WordPress vs Squarespace: What’s the Best Pick For 2020?

1. WordPress vs Squarespace - Common Features
2. Squarespace vs WordPress for Blogging
3. How To Switch From Squarespace To WordPress -
4. WordPress Themes Similar To Squarespace

The dominant accent in WordPress vs Squarespace estimate is on their essence. The principal distinction is that the latter one is the site editor, while the former is not a page maker but an open platform empowering site devising. The latter is a kind of drag-and-drop editor, while the former is a Content Management System.

Free to determine all the components vs complete package

The site constructor provides a bundle of essential site ingredients, such as template, hosting, plugins, etc. If it holds everything, you'll want to know if Squarespace is better than WordPress. Well, there's no single answer as instead of having the determined parts in a pack, WP supplies you with full autonomy of choosing and combining the components for site creation.

Complete customization vs all is ready

In WP, you are the one who is responsible for all the details of your page and have a lot of options for making the blog a unique piece. While in the other discussed resource, the user will possess all the necessary tools for site creation, which are prepared and cannot be changed.

For users with basic coding skills vs for complete amateurs

With WP, one will have to know simple lines of code. The other player doesn't necessitate its user to possess coding skills.

Take full control vs to enjoy the ready-made site

WP is better for individuals who desire full supervision of the site components and aspire to customize it. The other one will mostly suit those who don't wish to spend their time dealing with design, security, and technical details.

Powerful and unique page devising vs fast and clear site launching 

WP allows one to devise powerful internet pages. Regarding the other candidate, it can be said that it'll be a great pick for complete novices and for those who want to launch a site quickly.

Free use + pay for the components vs paid plans

The other distinction of WordPress vs Squarespace is the money you spend for. The former one is free, but you'll have to buy the necessary components, such as hosting, themes, plugins, etc. While in the latter one, there are monthly or annual plans.

Editing in the backend vs intuitive editing

In WP, you have to apply plugins and programming to modify the pages. The opponent is user-friendly, destined for the total newcomers, and employed with the help of dragging and dropping the elements.

Dozens vs thousands of themes

Squarespace has prepared templates that are of extraordinary quality, but there are only tens of them. With WP, you can pick from thousands of alternatives, which are also designed by third-party platforms. So, there is indeed a great variety of offerings, and each small niche will be able to find a unique design for itself.

Check for updates yourself vs auto-update

The WordPress vs Squarespace contrast list also has distinctions in the update segment. The latter is responsible for fresh releases and updates that are performed every several months. When maintaining a WP site with Squarespace, you'll have to check all the stuff yourself and update your page by own efforts.

Centralized support vs tutorials and third-party resources

Squarespace is the one resource needed for site operation, and it has one well-functioning support team. Meanwhile, with WP, you'll have to deal with a number of third-party stakeholders, and you'll need to find the answers in a variety of channels. At the same time, there are myriads of instructions on WP, and sometimes you may even get lost in them.

WordPress vs Squarespace - Common Features

Responsiveness

All Squarespace themes are adaptive to smartphones, which is a central demand for present-day internet pages. While there are a great number of WP themes devised by varying suppliers, the modern pieces almost all have a responsive design.

Built-in components

In the first candidate, all features are included from the beginning, and there are plenty of them, such as Google fonts, audio collections, image editor, templates, social integration, etc. While in WP, most of the characteristics come with the added plugins, there are several pre-installed components, such as password-protected pages, multilingual options, picture editing tools, etc.

Plugins and apps

Both resources have add-ons. However, there are plenty of plugins for WP and a more modest array of native apps for Squarespace.

SEO

In Squarespace, SEO is a built-in component, and in WP, SEO is added with plugins. Both resources have beneficial instruments for managing SEO.

Ecommerce

Both resources allow you to run an online market. At the same time, the first player makes it possible with Squarespace eCommerce plugins within the Business or Ecommerce plan offered on the platform, and WordPress allows selling on the internet with the aid of plugins such as WooCommerce. When comparing Squarespace and WooCommerce for WP, it is possible to say that both of them are great resources for having an online store. While the former one has all included commencing trading your goods, the latter one needs to be installed.

Content ownership

On both platforms, the rights to your content published on the resources belong to you, but Squarespace includes licensing terms, while WP doesn't. However, some of the hosting suppliers that you'll necessitate to find for the WP site will have the terms.

Site migration

Both resources allow your site to be transferred to another platform.

Squarespace vs WordPress for Blogging

When comparing Squarespace and WordPress, we cannot ignore blogging tools comparison. In the present-day, this online activity has become integral for any resource, starting from lifestyle pages to shopping sites. Blogging helps to arouse interest from the visitors and engage them in discussions; it brings subscribers and shares informative pieces about your project to the audience. It is impossible to disregard the value of having a blog for your business.

Squarespace supports this idea offering a variety of free templates for blogs. Some of them can be utilized by several authors so that the page can be used by many contributors; for instance, colleagues or friends. The resource proposes categorizing and tagging the posts, and the posts can also be modified and shared on social media.

