The decision between website platforms for any small business looking to get a website up and running can be daunting to say the least, suddenly faced with the question of
“Well, do you want Wordpress, Squarespace, or Shopify?”
Is a little like asking an alien what flavour ice-cream they want. Of course the decision is easy once you know but impossible when you don’t.
This article is not a comparison chart of features from each platform but a breakdown of elements that are important to you to help make that initial decision, written by a specialist with many years experience working with small businesses on each platform
First let's unpick some jargon
Hosted platform
This means that your website is hosted by the provider on their server, the hosting cost covers the admin system plus all maintenance; security, upgrades. Although you can export products and blog posts, you cannot take away a complete copy of your website or download your media files if you decide to move on.
Stand alone installation
This means that you have an ‘installation’ of your website that becomes your own to customise as fit for you. You host it with the provider you choose and are responsible for maintenance; security, updates and upkeep of the content management system, but you have access to all files even if you decide to move on.
Page builders
Wordpress offers you the installation of their software for free but It is unusual now for your chosen web developer not to use a page builder when building on Wordpress, this enables a visual editing experience which I would recommend. For this article we will assume that your Wordpress solution comes with a page builder.
The most used page builders being:
Visual editors
WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) is a method of updating a web page visually - clicking edit on the front end of your website and editing content on the page as your users see it. Taking this one step further is Drag & Drop, meaning that you can drag elements such as images, text boxes or buttons around the page to different positions. An admin editor is where you have an admin view of the page, fill out your content in boxes. save and preview the live version.
Plugins and Apps
These are the same things but different platforms give them different names, Squaresapce does not have that many; 26, prefering to have ‘what you need’ as part of your chosen ‘plan’ rather than an add on, both Wordpress and Shopify have thousands for every sort of requirement, most come with recurring monthly subscriptions.
The differences between Squarespace, Wordpress & Shopify
Overview
Squarespace
A hosted solution, it is beautifully designed, engaging and very easy to use. It does not rely on apps but offers everything you need as a small business in your chosen plan.
Good for: cost, low technical ability, simple requirements in: blogging, galleries, recipes, ecommerce, membership and marketing.
Wordpress
A stand alone installation, so you ‘own’ your website and have access and complete control over your code and content. It allows for bespoke development and has thousands of 3rd party plug-ins to support what you may need. It is not difficult to update and add new pages, but I would recommend some tech ability.
Good for: more established businesses, 10+ employees, content-heavy or unique requirements, ongoing SEO or marketing campaigns.
Shopify
Is a hybrid, it is a hosted solution, but you have access to and can fully customise your source files. It is for Ecommerce driven companies allowing you to manage your business fully through the admin interface or integrate with stock management and fulfilment systems.
Good for: ecommerce driven businesses with 50+ products, financial reporting, multi-channel selling.
Elements
Admin interface & CMS
Squarespace has the best designed admin interface and easiest CMS (Content Management System) meaning with no website updating experience you can not only edit pages but add new good looking ones as well without the need to request the services of your web developer. In your media library you also have access to free and paid for image libraries, to help with ongoing blogging.
Wordpress can be intimidating as the dashboard feels busy, but once trained it is ok to navigate around. Wordpress uses both a visual and admin editor format, which is quick and easy to edit content, but less easy to create new aesthetically pleasing pages.
Shopify uses an admin editor which has the least visual appeal and flexibility, slowly they are bringing in visual editors but it is still not easy to style blog posts or pages.
Dynamic pages
Squarespace offers posts, projects and events (list and calendar) in a format easy to add and customise differently for different posts, as well as an advanced set of gallery options. Social sharing is added at the bottom of blog posts and a prompt to share with your social media platforms when putting a dynamic page live.
Wordpress offers posts and projects with a pretty rigid format for adding content, but good categorisation and tagging. There is a basic gallery option or plug-ins for more advanced galleries or events, but quite clunky.
Shopify’s blogging is the least easy to make look good, you can use apps to add events or galleries, which will need to be well designed by your web developer.
Ecommerce
Squarespace has ecommerce built in, again a beautiful and easy to use system, simple to set up variants, subscriptions, physical and digital products, donations and gift cards as well as customised merchandise and local pick up. Uses Stripe and Paypal payments, however you cannot bulk update products.
Wordpress ecommerce is provided through WooCommerce, it is free to install, robust and easy to use via the admin editor. There are over 6000 WooCommerce plugins so just about anything is possible, but generally come with a monthly charge. It allows for a variety of payment gateway options, however the shipping option is quite basic, a plug-in may be required.
Shopify’s whole raison d’etre is Ecommerce so this area of the website is of course extremely good. There is detailed built in financial reporting, easy bulk product updating and more sophisticated inventory management options, a variety of shipping options, payment gateways and advanced tax calculation functionality. Subscriptions are handled via an app such as ReCharge
Customisation
Wordpress and Shopify offer full access to your site's source code, and Shopify lets you easily rename and system language such as cart button names, whereas in Squarespace you can just use CSS and some small elements of custom code.
