Launching a website is an ambitious project that can easily intimidate even the bravest of business owners.

Yet, in today’s online world, we need an effective website. It’s more than just a digital footprint: your website is a hardworking asset that operates around the clock, engaging with potential clients, showcasing the unique value of your services, and transforming visitors into loyal clients.

The choice between platforms like Squarespace and WordPress and every other option is a critical decision that shapes the look, functionality, and SEO performance of your website. 

…but understanding which option is the best for you can feel about as clear as mud.

Hi, I’m Whitney Bateson, a dietitian-turned-website coach, successful entrepreneur, and digital nomad (and a bit of a tech nerd to boot). In this exploration of Squarespace vs. WordPress, we’ll dive into the nuances of each platform so that you can make an empowered decision. The right website works for your current business AND leaves room for flexibility and adaptability as your business grows and grows!

If you’re in a hurry, I’ll pull back the curtain and tell you my recommendation right now: WordPress is my top choice for about a zillion reasons, all of which I’ll explain in this blog post. 

P.S. Do you prefer to listen instead of read? Good news friend, I have a podcast episode where I walk you through the different website platforms. Click here to listen. 

What is a Website Platform?

Let’s start at the very beginning: what is a website platform?

A website platform serves as the digital home of your business; it is software used to create and manage digital content on the internet. Think of your website platform as the ground floor of your online presence, where everything from the design of your site to its functionality and user experience takes shape. 

There are several options out there, including:

• Wix
• Squarespace
• WordPress
• Weebly
• ShowIt
• And many others!

While some platforms excel in simplicity and user-friendliness, they also come with limitations. Others offer advanced customization options suited for those with a bit more technical expertise (or those needing a bit more support, as we support our clients). 

Before we get too far into this article, I’m ruling a few options out because they don’t truly “count” as websites. For this blog post, I’ll be skipping Kajabi, Leadpages, as well as those offered by email marketing platforms like Mailchimp. I’m also not considering the “website” you can create with Canva as a true website.

In the upcoming sections of this blog post, I’ll walk you through the pros and cons of each to help you confidently decide which platform best aligns with your goals. 

But first, let’s make our must-have list for picking the best platform – what actually matters?

What makes a good website platform?

Before we explore the options for a website platform, including Squarespace and WordPress, let’s make a quick “must-have” list for a good website. It isn’t just something that looks pretty; a good website is working hard for you, 24/7. 

What I’m looking for in a website platform:

• Easy to use as possible
• Reasonable cost to purchase and maintain
• Strong SEO performance
• Ease of embedding other tools, such as forms and calendars
• Potential to expand and adapt to your business as it grows

Basically, I want you to have a website that is working hard for you, not just something pretty to look at. For example, do you have a smooth automation in place to have a new subscriber receive your freebie? Here is How to Easily Deliver Lead Magnets with Mailchimp. 

WordPress

Let’s start with our clear winner: WordPress.

WordPress.Org is the gold standard when it comes to websites that businesses are creating. 

It’s fast, flexible, and adaptable and has the best SEO performance. 

In fact, we have had many students in our program start their websites on a different platform and see their web traffic go through the roof once they relaunch their website on WordPress. 

We then like adding a page builder, where it’s drag and drop, so you can move things around. Using a page builder (our builder of choice is Divi from Elegant Themes), you can create any kind of page design and configuration you’d like. 

On a lot of other platforms, there are some major limitations to how much you can change and move the layout and templates. Not with WordPress – the sky’s the limit in terms of what you can design, and this also means you can keep modifying your site and design as your business grows and evolves.

(BTW: when we are talking about WordPress, we are talking about wordpress.org. Even though the name is almost the same, do not build your website on WordPress.com)

Squarespace

Squarespace is one example of a website builder that has an easier learning curve than building a website on WordPress. Because it is a bit more user-friendly from the get-go, Squarespace is a popular choice for beginner entrepreneurs. 

But (and this is a big but), the ready-to-use templates and structure come with limitations as well. Squarespace websites are not as flexible or customizable.

Having a website on Squarespace is kind of like building a piece of furniture from IKEA vs. building a piece of furniture from scratch. The IKEA furniture might be done more quickly, but it isn’t as easily customizable and it might not meet your needs for as long. 

