Should I use Squarespace or build my own website?
When you are planning to build a website, you have the option of building it from scratch or using a website builder or content management system like Squarespace. The option you pick depends on many factors. We will explore some of them in this article.
If you want more control, and extreme levels of customization, it will be a good idea to build your website from scratch. However, a website from scratch is very expensive and time-consuming, especially if the website is huge and is going to service a wider audience.
In order to build a website from scratch, you need to have a good understanding of programming. Alternatively, you can hire a team of developers to build it for you. You also need to make sure that your website is secure, scalable, reliable, and easy to use.
On the other hand, if you want to set up your website as quickly as possible, without having to worry about security and scalability, using Squarespace is the best approach. With Squarespace, you will have a fully functional website with loads of features without writing a single line of code.
Squarespace takes care of all the heavy lifting for you. It has hundreds of customizable templates made by world-class designers to make your website look professional. You can also manage, expand, and optimize your website using third-party Squarespace extensions.
Squarespace is loved and trusted by a lot of companies and individuals. It is used by many brands such as
- Play and Public
- Flaneur Magazine
- Drink Minna
- Supernatural Kitchen
- Paraceramics
- Riposte Magazine
- Lunch Group
- Mike Perry studio
- Aesop Wines
And many others. This trust and usage by a lot of companies show that you can trust Squarespace and use it to build your website.
ARE SQUARESPACE WEBSITES WORTH IT?
Yes, making a Squarespace website is worth it because it provides a lot of advantages. Using Squarespace can help you to save a lot of time than building your website from scratch.
Squarespace takes care of the security and scalability of your website so that you can concentrate on the core business of your website.
Squarespace allows you to integrate your website with many services and platforms, this will help you to provide more features like printing on demand, bookkeeping, automated marketing campaigns, more payment methods & shipping options to your customers, and many other features.
Squarespace has built-in analytics that will help you to track payments, view real-time business insights, analyze customer behavior, and analyze your entire website.
Further, you don’t need any technical or coding skills to make a Squarespace website. This makes building websites accessible to anyone. You can make a beautiful, fully functional website in just a few minutes.
IS CODING A WEBSITE FROM SCRATCH WORTH IT?
Although there are many website builders and content management systems that can help you to build a website easily and quickly, developing a website from scratch offers great flexibility, a unique design approach, high levels of customization, and more.
There are many advantages to developing a website from scratch. Here are some of them.
EVERY LINE OF CODE COUNTS
When you develop a website from scratch, you make sure that every line of code you write counts, you will not have extra code or extra files that your website will not use. When you use a website builder or CMS, it is going to generate a lot of files and code that you may not need.
Extra files and code will translate to extra loading and file downloading time for your website, which will result in a slow website. Thus, coding a website from scratch will ensure that you have no unnecessary code or files.
UNIQUE DESIGN
If you code your website from scratch, you will not be limited by what the website builder or CMS offers you. Website builders have their own design philosophy and patterns, some of which may not vibe with your design patterns.
But when you build your website from scratch, you will be able to implement your own design pattern, your own philosophy and file structure, and more. You will have a unique design both visually (how your website looks) and in code structure.
ENHANCES UNDERSTANDING
Building a website from scratch will enhance your understanding of programming and ultimately develop your coding skills. You will be able to understand how to do a lot of things with your code without website builders doing the heavy lifting.
Rather than just using a website builder with the code already written for you and upgrading to the latest versions, you will be able to learn new technologies and understand how they work when you develop your projects from the ground up.
Coding a website from scratch is worth it, it will help you to understand how code works without the abstraction of the website builders or eCommerce platforms. This understanding is what makes you a better developer.
DISADVANTAGES OF CODING A WEBSITE FROM SCRATCH?
Coding a website from scratch may not be the best approach in some cases. There are some disadvantages that may deter you from building a website from scratch, here are some of them
TAKES A LOT OF TIME
Coding a website from scratch takes a lot of development time. You will have to write code for nearly every task and feature of your website, this takes a lot of time. You also have to do a lot of testing to make sure that your website is secure and working properly.
CODE COMPLEXITY
When you code a website from scratch, you will write a lot of code to achieve all the functionality of a website (especially if your website is huge), this may result in code complexity. The more your codebase grows, the more difficult it becomes to maintain and debug.
EXPENSIVE
Coding a website from scratch can be very expensive, you may need professional developers to make your website secure, scalable, and reliable. On the other hand, Content Management Systems like Squarespace are inexpensive and do not require in-depth technical skills.
CONCLUSION
Using Squarespace is one of the best ways to build a website. Squarespace takes care of all the heavy lifting for you so that you can focus on the core business of your website.
You can expand and add more features and functionality to your website using third-party Squarespace extensions found on the Squarespace extension page.