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Wix vs Squarespace: which is better?

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Flexibility or structure, the choice is all yours

When it comes to picking the best website builder for you to build an online presence, many have similar features that could make picking the right one for you quite challenging.

Two of the most popular names in easy-to-use website builders are Wix and Squarespace.

Behind over 50% of the websites created using website builders, on the surface you may think that there’s not much distinction between Wix and Squarespace in terms of their offerings, but there are actually key differences you may want to consider before making a final decision on which one to pick.

From awesome templates to user-friendly navigation, website builders gaining popularity these days is not at all surprising. After all, these website building tools are a big help for businesses to gain online presence.

In this article, we will thoroughly examine the differences between Wix and Squarespace, highlighting all their pros and cons so that you can then decide for yourself which of the two is right for you.

1. Wix – a top-notch website builder
Wix is top dog when it comes to free website builders, but it also offers some powerful paid plans. These start from as little as $8.50 per month for the Combo plan, which gets you 3GB of storage space, a free domain and free SSL certificate.   View Deal

Build your next website for as little as $10.80 per month
With world-class designers creating templates for every use case, Squarespace can help make your idea stand out online. Get started with one of our best-in-class website templates and customize it to fit your needs. Use the exclusive Squarespace voucher code TECHRADAR10 to get that price on the cheapest package.   View Deal

No coding skills? No problem. Both Wix and Squarespace utilize tools known as ‘software as a service’ or SaaS, which allows the creation and maintenance of a website to be done by a novice. Be that as it may, here are some identified differences between the two.

Wix relatively makes creating the website without coding skills a lot easier than Squarespace. The latter, however, becomes easier with practice, and for website builders who don’t have a lot of time to spare, Wix is an easy choice.

Wix vs Squarespace: the main difference

Wix allows a lot more freedom to customize your website pages whereas Squarespace has a structured editor. Wix has more overall features to work with but Squarespace is designed to make the features it does have easier to apply and use.

Page Editor

Here's some of the Wix templates available 

Here’s some of the Wix templates available  (Image credit: Wix)

Wix offers drag-and-drop by the pixel. That means any element can be moved to any space on the page. This drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to start designing your website as you can do so freely. Wix’s editor is intuitive, which is ideal for beginners who have very little experience of building a website. This also makes reverting to previous versions easier as well as recovering content in the event that the need arises.

Squarespace has a more structured drag-and-drop feature in that it’s more section-based as opposed to the drag-and-drop anywhere feature that Wix offers. This means that when you drag elements, you’ll essentially be dropping them into specific columns and rows where they can snap into. This takes away a great deal of the creative freedom Wix offers, but it only takes some getting used to and it becomes just as easy to manoeuvre.

Pricing

Wix pricing plans

Wix is a cheaper option for users who aren’t too concerned with bandwidth and storage  (Image credit: Wix)

Wix offers a free plan where the most basic tools can be utilized. Its paid plans are divided into two categories: website plans for when you’re creating a professional website, and business and eCommerce plans for when the website needs to accept online payments.

With prices ranging from US $4.50 to $24.50 per month, users who avail of the website plans get from 1GB to unlimited bandwidth, up to 35GB of storage space, up to five hours of video, Site Booster and Visitor Analytics apps free for an entire year, a professional logo, social media logo files, and 24/7 dedicated customer support.

Business and eCommerce plans, on the other hand, range from US $17 to $35 per month. These plans allow users not only to accept online payments, but also scale their business and access to the full VIP suite. All plans offer unlimited bandwidth, 20, 35, and 50GB of storage, and the same level of dedicated customer care as the website plans.

Choosing a Squarespace plan is less complicated as there are only four. It follows the logic of getting more features made available the higher the tier of the plan users choose. The cheapest plan called the Personal plan gives a user a custom domain whereas Wix’s Connect or most basic plan doesn’t. This basic plan also gives users unlimited bandwidth and storage, as opposed to Wix’s 1GB bandwidth and 500MB of storage for the same plan.

Though noticeably different in features, it is important to consider the price difference between the two basic plans. Wix Connect Domain plan has a monthly recurring charge of US $4.50, whereas Squarespace Personal plan costs $12 per month. It is also worth noting that Wix Connect Domain plan displays Wix ads, something a user would not have to deal with if they went with Squarespace.

