Squarespace vs a Custom Website: What's Better for a Local Business?

Squarespace is genuinely one of the most polished DIY website builders available. The templates are well-designed, the editor is intuitive, and the results look professional — especially for visual businesses like photographers, designers, and restaurants.

But “looks professional” and “generates local enquiries from Google” are not the same thing. Here’s an honest comparison for a local service business considering Squarespace.

What Squarespace does well

Design quality. Squarespace templates are among the best available on any DIY platform. The typography, spacing, and visual design are generally far above what most non-designers would produce from scratch.

Ease of use. The editor is clean and logical. Most business owners can update their own content without technical help.

All-in-one platform. Domain registration, hosting, SSL, templates, and basic analytics are all included. There’s less to set up than with WordPress.

Mobile optimisation. Squarespace templates are generally well-adapted for mobile screens, more so than older WordPress themes.

Where Squarespace falls short for local search

Page speed. Squarespace sites tend to perform moderately on Google’s PageSpeed Insights — typically in the 50–75 range for mobile. This is better than many WordPress installations but still behind a well-built static site. Google uses mobile performance as a ranking signal.

SEO flexibility limitations. Squarespace provides basic SEO tools — meta titles, descriptions, image alt text — but there are limitations on technical SEO elements that more experienced website owners might want to control. Schema markup, for example, is limited in Squarespace without custom code injection.

Template constraints. Your site looks like other Squarespace sites. The visual quality is high, but the structure is constrained by the template system. Building pages specifically structured for local search — service-specific pages, location pages, FAQs — is more limited than on a custom-built site.

Monthly cost. Squarespace plans are typically £12–£20/month for a business site. Over three to five years, the recurring cost adds up — and you don’t own the platform.

When Squarespace makes sense

• You’re a visual business (photographer, designer, creative professional) where design impact is the primary purpose of the website
• You’ll be managing the site yourself and need an editor you can actually use confidently
• Budget is a genuine constraint and you can’t justify a custom build right now
• You primarily need an online presence rather than an active lead generation tool

When a custom build makes more sense

• Your primary goal is generating enquiries from Google local search
• You’re competing in a category where page speed and technical SEO give a meaningful advantage
• You want a site built around your specific content needs rather than a template structure
• You want to own the result outright and not pay indefinitely for the platform

The honest comparison for a West Midlands business

A Squarespace Business plan at £20/month costs £240/year. Over three years: £720. You get a well-designed site that works reasonably well, performs moderately on mobile, and has basic SEO tools.

A custom-built site at £799 is more upfront, but the result performs better in local search, loads faster, and is owned by you. With hosting at £79.99/month, year one costs £1,758.88. After that, you own the site regardless.

For a business generating ten or more enquiries per month from the website, the performance gap between Squarespace and a well-built custom site is worth significantly more than the price difference.

For a business that just needs a credible online presence and isn’t focused on Google lead generation, Squarespace is a perfectly reasonable choice.

---

If you’re currently on Squarespace and wondering whether it’s limiting your local search visibility, a free review will give you an honest answer.

Get a free website review →