There are a lot of platforms that help you start your blogging journey. Some famous ones include WordPress and Wix.
But, Is Squarespace good for blogging?
No, Squarespace is not good for blogging especially for beginners. They do have a lot of limitations which makes them hard to beat competitors like WordPress. As of writing this article, 41% of the whole internet is powered by WordPress. That shows how good they are!
Continue reading and find out why I don’t recommend starting a Squarespace blog!
Pros of Using Squarespace
Squarespace is surely not a bad place to blog. They do have some features which might help you out.
1. Good For Business Websites
Squarespace is great for people who want to start a business website. It features a simple drag and drop builder which enables you to build a website very easily.
Local businesses, restaurants etc can use this platform to build a complete website without the need of any web developers.
It’s also good for people who want to sell something online because Squarespace does offer an eCommerce functionality
And when you build such business websites, you could use their blogging feature to attract more visitors.
2. Portfolio websites
Portfolio websites are used by professionals to showcase their work to clients or for getting a job. Squarespace is a great place for them too.
You could also blog about your line of work to bring in some organic visitors and earn more exposure in your industry.
3. Decent amount of Plugins and Themes
Squarespace does have a decent amount of plugins/extensions and themes for you to install on your website.
However, there aren’t any third-party themes that you can buy and install because they do not allow them. You are only allowed to select themes from a list of their official themes.
Extensions allow you to add more functionality to your Squarespace website. SEO tools, email marketing, dropshipping functionality are some of the extensions that are available.
Related Article – Is Blogging Still Profitable in 2021?
Reasons Why I won’t Recommend Squarespace for Blogging
While Squarespace is good for Business and Portfolio websites, it still has a lot of limitations when your main intention is to blog. Some of the limitations are:-
1. Expensive
The number 1 problem with starting with Squarespace is that it’s expensive. It costs $12/month. This is particularly expensive when you compare it with WordPress.
WordPress is completely free but you need a hosting service to host the website. WordPress hosting services are really cheap and will just cost you just around $3/month. I use EasyWP from Namecheap and I believe it’s one of the best places for a beginner to start.
2. Not Fast enough
Pagespeed is an SEO ranking factor. I personally analyzed some of the websites built on Squarespace. And found out that the mobile page speed score was below 20 for almost all the sites. Even the desktop page speed averaged around 50.
This is bad enough for not starting a blog on Squarespace.
3. No Complete Control over Your Site
This is something that you need to be least worried about but it can still be a problem for some.
If you start with Squarespace, your website is actually hosted on their platform. This means that they actually have the power to delete/remove anything on your site.
However, This can only happen when you violate some of the things mentioned in their Acceptable use policy. Also have a look at what they say in their terms of service below:-
Best Alternative that’s Good For Blogging: WordPress
WordPress is by far the best platform for you to start blogging. It’s affordable, fast, good for SEO, a wide variety of themes, and much more.
These are some of the many reasons why 41% of the internet uses WordPress over the others.
How To Start a WordPress Blog
If you ever plan to start a blog, WordPress is the best place to start. You can literally start for as low as $3/month on Namecheap(EasyWP). They offer the most affordable WordPress hosting on the internet.
I personally use this hosting and can proudly say that they are one of the best in the market.
To start a blog, The first thing to do is to buy hosting from EasyWP. You will be asked to choose a plan. Select the starter plan. That’s all you would need to get started.
You will then be asked to set up or log in to their Namecheap account.
After that, You will also be asked to enter a domain name. You can connect to an already existing domain or set it up again later. Continue along, pay for the plan and your account will be set up in minutes.
Once everything’s finished, you will reach your dashboard which will look like this:-
To log in to your WordPress website, just click on the “Admin” button.
Related Article – Is Wix Good For Blogging?
Conclusion
Squarespace is surely not a bad place to start blogging. But when you compare it with other competitors like WordPress, it will surely look a bit inferior.
If you have already started a website on Squarespace and paid for their plan, it would be better if you just stay on their platform itself. But, if you have not started on any of the platforms yet, WordPress is the way to go.
I hope this article gave you some insights about blogging on Squarespace. Best of luck with your future.
Peace!