Articles

Squarespace Article

Pulp fiction payday? Here’s why Squarespace is trading public life for a juicy private deal

matt-garrepy

SquareSpace has announced that they are going to be accepting applicants for beta testing of the new, upcoming version of SquareSpace CMS. According to the blog post:
<blockquote>Squarespace V6 is a reinvention of many core Squarespace concepts that will become the foundation for our company over the years to come.  It allows the extremely talented folks who work on Squarespace to create the sorts of sites they've always dreamed of creating on Squarespace.  It incorporates a totally redesigned consumer editing experience, backend site manager, and template system.</blockquote>
Some sneak peak screenshots of the upcoming templates and the new interface:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/imcreator22_kvfaza.jpg" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/imcreator23_rumxy8.jpg" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/imcreator24_t0uveh.jpg" />
To get in on the beta testing, visit the <a href="http://blog.squarespace.com/blog/2011/5/9/an-introduction-to-squarespace-v6.html" target="_blank">SquareSpace blog</a> and read their latest blog entry.  To try out SquareSpace for free for 14 days without a credit card, visit here: <a href="http://www.squarespace.com" target="_blank">SquareSpace</a>

SquareSpace shows off sneak peak at upcoming version and accepts beta test signups

mike-johnston

<a href="https://www.squarespace.com/" target="_blank"> Squarespace</a> has answered the call of its Android using fan base. Squarespace has released <a href="http://blog.squarespace.com/blog/squarespace-for-android-now-in-beta" target="_blank">two new apps for public beta testing</a>; Squarespace Blog and Squarespace Note.
As one of the most popular website builders on the market, Squarespace allows users to build blogs, online stores, portfolio websites and more, using a sleek, user-friendly interface.
iOS users have been enjoying Squarespace apps for a while, with Squarespace Metrics for iPad being the most recent addition. Now, Android users can get in on the action.
However, it should be noted that this beta program is optimized for devices running Android Jellybean (v4.2+) or higher. The full release of these apps will cover a broad range of Android versions.
<a href="/products/squarespace/" target="_blank"><img style="max-width:200px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/imagescauzpt5i-1.jpg" /></a>
<h2>Feedback Requested</h2>
Both apps have a separate Google+ Community page, linked below. To begin experimenting with the apps, join the Community by clicking on the red “Ask to Join” button on the Community page for each app you'd like to test:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://plus.google.com/communities/117227036436156156932" target="_blank"> Squarespace Blog Community Page</a></li>
<li><a href="https://plus.google.com/communities/101820883333197891401" target="_blank"> Squarespace Note Community Page </a></li>
</ul>
The community pages each offer detailed instructions on how to install the beta releases.
Squarespace have (obviously) requested feedback from beta testers. To do this, you can use the “Leave Feedback” option within the apps.  Alternatively, you can visit the feedback form for the app located here.  If you have a comment to make, or would like to upload screenshots, you can use the relevant Google+ Community pages above.
You can also get started with your Squarespace website today, thanks to the <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/">Squarespace 14-day free trial</a>.

Squarespace for Android Public Beta Begins

Design agencies are in high demand, as just about everyone needs to maximize their digital footprints these days. But not everyone possesses the technical skills or composition know-how to create a visually stunning, intuitive, and search-visible site. This is where agencies come into play.
Fortunately for agencies and their clients, there are several web design platforms that make the task straightforward, efficient, and even (gasp) a good time.
The right site builder must also give agencies the flexibility to build and scale over time as well. So that limits the playing field.
WordPress is often the first tool that comes to mind. However, this platform can be unnecessarily complex, buggy and expensive. 
What most agencies need is a feature-rich, easy-to-use, powerful yet intuitive platform to work with. Choose one with too few features, and you’ll soon hit growth limitations; too many, and you’ll get dragged down by undue chaos and confusion. So let’s stick to the middle of the road.
To help you separate wheat from chaff, we are going to analyze three of today’s best website creation platforms. Hopefully, this will help you identify the one best suited for your growing agency’s needs.
<h2>Duda</h2>
Like many site creation suites, <a href="https://www.duda.co/">Duda</a> is a platform for creating fully optimized multi-screen websites. <a href="/duda-website-builder">Duda</a> is well-suited for small and medium-sized businesses, as this is their primary audience.
<a href="/duda-website-builder">Duda</a> offers a myriad of beautifully-designed templates, a drag-and-drop interface, eCommerce options, and a plethora of elements for design agencies to work with for budding brands. And using Duda helps streamline site development. As the site puts it, “digital publishers on Duda average more than a 50% drop in website build times.”
This is a bold claim for agencies looking to optimize production and site turnaround times. And Duda has a lot to offer in this realm.
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/286281912?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Firstly, Duda’s white label options enable agencies to create a fully immersive, customized experience that screams of professionalism. This includes compelling options for custom login screens, custom color and logo implementation features, and other branding options. Duda also offers user migration and “content injection” options to help migrate existing sites over to its platform. It also features one-of-a-kind templates that can be automatically pre-populated with clients’ business information.
On the communications front, Duda’s white label features provide automatic email generation components that present clients with site stats, analytics, and onboarding instructions for their accounts. Additionally, the content collection form makes it easy to send clients data sheets that include instructions on how they can send exactly what is required to build a stunning website.
What helps makes Duda a premier option for agencies is its rich team collaboration and client management options. Through this builder, users can generate unique dashboards for clients, enabling varying roles and permission levels based on their technical prowess; this includes potential access to publishing and editing permissions, eCommerce enablement, developer access, and more.
<a name="_GoBack"></a> What is particularly outstanding is that Duda supplies agencies with a custom widget builder. This enables brands to not only integrate third-party services, but to build unique, native widgets for clients. This feature can help agencies provide massive customization value to client builds.
And of course, Duda has developer capabilities for HTML/CSS/JavaScript integration, automatic SSL certification (for white label dashboards), and gives a remarkable amount freedom of freedom for SEO optimization.
<h2>Squarespace</h2>
<a href="https://www.squarespace.com/">Squarespace</a> is one of the more popular website builders on the market today, and with good reason.
Like Duda, Squarespace features stunning, mobile-responsive templates that are eye-catching and polished. 
This platform gives users various styling options to help customize websites and give them a more branded look. Like the previous platform, Squarespace enables users to tailor their site’s appearance without having to dive into coding languages; this greatly simplifies the processes for designers. Though, if a client requires it, coding can be applied for a more customized destination.
When compared to Duda, however, Squarespace is less intuitive; this can slow things down and cause frustration. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/squarespace_zlovtc.png" />
Squarespace is lacking in scalability, and SEO is minimal too. Furthermore, integration features for Google Analytics and Search Console, Facebook retargeting, and other necessary marketing elements are hidden within the platform’s Advanced Settings and need to be added using the Code Injector tool. This isn’t exactly client or novice coder-friendly, but at least these features do exist.
When a brand expands their offerings, clients are likely to request the implementation a variety of third-party apps or extensions to enhance functionality. This is where the platform falls epically short of the mark as new features must be rolled out by Squarespace.
Another drawback for Squarespace is its responsiveness. While the site claims to tout fully responsive designs, the site’s contents can often shift when viewed on mobile devices. This means that users are likely to not have complete control over their sites’ appearance, which can certainly be problematic for agencies, as clients demand certain levels of uniformity and professionalism.
But Squarespace has a solid audience for many legitimate reasons. Functional, beautiful sites can be built in a small fraction of time, and updates, articles, images, videos and blogs are a synch to create and publish. 
The tool makes integration with other platforms like MailChimp, Gmail, Facebook, and oodles more marketing and social interfaces a snap – they know how to play well with others. It’s a very, very good option if ease and speed are your agency’s priorities.
<h2>Wix</h2>
<a href="https://www.wix.com/">Wix</a> is another popular option, but it has its own set of pros and cons too.
This platform boasts over 500 templates done by professional designers, making custom designs a breeze. These come pre-populated with content, meaning that designers merely need to replace the existing assets with their own materials. 
The platform’s drag-and-drop builder makes site assembly a snap. Wix also features a new AI-based system that will automatically create the first draft of a site for its users. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wix-1024x610.png" />
On the downside, Wix makes switching site designs a significant effort. If you opt for another design later down the road, you will need to re-insert your content all over again. It’s essential to feel certain about a template before diving in. This can be quite problematic for agencies seeking to optimize their efficiency as clients may want to apply a different template later in the process, ultimately creating a massive slow-down in production.
This also doesn’t lend to simplicity when a brand scales and needs to re-format a customer’s offerings. 
Wix is also not all that SEO friendly. This is the single most prevalent issue brought up by Wix users; there are many observations that SEO is not a strong suit, so it requires you have your own SEO expertise to ensure you are not forgotten by Google’s algorithms. Again, this can create significant problems for less technically-inclined clients. 
If you have your own SEO expertise, however, Wix can be a stellar option for newly-minted businesses and those who need a stunning site with intuitive versatility. 
The Verdict
You know what your agency really needs to get a sophisticated and impressive site up and running. Narrow your focus to these three excellent offerings and find the one that fulfills most of your business’s needs. 
Choose the one that will enable your company to turn professional websites around the fastest, and that will allow you to scale with minimal issues.

