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On the blog.

WordPress vs Shopify vs Squarespace 2020

The battle between platforms is heating up and with so many fantastic options out there it can be so hard to choose. So which one is right for you? To start off you need to know what you want your website to do

Are you looking for a fully integrated eCommerce store, a one-pager blog style website or do you want to have the option to scale into an online store later on? Once you have figured that part out, the rest is relatively easy.

Shopify

The new-ish whiz kid on the block that is gaining some seriously well-earned attention. Shopify is an out of the box all in one eCommerce solution that is perfect for everyone from small to medium businesses to those who require large scale eCommerce solutions. 

You can sell anything you like from goods to services with physical or digital product options as well as drop shipping. You don’t need any coding experience and can literally hit the ground running – Shopify has the ability to handle anything. But, like everything good in life, it doesn’t come for free.

Pros

Free 14 day trial

Built-in payment gateway that includes POS app

Unlimited products

24/7 Support

Includes a blog

Can integrate with your brick and mortar store

Easy to manage 

Free & paid designs to choose from

Fully responsive on mobile

Promote and sell on multiple channels

Cons

Transaction fees for 3rd party payment apps

You are limited to 3 options per product

No email hosting

Paid apps

More expensive than Wordpress and Squarespace

Limited to no theme customization

Who is it perfect for?

Absolute beginners who want a full-service eCommerce solution – with all of the store functions completely taken care of. 

Squarespace

Think of Squarespace as that super stylish friend, the one who always looks bloody magnificent and can update her look to ravishing overnight. Squarespace has a lot going for it, it is very user-friendly, affordable, offers eCommerce, is packed full of features and has a gorgeous array of design templates to choose from.

So why isn’t everyone using it then? Well again, it depends on what you want your website to do. 

Pros

Beautiful, responsive templates

Unlimited storage and bandwidth – all plans

Elegant and striking design options

Excellent blogging features

Good value for money

Integrates with a wide host of 3rd party programs like Mailchimp, Acuity, and Gmail

Cons

Site speeds are notoriously slow

Image-based design – you need your own high-quality imaging to back it up

They take a cut of your sales (2-3% per transaction, for lower-end plans, that is a lot!)

No 3rd party apps

Restricted template editing

No phone support

Who is it perfect for?

Bloggers and creatives who are looking to showcase their visually rich content and galleries.

WordPress

WordPress continues to be the most popular CMS platform out there and for good reason. Over 35% of the internet is said to be brought to us by the power of WordPress and that is no accident. WordPress has been around since 2003 and continues to dominate the global internet space. So the burning question is, is WordPress the platform for you?

What we love about WordPress is that you can make it into anything – as big or as small as you like. Want to start life as a one-page blog and grow into a global enterprise eCommerce solution? Totally possible. And it is free.

Pros

User-friendly and great for beginners

Tons of free templates and plugins

Turn your blog into an online store at no extra cost

Can integrate with 1000’s of 3rd party apps and software

Unlimited scalability

Huge amounts of global support

Excellent value for money 

Inexpensive to maintain

Easy to update and edit

Powerful SEO benefits

Cons

You need a website designer/developer to handle the setup and design

You need to have some knowledge of websites to run your site

It is slightly more complicated for beginners

WordPress needs lots of regular maintenance 

Who is it perfect for?

Anybody with a little bit of technical knowledge or the willingness to learn their way around. WordPress is perfect for every type of website no matter your requirements, business or industry. So if your plan is to start small and then to build on your website as you grow, later on, WordPress is the perfect option for you.

Want to upgrade your website to a platform that is more suited to your business and day to day needs? Speak to us about site migration today and simplify your website life.