Good question – we get asked this a lot!
We have detailed posts about WordPress and Squarespace, which we highly recommend you get familiar with first.
They will provide you with a solid foundation in understanding each.
As to which one to choose, that will depend on your tech skills, design skills, and what you want to do with the site.
Let’s tackle these scenarios…
I’m not very tech-savvy
Then maybe Squarespace is for you.
Squarespace is an all in one platform, where there are no server-side issues that can crop up, it won’t break, is unlikely to be hacked and doesn’t require updates or backups. The back end is SUPER easy to use and understand – it is targeted at the end-user – you!
I’m struggling to make my site look nice
Then I would say again – go for Squarespace. It’s beautiful right out of the box, and whichever template you choose, it will start looking good before you customise it.
There are also some great premade themes out there for Squarespace, and you can absolutely customise any details you wish.
If you find a theme you adore with WordPress, then you can go that way, just make sure it’s from a reputable developer who is going to continue to look after it on an ongoing basis as WordPress updates crop up (so that it remains compatible with the latest version of WordPress), otherwise it may break down the track.
But I need my site to do this very particular, extra-special thing…
Then you will probably need WordPress.
If you have your heart set on a particular invoicing plugin integration, a marketing plugin, a membership portal or an affiliate program plugin, you might need to stick with WordPress if that’s the only website builder it supports.
Squarespace has the ability to offer eCommerce, Membership sections and extensions.
The eCommerce is ace, but the membership section can be a wee bit pricey, and the extensions are quite limited.
The brilliance of WordPress is that it can do pretty much anything!
Even if you can’t find a premade plugin to suit, you’d be very likely to find a developer who can build what you need in WordPress.
A few more thoughts
- Don’t forget, Squarespace offers a FREE two-week trial to help you work out if it’s right for you – and whether it can do what you need it to do.
- If you plan on adding WordPress website maintenance services to your VA business services, then building your own website with WordPress will keep your skills up to date.
- If you need to build a website for your client as a one-time project, you won’t offer ongoing support, and you know they won’t maintain it… Squarespace is probably the answer.
- This Virtual Assistant Lead Network membership site is built using WordPress and boasts some pretty amazing automations and integrations – it couldn’t do everything we need if we used Squarespace.