How to Choose the Best Website Building Platform for Your Agency

Ecommerce is growing more rapidly by the day. In fact, by 2016, U.S. consumers alone are <a href="http://www.internetretailer.com/2012/02/27/e-retail-spending-increase-45-2016" target="_blank">predicted to spend $327 billion</a> online.
With the e-commerce industry producing such vast figures, more and more e-commerce startups are looking for their first venture – and <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/" target="_blank">Squarespace</a> is a platform primed for the task.
But just how easy is it to start selling on Squarespace? If you’re interested in selling with Squarespace, you’ll need to know if it can handle your business ideas and product types.
So, join me in taking a look at just how functional Squarespace Commerce is.
<h2>Selling on Squarespace: Good Enough for Your Online Store?</h2>
Selling with SquareSpace Commerce enables you to sell physical products, digital products, and even services. The platform does a very solid job of it too.
To get started, you only need to navigate to the “Commerce” section, located on the left-hand sidebar.
Once you get into the Commerce section, Squarespace leads you through the process of setting up your store with a three-step guide.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/selling700x0.png" alt="Squarespace eCommerce" />
To carry out all the steps, you only need to click on them, configure your products and settings, and move on. So, let’s take a look at just how easy those three steps are to take.
<h3>Adding Products</h3>
Adding products naturally makes or breaks an online selling platform, and it’s no surprise that adding products on SquareSpace is a breeze. Although, in order to add a product, you’ll need to navigate back over to the “Content Manager” section.
Once there, you simply have to click “Add Page” and then select “Products”.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/selling2700x0.png" alt="Squarespace eCommerce" />
Next, a window will be presented to you, allowing you to configure your product.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/8-1700x0.png" alt="Squarespace eCommerce" />
Product images can be uploaded via a drag-and-drop system, while titles, descriptions, pricing and additional information can all be quickly added via the product upload window. If your products aren’t in need of any technical specifications, you can have a whole catalog uploaded in a matter of minutes.
<h3>Create a Shipping Option</h3>
The second step requires you to set up a shipping option. All you have to do is navigate over to the “Shipping” tab back over in the “Commerce” section, before clicking “Add Shipping Method”.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/shipp700x0.png" alt="Squarespace eCommerce" />
A window will then prompt you to select either flat rate shipping, weight dependent shipping or UPS calculated shipping – which is reserved for Squarespace Business users.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/shipp2.png" alt="Squarespace eCommerce" />
Once you have made your selection, you can configure the resulting options, and then hit “Save”. It’s that easy.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ship_3.png" alt="Squarespace eCommerce" />
<h3>Connect to Stripe</h3>
Squarespace only allows you to use <a href="https://stripe.com/" target="_blank">Stripe</a> as a payment gateway, which is quite disappointing. However, Stripe is a respected payment method, and setting up an account with them is easy.
To configure your Stripe account with Squarespace, you only need to navigate over to the “Store Settings” page within the “Commerce” section, where you will find the option to connect with Stripe.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/stripe700x0.png" alt="Squarespace eCommerce" />
Once you connect your Stripe account, you have effectively flipped the switch, meaning that your Squarespace store is now live.
<h2>Squarespace Selling Extras</h2>
Some handy extra options are also available for selling on Squarespace, including:
<ul>
<li>Coupon Codes</li>
<li>Sales</li>
<li>Shipping Options</li>
<li>Taxing Options</li>
<li>Mailchimp integration</li>
<li>Donations</li>
<li>And More</li>
</ul>
These additional options, along with the straightforward store setup guide, make Squarespace ideal for budding online merchants.
<h2>The Verdict</h2>
To give you an overview of the good and bad which Squarespace Commerce has to offer, check out the pros and cons below.
<h3>Pros</h3>
<ul>
<li>Friendly setup guide makes it easy to build a store.</li>
<li>Product creation is extremely quick and easy.</li>
<li>Much like with page and blog post creation, Squarespace enables you to apply plenty of detail to your products and services if you wish to.</li>
<li>Good range of additional extras including Mailchimp integration and donations.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Cons</h3>
<ul>
<li>Squarespace only allows you to accept payments through Stripe – which is very limiting.</li>
<li>Adding products requires you to navigate away from the Commerce section.</li>
</ul>
Aside from its extensive design features – which is widely known as Squarespace’s forte – I’d say that Commerce is Squarespace’s biggest strength. Setting up the store and adding products takes just minutes, thanks to the user friendly walk-through guide.
Although, there are flaws to be found. I find it strange how adding products requires you to leave the “Commerce” section, as well as the limitation to using Stripe as the only payment gateway. But apart from these two relatively minor issues, everything else related to setting up a store on Squarespace flows quite nicely indeed.
For further detail on Squarespace, check out our full <a href="/squarespace-review-the-long-awaited-commerce-solution/" target="_blank">Squarespace Review</a>.
You can also get started with your Squarespace website today, via the <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/templates">Squarespace 14-day free trial</a>.

