In addition to guest posting on the UpCity blog, Katlyn Slocum Design is featured as one of the Top Web Design Agencies in the United States. Check out their profile here.
In my initial consultations with clients, the same question always comes up: “What’s the best platform to build my website on?”
Over the last couple of years, I’ve built websites for clients on platforms like Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, Godaddy, and others. Most of these do-it-yourself website platforms have similar functionality and provide most of everything a small business owner needs to get going online, but I must admit that I do have a favorite.
Here are the 5 reasons why Squarespace is my choice as the best DIY website builder and hosting platform for your small business.
5 Reasons Small Businesses Love Squarespace
Stylish Templates
No matter what industry you are in, Squarespace has a stunning template for your business. With over 60 templates and hundreds of themes, you are sure to find a template design that portrays the individual style and branding for your business. What I like most about Squarespace, as compared to other website builders, is that every single one of their template designs is sleek, modern, and functional. So whether you are in fashion, photography, health care, or construction, you can achieve a website design that is appealing and relevant for today’s online marketplace.
Another thing I love about their templates is that their design team has thought of the smallest of details, from coloring, font pairings, and spacing. Any template you choose to work with will flow together smoothly, engage your audience, deliver your business’s message with style. You can even upload your logo and Squarespace takes the colors from your logo to create your custom palette, giving you consistent branding throughout the entire site design. This earthy, engaging design for a coaching business is a perfect example.
And if that wasn’t enough, Squarespace is always adding more options to their platform. So, if you ever want to change up your website’s look, you have limitless options of beautiful web design templates.
Easy to Use
As a website designer, creating a beautiful design is just one part of my job. When I’ve finished the design and it’s time to hand it off to my client, they always want to know how they can update it in the future if needed. The idea of hiring a developer to make small edits to their site is intimidating to a lot of small business owners.
A very important part of my job and one reason I build websites for clients on Squarespace is so I can set them up for success and hand over a website design they can easily manage over time. Long gone are the days of custom coded websites and hiring a developer every time you need to change a sentence or add a picture to your website.
Squarespace is an intuitive platform that makes replacing images, adding text, and editing elements to your website easy to do. That’s right, even for people who aren’t tech-savvy!
When you go into the site editor, you can edit text, swap out images, and move things around, and be able to see exactly what it will look like before publishing your changes! If you’re a blogger, you or your team can easily go in and write, schedule, and publish new blog posts to your website. If you have an online store, Squarespace makes it simple to add products, adjust pricing, and organize your store.
You can even update and manage your website from your phone with the Squarespace app!
With Squarespace, you can have confidence in managing your website on your own without ever needing a single line of code. Squarespace is my recommended DIY website builder because it is the perfect combination of stylish web design and ease of use.
Built-In Mobile Optimization
There should not be any websites online today that are not optimized for mobile. Why? Because that is a HUGE opportunity missed. According to broadbandsearch.net, mobile traffic has increased by 222% in the past 7 years. People are using their phones every day to search for the services they need. Online shopping is becoming more and more prevalent, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.
What I love about Squarespace is that they offer built-in mobile functionality. That means when you are designing your website for desktop, all of the blocks, sections, text, video, images, etc. are automatically optimized for mobile phones AND tablets. It’s as easy as that.
One Spot For Everything
Websites, commerce, and branding, OH MY! That’s right, like Squarespace’s own home page states, they are “everything you need to grow online.” Squarespace offers brilliant web design along with hosting, domains, e-commerce, scheduling, search-engine optimization, third-party extensions, email marketing, branding, blogging, and more. All of this, all in one place!
Squarespace also offers dozens of integrations that can seamlessly be added to your website to suit the unique needs of your business. Sync your Instagram feed, connect Paypal or Stripe for payments, and use Mailchimp or Zapier for email marketing, to name a few.
It doesn’t matter what type of business you run, a Squarespace website can help you expand online and reach your goals!
Victoria with Brandwell uses Squarespace to do her email marketing, run her online store, and much more!
Endless Possibilities
Earlier I discussed all of the great template options Squarespace has. But I don’t want you to feel limited by a template, and neither does Squarespace!
While you may want to use pre-built sections, Squarespace’s layouts are flexible and allow for custom styling and coding. You can personalize your site with custom fonts, animations, and functionality to make it truly one-of-a-kind.
If you want to stick with the template route, keep in mind that with your individual branding content and images, a template will look completely different from someone else’s. You have limitless possibilities with Squarespace templates and custom options.
Conclusion
As someone who has designed websites on a variety of different platforms, I’ve come to learn the pros and cons of just about all of them. When it comes to a platform that offers sleek designs that are customizable and easy-to-use, Squarespace gets my vote every time. You don’t have to sacrifice style for functionality. With a Squarespace website, you can have it all. Create a website you can manage yourself for years to come with Squarespace, my personal favorite DIY website building platform!
About the author
Katlyn Slocum
Katlyn is a website designer and SEO strategist in Vancouver, WA. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Marketing from Post University in 2017. After graduating, Katlyn started Katlyn Slocum Design – a website design and SEO agency. She serves clients in blue collar fields. Running her own business allows her to spend time with her husband, two young boys, and their pit bull, Remy. As a family, they enjoy spending time exploring the Pacific Northwest, visiting the local library, and being with family.
