Comparing Website Builders
There are many website builders, the most popular of which include Wix, Google Sites, WordPress, Squarespace and Weebly. Of all the options, we have found Squarespace and Google Sites to be the best for our clients' needs. These two platforms combine website building and secure hosting, so clients don't need to have separate accounts for these purposes. In addition, both of these platforms offer plans at different, low price points, including a no-cost plan for Google Sites. Importantly, their free or low-cost plans offer virtually all of the "plug-in" features desired by most small businesses and community organizations. In addition, websites built on Squarespace and Google Sites are optimized for all devices--computers, tablets and phones. Finally, these website builders have easy-to-use interfaces that allow our clients to update and maintain their websites easily with just minimal instruction from our designers after we're done building. In this blog post, we take a closer look at Squarespace and Google Sites to help you determine which is a better fit for your needs.
Squarespace
Pros
Squarespace is known for its great designs and wide range of available "plug-in" features, including an advanced e-commerce tool on some plans that allows clients to maintain an online storefront. Their online store supports the online sale of not only physical products, but also digital products, professional services, memberships, and gift cards. All websites built using Squarespace are optimized for search engines, meaning that they appear higher in search rankings. Both businesses and nonprofit organizations appreciate SquareSpace's email campaign tool.
Squarespace is also an excellent choice for clients who want a primary element of their website to be a blog. The Squarespace blogging feature has permits posts to have multi-authors, scheduled release, and custom thumbnails. For next-level blogging, Squarespace even hosts podcasts.
Cons
One drawbacks of Squarespace's website builder is that it doesn't offer any free plans. Plans start at $12/month with the lowest cost e-commerce plan costing $18/month. Another drawback is that although SquareSpace has many useful plug-in features, if it doesn't have the one you want (e.g., Venmo or an interactive map), the platform offers third-party service integration with only a limited number of providers. For this reason, it is also difficult to host advertisements on your website.
Google Sites
Pros
The best part of Google Sites is that the most basic plan is free! It is also (obviously) owned by Google which means clients can easily incorporate G-Suite integrations into their websites such as Google Forms, Google Slides, YouTube, Google Calendar, Google Meet and Google Maps. Plus, even the free plan includes some marketing plug-in features such as announcement banners, search engine optimization, and the ability to host third-party ads.
Cons
While Google Sites offers many features, e-commerce is not one of them. Clients who wish to sell products on a Google Sites website must create a virtual storefront on a separate website, and then provide a link to the storefront on their Google Site website. Also, Google Sites doesn't offer some of the more advanced marketing tools that Squarespace offers such as email campaigns or pop-ups.
Which is better?
Squarespace and Google Sites each has its advantages and disadvantages. Squarespace is a better choice for clients who want a virtual storefront. Google Sites is a better choice for clients who wish to create an interactive website to promote an organization, professional service or brand for free.
After reading this post, if you're still unsure of which website builder is a better fits your needs, NextGen website designers can help you decide.