How Effective is Squarespace as an eCommerce Platform?

Squarespace has been busy ramping up the feature set to keep themselves on top of their game and there have been some exciting new features as well as some new Squarespace themes added to their CMS.
For those who are unfamiliar with Squarespace, they won our <a href="/critics-choice-for-best-website-builder-goes-to/">Best Website Builder</a> award in our 2012 Critic's Choice CMS Awards and we recently shared our <a href="/squarespace-review-the-long-awaited-commerce-solution/">Squarespace review</a> of the newly releases Squarespace 6.
Let's get down to what they've recently added to the system, shall we?
<h2>Squarespace Commerce now supports Canada</h2>
First off, for those of you who are Canadian users and have been pining for a chance to use their sweet new ecommerce integration, you are now in luck. Squarespace recently announced full integration with Stripe Canada and now offers the ability to tie into your Stripe account and sell via your Squarespace page. As part of this integration, you get:
<ul>
<li>Canadian Currency Support – The currency displayed throughout your Squarespace store will reflect the currency set in your Stripe account currency (which you select upon sign-up, and cannot be changed). All prices are quoted in CAD for Canadian stores on Squarespace.</li>
<li>Tax System Improvements – You can now define taxes internationally and locally, down to the zip code level. As before, you can choose to add tax on products as well as shipping. Easily add more fine-grained shipping rules by jurisdiction, and define local rules by a single postal code or a range of postal codes.</li>
<li>Metric System Support – In Store Settings, you may now choose between Imperial and Metric standards to define product weights and weight-based shipping options.</li>
</ul>
<h2>New Theme: Adirondack</h2>
Check out this beautiful new theme available in the Squarespace template design library:
<blockquote>Adirondack is a modern, clean design built with small business owners and savvy entrepreneurs in mind. Minimal navigation and full header images provide a bold framework for your company or brand. The template is characterized by scrolling effects; the header shrinks to become less obtrusive as you scroll, and the banner image fades out and moves up in relation to the distance you’ve scrolled. Navigation links can be hidden to reduce clutter, and become visible when you hover the mouse over the menu icon or the site title.</blockquote>
 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace-theme-620x394.png" alt="squarespace theme" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace-theme-2-620x354.png" alt="squarespace theme - 2" /> 
It's always nice to see new themes being added and we have to give kudos to the fact that Squarespace doesn't just release your typical themes, they take the time to do beautiful ones that you WANT to use.
<h2>The Events Collection</h2>
Squarespace has also introduced a new calendar system that they call the Events Collection. Here's how it looks and a bit of a breakdown on what you can expect from it.
<blockquote>The Events Collection comes with two viewing modes: Calendar View and List View. Each mode is responsively designed – like all other elements of a Squarespace website, your Events Collection looks perfect no matter what device you’re using. In List View, you can add thumbnail images to accompany each item, presenting your upcoming events in a compelling, elegant way.</blockquote>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace-calendar-1-620x393.jpg" alt="squarespace calendar - 1" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace-calendar-2-620x359.jpg" alt="squarespace calendar - 1" />
<h2>Even More Features</h2>
The changes don't stop there, however. There are a few additional features that have been added as well. They include:
<ul>
<li>Duplicate Pages – Since launch, we’ve gotten numerous requests for the ability to create copies of a page within your Squarespace site. As of today, this is now possible. You can find the Duplicate button at the bottom of the Collection Settings area (near the remove and save buttons).</li>
<li>Restore Deleted Collections  – Never worry about accidentally deleting a collection again. You can recover any deleted collections by clicking on “Restore Deleted Collections” under the Search bar in your Website Manager.</li>
<li>Multiple Backends for Form Builder – Unlimited and Business Account Users can now save form submissions to multiple destinations at once (Mailchimp and Google Docs, for example), instead of selecting just one.</li>
<li>Github Social Icon – We've added the ability to connect your Github profile to Squarespace. Look for the Github icon under ‘Connected Accounts’.</li>
</ul>
 
So what are you waiting for? <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/">Check them out</a> or go <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/templates">sign up for their two-week free trial</a> (you don't need a credit card, which is nice) and see if Squarespace is the right tool for you.

Squarespace Introduces New Features, Themes and a new Calendar!

