Choosing a website building platform is a massive decision. Huge.

It’s time to take the gloves off and pitch the two biggest players in the website building arena against each other.

Brace yourself for 4 quick rounds of Wix vs Squarespace.

Ding, ding. Round One.

Whether you want to DIY or have a professional DIFY, building a website from scratch takes a lot of planning and thought. People often don’t account for the emotional investment also involved.

When you look at your website every day, it's crucial that:

A) You LOVE your website.

B) It can evolve and grow with your business.

Hold these those two points in your mind as you read on.

Now, Wix and Squarespace are giants in the drag-and-drop website-building space, and both do one thing exceptionally well: non-coding websites for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

WHAT THE HELL ARE “NO-CODE DRAG-AND-DROP WEBSITES”?

Several companies provide website templates which you can edit and build yourself. It’s like baking a cake: you are given the ingredients to create something fabulous.

Pick a website template from the hundreds on offer and drop your branding, words, images and videos into it.

No coding required. Bingo! 

The templates come with gorgeous colour and font options, widgets, AI suggestions, stock images and videos (or add your own), tutorials, e-commerce integrations, and more. 

With a little thought and planning, they're pretty hard to mess up.

You're In The Driving Seat

I write and design websites for small businesses want the flexibility to digitally morph and evolve.

That is why Squarespace or Wix are contenders.

I realised I was scooping up website clients because they had become disillusioned with their custom-built website developer.

The usual scenario is that the small client–developer relationship fades over time. The poor ol' website suffers from neglect because the client can't access it, and the developer knows the site needs an expensive overhaul, which the client resists. 

For small businesses, website-builder platforms give you control, access, and ownership. This is a huge deal. 

Choose Your Own Level Of Control

1) FLY SOLO:
Own, build and manage the whole site yourself.

2) FRIENDZONE:
Engage a website developer specialist (like me, ahem) to create it for you, but… post-launch, you take ownership of the site over and manage it yourself.

3) MARRIAGE:
Engage a website developer specialist (like me, quell surprise!) to create it for you. Post-launch, you own the site but you keep your developer on to audit, maintain and update your website. This usually involves a monthly retainer, but not always.

Ding, ding. Round Two.

Rightyho, people. Which platform is right for you?

Squarespace Or Wix: Who's Your Daddy?

Both. Either.

Yeah. Really.

Choosing which one depends entirely on your circumstances. It really is horses for courses.

• Bootstrap or low-budget website: Wix

• Small Side Hustle: Wix

• You just want web presence: Wix

• You’re not techy: Wix

• Elegance and design are essential: Squarespace

• Your product is high-end: Squarespace

• You intend to scale your business: Squarespace

• You're not afraid of a little tech: Squarespace

In the game of Wix versus Squarespace, Wix feels approachable and familiar, and Squarespace feels more designer-y and lux.

Kinda…

Microsoft versus Apple. 

Tom Hanks versus George Clooney.

Daytime TV versus Arthouse.

Pudding versus dessert.

Wix and Squarespace: Head-to-Head

One Knockout Wix Feature Squarespace Doesn't Have.

Ok. The one main thing I love about Wix is that you can keep a free, unpublished backup of your core website. 

For amateur website builders and DIYers, this is GOLD! You have a backup if you break your site or publish mistakes. 

And trust me. Shit does happen.

Squarespace have a work-around: You can download the code for your website and re-create it in an emergency, but it's a faff for a non tech-head.

Ding, ding. Round Three.

Behind The Scenes: SEO.

What All DIY Website Builders Should Consider.

You want to stuff your competition, right?

With a few Wix or Squarespace video tutorials, you can make sure Google, Bing, Yahoo!, Safari can find your website… which means potential customers can also find you. That is Search Engine Optimisation. You optimise your website so it can be found.

However, drag-and-drop website builders only offer basic Search Engine Optimisation. 

SEO is a dark art! Everyone wants to be on page 1.

To help you rank well in the Google sphere, there are plenty of other tools to help you meddle with your SEO and beat your competition. 

I've been using SEOSpace.co.uk They're a new kid on the block and give SEO analysis and recommendations exclusively on Squarespace websites. I highly recommend SEOSpace! After a free trial, you can install their plugin for a small sub of £10 - £24 per month. Follow their advice and watch your ranking rise.

If you choose to Wix, plenty of sites will run SEO analysis for you, with varying prices. Neil Patel is pretty nifty and another of my faves. 

If you’re stuck (or afraid), call in a pro website developer or SEO expert.

Compare Other Contenders .

WordPress

WordPress is amazing (and only partially drag-and-drop). Still, I know WordPress newbie DIYers who were left weeping because WordPress requires some tech know-how and confidence. It has a ton of plugins, add-ons and brilliant features, but is tricky — though not impossible — for absolute beginners.

IONOS

IONOS is useful for smashing out a basic, responsive website super-fast. Hard-baked parameters make it hard to change the design, stifling your online business growth and evolution.

The websites do look cheap, starting at £1 per month. Even with options to upgrade to £15 or £28 per month, they still look 'budget'.

Godaddy

I've thrown this into the mix because plenty of non-specialist companies like Godaddy offer website design templates. Godaddy is my gold star go-to for buying domains, but frankly, their website templates are a little…meh.

At £7 to £12 per month, the templates feel like a lack lustre halfway house between Wix and Squarespace. My advice? Stick with a one-trick-pony specialist platform.

Site123

You can build a free site on Site123, but their backend work area/interface is damn ugly, and I don't rate the template website designs at all.
Basically, you get what you don't pay for.
Nutshell: Ugh. Just…don’t.

If you wonder if you even need a website, check this out before you decide!

Ding, Ding : Final Round.

And the winner is…

🏆 For non-tech heads or smaller budgets, Wix wins.

🏆 If elegant aesthetics define your brand, Squarespace wins.

Ta dah. Everyone’s a champ. Which is why I am so happy to work with either platform for my clients.

Don't be shy. If you have questions, drop me a friendly line.

Thank you for reading.

These opinions are my from my own professional experience. I hope they save you time or help you make a decision. Drop me a line if you take any of it on board :-)