Wordpress vs. Squarespace?

[m&m]

I have a designer helping me get a customized blog set up. I've followed Yaro's advice and have requested he use Wordpress.com. He keeps suggesting I go with Squarespace. I'm afraid there might be limitations with Squarespace that I'm not aware of. I'm an author and my blog's purpose is to brand myself and build a business/speaking platform.

Can anyone offer any insights?

[RebeccaJ]

I haven't used Squarespace so I can't really compare the two.
However, it looks like you Squarespace hosts the blog & you pay them a monthly fee.
Do you already have hosting?

What specific reasons did your designer give you for suggesting Squarespace?

[Blaine Moore]

I also don't know much about squarespace, although I recall seeing a few people here that are using it if you use the search function.

Originally Posted by m&m

I've followed Yaro's advice and have requested he use Wordpress.com.

Just as a point of clarification...Yaro suggests installing Wordpress on your own domain with your own hosting, which means getting the software from wordpress.org (or using Fantastico's 1-click install).

Wordpress.com is a hosted solution that will limit your ability to make money.

[BobBessette]

Hi,
I do use Squarespace for my blog but have not used WordPress. Squarespace is great but there may be limitations as far as commenting is concerned. I have yet to get IntenseDebate or Disqus to work correctly with my Squarespace blog. I find this aggravating but support at Squarespace says that will be resolved eventually. Otherwise I really love the platform and their support is exceptional.
If I can be of anymore help please let me know.

[travelingchick]

I've used both and have to say wordpress is better than squarespace for two very convincing reasons:

When creating my squarespace blog there were no features to add meta tags/descriptions to help with traffic and search engines indexing, while their representatives state they have a built in search engine optimization capabilities my blog received no traffic and could not be found online despite optimizing my pages the best I could

Their design templates are ok, but very few compared to Wordpress free selections.

Wordpress also has a great seo strength, which means you get traffic plain and simple. My test to try and see which site is better took about 3 months, and within that time I received much more clicks and visits through my wordpress blog and my posts were showing up in searches. My squarespace blog was nowhere to be found... and they charge!

After that little test my fan base/visits kept growing with my wordpress blog.

I don't understand how Squarespace can say their built in features are enough when they are clearly not. Naturally you need to promote your own blog, but getting some help from your hosting site to pull in some of that traffic helps, I'd go with Wordpress... more features, more traffic and its free.

[victoriam]

WP + headspace2 + spamfree + XMLsitemap and you should be fine with any decent hosting company. the larger the install base of your solution, the quicker fixes get released to the public.

[neonguy528]

I use only WP and Blogger. Never heard of Squarespace. Never saw them in any of the blog searches I have done either.

Charlie The Cigarette Smoking Chimp

[peter.fox]

I guess Wordpress is now getting more and more advanced in terms of development than ever, we have seen three releases this year 2010 which is exceptional, and it seems that the Wordpress team is more aware than ever with the chalenges in the web, they are trying their best to keep the Wordpress secure and usable.

[Pro_Blogger]

I have never heard of squarespace myself, please let us know how it is if you use it. I am fond of Wordpress myself, it has improved a lot.