Anybody tried Squarespace?

endacl

http://www.squarespace.com/

Just looking for opinions on the above? Seems ideal for what we're looking for - basic online presence for a growing psychological practice.

Pluses: looks very slick, reasonable cost(?), self build 'out of the box', 24/7 support. Don't have to deal with a web designer (this one has proven to be a pain in the hole to date).

Minuses: ?

Graham

endacl wrote: »

Minuses: ?

Lock-in, there's no way to ever export your site. If/when you grow out of Squarespace you'll need to start somewhere else from a blank page.
Limited scope to enhance/extend - you're stuck with the limited options Squarespace give you.
Limited theme options when compared to something like WordPress.
Limited/no ecommerce options.
No email service - you'll have to find another provider and implement the necessary DNS/MX records.
You will find almost no professionals able/willing to help customise a site.

On the plus side, their designs generally look great and customisation is sufficiently limited to prevent the average Joe from making a dogs breakfast out of it.

Other options include a custom site or a CMS like WordPress. WordPress has the advantage of thousands of themes and plugins (e.g. Online appointment booking) but it does take more to setup and configure.

Out of interest, where did you find your last web designer?

Nuttzz

Used it for years but have now moved to wordpress, as it was easier to get redesigned

That said the speed of the sqaurespace site was much better than my wordpress site


If you are just using it as a brochure site then its ideal imho

Graham

Nuttzz wrote: »

That said the speed of the sqaurespace site was much better than my wordpress site

If I remember correctly Squarespace is essentially a static site which is delivered through a CDN (content delivery network).

There's nothing to stop you doing the same for your WordPress site. Look at Cloudflare (CDN), it's free for the basic package and you should see a fairly decent speed jump for very little effort.

Buttercake

Out of interest, how much did your last web designer cost?

ShaneSter

I really liked SquareSpace, provided that you are OK with the restrictions that you do have. It is a good site builder for those who do not want to spend a great deal of money. I have found that for most of the sites I have set up, it works just fine.

Cianos

Squarespace is great for those who want to go down the DIY route. If you're patient and are prepared to put in a few hours then it should be more than enough for your basic brochure website.

Problems arise when your requirements outgrow what Squarespace has to offer. If you have any special functionality that you might want to implement down the line, you might find that it's just not possible on Squarespace.

Also you should note that the reason why Squarespace templates look so slick is because of the fantastic photographs. Their minimalist, photo-heavy approach looks brilliant when combined with high quality images, but I've seen many times where a DIY site looks terrible because they've made zero investment in photography.

If your business doesn't lend itself well to large punchy visuals then it can end up looking a bit silly if you're going down that (i.e Squarespace) route.

If you have a good eye for design and have good images then you can make a great looking site with Squarespace but just be aware of the limitations.

EIREX

The website builder within Squarespace is a little less intuitive than other website builders and takes time to master. Expect a much slower build and a lot of frustration.On the upside their customer service is excellent and there to help if you do encounter blockages, but its still going to be slow.

You also have to check how your site looks in different browsers if you do go with Squarespace, I found that while it might look fine in Chrome and IE sometimes slight modifications are required to make sure it looks right in Firefox too which doesn't really seem to happen with other website builders.

The templates are beautiful but limited. If your not going for the hipster look there may not be one there for you.

Also there's no free option. After a while you have to pay for the site.

E Commerce (If you ever want to take bookings etc) is facilitated by Stripe but the actual building of these features within squarespace is a little clunky and the templates limited so it probably wont suit if you ever want to add such functionality.

Check out wix too and see which suits your business best. Wix is really easy to use but IMO the templates are not as pretty but easier to add fancy features too.

endacl

Thanks for the replies folks. All suggestions gratefully taken on board.

endacl

Buttercake wrote: »

Out of interest, how much did your last web designer cost?

€200 for an initial design. Not much to show for it, and six months on, not much happening. Time to move on!

devildriver

endacl wrote: »

€200 for an initial design. Not much to show for it, and six months on, not much happening. Time to move on!

I think therein lies the problem. €200 is quite low for a professional designer so I would imagine that there was a mismatch between the price and the expectations for what was delivered.

Also waiting six months for progress would suggest there's a serious communication problem.

For budgets that small Squarespace is definitely a better option provided that you can work within the limitations outlined by other posters above.

endacl

devildriver wrote: »

I think therein lies the problem. €200 is quite low for a professional designer so I would imagine that there was a mismatch between the price and the expectations for what was delivered.

Also waiting six months for progress would suggest there's a serious communication problem.

For budgets that small Squarespace is definitely a better option provided that you can work within the limitations outlined by other posters above.

The budget would have been better if the work was done! Tbh, all we really need is, as described by a poster above, a 'brochure' type site, with information about the service, contact details, etc. We won't be adding a shop function. Due to the nature of the service, appointments will be made by phone, and initial assessments are in person. Just one of those things that can't be replicated online! An off the shelf package is the way to go I think, and any of the packages mentioned would do the trick.