For users who aren’t as concerned about bandwidth and storage and want to focus on design and having a website and don’t mind ads, Wix is a cheaper option.

Extra Features

Squarespace extensions

Squarespace’s extra features can be added in-house unlike Wix’s preferred method of using apps (Image credit: Squarespace)

With over 200 apps for third party integration (both paid and free) found exclusively in its own dedicated App Market, Wix lets users maximize how they can personalize their website even further. The App Market offers a wide selection of “made by Wix” apps as well as third party apps that help add an extra layer of functionality to sites easily. The apps featured in the App Market include email marketing apps, call conversion apps, interactive videos, dropshipping tools, calendars, notification tools, and a lot more.

Squarespace, on the other hand, doesn’t offer extra features in the form of apps. Instead, anything that isn’t already offered by Squarespace in-house can be added via third-party integration. Instead of an app store, Squarespace has extensions that help users manage, optimize, and expand their site. There are extensions for shipping and fulfilment, finance, inventory and products, and sales and marketing.

Wix definitely outdoes Squarespace in the number of apps to choose from, making customization much easier, however, quality-wise, we think Squarespace has the edge over Wix.

Ecommerce: Wix Store vs Squarespace Shop

Squarespace online store

Squarespace’s online store has a slick overall design (Image credit: Squarespace)

Wix Store lets users create a professional online store with features such as custom product pages, shopping cart, multiple sales channels, and a lot more. Mainly, it’s geared towards small and medium online stores alike, and it’s affordable and convenient.

Squarespace does not fall behind Wix in terms of features, and certainly has the upper hand when it comes to a sleek overall design. It’s main disadvantage, however, is that it does not have its own store, which means if the feature is not built-in, it can’t be implemented.

Verdict

If you’re ready for your business to take off, choosing the best builder can help you get started. Unless you’ve found the perfect tools and have found comfort in either option, you can opt to try them both and see where the most benefits are.

As Wix is for anyone who wants to give website creation a try, it comes highly recommended as the interface is intuitive, and there are tons of extra options. You can get your creativity working, and personalize your site as much as you need to.

Squarespace is the perfect option if you want to achieve giving your site a sleek look with premium features, never mind how limited the options are.

Feature Image Credit: Wix vs Squarespace: which is better? (Image credit: Pixabay)

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Sourced from techradar.pro

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Marketing Your Business In The Midst Of Covid-19: 5 Tips To Stay Afloat

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By Mike Kappel

If you’re like many business owners out there, the coronavirus pandemic has rocked your world. According to a SHRM study, 62% of small businesses say they have experienced a decrease in revenue since the start of Covid-19. To deal with this change in cash flow, you may find yourself having to change up other processes for the time being, such as your marketing strategies.

Marketing During Covid-19: 5 Tips

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the lives of consumers and businesses alike. And, with this major change and a “new normal” comes a new way to market to customers.

To pivot your marketing amidst the coronavirus and help keep your business thriving during trying times, use these five Covid-19 marketing tips.

1. Reassure Your Customers

Your customers are your business’s #1 fans. Without them, you wouldn’t be the successful business you are today. In a time with so much uncertainty, you need to reassure your customers that you’re there for them and that your business isn’t going anywhere.

So, how do you tie in reassuring your customers into your marketing tactics? So happy you asked! To inform your customers about how you’re responding to the coronavirus and let them know you’re there for them when they need you, you can:

  • Send out email updates
  • Post regularly on social media
  • Add information in customer accounts (e.g., on the dashboard)

Reassuring your customers that everything is going to be OK is a must during this pandemic. Trust me when I say this: your customers will appreciate the updates and your sensitivity toward the situation.

When reassuring your customers, keep a calm tone with a positive message and relevant language. And, remember to include how they can contact you if they have any questions.

2. Get Creative

This coronavirus age is not the time to fall back on your old marketing strategies. It’s a time to take risks and be creative with your marketing tactics.

When it comes to marketing your business during coronavirus, the more creative you are, the better. Having a unique way to market your products or services makes you stand out from your competition. Not to mention, spicing up your marketing can help draw in new customers and keep business booming during the coronavirus.

So, you may be asking yourself, How can I take my marketing up a level while dealing with the coronavirus? For starters, you can promote unique offerings, like DIY kits and care packages, to get customers flying through your doors. You can also offer virtual options to customers, like online classes, meetings, and showcases.

