Should I Buy My Domain Through Squarespace

What Happens If My Renewal Fails

If we can’t charge the credit card on file for your site, your domain will remain active and past-due for 15 days. We’ll make additional attempts to charge your card every five days after the initial failed charge. After the third attempt, 15 days after the payment was due, the domain will no longer resolve to your site. We highly recommend that you keep an active, valid credit card on file to ensure uninterrupted service.

After 15 days, you’ll have a 30-day grace period in which you can reactivate your domain from your Domains panel. After 30 days , the domain will be released back to the registrar.

How Much Does Squarespace Email Cost

Squarespace provides customized email addresses through Google G Suite.

If you sign up for a Business or Commerce plan, youll get a custom email address free for the first year. The email address will come with Googles other products such as Drive and Calendar.

But take note this email only free for one year. After the first year, youll be billed $6 per month = $72 per year.

Squarespace also offers email campaigns, which Ill be covering in their own guide soon!

What Is A Domain Name

Just like you have a physical address where customers can walk into your showroom or office, your domain name is the digital address where customers can find you on the internet. Instead of using IP addresses, the Domain Name System allows us to use real words to navigate the internet. After all, a domain name like smallbusinesscomputing.com is much easier to remember than 141.193.213.21.

Recommended Reading: How Much For A Domain Name Per Year

Also Check: How Much Does A WordPress Domain Cost

Alternatives To Google Workspace Email Accounts For Squarespace

If you want a more affordable option than Google Workspace, its still possible to get a professional email account linked to your domain. You have two options there:

• Link an email account to the domain you bought on Squarespace
• Buy an email and domain from the same provider, then connect to Squarespace

Its always good practice to keep your email accounts and domain with the same company. This saves a lot of time and hassle in case you need to migrate later.

So for the cheaper providers? Weve always had great results with Namecheap. You can even get up to 5 free accounts with Zoho Workplace and there might be other solutions out there too.

Whats The Main Advantage Of Using Shopify Instead Of Squarespace

The main advantage of using Shopify instead of Squarespace is that its key ecommerce features are much stronger. With Shopify, you can use more payment gateways and access a much wider range of ecommerce apps you can also access features that dont exist at all in Squarespace, like multi-currency and multilingual selling.

Recommended Reading: Where To Find My Domain Name

What Happens If My Domain Subscription Lapses

This is something to avoid if you can! Ordinarily your domain registrar will send you reminder emails if you have not automatically set your domain to renew, but if you miss these and your domain subscription lapses you risk that your domain is made available for purchase on the open market & purchased by someone else. This can be a big risk to your business presence. To avoid, make sure to set up automatic renewal, and set a reminder to make sure your card details are up to date.

Shopify And Squarespace Gdpr Compliance

I am not a lawyer, so please note that the below observations should not be interpreted as legal advice but Im going to do my best to spell out some of the key GDPR issues facing Squarespace and Shopify site owners in this section.

Since the introduction of GDPR the EUs General Data Protection Regulation website owners have had to adhere to new, stricter data protection guidelines to protect the privacy of EU site users. .

There are many legal steps that the GDPR requires business owners to take to ensure compliance, and fairly serious penalties for not doing so , but the key ones for prospective Shopify and Squarespace users are probably as follows:

• Display adequate privacy and cookie notices on your website

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• Process and store data securely

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• Get explicit consent from people signing up to mailing lists that it is okay to send them e-newsletters

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• Provide a means to opt in or revoke consent to use of non-essential cookies on a website .

Now, meeting the first three requirements with either Squarespace or Shopify is fairly easy .

Meeting the fourth requirement however is harder, and in my view Squarespace and Shopify should be doing more to assist their customers to meet this GDPR obligation .

Basically, whenever you use non-essential third party cookies on a website for example when using Facebook Ads or Google Analytics you are legally obliged to give EU visitors to your website the option to switch these off BEFORE they continue to browse your site .

Recommended Reading: How Can I Check If A Domain Name Is Available

Creating Multilingual Sites In Squarespace And Shopify

Shopify has made great strides recently to provide functionality that enables you to present your content in multiple languages using its new Shopify Markets feature, you can create up to 20 different language versions of your website on all paid-for plans except the Starter plan.

When you enable multi-language selling in Shopify, a language folder is added to your domain. So youll end up with www.myshop.com/fr/, www.myshop.com/de/ etc.

