All the popular website building softwares do the same things. In my case, the difference is that I work in WordPress every day and I’m good at getting what I want out of it. But, the curve is always going up, and I’ll always be learning any software I work with.
woodstovegallery.com – WordPress site by Tom Stier
WordPress is portable, while Squarespace and other website services are not.
The hours and hours of work you or your web designer put into a Squarespace site stays on Squarespace. So, you better be nice to Squarespace!
WordPress has more developers making more Themes with more cool “effects” that emulate the kind of experience people see on current sites they visit.
Squarespace sites tend to be built by novices and, since there is an inclination to “tart” up the provided templates, these sites can end up looking amateurish. They take professionally designed templates and “improve” ’em. 😉
Sad to say, many businesses have an irrelevant website. They don’t use it. It becomes a useless appendage that they are eventually ashamed to tell anyone about. About as reverse a search engine optimization strategy as humanly possible.
Some people’s only test of how relevant their website begins and ends in their own small circle of family and friends. Judgement is based on how the website looks. Meanwhile, 99% of the world visits dull-looking hard to navigate websites like Facebook, Google, and confusing bank portals all day long.
The driving force is always usefulness. I want to see what my friends are doing. I want to find out why this thing in my program is grayed-out. I want to find out if that deposit cleared.
The usefulness of a website begins at the home page. The search or the link on Facebook or Twitter brings visitors there to find out the who, what, why and where that has momentarily intrigued them. If what they see in that one or two seconds does not explain and expand on the intrigue, they leave.
A website is essential, just like having a place to live is essential. But if you stay in your home all the time, nobody knows who you are. Uh Oh!
People who have a successful website do the following:
- They understand that the web is a writers medium, but pictures and fancy design are a nice plus. Very nice if you have beautiful images!
- They are active daily on some social media for the sole purpose of driving people they have never met to their website
- They login to their site on a regular basis and add something that will be of interest to everybody
- They don’t waste time on changes that won’t be of interest to everybody
- They see the website as a part of a larger strategy that will continue indefinitely, keeping a mostly uncaring world informed of what they are selling, thinking and doing.
Happy posting!
Cheers, Tom