Are you buying a new website?
Since building my first website in 2003, website design has undergone significant changes and continues to evolve rapidly.
But if I were buying or investing in a website for my business today, what would I buy, and who would I employ to help me?
I wanted to share a process for obtaining a website for a business and give you my honest approach to what I would do, knowing all I know now, to help you if you need to acquire a website for your business.
A website is easier to obtain these days.
First, you should know that getting a website is not all that hard these days. There are dozens of possible routes you can take.
These include free software, paid-for software and integrated hosted subscriptions.
It's a good idea for a business owner to try to understand the differences between these website types.
Doing so will help you decide how best to serve and use your business website.
Are you being offered a website design package?
One that includes website hosting for a monthly cost?
I see it all the time online. Sign up for our monthly website package for just £50/£100/£200 monthly, depending on which package you select. Sometimes, there is also a set-up fee.
I wouldn't do it! And I suggest you don’t either.
You have to trust this company; I mean, really trust them with your essential website, and who are they really? Just some website designer, building websites on free software (WordPress probably) and reselling hosting at an inflated price for passive profit.
“Because your business website resides on your Squarespace, Shopify, Wix account, etc., you don’t have a website designer sitting between and the actual location of your website.”
A better way!
If it were me, I would ignore that advert and go directly to a company you can trust.
You can have unhindered direct contact with a company like Squarespace. With over 4 million professional business websites served (not personal blogs built on free, open-source software), you can be confident that your website will be in good hands.
And, of course, other companies give you direct access to your website, not just Squarespace.
Shopify, Webflow, Tilda, and Wix offer integrated hosted solutions that give you complete control and ownership of your website.
Because your business website resides on your Squarespace, Shopify, Wix account, etc., you don’t have a website designer standing between you and the actual location of your website.
You own and control it entirely, and you are free to hire or fire a website designer at any time, with no consequences. It's so much better than the old way of doing things!
However, the features of these platforms, how they work, and their support options vary, so you will still want to do your homework and make sure you select the website partner (website platform) that will work best for you.
Choosing between complete design control and more forward-thinking support.
For example, when choosing between Webflow and Squarespace, Webflow allows you to design and build anything pixel-perfect just the way you want it, and for this reason and it’s powerful CMS, I do love Webflow.
This is less true with Squarespace, even though the new fluid engine has helped to bridge this gap a little bit when it comes to designing everything just so.
Powerful business tools.
Where Squarespace is excellent is within the comprehensive Squarespace ecosystem where your website lives and functions.
Boasting a powerful array of integrated business tools makes Squarespace a good choice of website platform if you want to use your website to market and run your business.
Unlike free, open-source software like WordPress, which uses plugins that can be developed by anybody with often disastrous consequences, Squarespace’s tools are built and made by Squarespace for Squarespace only, making them very stable and of very high quality.
Forward-thinking.
Squarespace is a very forward-thinking company that constantly researches and invests in new technologies to advance its platform. Because of Squarespace’s popularity and wealth, they have the money and resources to do so. They recently acquired Google Domains, which I think demonstrates how they are moving forward as a business.
AI and SEO.
When it comes to AI and SEO, they are keeping on top of things, looking to the future, and updating their software accordingly. For me, this is a massive benefit for my business website and, indeed, any business owner who decides to adopt the platform to serve their business website.
Design flexibility.
Okay, back to my Squarespace/Webflow comparison. So you give up a little bit of design freedom with Squarespace, but you get to partner with an incredibly innovative and creative company that likes to push things to the forefront. I think giving up a little bit of design freedom for this is worth it!
Writing code.
And of course, if you know how to write code, you can do whatever you like with the design and functionality of your Squarespace website.
“Squarespace is a very forward-thinking company that is constantly researching and investing in new technologies to push its platform into the future.”
Conclusion
So, I am not saying you should use Squarespace for your website. There are other choices out there that might better fit your goals.
I am saying you should do your homework and make the most informed choice you can when it comes to platform selection.
For my money, I would use a paid-for hosted system like Squarespace, Shopify, Webflow, etc., over free unmanaged software like WordPress.
If you want to ask me anything about Squarespace, contact me.
Good luck building your business website. :)