Whatever creative route you decide to take, have fun with it. Have a brainstorming session to think about what you can do to attract customers and make them want to spend their hard-earned cash during these trying times.

3. Kick Things Up On Social

Even before the coronavirus started, social media was king. As of 2019, a whopping 79% of Americans have social media profiles. And, that number continues to grow as more people go virtual during the pandemic.

To market your company in the middle of coronavirus, take your strategies to social. The truth is, this coronavirus age is prime time to promote your business offerings online. To market your business on social, be active, and present. You can:

  • Start or join conversations
  • Utilize sponsored posts or paid advertisements
  • Post more frequently
  • Have an online contest (e.g., share for a chance to win X)
  • Keep your customers in the loop with store updates
  • Promote special or limited-time offerings

Social media is a great way for you to create buzz about your business. Not to mention, it’s a relatively inexpensive option to promote your business and spread the word about your offerings online. So, what are you waiting for?

4. Build Relationships Virtually

Building relationships is one of those things that can be easier said than done, especially when you’re trying to build them online versus in-person. But if you want to market your business in the midst of coronavirus, you have to embrace building and strengthening relationships with your customers online.

To strengthen relationships with your customers, put yourself in their shoes. What would you want to see and hear from a business? How would you feel if you saw one of your business’s marketing communications?

Keep open, honest, and considerate communication going. If you currently don’t have a regular cadence of communication with your customers, now’s the time to start (think email marketing campaigns).

When communicating and connecting with customers during the coronavirus, be empathic, genuine, and thoughtful. The more you connect with your customers and get a feel for who they are, the better you can market to them in the future.

5. Improve Your Online Presence

With the coronavirus in full swing and more and more people hopping on the online bandwagon, there’s no better time to work on your business’s online presence. Having a strong online presence can help you build your brand and gain credibility to attract new customers. Plus, it makes your business more readily accessible to customers so they can find out more information about what your business has to offer.

According to one source, internet hits have surged between 50% and 70% due to the coronavirus. With so many people spending their free time online, why not take advantage of it? To give your business’s online presence a nice boost, you can:

  • Optimize your business website for mobile
  • Create valuable content
  • Do some SEO research
  • Incorporate keywords on your website pages
  • Engage in online communities and forums
  • Improve user experience

Again, there’s no better time than now to boost your online presence. And remember, even if you already have a top-notch online presence, there’s always room for improvement. So, get out there and give your business the online boost it deserves!

Why Is It Important To Market During Covid-19?

Pandemic or not, marketing to your customers is always an important aspect of running your business. But, how can continuing and improving your marketing efforts during Covid-19 benefit your business. Well, it can help you:

  • Get ahead of your competitors
  • Learn more about your target audience
  • Build on your business relationships
  • Set yourself up for success post-coronavirus

Now is not the time to put the breaks on your marketing efforts. It’s your opportunity to be more strategic than ever, put yourself in your customers’ shoes, and better market to your customers.

Feature Image Credit: GETTY

By Mike Kappel

Founder and CEO of Patriot Software, LLC. We help American Businesses and their Accountants with cloud-based Payroll and Accounting Software. I know what small business owners and entrepreneurs face because I’ve faced it myself. For more information, please visit patriotsoftware.com or Follow: @PatriotSoftware on Twitter

Sourced from Forbes

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The Best Way To Grow Your Personal Brand In 2020

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By Luke Lintz

A personal brand is how your accomplishments, personality and work are portrayed to others. The major difference between a business brand and a personal brand is that a personal brand is built around you, so it’s easy to connect on an emotional level with your audience. A business brand is built solely around showcasing your business services, offers, testimonials and track record, with very little emotion involved.

Branding shouldn’t be a battle of whether to have a personal or business brand, but how you can effectively grow both brands together. Something spectacular happens when your personal brand is bigger than your business brand and you can effectively refer people who have built trust with you to your company’s products or services.

My marketing agency specifically works on high-level personal and business branding. The most common question I receive from potential customers is: “What sort of ROI is associated with building a personal brand?” I always respond, “It’s priceless, and it takes at least 12-18 months to get there.”

I find this a funny question because I think everyone is capable of comprehending the long-term value of building proper personal and business brands, but so many people are stuck in short-term thinking. The ROI of branding is that it’s an enhancement to your current direct marketing efforts. The value comes in the long term with many different streams of revenue. For example, we had one client who grew his following on Instagram from 3,000 to 100,000 followers by posting consistent, quality content. Through an Instagram direct message, he was booked for a speaking gig that paid $25,000, with travel costs, hotel and food covered.

