What we’ve learned using Squarespace
There are so many tools out there for building a website and each of them have different strengths and weaknesses. When we sat down last year and looked at our approach for Juniper clients, we decided to start with one primary platform for delivering our websites that would allow us to become specialists and do the very best that we can for our clients. After some research, we settled on Squarespace. The platform was widely used, had great reviews from other web agencies and had a supportive community built around it.
Over the last 6 months, we’ve enjoyed using Squarespace and learned a lot about it along the way. It’s still our platform of choice and we’re proud members and contributors of the Squarespace Circle Community. In this post, we want to share some of the things we’ve learned about Squarespace and how best to use the platform.
Adaptable templates
Squarespace has a wide range of pre-built templates available, but it’s unlikely that a business can just pick one that perfectly fits their needs. The great thing is though that once you’ve selected a template, you can change pretty much everything about it - from the fonts to the colours and the building blocks that make up the layout - everything is up for grabs! The templates themselves are intended to support business owners who may not feel confident in creating a design from the ground up. They’re always a good starting point but it’s a real positive that you can easily tailor and adapt them to meet your requirements.
Mobile compatibility
There’s a handy little tool in the top right when you’re working in Squarespace which allows you to see what the site looks like on mobile. This makes testing a site much easier (although we do still also test websites on a real mobile device too just to be safe!). On top of this, all of the elements in Squarespace are mobile ready and this is one of the key things which allows us to turn our client websites around really quickly.
Updates that don’t break your site
Squarespace mindfully roll out updates to the platform, ensuring that even when they make changes - your existing website won’t break as a result. There are a few exceptions to this (we’ll talk about custom code in a moment!) but it’s within your control to take advantage of them when you’re ready and have time to make updates rather than them being imposed on you. Squarespace are constantly improving the platform, adding new features and options and whether you’re an existing client or a new one, you can make use of their updates immediately.
Great documentation and easy to use
One of our favourite things about Squarespace is how easy it is to use. It’s ideal for smaller businesses who want to manage their own sites after initial build. We can run a training session and get customers up to speed quickly. There is a huge amount of documentation with screenshots and step by step guidance in case you do get stuck. It means a quick Google and you can usually answer any questions you have and resolve problems. So if you’re looking for any support with your Squarespace site, start by looking at their support centre here.
Ability to customise beyond the basics
If you’re looking for functionality which isn’t available in the site builder in Squarespace or if you want something more bespoke or specialist on your site, if you’ve got the right skills and knowledge you can use custom code. We’ve done this in a few places for customers to add a little extra movement or interest. We do recommend you use it sparingly though. Although it’s great to have the flexibility of adding custom code into your website, it might not be completely supported by Squarespace and could be a little flaky. You do also need a bit of specialist know-how to use it, so if you get stuck give us a call!
In-built analytics
Squarespace offers built-in analytics which are pretty powerful for small businesses. They’ve taken the most useful data points and created a single easy to read dashboard. You can find out how your customers discover your website (whether it’s through search engines or social channels), which search terms they’re using, the pages they’re visiting and where in the world they’re from. You do also have the option to hook up your Google analytics if you’re looking for that extra level of detail but for most businesses, the in-built analytics should be more than sufficient.
These are just a few of the reasons Squarespace is our platform of choice. That’s not to say it’s always the right choice though - we do also use other platforms when they’re the right tool for the job for example more specialist e-commerce project. Equally if a client is more comfortable with Wix or Wordpress, we’re very happy to work with those tool too. If you want more info in the pros and cons of different tools or to talk more about Squarespace then get in touch!
