Updated: 4 August 2026 · Web Design
Wix and Squarespace get dismissed by a lot of web professionals as "not real websites," which isn't fair and isn't useful advice. For plenty of small businesses, they're the right tool — the mistake isn't using them, it's using them without the same care a custom-built site would get.
Why these platforms make sense for many businesses
Lower upfront cost, which matters when budget is tight and the business needs to prove the concept before investing more.
No dependency on a developer for small changes. Updating a price, adding a photo, changing hours — a business owner can do this themselves without waiting on anyone.
Built-in hosting and security updates, removing one entire category of maintenance risk that custom sites need someone actively managing.
Where they fall short, and how to work around it
Generic templates that look like everyone else's. The fix isn't avoiding the platform — it's investing real time in customisation: your own photography, your own colour choices, your own copy, not the placeholder text left in from the template.
Slower loading than a custom-built site, particularly with heavy images or too many built-in widgets. Compressing images properly and being selective about which features you actually enable makes a real difference here.
Less flexibility for complex functionality. Bookings, member areas, and anything beyond standard e-commerce eventually hit the platform's limits. Knowing that ceiling in advance saves rebuilding later out of frustration.
Turning a website builder into an actual business tool
The gap between a Wix site that just exists and one that brings in customers is rarely the platform — it's whether the same fundamentals apply that would apply to any site: a clear price, an obvious way to contact you, fast-loading images, and content that answers what your customer actually wants to know before they buy.
A beautifully templated site that never says what anything costs converts worse than a plainer one that answers the three questions a visitor actually has.
When it's time to move beyond a builder
Growth usually forces the decision, not preference. If you need booking systems, multiple staff logins, custom functionality the platform doesn't offer, or speed becomes a competitive disadvantage against rivals with custom sites, that's the point to consider migrating to something built specifically for your needs — covered in what a professional website costs.
Until then, there's no shame in a well-built Wix or Squarespace site. The platform was never the limiting factor for most small businesses — the content and structure on top of it usually was.
The template trap, specifically
The single most common mistake on these platforms isn't technical — it's leaving the template's default structure, stock photography, and placeholder copy largely intact, just with a logo swapped in. Visitors recognise generic templates almost instantly, even without consciously identifying why a site feels impersonal. The businesses that get real results from Wix or Squarespace are the ones that treat the template as a starting scaffold to build on, not a finished product to fill in.
What professional setup actually adds
Hiring someone to configure a Wix or Squarespace site properly isn't about unlocking hidden features — it's about getting the fundamentals right from the first day instead of discovering the gaps months later. Correct page structure for search engines, image compression that keeps quality while cutting load time, and a content layout that leads with what the visitor needs rather than what the business wants to say first. None of this requires custom code; it requires knowing which of the platform's own settings actually matter and configuring them deliberately rather than leaving defaults in place.
Choosing between Wix and Squarespace specifically
The two get talked about almost interchangeably, but they suit slightly different businesses. Squarespace tends to produce a more polished visual result out of the box, which matters most for businesses where presentation itself is part of the pitch — photography, design, hospitality. Wix offers more flexibility in layout and a wider range of built-in apps for things like bookings or memberships, which suits service businesses that need functionality more than visual flourish. Neither is objectively better; the mismatch happens when a business picks based on which one a friend used, rather than which one fits what the site actually needs to do.
A quick check on your own site
Open your site on your phone, on mobile data, as a stranger would. Time how long it takes to find your price, confirm what you actually do, and locate a way to contact you. If any of those three takes more than a few seconds to find, that delay applies just as much on Wix or Squarespace as it would on any custom-built site — the platform underneath rarely explains a slow-converting site; the structure on top of it usually does.
Frequently asked questions
Will Google penalise my site for being on Wix or Squarespace? No. Google ranks based on content, speed, and structure, not the platform underneath. Plenty of well-built sites on these platforms rank perfectly well.
Is it worth paying someone to set this up properly rather than doing it myself? Depends on your time and comfort with the tools. A professional setup gets the fundamentals right from day one — speed, structure, SEO basics — which is harder to retrofit later than to build in from the start.
Can I migrate to a custom site later without losing everything? Yes, though content needs rebuilding rather than transferring automatically. Starting with good, well-organised content on Wix or Squarespace makes that eventual move easier, not harder.
If you want your Wix or Squarespace site reviewed for what's actually costing you customers, send me the URL. How I work is in web design.