SquareSpace has been getting alot of attention of late for their revolutionary CMS. SquareSpace is an incredibly powerful and unique, hosted solution that gives the designer/developer unprecedented control over the look of their site and it's content. Today we're going to take a look at it in this SquareSpace review.
SquareSpace is available with a number of plans ranging from $8/month to $50/month (more details on their<a href="http://www.squarespace.com" target="_blank"> pricing page</a>).
When you first log into your account, you will notice a menu along the top of the site that offers a number of options:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/squarespace1-580x104_egtoha.jpg" alt="Squarespace 5 Review" /> 
Clicking on the overview option provides a number of statistics for your website using some nicely rendered charts (it's nice to see some well done integrated analytics):
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/squarespace2-580x308_uajfu5.jpg" alt="Squarespace 5 Review" /> 
Squarespace CMS also has inline editing which you can access directly from the site.
You can see the links once you log into the CMS:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/squarespace3-580x309_peyxdu.jpg" alt="Squarespace 5 Review" /> 
Clicking the “Post new entry” button overlays an very well designed editor that has literally every function you could want (and more) including video embedding, photo embedding and much more. Using their editor is a snap and works beautifully. Embedding a YouTube video into a post, for example, is as easy as pasting the URL.. the editor will then provide a preview and give you a number of options for sizing and alignment.
Here's a screenshot of the editor:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/squarespace4-580x426_rfyj7g.jpg" alt="Squarespace 5 Review" />
Entering Tags and Categories within the editor is just a click and type function and works exactly as one might expect.
Article references can also be inserted with ease thanks to a handy References button within the editor:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/squarespace5-580x365_kadawj.jpg" alt="Squarespace 5 Review" />
The editor in the top right of the screen (shown below) allows you to switch between modes such as content editing, structure editing, style editing and preview mode.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/squarespace6_enfg5a.jpg" alt="Squarespace 5 Review" />
We've already shown you content editing mode, let's move on to Structure Editing mode.. (the 4 square blocks shown in the menu above).
Structure editing mode allows you to add and insert sections, add/modify widgets, edit the headers and more. Clicking on this mode will show a number of options as well as page configuration:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/squarespace7-580x410_zdye76.jpg" alt="Squarespace 5 Review" />
Clicking on configure this page will bring up the dialog below which lets you make modifications to the individual page itself. There are far too many options to possibly show with screenshots so we'd recommend trying out their demo if you'd like to see the options and play around. You can get a demo for 14 days (no credit card required) from their website.
Switching to style editing mode (yes, the options never end with this software..) provides you with even more functionality. Now you can switch templates using this screen:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/squarespace8-580x165_ey9tnc.jpg" alt="Squarespace 5 Review" />
Once you've found the right template, you can copy it into your own style and make whatever changes you want. Clicking on Banner &amp; Navigation provides the following functions (column configuration, customized banners, etc):
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/squarespace9-580x210_t8h0xt.jpg" alt="Squarespace 5 Review" />
Once you've made the necessary changes on this page, you can take them ever further by modifying individual CSS, fonts, sizes and more all from a number of handy menus.
There really are far too many options to possibly cover in one review, but this SquareSpace Review should give you a good idea of what to expect from SquareSpace.
For those of you who are thinking that with all of these positives, there must be something wrong, surely support must be poor or something is lacking… the short answer is No.
Support responses were the fastest we have ever had from any support ticket we have filed. Literally within 5 minutes of submitting a request, we had a reply back.. they are fast, polite and efficient and we highly recommend them. Now, having said that, we don't expect this fast of a response all of the time but it certainly was a pleasant first experience.
One thing is for certain, SquareSpace rivals most installed CMS systems when it comes to ease of use, beauty and functionality and this SquareSpace Review was a pleasure to write.
<h3>Pro's:</h3>
<ul>
<li>Beautifully designed interface that is both snappy and well designed.</li>
<li>Huge number of options and configuration possibilities.</li>
<li>Images are uploaded and hosted on super fast Amazon S3 servers.</li>
<li>Cost is incredibly inexpensive for such a powerful system.</li>
<li>Support from SquareSpace is remarkably fast.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Con's:</h3>
<ul>
<li>It won't do your laundry.</li>
</ul>
Website: <a href="http://www.squarespace.com" target="_blank">http://www.squarespace.com</a>
Do you have any comments about this CMS? Have you found this SquareSpace review helpful? We'd love to hear from you in the comments below.

Squarespace 5 Review

Power your CMS on AWS

Manage your websites & apps in the most trusted cloud.