Members area
Squarespace offers a very easy to use and visually appealing members area starting from £5/month to create communities, paid membership or premium content.
Both Wordpress and Shopify offer Membership solutions as well as wholesale pricing for tiered members via apps.
Forms
If you are thinking you will need to create forms ad hoc for marketing or competitions Squarespace and Wordpress have easy to use form builders, they do not however allow for stepped forms or users to save their progress. Shopify does not but there are a host of Form platforms out there that can be embedded into any of these platforms:
Languages
Squarespace offers a simple to set up multilingual site via their Weglot partner
Wordpress has a variety of language plug-ins
Shopify offers Shopify Market, the ability to sell locally around the world, with language translation, price, shipping, local taxes, domain and more.
Analytics
Squarespace has a very insightful and easy to use analytic section.
Shopify’s Ecommerce related reporting tools are very robust.
Wordpress you are best to use google analytics.
SEO
All 3 perform well in SEO if set up correctly.
Squarespace has a simple interface to take you through the steps to set up.
Wordpress uses Yoast SEO which is a powerful SEO plug-in.
Shopify has some built in features and apps can also be installed.
Hosting & pricing
Both Squarespace and Shopify are Hosted Platforms so there is a single yearly or monthly cost depending on the features you require, hidden costs are less likely.
Wordpress is more complicated
There is usually a licence cost for the page builder (see links under page builder section)
Then there is the hosting of your choice, which is cheaper than Hosted Platforms.
Cheap
Good:
There are usually recurring plug-in costs to make allowance for and Wordpress needs to be maintained at least twice a year, this is Wordpress core and Plugin updates and security patches.
All options require domain purchasing.
Themes
Squarespace's themes are included and fee
Shopfiy has 100 themes - a handful free then $200-$350 provided by Shopify and many more on sites such as Theme Forest
Wordpress has thousands of themes across many providers, usually $30-£90
However your chosen web designer can design from scratch on any of these platforms.
Email marketing
Squarespace has an integrated Email Campaign system, easy to link directly with products and articles on your website and nicely designed starting from £4/month.
Wordpress and Shopify integrate with many 3rd party systems such as:
The verdict
Squarespace is the cheapest solution as a lot of the design is out of the box, but with a good website designer a Wordpress or Shopify website will be equally aesthetically pleasing and allow you to easily update what and how you need to, it is just more custom built.
Wordpress is the most widely known and accepted as it has been around the longest but even when Wordpress came out people were sceptical as they are still with Squarespace. Wordpress is considered the most robust, flexible for future growth and a sound investment because not only do you ‘own’ it, but all future features or functionality are possible.
Shopify is the one for Ecommerce driven businesses as it allows you to manage your retail process via the admin and as you grow integrate with external Order Management systems.
So which to opt for?
If you are looking for a nicely designed, not too costly brochure or portfolio website, or have simple products to sell, or a small membership requirement and would like ease of use over functionality Squarespace is your bet.
If you are looking for ownership and control over your website, may want advanced features or bespoke code, then Wordpress is for you.
If you are an Ecommerce driven business then Shopify is for you.
But wait, there are other options out there to consider!
If none of the above feel quite right yet then have you considered the following?
Mobile (Native) Apps
Why would you choose an app over a website?
Mobile apps can help you get higher conversions and retention
Users spend more time on Apps
Brand presence… always on someone's device
Apps can work faster than websites
If your answer is yes to most of these points then a mobile app may be the route for you:
Are you looking for greater personalisation?
Do you need ease of sending notifications?
Is your business based on community integration?
Do you need to make use of mobile operational features such as camera or GPS?
Do you need the ability for it to work offline?
Do you need advanced gestures like tap, swip, drag, pinch or hold?
Do you need a new stream of conversions
For a list of app development tools take a look at Mashable.com
Or for local mobile app developers visit our Resource section
Community & Learning Platforms
If your business or non profit organisation is community or online learning based, for example if you run community groups, online courses, shared content and video, events and memberships or digital subscriptions, the option for a platform dedicated to growing your community, instantly accessible via web and mobile app, may be worth a look.
Community platforms
Online learning platforms
Event platforms
Subscription platforms
Marketplace platforms
Amazon (but be prepared it is not for the faint hearted!)
CRM (Customer Relations Management) systems
If your business is heavily sales focused, you have dedicated marketing personnel and the capacity to write and manage ongoing content then it may be worth looking at a platform such as HubSpot or Salesforce. There is no doubt that Inbound marketing works, but it is resource heavy.
“Inbound marketing is a business methodology that ‘attracts’ by creating valuable content and experiences inspiring long term customer relationships. As opposed to outbound marketing which ‘disrupts’ with the use of ads for example.”
A bespoke website
Usually a more expensive route and you miss out on all the features a platform offers you, but sometimes nothing else will do…. and how I need to go and teach aliens about ice-cream.
Further reading
This article was written for the Digital Springboard