If you need a website, you have three realistic options: build it yourself on Squarespace, build it yourself (or with help) on WordPress, or hire someone. We build websites for a living, so you might expect us to say “hire someone.” Sometimes that’s the right answer. Sometimes it isn’t.

Here’s an honest look at each one, and how to tell which fits where your business is right now.

---

Squarespace: the fastest way to look decent

Squarespace is an all-in-one website builder. You pick a template, drop in your content, and it handles hosting, security and updates for you. You pay a monthly or yearly subscription.

Where it shines

• You can have a clean, professional-looking site up in a weekend.
• Nothing to install or update. Squarespace takes care of the technical side.
• The templates are well designed, especially for visual businesses like photographers, studios and restaurants.
• Simple online stores and appointment booking are built in.

Where it falls short

• You can only go as far as the templates and settings allow. Doing anything a little different gets awkward fast.
• Lots of Squarespace sites look alike, because they start from the same handful of templates.
• The SEO tools cover the basics, with less room to fine-tune than WordPress.
• You don’t own the platform. Moving away later usually means rebuilding.

Good fit if: you’re just starting out, your needs are simple and you’d rather spend a weekend than a budget.

WordPress: the most flexible, with more upkeep

WordPress runs a huge share of the web. The software itself is free; you pay for hosting, a domain and any premium themes or plugins. (We mean self-hosted WordPress here, which is what most businesses mean by “a WordPress site.”)

Where it shines

• It can do almost anything: blogs, stores, booking, memberships, multiple languages.
• You own your site and your content, and you can switch hosts whenever you want.
• Strong control over SEO, with plenty of tools to help.
• Lots of people know it, so help is easy to find.

Where it falls short

• Somebody has to keep WordPress, the theme and the plugins updated. Skip that and you invite security problems.
• The learning curve is real. Page builders help, but there’s still a lot to figure out.
• It’s easy to pile on plugins and end up with a slow, fragile site.
• Cheap hosting can drag the whole thing down.

Good fit if: you expect to grow, you care about search, you want room to add features later, and someone (you or a pro) will keep it maintained.

Hiring someone: trading money for time and judgment

When you hire a designer or developer, you’re paying for more than the build. You’re paying for decisions: what goes on the homepage, how the pages fit together, what the words say, how you get found and how visitors turn into calls.

Where it shines

• You get your time back. You’re already running the business, doing the books and answering the phone.
• Someone who does this every day knows what works for businesses like yours.
• Copy, structure and SEO are planned from the start instead of bolted on later.
• You end up with a site built around your business, not a template’s idea of it.

Where it falls short

• It costs more upfront. Professional small-business sites usually run in the thousands of dollars, not the hundreds.
• Quality varies a lot. A bad hire can be worse than doing it yourself.
• You’re working on someone else’s schedule, and possibly relying on them for changes later.

Good fit if: your website needs to bring in work, your time is worth more spent on the business, or you’ve tried DIY and it isn’t working.

How to decide

A few questions usually settle it:

1. What does the site need to do? If it’s a digital business card, Squarespace is fine. If it needs to bring in leads, take bookings and show up in search, plan for more.
2. What’s your time worth? If building it yourself takes 40 hours away from paying work, that’s part of the price.
3. Who will look after it? WordPress without maintenance is a risk. Squarespace or a care plan takes that off your plate.
4. Where will you be in two years? If you expect to add a store, more services or a blog, choose something that can grow with you.

Our honest take

If you’re brand new and money is tight, a Squarespace site you build yourself is a perfectly good start. Write clear copy, add your contact details, set up your Google Business Profile and get going.

When the site needs to start bringing in work, or you’re spending more evenings on it than you’d like, that’s when hiring someone pays off. It’s the point where most of our clients come to us.

Not sure which side of that line you’re on? Our website packages start at $4,000, or book a free 20-minute call and we’ll tell you honestly whether you need us yet.