Yes I am doing #Connected Courses, but no I am not using Wordpress.

I love the concept behind Connected Courses which is why I am joining in, but I fell out of love with WordPress a few years ago and we haven’t really got back on speaking terms.

I know that the wonderful people behind Connected Courses are WordPress evangelists, and I may even be persuaded to move back, but I found myself an alternative to WordPress that really works for me and I’m sticking with it for now.

There are loads of Squarespace v WordPress articles out there (e.g. http://wpcurve.com/squarespace-vs-wordpress/) so I am not going to go into a comparison here, but I just wanted to point out 10 reasons why I chose Squarespace for my needs:

1. Fixed price.  – Yes I know it probably works out more expensive, but unlimited bandwidth, unlimited pages, hosting and custom domain for $192/year seems reasonable to me. (And I have one single annual cost).
2. All templates are switchable at any time and fully dynamic. In my early days with WordPress I was having real difficulties with desktop v mobile display of my sites. I know things have improved, but with Squarespace it just works.
3. 24/7 support, with a promise of a response within 1 hour. Living across the pond in the UK this really makes a difference. On at least 3 occasions (on this site on another I use Squarespace for) I have needed to use support urgently and they have not failed me.
4. Integrated plugins that all come for FREE. (I know that there’s nowhere near as many as WordPress, but they all work and are all of quality).
5. Integrated SEO – I have more and more traffic coming via search engines, not just direct links.
6. Stats – Apparently data is the new gold and with Squarespace it is built in. I get stats about visitors geographic location, platform (OS), browser type and whether they came direct or via other sources (see below).
7. Connected socially – I can connect my social media to my site, sharing posts etc. But also I can pull in media from my other sites (images etc). I also recently added Disqus for comments.
8. Beyond the blog – I always struggled to move my WordPress experience beyond a blog and into a site – I know there are some great WordPress sites (ConnectedCourses is an example) but I never quite got my head round it.
9. WordPress required too much of my attention for me to get the most out of it. Squarespace is ready to go, quick and less fiddly for me.
10. Mobile apps for blogging, sharing portfolios and checking up on your metrics!

Squarespace Stats Example

Ok – so it’s pretty easy to find lots of reasons for using WordPress too, but it’s just not for me (at the moment).

So I guess I’ll see you all in Connected Courses, I’ll be the one without the WordPress blog 😉