Showit

Showit is a website builder that lets you drag and drop all of the elements of your website; you don’t need to know any coding to use it. 

Showit is not as customizable as a WordPress website. 

Weebly

Weebly is a less-known “closed” website platform and I hope that it does NOT get more popular. 

This is NOT our top pick for a few reasons, similar to our complaints about Squarespace; it doesn’t have many options to adapt and grow with your business. 

Weebly has rigid templates; this means if you want to change the look or flow of your website, it can be pretty tricky to change your mind. 

On top of that, Weebly is the hardest platform to move away from if you change your mind. (Trust me, as the founder of The Wellness Pro Website System, I have worked with a lot of entrepreneurs as they upgrade their websites). 

Manually moving every single blog post that you’ve published on a Weebly site is painful. Sometimes it’s possible to export your blogs in bulk to WordPress, but even that has its challenges, especially if you have built up a lot of content over the years. So that’s why I am always a proponent of actually starting on the right foot and starting on the better website platform.

Please skip Wix

Please do not start a new website on Wix – this site seems to be more user-friendly at the beginning, similar to Squarespace, but Wix comes with a major drawback – they make it incredibly difficult to export your materials if you ever want to switch to a different website builder. 

This isn’t as big of a deal if you have a few pages on your website and a handful of blogs…but what if you have 100s of blog posts? No one, and I mean no one, wants to manually recreate every single blog post, one by one. 

…also, skip GoDaddy

GoDaddy is the worst. Please don’t use this website builder. 

The best of both worlds

The biggest barrier for many people considering a self-hosted WordPress website is the tech. I get it. 

But; you don’t have to choose between ease of use and performance; we can help you have your cake and eat it too. 

With The Wellness Pro Website System, we handle all of the tech aspects, and provide you with branding help, a copy template, and easy-to-understand tutorials. Plus, throughout our six-week live program, you’ll attend live office hours and get hands-on tech support in our private forum to get moving instead of feeling stuck.

A good website has a lot of strategy that goes into the functionality, the user experience, and even the colors that you use in your branding. We help with all of that so that your website will be working 24/7 to grow your business. 

And, since you will have had a big hand in the personalization and development of your website, you’ll feel confident taking the reins once the program is over. 

When questions pop up, we are still here to help and support you; no need to wait for a garbled, jargon-heavy tech chat that leaves you feeling worse than when you started. With over 100 websites on our on-going maintenance and support plans, we know what it takes to keep your website running. From proactive software updates, backups, security monitoring, and more – we make sure you don’t get bogged down with tech problems. And if you ever do have a question about your site and need help, our dedicated team is just an email away!

Keep growing with a good website

Once you have your website up and running, it will continue to provide value to you and your ideal clients. There is also the possibility to leverage your visitors into paying clients, automatically! 

Passive income is always welcome.  Here are 5 Ways to Use Your Nutrition Website to Earn Passive Income.

If you’re not sure if your current website is up to snuff or if it is time for a redesign, here are 9 Signs It’s Time for a Website Redesign.

That’s a wrap

So that is my stance on website platforms out there. Which ones are the right ones? I still firmly stand by WordPress being the best website platform for any business, whether you are a service-based business, are selling digital goods and courses, or are aiming for ad revenue. A WordPress website will allow you to lay out your services nicely and provide you with the flexibility and performance you need.

And as your services and business change, you want a website and theme that’s flexible and adaptable, too. WordPress is nimble and can do that for you easily. 

Thanks for taking the time to learn more about websites so that you can make an informed, empowered decision. If you’re thinking that it might be time to create your own website or to redo your current website – we can help! We can even take care of migrating your current website content to a new website on WordPress.

Learn About The Wellness Pro Website System: In our 6-week live group program, my team and I help you create a beautiful, strategic website that not only looks great, it helps you get more clients, too! Your website is your online storefront, and through recorded lessons, group calls, templates, and hands-on support throughout the program, we help you ensure your website shows off your true value and will support the growth of your business for years to come. Learn more here.

This blog post was originally published in 2018; it was updated in 2024.