There are three main categories for your branding presence: your online presence, social media presence and local presence.

• A branded website, press, dedicated articles, features and a Google Knowledge Panel all play a role in your online presence and determine how you are portrayed on search engines.

• Consistent and high-quality content, your short bio, and the number of followers you have all play a part in your social media presence.

• How you are talked about with other people (when you are not around), or if you’re not talked about at all, is your local presence.

I dedicated the majority of my time to my clients’ brands until recently branching out and working on my own personal brand. I am now working heavily on growing my social media and online presence by publishing consistent, quality content about my main projects, working with major influencers around the world and publicizing it all.

If you are just starting out with your personal brand, regardless of industry or experience, you should ask yourself some of these questions:

• Who is your target audience?

• What do you want to be known for in 10 years?

• Who are some leaders in your industry, and what do their personal and business brands look like?

• How are you going to dedicate time each week to work on your personal brand?

There are more people online than ever. With such an overwhelming number of people in your industry or niche, how do you stand out? The answer is simple: There is no such thing as competition. There is no such thing as two of the exact same personal brands. If you’re able to stay consistent and are willing to invest your time and resources into your personal brand, you will be bound for success in the long term.

If you don’t currently don’t have a personal brand, here’s an action plan for getting your brand started:

1. Open social media accounts on two platforms. If you’re a business professional, you should have accounts on Instagram and LinkedIn. Don’t overwhelm yourself by starting on every platform available.

2. Next, collect all your professional photos. You don’t have to be in a suit, but the photos should be very high resolution. If you don’t have any photos, find a local photographer, and book a photo shoot as soon as possible.

3. Hire a graphic designer, and ask them to make social media banners, Instagram stories, and graphics for your Instagram and LinkedIn profiles from your professional photos.

4. Create a biography for your social media accounts. This is crucial because it’s the first thing your potential audience sees, and we all know how important first impressions are. Keep it short and concise. It shouldn’t focus too much on you, but on how you can help your customers.

5. Plan out a strategy to post consistent content about what you do.

After all of this is done and you post content day in and day out, you will eventually see returns that you can’t put a price on.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By Luke Lintz

Owner of HighKey Holdings Inc.

Read Luke Lintz’ full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

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Number of Employers Using Social Media to Screen Candidates at All-Time High

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Before posting pictures of your late-night revelry or complaints about your job on social media, think again.

By MediaStreet Staff Writers

70 percent of employers use social media to screen candidates before hiring, up significantly from 60 percent last year and 11 percent in 2006.

Here’s some other creepy stats.

– 57 percent are less likely to interview a candidate they can’t find online

– 54 percent have decided not to hire a candidate based on their social media profiles

– Half of employers check current employees’ social media profiles

– 70 percent of employers use social media to screen candidates, up from 11 percent in 2006

The national survey was conducted online on behalf of CareerBuilder by Harris Poll between February 16 and March 9, 2017. It included a representative sample of more than 2,300 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries and company sizes in the private sector.

“Most workers have some sort of online presence today– and more than half of employers won’t hire those without one,” said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder. “This shows the importance of cultivating a positive online persona. Job seekers should make their professional profiles visible online and ensure any information that could negatively impact their job search is made private or removed.”

What Are Employers Looking for?
Social recruiting is becoming a key part of HR departments – 3 in 10 employers (30 percent) have someone dedicated to the task. When researching candidates for a job, employers who use social networking sites are looking for information that supports their qualifications for the job (61 percent), if the candidate has a professional online persona (50 percent), what other people are posting about the candidates (37 percent) and for a reason not to hire a candidate (24 percent).

Employers aren’t just looking at social media – 69 percent are using online search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing to research candidates as well, compared to 59 percent last year.

Get that photo of you “resting” on a bar set to private right now!

