So, you have made up your mind to start a website that will help you establish a reliable web presence. This is a reasonable solution, but get ready to encounter multiple challenges before you actually go live with your ready-made project.
The first and foremost decision to make to get started with your website development is to pick the most suitable web design tools. Currently, there are multiple platforms to choose from and everyone can find the one to comply with actual needs, skills, and objectives.
Basically, the choice goes down to two main options: CMS and SaaS website builders. The major distinction between these types of platforms tackles their complexity level and the web design expertise required to work with them.
Content Management Systems like WordPress, for example, are quite popular with users, who have a certain web design background and programming knowledge sufficient to start a truly personalized and one-of-a-kind web project. It takes effort, time and skills to explore these platforms and you have to be ready to deal with multiple intricate design-related nuances.
As to SaaS website builders, they have much to offer not only to non-techies but to web design experts as well. These systems cover a broad range of interests and goals. It is possible to choose from all-in-one and specialized systems with regard to your niche focus and degree of web design proficiency.
Cloud website builders have extensive design customization opportunities and advanced tools that are more than enough to launch a quality website. This is what makes them a worthy pick for first-timers willing to go online. Let’s figure out more about these systems to help you make the best choice.
Website Builders: Essence and Main Characteristics
Cloud website builders are simple, convenient, and affordable web design platforms. They make it possible to start any type of project, offering a versatile integrated feature set. There are systems to fit any niche preferences, coding background, and business objectives out there. However, all website builders share nearly the same characteristics. Have a look at them now:
- No Coding Required. Website builders are frequently created with the needs and skills of beginners in mind. Thus, their use does not imply any coding proficiency. Everything is intuitive, understandable, and easy here.
- Visual Editing Options. To simplify the process of website creation, most website builders come with WYSIWYG editors and preview options. This allows tracking and controlling all the steps of the web creation process and make the edits on time.
- Ready-Made Templates. The prevailing amount of website builders grant access to rich collections of integrated pre-designed templates. They can be free and paid, yet most of them are 100% customizable to let you create your own unique website design. The themes are often divided into niche categories based on the topics they belong to, offering demo-content by default.
- Integrations. Website builders come with integrable widgets, extensions, and applications you can choose from based on your project functionality and web design objectives.
- Affordability. These systems offer a broad range of plans to fit any budget, while many of them provide free plans/trials to let you test the features available in stock before deciding on the premium subscription.
- All-In-One Systems. Having purchased the required plan, you will be offered hosting and domain name connection. This saves your time and eliminates the necessity to look for them elsewhere.
When it comes to choosing the best website builder, the range of platforms is actually striking.
Whatever goals and intentions you have, you will certainly find a worthy solution to come up with your needs. However, there are two popular website builders that stand out from the crowd today. These are Wix and Squarespace. It’s high time to compare the systems now to provide you with useful information now.
Why Wix and Squarespace?
Wix and Squarespace are both feature-rich and popular SaaS website builders, which enjoy user attention due to their flexibility, high-end design customization tools, intuitive web development approach, and moderate pricing.
While Wix is considered the niche leader with over 4.5 million live websites across the globe, Squarespace does not lag behind it, featuring more than 2.1 million professional projects. As the all-in-one solution, Wix makes it possible to start all types of websites – from small portfolios and personal blogs and up to feature-laden digital stores and business websites.
Squarespace, in its turn, mostly targets entrepreneurs and creative, letting you start and customize business websites, portfolios, and web stores with ease.
Both systems excel at integrated functionality. They come with built-in blogging and eCommerce engines, which allow starting these types of projects in almost no time and with no coding required. They also offer integrated hosting solutions and make it possible to pick and connect suitable domain names without looking for third-party providers.
Whatever software you will go for, you will be able to launch a multilingual website as both of them provide this opportunity. Another common feature for these website builders is the availability of a Logo Maker. This allows designing and integrating a brand logo into your project to build customer reputation and promote your business on the web.
As a user-oriented platform, Wix grants access to the rich App Market, where everyone will be able to pick free and paid widgets/applications to boost website performance.
The system also boasts an advanced Ascend platform, which comprises over 20 business tools to contribute to more effective promotion of company websites. Squarespace, in its turn, comes with impressive social media integration options, modern Image Editor, Cover Page Builder, integrated online calendar, and Google Maps embedding feature.
The system also is known for its Acuity Scheduling platform and Unfold – storytelling tool. These are indispensable when it comes to your business project promotion.
Wix and Squarespace comparison would be incomplete without a detailed review of the design customization aspect. This is, actually, one of the Wix highlights. The website builder boasts an amazing collection of ready-made templates (there are over 550 of them here). All of them are mobile-optimized, free, niche-specific, and fully-customizable.
Users can choose from two design editing options to create a truly unique website look. Wix ADI, which implies an automated website design approach, will work best for beginners, while Standard Wix Editor will be a perfect solution for more proficient users.
As to Squarespace, its template choice is not that extensive, but all the themes available in stock look professional and quality. They are also free and responsive, although, experienced web developers can make use of CSS/HTML editing features to create personalized website design. To be aware of special design-related nuances of both systems, go-ahead to explore them in their detailed comparison.
The cost aspect should not be overlooked as well. Wix is a freemium website builder. This means that the system has a free plan that is never-expiring and two types of premium plan Standard and eCommerce. Each of them offers more detailed subscriptions to simplify users’ choices. The cost of Wix plans starts from $13/mo. Squarespace offers a free 14-day trial, which is also enough to explore the features the software has in stock. Additionally, you can choose from four premium plans. Their cost starts from $12/mo.
To sum it all up, both website builders deserve to be considered the best representatives of the contemporary web design niche. They are worthy tools for the development of all types of websites and they can equally be used by newbies and web pros. Wix, however, enjoys greater user popularity and this is the main reason why Squarespace subscribers frequently decide to switch to the platform.
If you have the same intention and don’t know how to complete the task, don’t worry. The process takes some effort and time yet it is possible to complete it on your own. What you need is to follow the detailed Squarespace to Wix migration guidelines and to control all the steps independently.
Encounter any problems or just don’t wish to bother about the details? Then there is always an opportunity to hire a specialized website migration service like SiteBuilders.PRO to help you with your Squarespace to Wix transfer. They will do all the job for you, taking care of the smallest nuances and must-have aspects. This is easy, safe, and hassle-free for everyone. So, why waste your time and effort then?
Bottom Line
With such an extensive choice of a website development tools, it may not be easy to pick the service, which is really worth your trust. Whether you are a skilled user or just a beginner, using website builders will be the most reasonable solution to get started with your project. These systems have much to offer to everyone. Their simplicity and convenience do not compromise with high-end functionality. That’s what makes them prevail over other web design platforms.
Wix and Squarespace occupy leading positions in the rating of the best contemporary website builders. Each system is great in its own way and each of them works best for diverse user audiences and project types. Browse the review above to make the best pick. However, remember that there is always an opportunity to switch between the platforms if there is anything you are not satisfied with.
