Which is Better for SEO? WordPress or Squarespace

So you came up with an idea for a company. You put money, sweat and tears into the project and make it a reality. You made a Facebook page because that’s what everyone told you to do, and now they are telling you to make a website too? As if you didn’t have enough to do as a start-up business owner, now you have to figure out which website builder is going to give you the best results? Your head is starting to spin and … is it getting warm in here?

Breathe. We’ve got you.

You’ve heard someone mention SEO before, but it means nothing to you, so you never really looked into it. I’ll admit, it is a basic concept that is anything but, in reality. SEO stands for search engine optimization and is, at its most basic, a strategy used to help your website rank higher in the search results without paying for ad placement. The goal is usually to rank high enough to be on the first page. But how do you do that? How do you know what website builder or platform will give you the best results? Luckily, you’re not the first person to ask these questions, and we did the hard digging into this website host comparison for you.

WordPress vs. Squarespace

The Basics:

Let’s start by explaining the two builders. Squarespace is a website builder and hosting provider in one; a one-stop-shop, if you will. It has drag-and-drop options for basically everything, and the very basic novice can create a website this way. You don’t have to write code, and your whole website can be created in a day.

WordPress is a free and open-source CMS (content management system) with a database built-in and the ability to load templates for your site’s design. Once the website is created, you have to pay for everything else you need to make your site run, like hosting and security certificates. It’s not as easy, and you may have to code to make your website look or function the way you want. It will take longer, but it’s more customizable. In fact, 32 percent of the whole internet is powered by WordPress!

Hosting:

As for website host comparison, one of Squarespace’s biggest differences is that it’s a hosted environment, meaning the site basically holds control over almost every aspect of your site and limits your ability to make changes and import tools. Also if you decide to move your site to another hosting provider, well… Squarespace owns your site and limits your export abilities. Not cool.

WordPress.org is self-hosted or can be hosted on any platform you choose, giving you the freedom and flexibility to do what you will if you want to move hosts or make changes.

Monitoring Performance:

Squarespace has built-in analytics that are very user-friendly. These help you keep track of your work and what has made an impression on those visiting your website. You can search relevant keywords, and you can even connect it to Google Analytics to check both stats in one place.

WordPress doesn’t have any built-in monitoring, but you can connect it to Google Analytics for more insight. You can also install a free plugin called Yoast, an SEO tool that will help you view your SEO performance.

Customization:

Squarespace has around 90 different templates and a slew of design elements that can be changed, moved or added. There are a few add-on plugins you can use, but for the most part, what you see is what you get. It’s cheaper than WordPress, but you are stuck with a template website. 

WordPress is completely customizable. If you have a vision, almost anything can be created given the time and knowledge. Unless you know how to code, this could mean outsourcing your website creation to companies like us. Our designers and developers work right here in Southeast Missouri and have the experience and training for just about any project you can dream up. 

SEO Tools:

Squarespace has all the tools built-in so you don’t need to download anything extra for total SEO power. It’s not 100 percent beginner-friendly, but they have great customer service for assistance.

WordPress has plugins available to help boost your already-SEO-friendly website creation. As I mentioned earlier, Yoast is just one of those tools that can guide you through the best SEO practices you may have missed.

So who’s the winner? 

That’s truly up to you. Both of these builders have advantages and disadvantages and, depending on what you want from a website and how much you want to put into the creation, I can’t tell you which one to use after looking at this website host comparison. I can tell you that, here at Rooted Web, we have years of experience creating, designing and maintaining websites for companies of all sizes. Give us a call at 573-381-2400 today to help set up the website you’ve been dreaming of.