Ponder Before You Post
Learn from those before you – more than half of employers (54 percent) have found content on social media that caused them not to hire a candidate for an open role. Of those who decided not to hire a candidate based on their social media profiles, the reasons included:

  • Candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs, videos or information: 39 percent
  • Candidate posted information about them drinking or using drugs: 38 percent
  • Candidate had discriminatory comments related to race, gender, religion: 32 percent
  • Candidate bad-mouthed their previous company or fellow employee: 30 percent
  • Candidate lied about qualifications: 27 percent
  • Candidate had poor communication skills: 27 percent
  • Candidate was linked to criminal behaviour: 26 percent
  • Candidate shared confidential information from previous employers: 23 percent
  • Candidate’s screen name was unprofessional: 22 percent
  • Candidate lied about an absence: 17 percent
  • Candidate posted too frequently: 17 percent

Your online persona doesn’t just have the potential to get you in trouble. Cultivating your presence online can also lead to reward. More than 4 in 10 employers (44 percent) have found content on a social networking site that caused them to hire the candidate. Among the primary reasons employers hired a candidate based on their social media profiles were candidate’s background information supported their professional qualifications (38 percent), great communication skills (37 percent), a professional image (36 percent), and creativity (35 percent).

Don’t Delete, Instead Police
Debating removing your social media profiles while job searching? Think twice before you hit delete. Fifty-seven percent of employers are less likely to call someone in for an interview if they can’t find a job candidate online. Of that group, 36 percent like to gather more information before calling in a candidate for an interview, and 25 percent expect candidates to have an online presence.

Got the Job? Stay Vigilant
Just because you got the job doesn’t mean you can disregard what you post online. More than half of employers (51 percent) use social media sites to research current employees. Thirty-four percent of employers have found content online that caused them to reprimand or fire an employee.


This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,380 hiring and human resource managers (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between February 16 and March 9, 2017.

 

 

 

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5 Key Elements Every Small Business Website Should Have

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By Chris Pautsch.

Incorporate these five important website elements into your site to build an online presence that brings customers directly to your business, no matter where they’re located.

Your business may be small, but a business website is no longer optional – even if you serve a local customer base, and have no intentions of selling your products or services online.

Here are five essentials every small business website should include:

1. A powerful home page

Your website’s home page is the first impression you give the online world about your business: It should clearly communicate your business’s brand image through appealing visuals and copy, along with:

  • What your business does
  • Who it serves
  • Why it exists
  • Why a customer should care

There are many creative ways to approach your home page, but it should include (at minimum): your logo, a brief description of your business and a navigation menu that directs users to other important pages on your site.

Now that at least 68 percent of Americans own smartphones, according to Pew Research Center, your website should also include responsive design features that ensure it’s as easy to view and navigate on smaller screens as traditional desktop computer orientations.

2. User-friendly navigation

Whether your navigation menu expands across the top of your site or in a sidebar, it must be easy for site visitors to locate, and should include logical categories that make it simple for site users to find the information they seek. According to an infographic, poor navigation is the No. 1 reason people abandon a website they’ve visited.

Consider how you can best structure your navigation menu and the categories (and possibly, subcategories) it will contain based on common questions a new customer to your business might ask. For example:

  • What broad categories of items or services do you sell?
  • What do those products or services cost?
  • Where is your business located; what are its hours of operation?
  • How do customers purchase items or services, and what forms of payment do you accept?

Ideally, a clean navigation should use logical sequencing and titles that help customers easily identify the section of your website they need to visit.

3. Search features

Include a search box feature in addition to your site navigation menu so customers can type keywords or phrases to find the information they need when the navigation menu doesn’t meet their needs. When customers type content into the search box, they’ll be presented with relevant pages to visit, so they don’t have to handle their search manually. (The more content you have on your site that addresses all possible keywords, the more beneficial the search box feature becomes.)

4. Access to help

Despite the marketing benefits that a website offers small businesses and online customers, there are times when customers want to connect with a human. Your website should include the option to connect via phone, email and at your physical location, if you have one. Amazingly, Social Media Today reports that 93 percent of small businesses do not publish an email address that customers can use to contact them.

5. FAQ page

The more you engage with customers online and off, the more you’ll sense patterns in the types of information customers seek, and the questions that arise in regards to your products or services. Offer a page of frequently asked questions and their answers on your site to make it easier for customers to find the detailed information they need.

A small business website is an affordable and effective way to expand your online reach and potential to market to prospects and customers. Yet it needs a few critical elements to make a positive impression. Incorporate these five important website elements into your site to build an online presence that brings customers directly to your business, no matter where they’re located.

By Chris Pautsch

Sourced from Entrepreneur

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