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Being able to monitor and study the behaviour of your website visitors is vital – and with Squarespace analytics, you can do just that.
In short, analytics help you to understand your visitors, allowing you to cater to their needs. By knowing where your visitors came from, which pages they’re visiting, and which devices they’re using, you can make better informed marketing decisions.
So, let’s take a look at just how well “Squarespace Activity” – Squarespace's built-in analytics tool – presents you with the data you need.
<h2>Squarespace Analytics: Just How Useful Is It?</h2>
To access Squarespace analytics, you only need to head over to the Activity section , which is located on the left-hand sidebar on the Squarespace admin panel.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/1700x0.png" alt="Squarespace Analytics" />
The Activity section holds all of the Squarespace analytics options, and the best part is, there’s nothing extra to configure or install. Squarespace does everything for you.
Within the Activity section is seven further sections which give you a break down of your websites stats. Let’s take a look at these sections individually.
<h3>Traffic Overview</h3>
One of the most important sections of Squarespace analytics is Traffic Overview. Within it is an easy to follow graph, which enables you to monitor the amount of visitors your website has been receiving over hourly, daily weekly and monthly periods.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2700x0.png" alt="Squarespace Analytics" />
Further figures indicate Page Views and Visitor Counts, which include both unique and robot hits. Squarespace compute these statistics every few minutes to give you a real-time view of your numbers.
<h3>Mobile Usage</h3>
It’s important to know which devices your visitors are using, so you can ensure that your website is looking as it should for those who frequent it. To help out, Squarespace enables you to check the number of visitors using either desktops or mobile devices via a graph.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/3700x0.png" alt="Squarespace Analytics" />
Once again, Squarespace gives you a very useful hourly, daily, weekly and monthly breakdown of which devices your visitors are using.
<h3>Subscribers</h3>
Squarespace also provides accurate RSS subscriber figures as well as a breakdown of where your RSS subscribers are coming from. The figures displayed are estimates of the number of unique active subscribers you have from each RSS feed on your website.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/4700x0.png" alt="Squarespace Analytics" />
These figures are presented on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, helping you to keep track of your subscribers over both long and short periods of time. Once again, a simple graphs is used to illustrate the figures.
<h3>Referrers</h3>
Knowing where visitors are coming from is important, and Squarespace recognizes this by providing detailed referral metrics. Using this section of Squarespace analytics, you can see how many visitors came to your website directly, as well as how many came through Google, Facebook, Twitter and so forth.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/5700x0.png" alt="Squarespace Analytics" />
These metrics can be viewed on a daily basis, two daily basis, three daily basis as well as on a weekly and monthly basis. This time, an easy to understand coloured pie chart helps keep things simple.
<h3>Popular Content</h3>
Using Squarespace analytics, you can also check which pages on your website are receiving most traffic.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/6700x0.png" alt="Squarespace Analytics" />
Once again, these stats are presented on a daily basis, two daily basis, three daily basis as well as on a weekly and monthly basis. A coloured pie chart is used again also, giving you a concise overview of the popularity of each page on your website.
<h3>Search Queries</h3>
You can also monitor search engine queries via the search queries section on the Activity page. This allows you to see how your content is being found in search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/7700x0.png" alt="Squarespace Analytics" />
The coloured pie chart makes another appearance, along with options to view the stats on a daily, two daily and three daily basis, as well as on a weekly and monthly basis. The same list of keywords are then displayed in a list below the chart for further analysis.
<h3>Detailed Activity</h3>
Finally, Detailed Activity allows you to view specific visitor and visit details.These details include the IP address of each visitor, the pages they visited, and the exact time in which their visit began.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/8700x0.png" alt="Squarespace Analytics" />
These detailed activity facts are ideal for tracking and monitoring individual visitors. A handy search bar even enables you to locate certain IP addresses. Unfortunately though – unlike the other Squarespace analytics sections – there are no time-based filtering options.
<h2>The Verdict</h2>
To give you an overview of the good and bad which 3dcart has to offer, check out the pros and cons below.
<h4>Pros</h4>
<ul>
<li>No configuration needed, Squarespace Analytics just works.</li>
<li>Graphs, charts and lists keep stats and facts neat, tidy and easy to understand.</li>
<li>Nice range of time filtering options within most sections which help you analyse data better.</li>
<li>Seven different sections dedicated to certain statistical data sets makes it easier to focus on certain stats.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Cons</h4>
<ul>
<li>Mobile Usage section doesn’t tell you which mobile devices in particular are being used.</li>
<li>Detailed Activity section isn’t as detailed as it could be, with no time filtering options.</li>
</ul>
Overall, Squarespace analytics gives you a highly impressive overview of your website’s statistics.
Because Squarespace have laid these facts and figures out so neatly throughout every section, you can come to a wide range of conclusions regarding your visitors extremely easily.
It could be argued that the lack of a time-based filter on the Detailed Activity page is a possible flaw – although the sheer usefulness and user friendliness of the other sections far outweigh this minor issue. So, the Squarespace analytics section definitely gets a thumbs up from us.
For further detail on Squarespace, check out our full <a href="/squarespace-review-the-long-awaited-commerce-solution/" target="_blank">Squarespace Review</a>. Also, you can explore more of <a href="/products/squarespace/" target="_blank">Squarespace via our CMS Directory</a>.
You can also start your <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/templates">14-day free trial of Squarespace</a> today.

How Useful is Squarespace as an Analytics Tool?

Blogging is becoming increasingly important in terms of marketing and relationship building between company and customer.
Thankfully, blogging on <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/" target="_blank">Squarespace</a> is an option – but just how good of an option is it?
If you’re looking to use Squarespace to build a blog, you’ll need to assess just how much functionality the platform offers, and how easy it is to blog on Squarespace on a regular basis.
To explore exactly those areas, read on.
<h2>Blogging on Squarespace: Good Enough for Your Blog?</h2>
Squarespace’s blogging feature can be found within the “Content Manager”, accessible from the left-hand sidebar.
From there, you can click “Add Page”, and then select “Blog”.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/blog.png" alt="Squarespace Blogging" />
Once your blog page is set up – which takes you a matter of seconds, SquareSpace allows you to start blogging straight away. Which is also just as simple. All you need to do is click “Add Post” in the top right-hand corner.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/untitled-1024x195700x0.png" alt="Squarespace Blogging" />
You can then type in your blog post title, and all of your required text.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bpost700x0.png" alt="Squarespace Blogging" />
Furthermore, you can start experimenting with Squarespace’s extensive content block options.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/blocks700x0.png" alt="Squarespace Blogging" />
These content block options include inserting more text areas, products, maps, menus, videos, galleries, social buttons, Flickr widgets, Instagram widgets, and much, much more. It’s all as easy as selecting which content block you wish to use.
Once you have finished inserting your text, videos and other blocks, you’re all set to publish your blog post.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/publish700x0.png" alt="Squarespace Blogging" />
All you need to do is click “Save &amp; Publish”, and you’re done.
After creating a few blog posts, your blog management page will begin filling up. The neatly laid out list displays all of your posts, along with some minor details and an option to edit them further.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bloglist700x0.png" alt="Squarespace Blogging" />
<h2>Squarespace Blogging Extras</h2>
Some handy extra options are also available for blogging on Squarespace. These include:
<ul>
<li>Post tagging</li>
<li>Categories</li>
<li>Geo-tagging</li>
<li>Post by email</li>
<li>Podcast support</li>
<li>Customizable URLs</li>
</ul>
These additional options really help round off the Squarespace blogging experience, allowing it to go above and beyond standard blog post publishing.
<h2>The Verdict</h2>
To give you an overview of the good and bad which Squarespace blogging has to offer, check out the pros and cons below.
<h3>Pros</h3>
<ul>
<li>Incredibly simple to put to get started with, with no tricky controls or menus.</li>
<li>The blog list view is easy to understand and thus easy to manage.</li>
<li>Huge amount of content blocks which make embedding videos, maps, menus and so forth a piece of cake.</li>
<li>Long list of optional extras like tagging and customizable URLs to add some depth to your blog if necessary.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Cons</h3>
<ul>
<li>No toggle option between HTML &amp; Visual mode, as with most other blogging platforms.</li>
<li>No blog post preview option.</li>
</ul>
All in all, blogging on Squarespace is – like the rest of the platform – simple. There aren’t any technical options to get confused with, whilst all the additional extras are completely optional.
What’s more is, Squarespace’s trademark content blocks make adding elements like videos and social buttons to blog posts a breeze.
If you’re on the hunt for a sophisticated blogging platform, Squarespace’s lack of HTML and post previewing action may hold you back. However, when it comes to straightforward blogging, there isn’t much Squarespace can’t do.
You can also get started with your Squarespace website today, thanks to the <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/templates">Squarespace 14-day free trial</a>.

