Squarespace

Things I find pleasing about my new blog platform (Squarespace) versus my old one (Typepad).

• Importing 8 years of blog posts, images and comments was easy and fast.
• Easier for people to comment, and for me to delete spam comments
• Robust spam monitoring by Squarespace so not as much spam gets through
• iPad app is well-designed and easy to use
• Great display of site statistics
• Easy to setup blog, and customize the design
• Prompt and easy to reach customer support

Squarespace is not cheap, and there is no free level. You can try it for 14 days for free. And you can test the import tool, although it will only import 20 posts. Squarespace is a serious blog or website hosting service. Business class service is what they provide, so it’s directed at businesses.

If you want to use Squarespace to set up a website for your business that looks great then here’s the thing you need to know: you can set it up yourself in a few hours on a weekend. You’ll have a site that looks like you paid a designer $5,000. But you did it yourself. If you want to pay someone, fine. Give them $300 and have them set up the site on Squarespace.

I’m going to port all of my sites over to Squarespace. And, if you don’t know where to get a custom domain, I highly recommend Hover.com. They have outstanding support and a simple interface. GoDaddy is cheap and confusing. Avoid heartache and go where the good guys and gals are: Squarespace and Hover.

That’s the ticket!