WordPress vs. Squarespace for photographers & creatives
So we’ll be completely open with you from the start, although this blog post is going to be a little comparison between the two platforms, we prefer and only design websites using Squarespace (& Shopify, for our ecommerce clients). Might our comparisons be a little biased? Yes, maybe! A few years ago when we had just started out with an online presence ourselves, we started designing sites on WordPress, until we slowwwlly started to realise just how cumbersome it is for small businesses (like us) and entrepreneurs.
We’ll also be clear about this, that our opinion of WordPress is based solely on its use, on a practical basis, for these smaller businesses. So, no hard feelings for any WordPress lovers or developers out there!
Both platforms have themes/templates for photographers and other creatives (bloggers, designers, etc) to use and build their sites on. ‘Themes’ for WordPress and ‘templates’ for Squarespace. However, there are some significant differences between the two when it comes to certain factors which are important to consider.
Let’s look at some of those now ….
WordPress vs Squarespace for photographers
We’ll cover 5 factors which are some key ones to consider when choosing between the two:
Ease of use
Design
Price
Security
Maintenance
Ease of use
WordPress: Unless you know how to code, more than likely you’ll need to hire a developer and someone who does this for a living. It’s not a website you’ll be able to design with ease if you’re a complete beginner. The back end itself takes some getting used to, and is not easy to use for non web designers.
Squarespace: It’s designed for and easy for beginners to be able to learn the simple drag and drop method of building. All features that you need to be able to have a website as a creative, are already built in. You don’t need to install plugins or add any more code if you don’t want to. As a non website designer, you won’t have many problems with the back end, for the basics of what you’ll need.
Design
WordPress: There are plenty of themes to choose from as a photographer or creative, but you will notice that some of the designs look kind of out dated. The themes are very customisable but only with code, and again, unless you’re a coder you’ll need to hire someone who does that for a living. The platform is great for SEO; you can install plugins which will optimize your site really well.
Squarespace: All templates are clean and modern in their aesthetic. Squarespace 7.1 templates are especially brilliant in that all of them have the same features as the next, meaning it doesn’t really matter which template you choose if you’re going to customise them anyway. SEO features are built in and you can customise/edit this with ease.
Price
WordPress: The platform is free to use, however depending on the themes, level of customisation, hosting, etc, you will have to pay a certain amount. This will depend entirely on what designs you want. Prices can be quite cheap on an annual basis but also quite expensive, again, depending on what you need. Always take into account the cost of a developer for edits to be made later.
Squarespace: The platform offers 4 plans and you can start on a 14 day free trial. Plan prices range from $14 to $49 per month (or you can save money and pay annually). However there is a perk with working with a Squarespace designer (like us!) who is also a Circle member, in that you can get yourself a 20% discount on the annual cost! Then going forward, when you want to make edits to your website (e.g. replace photos, copy, etc), you do not have to pay for a developer or designer.
Security
WordPress: You’re responsible for maintaining the website to ensure security is up to date. We’ve heard of plenty of cases of WordPress sites getting hacked simply because the security hadn’t been kept up to date.
Squarespace: The security of your site is included with the price of your monthly or annual cost. The security and all updates are managed by the Squarespace team, so you don’t have to worry about it.
Maintenance
WordPress: The maintenance of the site is your responsibility. It will require frequent maintenance and updates by the developers, whom you’ll need to pay on quite a regular basis.
Squarespace: Once again, as you’re paying a monthly or yearly price, your website will be maintained in the background by the Squarespace team. For updates relating to the actual content of your site, that will be your responsibility (but once again, it’s easy to use!).
If anything does go wrong, Squarespace has a support chat available 24/7!
To conclude ….
In conclusion, we chose Squarespace as the platform to use for small/medium businesses and entrepreneurs. In terms of practicality, it is a lot more feasible and you get so much for the monthly/annual cost.
We’ve used both and so are confident enough to say we’re speaking from experience. We’ve also worked with clients who have used WordPress initially, and then came to us looking for a platform for their website that wasn’t a constant drain on their time, resources and wallets. It’s not nice to see owners of small businesses held at the mercy of developers charging a lot of money (in some cases) to perform basic tasks.
Hey friend, if you’re keen on learning more about what Squarespace can do for your growing business, then do get in touch with us for a free 30 minute chat!