How Effective is Squarespace as a Blogging Platform?

<a href="/products/squarespace" target="_blank">Squarespace</a> and Brace.io have both announced their plan to merge, with the Brace.io team being absorbed into the Squarespace ranks.
Brace.io is a relatively new static website CMS with DropBox integration acting as an FTP, fast deployment, sleek templates, and some interesting tools and features including forms, charts, and tags.
Squarespace is of course one of the world's most widely used and respected website builders. Much like its competitors, it has a focus on simplicity, yet is still manages to pack a functional punch – maybe now even more so, thanks to the boost of acquiring Brace.io. Let's take a look at how this merge came about.
<h2>Squarespace &amp; Brace</h2>
<img style="max-width:200px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/imagescauzpt5i-1.jpg" alt="Squarespace" /><img style="max-width:200px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/brace1_1x200x0.png" alt="Brace.io" />
We don't know exactly what this move means yet, but here's what we do know so far.
Existing Brace.io users can continue to use our service until Jan 19, 2015, after which, all Brace sites, including redirects will be disabled. If you're a Brace free user, you will receive a coupon worth three months of free service on <a href="http://www.site44.com/">Site44</a>.
Paying customers, will receive a full refund for their last subscription period, the same Site44 coupon, and a full year of <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/pricing" target="_blank">Squarespace Unlimited</a> for free.
Squarespace had to say <a href="http://blog.squarespace.com/blog/welcome-the-braceio-team-to-squarespace" target="_blank">via their blog</a>:
<blockquote>“Over the last few months, we’ve been watching Brace.io, a company that shares our passion for simplicity and delightful developer experiences. Today, we’re happy to announce that Brace.io is joining us here at Squarespace. We’ll be working together to enhance our own developer workflow, and to create other beautifully simple experiences within the Squarespace platform.”</blockquote>
Brace, had this to say via their blog announcement:
<blockquote>“In the end we feel that our vision aligns closely with that of Squarespace. They care about developer experience, as evidenced by the <a href="http://www.squarespace.com/developer">developer platform</a> they launched with Squarespace 6. Together, we hope to create the best experience possible for developers on an online publishing platform.”</blockquote>
So, this move seems to be focused on improving the Squarespace developer platform. But I have a feeling that Squarespace wants to benefit from this move in other ways.
<h2>A Hint of Things to Come?</h2>
As you can see from the quotes above, neither Squarespace or Brace.io has given away too much of the details of the deal.
But Squarespace hasn't made this move in vain, and so it will be interesting to see how the acquisition of Brace.io impacts future updates to existing features, as well as if we see any brand new features which Brace.io previously had on offer.
It would be logical to assume that Squarespace plans on poaching some of Brace.io's existing features, particularly their forms, charts, and tags tools. I go into more detail about what this Squarespace move means over on <a href="https://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/squarespace-brace-team-up-heres-what-it-means/" target="_blank">Website Builders Critic</a>.
To sign up to Squarespace with a 14-day free trial, <a href="https://www.squarespace.com" target="_blank">visit their website</a>, or check <a href="/products/squarespace/" target="_blank">Squarespace out via our CMS Directory</a>.

