Why ‘ROY’ in IT is Wrong About Wordpress - Dani’s SOAPBOX
Ok, let me get this out of the way. If you are a circa 2005 purist with your "WORDPRESS IS BEST" mantra, feel free to skip this entirely. You might be too far gone. The reality is that web, technology, and digital innovation are changing constantly. If you have been in this business for longer than two years and not had to eat a gigantic piece of humble pie because of a wrong first impression or a theory gone wrong, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.
Opinions of platforms, plugins, integrations, and technology should be fluid. It is a good thing when a platform like Squarespace proves you wrong and ups their game. It means we are ALL making strides forward in the digital space. If a designer, engineer, developer, consultant, or copywriter cannot admit that they were wrong about a previous opinion after a new feature rollout, fire them. This absolutely includes me too!
HERE IS THE DEAL. Few things irritate me as much as those who refuse to allow innovation and progress. Then, they continue to steer clients, NPO leaders, and good people down a narrow path just to make themselves money. It is dishonest, it is slimy, and it is just plain wrong. Nonprofits have tight budgets and need rapid setups, not endless monthly coding bills. You need solutions that maximize your mission without draining your resources. So get ready for sassy Dani. It is going to be a bit snarky, but I promise it will be incredibly informative and empowering for your cause.
WORDPRESS IS NOT BEST
Yes, for a few years it was the undisputed champion. It was the big dog on campus. But times have changed drastically, and WordPress continues to be the most annoying, most user-unfriendly platform on the market today. Still, many clients and friends in the NGO space have been hesitant to let this tattered icon go. They worry about breaking their site just to update a simple donor campaign or add a new team member's photo. The fear of the dreaded "plugin conflict" keeps them paralyzed.
So let me say it for the people in the back one more time. GOOGLE DOES NOT GIVE PREFERENCE TO ANY PLATFORM OR CMS. This includes WordPress, Wix, or even my beloved Squarespace. Search engines care about high-quality content, mobile responsiveness, and fast load times. They do not care if your site runs on a custom PHP backend or a user-friendly visual builder. A seamless donor journey matters far more to your ranking than the specific software hosting your database.
So how did we end up here? Why do people think and say this? What about meta tags and advanced SEO? Truthfully, for a while, SEO was not at the top of the Squarespace priority list. They initially wanted to make beautiful sites easy to maintain for everyday users and charity founders. They achieved that beautifully. Now they continue to develop and engineer new ways to keep up in the race, giving you the power to maximize your impact online.
Squarespace has since massively updated their SEO capabilities. They now offer robust control over Meta Descriptions, Alt Image Text for images, and Meta Titles. Yes, you have to put the alt text in for each individual image placement versus relying on a global Alt Image Text setting like on WordPress. But that actually gives you much more control to tailor your visual storytelling for specific donor engagements. It forces you to be intentional about accessibility and context.
All the things purists chant in picket lines or complain about on Reddit boards are a non-point now. So move on and accept defeat. WordPress has LOST the small and medium market. Squarespace is the clear winner for organizations that need a secure, reliable website without needing a computer science degree to run it. When your marketing team can update a landing page in five minutes, you empower them with ease.
People Like ‘ROY’ Telling You to Think BIG
We all want to be successful and effective, right? Every nonprofit leader wants to scale their organization's efforts and increase volunteer sign-ups. But when did it become an insult to not be scalable to a Fortune 500 level? When you run a charity, your goal is community impact and resource efficiency, not becoming a corporate monolith. You do not need a website built for millions of daily transactions if your goal is localized community outreach.
But even with very lofty goals for your NGO, you can still be incredibly successful and happy on Squarespace. WordPress can certainly scale you up as high as you want to go. If you want to spend tens of thousands of dollars on custom development, WordPress will gladly take your money. However, Squarespace can easily cover the exact needs of about 95% of the website market PLUS its wishlist needs. They give you the tools to transform your reach without the massive overhead.
They have robust Member Areas that can be used for volunteer training courses or exclusive paywall content for your recurring donors. This is a fantastic way to foster long-term loyalty and offer exclusive experiences. They are continually developing their e-commerce tools, though I still think Shopify wins that specific retail category. Their blogging infrastructure is AMAZING, allowing you to weave compelling narratives and share transformative success stories effortlessly. Furthermore, their page building could not be easier, letting you launch a rapid digital strategy upgrade in mere days.
Unless you are Target, Starbucks, Ikea, or some other major corporate player, Squarespace IS your best option. You do not have to "dress for the role you want" when it comes to web design. That is actually quite dangerous and ill-advised for nonprofits operating on lean budgets. Overbuilding your technology stack leads to confusion, wasted funds, and frustrated staff members. You need a platform that works for you right now, while still offering plenty of room for strategic growth.
Here is why. (I probably say this next sentence twice a week in my consult calls)
“If you are NOT updating your site because you are afraid of it or its a chore, ‘THAT’ crushes your SEO more than any platforms optimization.”
MAC vs PC | DANI vs ‘ROY’
Ah, the battle rages on. Star Was vs Star Trek. Dogs vs Cats. West Coast vs East Coast. Chipotle vs Moes (Chipotle… ALWAYS)
When I try and describe this battle of platforms to clients in an effort to help them make a choice, I promise I am not as impassioned as I am on this blog. I am thoughtful, I listen and consider all of their needs. I just launched a Wordpress site last week. HOWEVER, this following phrase always seems to make it click for people:
“Wordpress is like a PC, fully customizable but it takes more work. More Time and the customizations leave it open to be broken and hacked.
Squarespace is like a MAC, closed and vetted system that works effortlessly together. Less options are vetted but the options are ‘safe’. Updates are easy and there is little maintenance from the customizations that I do apply. ”
Some choose the customization, opting to have more maintenance requirements for more customizations through third party plugins etc. MOST choose Squarespace. They choose because they want to be able to make their own updates to content and images without having to pay me (gasp!). They dont want to log into their site’s dashboard to update numerous files only to have one be incompatible. Therefore, breaking the whole site and effectively ruining their day trying to get the site back up. (bet you feel seen Wordpress users?!)
There you have my SOAPBOX, I hope I dont make these more regular but who knows, I am kinda sassy sometimes. My family calls it passion but I know thats just being kind.
Cheers,
PS: To any “Roy’s” out there, I am sorry for using your name. I bet you are an awesome person. I had to use a name and for some reason I pictured “ROY” from the IT Crowd being a Wordpress Purist and just ran with it. (Apologies to Chris O’Dowd as well)
