle home? If you have, I’d love to hear about that too!