Brace Joins Squarespace as a Booster in the Website Builder Race

It might sound repetitive, but it’s been another month packed with acquisitions, big investments, and major announcements from across the CMS and DXP landscape. The consolidation streak continues, particularly as enterprise platforms hunt for customer data and digital experience capabilities to gain a competitive edge – or simply keep up.
We’ve covered some head-spinning moments this March, from <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/optimizely-acquires-customer-data-platform-zaius/">Optimizely buying CDP player Zaius</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/hyland-enters-agreement-to-acquire-nuxeo/">Hyland agreeing to acquire Nuxeo</a>, and the real doozy of <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-boxever-and-four51/">Sitecore snapping up Boxever and Four51</a> at the same time.
We also covered <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/gatsby-unveils-v3-0-cloud-hosting-and-more-at-gatsbyconf-2021/">GatsbyConf 2021</a>, where Gatsby unveiled its version 3.0 along with cloud hosting enhancements and key partnerships. The event was sponsored by several CMS platforms, reinforcing the connective tissue between these communities and the growth opportunities within the JAMstack.
Adobe also made the news cycle, perhaps not content with its reign in the lead position on both the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/key-takeaways-from-gartners-2021-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms/">Gartner 2021 MQ for DXP</a> and the Forrester Q1 Wave for Agile CMSes. This month, they announced the addition of new headless CMS capabilities and updates to its Commerce Integration Framework.
Here are some other stories we’ve been tracking:
<h3>Crownpeak Acquires Digital Experience Platform Provider e-Spirit</h3>
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img style="max-width:650px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/03/crownpeak-espirit-logos.jpg" alt="crownpeak and espirit logos" /></figure>
<a href="http://www.crownpeak.com/">Crownpeak</a>, a US-based web content and experience management platform, has <a href="https://www.crownpeak.com/about/press-events/press-releases/crownpeak-acquires-digital-experience-platform-provider-e-spirit">announced</a> that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire <a href="https://www.e-spirit.com/us/homepage/">e-Spirit</a>. Headquartered in Germany, e-Spirit enables businesses to rapidly deliver personalized, content-rich experiences across online channels.
The acquisition combines Crownpeak’s SaaS-based web content management system and other best-of-breed offerings – which wrap digital quality, governance, and privacy into experience delivery – with e-Spirit’s key differentiators. This includes FirstSpirit, e-Spirit’s core product, which enables content-driven commerce experiences and personalization powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
According to company officials, the combination of Crownpeak and e-Spirit will create the most agile digital experience platform for brands – regardless of location or vertical – to efficiently orchestrate digital experiences that build trust and maximize customer lifetime value.
It's worth noting that Crownpeak and e-Spirit were in close proximity within the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/key-takeaways-from-gartners-2021-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms/">Niche Player quadrant</a> of the Gartner 2021 MQ for DXPs. In essence, Crownpeak "bought the competition," although e-Spirit actually has a slightly higher headcount.
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img style="max-width:600px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/01/gartner-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms-2021.png" alt="Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms-2021" /></figure>
e-Sprit will provide Crownpeak with a hybrid headless architecture, which has become an essential component for modern CMS and DXP platforms. Whether that will give Crownpeak a competitive advantage against other niche players remains to be seen. One area that might bear fruit from the unification is that e-Spirit will expand Crownpeak’s access to the EMEA region.
<h3>Squarespace Raises $300 Million Investment Round At $10 Billion Valuation</h3>
<a href="https://www.squarespace.com/">Squarespace</a>, the popular website builder and e-Commerce platform, announced that it has raised $300 million in a new investment round – and is now valued at a whopping $10 billion. The news comes just two months after Squarespace <a href="https://newsroom.squarespace.com/blog/squarespace-confidential-s-1-submission">announced</a> their IPO in January.
The new investor docket includes some heavy-hitting market makers like Dragoneer, Tiger Global, D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity Management &amp; Research Company, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and Spruce House, with participation from existing investors Accel and General Atlantic.
“We’re thrilled to welcome our new investors as we continue scaling our product suite in service of our customers around the world,” said Squarespace Founder &amp; CEO Anthony Casalena.
Founded in 2003, Squarespace has built a stellar reputation as a small business website solution and competes with platforms like <a href="https://www.wix.com/">WIX</a> and <a href="https://www.weebly.com/">Weebly</a>. A “do it yourself” experience, Squarespace offers users a simple, code-free, subscription-based toolset for building your own website and adding transactional e-Commerce capabilities. It has become immensely popular, especially for artists, freelancers, and entrepreneurs who want beautiful, inexpensive, easy to manage experiences.
Hosting companies like <a href="https://www.godaddy.com/">GoDaddy</a> are also carving out a segment in of the SOHO/entrepreneur market space, offering a free website builder as part of their experience. Even marketing automation platforms are hungry to own the web layer, with players like <a href="https://mailchimp.com/">MailChimp</a> and <a href="https://www.constantcontact.com/">Constant Contact</a> adding web builders to their solutions.
On the more complex side of the do-it-yourself toolset, platforms like <a href="https://webflow.com/">Webflow</a> are offering a rich, dynamic builder with access to code, APIs, and a new CMS capability. Webflow also secured its own <a href="https://webflow.com/blog/webflow-series-b-funding">investment of $140 million</a> in a Series B this January (putting it at a $2.1 billion valuation).
Squarespace received a significant funding infusion of $200 million on a $1.7 billion valuation in December 2017. Their unprecedented growth – likely exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and a shift to digital channels – has driven the outlook beyond the SMB sector. The future may include a more diversified portfolio of customers in the enterprise range, where their <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/select">Squarespace Select</a> offering is gaining ground.
<h3>WP Engine Launches Atlas, the Future of Headless WordPress</h3>
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img style="max-width:650px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/03/wpegine-atlas.png" alt="wpegine atlas layers diagram" /></figure>
<a href="https://wpengine.com/">WP Engine</a>, a leading WordPress digital experience platform, <a href="https://wpengine.com/atlas">introduced Atlas</a>, its new headless WordPress product line that enables exponentially faster dynamic sites with the flexibility and security that comes with headless solutions.
Delighting both developers and content publishers, Atlas brings together a modern development framework with powerful front-end Node.js hosting and headless WordPress – all in one complete package.
“Headless solutions are absolutely the future of enterprise WordPress, yet there isn’t one end-to-end solution out there that includes the dynamic Node.js layer, the static CDN layer and the Headless content management systems (CMS) layer, in one package,” said Jason Cohen, Founder and Chief Technology Officer at WP Engine.
As famous and iconic it is, WordPress has been “stuck” in the traditional category of CMSs, falling behind more modern headless or headless-hybrid platforms. This has been a significant drawback in a digital world that demands omnichannel solutions for distributing content. Atlas offers WP Engine an opportunity to shift the dynamics and develop new market potential around the headless play.
Today’s developers are under pressure to deliver highly-performant and secure omnichannel digital experiences that rank higher and convert better. To achieve that, they need a platform that easily scales and integrates with an increasing array of martech SaaS tools.
A headless WordPress essentially means no WordPress frontend. Companies that use an entirely headless solution typically host a separate JavaScript application for the frontend, which pulls specific WordPress data via APIs via the <a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/rest-api/">WordPress REST API</a> or the <a href="https://www.wpgraphql.com/">WPGraphQL plugin</a>. With Atlas, WordPress will join the growing ranks of headless CMS solutions that are powering modern digital experiences.
“With Atlas, developers aren’t forced to choose between incredible site performance and dynamic experiences," said Cohen. "And they can keep the open-source CMS platform that drives 40% of the web, now upgraded to support developers’ modern architecture. It’s the best of all worlds.”
To learn more about Atlas from WP Engine, <a href="https://wpengine.com/atlas">click here</a>.
<h3>Siteimprove Releases New Study Guiding Manufacturers on Powerful Digital Engagement Strategies</h3>
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/siteimprove-seo-provides-all-in-one-capabilities-for-enhancing-search-performance/">Siteimprove</a>, an industry-leading accessibility scanning and monitoring solution provider, announced the release of a new study, “<a href="https://hello.siteimprove.com/en-us/content/report/consumerreport">Achieving Success in the Age of the Digital Consumer</a>.”
For the report, Siteimprove partnered with Adobe and Capgemini to survey 3,025 U.S. consumers to discover what key elements currently distinguish B2B and D2C digital experiences – and what consumers expect from online experiences and brand relationships.
Some key findings in the survey include:
<ul>
<li>83 percent of respondents said their online research experience is somewhat important to very important in the purchase process – with 43 percent saying it is very important.</li>
<li>Online influencers have now largely replaced retail employees as a primary pre-purchasing voice. While 52.69 percent of respondents indicated they still rely on word-of-mouth, 31.34 percent also turn to YouTube review videos, 11.47 percent take advantage of augmented-reality tools, and 9.22 percent use AI experiences to collect product information and insights.</li>
<li>Product information or reviews on a retailer’s website are considered the most important factor in an online purchase decision (37.85 percent).</li>
<li>Barriers to buying from the manufacturer were cited as inconsistent pricing (60.46 percent), lack of info on delivery, returns, poor UX, and poor checkout experience.</li>
<li>The majority of survey respondents (76.6 percent) indicated they abandon a website with poor UX in less than two minutes. As many as 37 percent of respondents move on after less than one minute.</li>
</ul>
To read the free report, visit <a href="https://hello.siteimprove.com/en-us/content/report/consumerreport">https://hello.siteimprove.com/en-us/content/report/consumerreport</a>.
<h3>Contentful Helps Businesses Build Digital Experiences Faster With New Compose + Launch Apps</h3>
<a href="https://www.contentful.com/">Contentful</a>, a leading content platform for digital business, <a href="https://www.contentful.com/blog/2021/03/16/launch-compose-release/">announced</a> the release of Contentful Compose + Launch – two apps that, together, significantly extend Contentful’s native capabilities for content teams.
Compose structures content into blocks, so it’s reusable across various digital experiences and channels. Compose was explicitly designed for non-technical users who prefer a more traditional content management system environment.
Launch enhances the ability of content teams to plan and schedule releases. Content pieces can be viewed together, managed as one project, and scheduled to publish in a flexible manner. Teams can easily manage and deliver content as part of large campaigns, such as a Black Friday sale or new product announcements. And campaign managers can use Launch to plan the release of content from a single destination, allowing teams to collaborate better and deliver faster.
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/03/contentful-content-schedule.jpg" alt="Contentful content schedule screen" /></figure>
To learn more about Compose + Launch, click <a href="https://www.contentful.com/blog/2021/03/16/launch-compose-release/">here</a>.
<h3>WordPress Releases Enhancements to Its Reusable Blocks with WordPress 5.7</h3>
WordPress officially released <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/wordpress-5-7-release-candidate/">WordPress 5.7</a> on March 9, 2021 – and as its first major release of 2021, it’s packed with a ton of new features and fixes.
Included in the update are several enhancements that make <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/02/gutenberg-tutorial-reusable-blocks/">reusable blocks</a> more stable and easier to use. And now, they save automatically with the post when you click the “Update” button.
Reusable blocks have been a fixture in WordPress for quite some time. They are basically component blocks you can create and save – and use later in any post or page on a website. These blocks can be anything from a testimonial on your homepage, a “Subscribe to My Newsletter” box, a contact form, a survey, and more.
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/03/add-a-reusable-block.gif" alt="Wordpress adding re-usable block animated gif" /></figure>
To see the full list of features and updates that come with WordPress 5.7, visit the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/wordpress-version/version-5-7/">WordPress support page</a>.