Now let's talk about the other resource, WordPress. It holds everything that was listed in the former platform and some supplementary options. The first one is accessing the HTML code, which can be needed for some extensive functionalities of blogging experience. The next great benefit of WP is its community, where all the members can communicate and leave comments in the blogs of other users. Needless to say, that a third of all sites on the web are held on WordPress, which means the community is really huge.

Thus, if you are picking WordPress or Squarespace for a blog, it can be said that the first candidate has more to offer when it comes to blogging experience. The resource was intended for running a blog, and so it wins due to the number of plugins, templates it has and the extensive community and commenting system.

Switching From Squarespace To WordPress - How To

Giving preference in favor of one or another program doesn't oblige you to stay with it for ages. Let's consider you already hold a blog on Squarespace. And after reading this or another article on WordPress vs Squarespace, you have changed your mind and decided to run your site on WP. So why use Squarespace if you can transfer from it to the more comfortable place for your intentions. This doesn't mean that the one is better than the other. However, WP can be more suitable for a professional site with extensive functionalities and will give sufficient control over customization and administration issues. And if you think that it will boost the productivity of your project, then you should transfer your content from one resource to the other. We'll view steps you need to undertake to transfer the data from Squarespace to WordPress.

Step 1. You'll necessitate to set up a WP site if you still don't have one. Thus, you'll have to realize all the moves that are necessary for a WP blog creation, such as finding a hosting supplier, installing WP, and getting a domain name.

Step 2. Log in to your Squarespace admin panel, Home Menu – Settings. There, you should pick Advanced – Export.

Step 3. Pick the WordPress icon that will appear on the screen.

Note that you can transfer only one Blog Page. If you own more than one, then you'll view Select Primary Blog message. Select it and push Export.

Step 4. Once the exporting process is finished, you can download the file with the data.

There are limited components you can move from Squarespace to WordPress; namely, these include one blog page with its posts, gallery pages, regular pages, image blocks, text blocks, and comments. The rest of the content, such as product, event, album pages, audio, video, product blocks, custom CSS, index pages and folders will remain in the same place, and the only means to transfer this content is to copy and paste manually. However, don't get frustrated as you'll be able to give a new breath into your new WP site and make it fresher and will be able to employ all the extensive possibilities for having a powerful project on WP.

Step 5. Now, you'll need to import the data to your WP page. T do this, login to the admin panel of WordPress – Tools – Import.

There, you'll see the possible resources from which you can import your content. But you'll not see Squarespace there due to the incompatibility of the formats.

Step 6. Pick Install now under WordPress.

Step 7. After this move, you'll see Run importer under the WordPress option.

Click on it and choose the file for uploading (the one with the Squarespace data). This will upload your files and examine them with WordPress. If all is fine, you'll be able to view the import settings page.

Step 8. Pick the author's name for the content. The Squarespace user can also be imported, and you'll see the options on the list.

After making this, click the Submit button, and the content will get imported. You will be assured by viewing the success message.

WordPress Themes Similar To Squarespace

Squarespace has tens of themes on the platform, and they are all customizable with the site editor. They look professional, are very simple for exploitation, and they don't necessitate coding knowledge. Thus, if you want to get similar characteristics in WordPress themes, then you'll need to search for the themes with the installed plugin, such as Elementor, Visual Composer, or else, which will allow for simple installment and modification of the template.

For instance, look at 24.Storycle clean theme for WordPress. It is a universal product suitable for many goals. It is possible to use it as a corporate site, media agency, lifestyle blog, or else. You will find it easy to exploit the Elementor page builder. The latter will make sure the installation and maintenance process is fast and simple. What's more, the theme is already equipped with a set of Jet Plugins that ensure extensive functionalities of your site. Along with this, you'll get an SEO-friendly, responsive template with multiple components for a powerful site.

Furthermore, consider Nexxt, which is also designed for WordPress and has a number of beneficial components included. Nexxt comes with the basic and advanced addons, such as 100% responsiveness, eight homepage variations, SEO optimization, comfortable admin panel, mobile layout, and many more. What's more, the Elementor page editor ensures smooth and easy installing and adaptation for your needs.

The other expertly designed WP theme similar to Squarespace is La Minor, which is equipped with Elementor and functional components. La Minor is exceptional for representing your brand and is more than suitable for other goals due to its complete customization capabilities. The theme looks stylish with its minimalistic appearance and will attract visitors to your project.

Among other similar products, there is ITIdeas theme for WP. It pleases with the innovative and modern look and with the set of beneficial attributes. Namely, the Elementor page builder and Jet Plugins allow for simple, fast, and advanced operation of your blog. Meanwhile, other components like admin panel, responsiveness, translation possibility, optimized code, etc. will provide basic and extra functions to the site. If you want to pick by yourself, you can view plenty of options on the TemplateMonster site.

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