Reaching shoppers today means building a store that can expand its reach to as many people as possible. It only means one thing: setting up your site. With no coding or technical design experience, it's easy to get scared of the site-building game. The good news is that easy-to-use site authors have been around for a while to provide the easiest way to get online. Your online presence can do a lot for your brand, as can the platform you choose to launch your website. That being said, making sure that the platform you choose can meet your aesthetic and functional needs, and that you feel comfortable using it, will ensure optimal success. In this article, we review Elementor and Squarespace, two of the best options in website builders.
Main similarities and differences
While both platforms allow you to build websites without coding knowledge or specializing in web design, Squarespace is more beginner-friendly than Elementor. With both platforms, you can use a drag and drop builder that can make editing easier. Plus, they both offer mobile-friendly templates that give your website a huge edge, especially when the competition is fierce. Squarespace and Elementor have huge collections of themes and templates that make customization not only possible, but also easier. Elementor and Squarespace are great options for setting up an ecommerce store, with ecommerce features that allow you to have an online store that can accept strip-less payments and much more.
(Image credit: Elementor)
Award
Since this is a WordPress plugin, it is easy to expect a high price with Elementor. The good news though is that Elementor has a free version, though it only offers around 30 templates and a few widgets that come with the drag and drop editor. For €49 per year for one website or €99 per year if you have three sites, you can get the pro version of Elementor and access all its features. Squarespace's cheapest monthly plan costs just $12, but when you add it up, its yearly price can add up to $144. A higher-tier plan costs $18, which is more than $200. Superiors include a free custom domain, SSL security, SEO tools, templates, extensions, everything. If you are looking to add value to your investment to start your online business, Elementor is not a bad option at all. You also win this round with your low plan price and can give you the tools you need. Being a WordPress plugin, Elementor surprisingly takes this turn as a much more affordable solution.
Ease of use
It's no secret that WordPress comes with a learning curve. All of this may not be true with Elementor as it is a plugin that you can install and start building pages. Since you can create pages using sections and use widgets, not much technical knowledge is required. Most of the learning will need to be done by dealing with WordPress itself, not the Elementor plugin. Unlike Elementor, Squarespace is quite standalone and allows you to start building right out of the box. This website builder is intuitive and beginner friendly, with a wizard to guide you through the process. The menu allows you to see your options as you drag and drop, and you can preview your site as you create and edit. Despite WordPress' learning curve, Elementor is surprisingly easy to navigate, even for beginners. Squarespace does not imply learning to use another platform, specifically WordPress. Therefore, Elementor wins this round.
(Image credit: square space)
Design and functionality
Squarespace has a simple and easy to use interface where you can create your pages and also edit them by section with a few clicks. Most of the functionality is also in the menu, including the templates, making it easy to navigate. Elementor dashboard is categorized and divided into components that will give you options to add sections, columns, widgets, etc. This type of interface makes editing or creating your page more intuitive and much easier. The drag and drop functionality makes it easy. With the click of a button, Elementor displays the template library where you can get started. With over 300 designer-designed templates and nearly 100 widgets, Elementor is a powerful platform to start building a website. Features like motion effects, theme builder, WooCommerce builder, global widgets, etc. they give you a fully customizable website where you have full control over the design. It's easy to create a professional website in no time with Elementor. Squarespace also offers mobile-friendly templates and lets you add social icons and links, and even Amazon blocks so you can easily log into your Amazon store. It is quite difficult to choose between two powerful platforms. They each have their own strengths in terms of functionality, so it will have to be a tie this round.
SEO offer
Elementor uses Yoast or Rank Math to improve the SEO ranking of your website. Adding these plugins to your website is as easy as adding a page – it only takes a few clicks. Yoast seamlessly integrates with Elementor, making it easy for you to optimize your website. Squarespace has built-in SEO tools that help you stand out in local search and maximize your brand visibility. SEO tools are easily accessible via a dedicated SEO panel, giving you full control over details that contribute to your SEO ranking, such as page title, description, and formatting. It is good to know that both platforms offer SEO management. That being said, their ways of providing SEO management are unique, making this round another link. Squarespace may have been built with eCommerce in mind, offering some of the best design options for eCommerce websites. With that said, Squarespace Commerce is all about helping you take your online business to the next level. Squarespace Commerce is easy to use and has templates that can give you a nice storefront. With Elementor, you can also get a fully functional eCommerce website with a stunning design to showcase your products and greet your customers. The best part? No coding experience is required yet. Since Elementor is a drag and drop editor, designing your ecommerce website can be done in exactly the same way. Both Squarespace and Elementor have eCommerce as one of their main strengths. It's still a draw for this round.
Customer Service
The importance of immediate support when running or building a site cannot be overemphasized. With Elementor, you can get help from FAQs, hundreds of video tutorials and courses related to your problem, or find documentation that can help you when you get stuck. Just like WordPress, most of the interactions you'll get are from their email support team. Squarespace's award-winning customer support team will help you via live chat, as well as responding to your support email/ticket. Not to mention, this live chat support team is available 24/7 to make sure you get the support you need when you need it. With Squarespace's 24/7 live chat support, it's a given for them.
Verdict
Building your dream website is closer to reality than you think thanks to do-it-yourself website builders that make it a hundred times easier than before. Squarespace and Elementor are 2 of your best options when building your ecommerce website, so if you've narrowed your options down to those two, you'll likely get the best results regardless of your final choice. From a features perspective, Elementor and Squarespace are strong competitors. Their features help reinforce the power that both offer to their users. Their easy-to-understand SEO management tools are top of the line, and both have templates to suit the aesthetic needs of any website. While the two platforms have their own unique offerings, Squarespace dominates the most important cycle: customer support. If you do not solve your problems in time, it can negatively affect the outcome of your place.