CMS Monthly Recap: Crownpeak Acquires e-Spirit, Squarespace Raises $300M Investment, WP Engine Launches Headless for WordPress, and More

paris-tuzun

It's no surprise that website builders are so popular. Millions upon millions of people choose them every day to build amazing portfolio websites, online stores, company websites, and personal blogs and with the number of people using them, the developers have had to work hard to add functionality to keep up with demand.
This year, we had a number of excellent products in the mix for Best Website Builder and it's no surprise that the ones that ended up being nominated are the People's Choice.
As a reminder, here's the list of nominees for this year's award:
<ol>
<li><a href="/products/adobe-business-catalyst/"> Adobe Business Catalyst </a></li>
<li><a href="/products/jimdo/"> Jimdo </a></li>
<li><a href="/products/squarespace/"> Squarespace </a></li>
<li><a href="/products/ucoz/"> UCoz </a></li>
<li><a href="/products/webydo/"> Webydo </a></li>
</ol>
And the winner of this year's People's Choice Award for Best Website Builder goes to…
 <img style="max-width:150px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best-website-builder150x0.png" alt="best website builder" /> 
Adobe Business Catalyst! 
Adobe Business Catalyst is really much more than just a website builder, it's a powerful hosted CMS with integrated everything. With a host of powerful tools from one of the biggest names in the industry, Adobe, Business Catalyst is the ultimate solution for all sizes of business and personal sites. It's so powerful, you can use it to run a midsize business from it without any problem at all.
<a href="/products/adobe-business-catalyst/"> Learn more about Adobe Business Catalyst </a> or visit them <a href="http://businesscatalyst.com"> on the web </a>
Congratulations to the Business Catalyst team on their win! Stay tuned to find out who walks away with the Critics Choice Award (selected by our panel of judges) coming soon.

2013 People's Choice Winner for Best Website Builder

The <a href="/the-cms-awards-what-they-mean/" target="_blank">third annual CMS Awards</a> have come to a close, having attracted more nominations and voters than ever before. Thankfully though, the results are probably my favourite part!
For the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Website Builder, participants selected the industry's “big three” website builders to battle it out. <a href="http://www.wix.com/" target="_blank">Wix</a>, <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/" target="_blank">Squarespace</a>, and <a href="https://www.weebly.com/">Weebly</a>.
It is with great pleasure that I announce the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Website Builder goes to:
<a href="http://www.wix.com/" target="_blank"><img style="max-width:220px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wix-.png" alt="Wix" /></a>
<a href="http://www.wix.com/" target="_blank">Wix</a> was triumphant over two worthy competitors, as <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/" target="_blank">Squarespace</a> came in as runners-up, with <a href="https://www.weebly.com/" target="_blank">Weebly</a> trailing closely behind.
<img style="max-width:250px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/10733526_801171129939789_151468802_n.jpg" />
Congratulations to everyone at <a href="http://www.wix.com/" target="_blank">Wix</a> on their big win!
If you aren't familiar with Wix and would like to learn more, read our <a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/website_builders/reviews/wix/" target="_blank">Wix Review</a> on our new site, <a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/"> Website Builders Critic</a> where you can find <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/websitebuilderscriti" target="_blank">Wix video tutorials</a> and more.

The Winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Website Builder

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