As for Squarespace, although you can technically use the platform to create different language versions of your website, youll have to use a paid-for third-party app to do so: Weglot.

As the video below shows, this is very straightforward, because Squarespace has recently teamed up with Weglot to provide a deep, official integration.

Costs for using Weglot can be significant however as you can see from the pricing table below, if you translate your Squarespace site into 20 languages, youre looking at a monthly fee of $499.

So, although Squarespace does now make it fairly easy to translate websites, because of the cost differentials involved, the win here definitely goes to Shopify.

How To Connect Your Ca Domain Name To Squarespace

Connecting your .CA domain name to your Squarespace website can be done in just a few clicks.

Erin Hutchison

Editors note: As of December 2019, Squarespace now offers .CA domains! Weve made some changes to this post to reflect this exciting update!

Building a website has never been easier. While knowing how to code can give you a lot of flexibility, website builders are opening up new opportunities for people with big ideas but not a lot of technical skill. You can jump in and start building your website, making use of the free trials that many website builders offer, and see how exciting it is to watch your ideas come to life!

Read Also: Does It Cost To Have A Domain Name

What Is Web Hosting

Web hosting is a kind of warehouse that stores all the information on your site: pictures, music, video, texts, product cards, descriptions, prices all the materials that you fill out the site with. All Squarespace sites are hosted on servers, much like store merchandise is placed on store shelves by sellers.

Where Should I Buy My Domain From

There are many many domain registrars where you can purchase a domain name – these have all been given the rights to make changes to the DNS to register & manage domain names). Examples include sites like GoDaddy, NameCheap etc. However you may also have the choice to purchase your domain via your website platform. This option exists when your web platform is also a domain registrar. Here are the pros and cons of each approach:

Recommended Reading: Can I Transfer My Domain Name

Is There An *even Higher Tier* Of Squarespace Plan

Maybe the Squarespace Advanced Commerce Plan just isnt enough for you?

Good news, all you robust website owners youre in luck.

There is one final advanced tier of Squarespace plans: the Squarespace Select Plan for enterprise sites.

Is a Squarespace Select Plan right for your small business? Tbhno.

Honestly, if you need more than the Squarespace Advanced Commerce Plan, youre likely better suited for a platform like WordPress.

WordPress will give you more functionality and custom control, although WordPress sites can be more expensive and time-consuming than Squarespace.

Related:Which website builder is right for you? and Squarespace vs WordPress: The Definitive Guide

Lets assume that you dont need a custom Squarespace Select Plan.

If one of the four normal Squarespace tiers is right for you, its time to also think about the two additional costs

Point Of Sale In Shopify Vs Squarespace

Point-of-sale functionality allows you to use card readers and other selling hardware in conjunction with your online store, to sell in a physical location .

Not only does POS let you take payment for goods, but it lets you link your selling hardware to your online stores back end, meaning that your inventory levels remain accurate, regardless of whether you make an online or an offline sale.

Up until fairly recently, Shopify offered this functionality but Squarespace didnt.

However, Squarespace now offers an integration with Square, an ecommerce company that specializes in providing POS hardware.

The main difference between the Shopify and Squarespace offerings in this area boils down to what selling hardware you can use.

The Shopify point of sale hardware range is extensive, and includes barcode scanners, card readers, cash drawers and receipt printers you can buy any of these items individually or as a package.

You can purchase this POS hardware directly from the Shopify Hardware Store in Australia, Canada, the EU, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK and the US.

much

Outside these territories, supported hardware is available from authorized resellers.

US merchants can also a new all-in-one POS solution from Shopify called Shopify POS Go : a hand-held device that gives you access to your Shopify dashboard while providing a built-in card reader and barcode scanner.

You can learn more about Shopify POS here.

Read Also: How To Buy A Name Domain

Squarespace Vs Namecheap : Which Is Better For Domain Registration

Everything begins with a great domain. Whether youre starting a blog or opening an online store, a strong domain name will not only add credibility to your site but also increase its visibility. A registered domain also gives you mobility, so you can change hosting services without losing your online address.

As its name suggests, Namecheap is one of the best places to go for cheap domain registration. The company offers hundreds of top-level domains at reasonable prices and great perks. Squarespace, on the other hand, is popularly known for its intuitive tools in making professional and high-quality websites. Outside of sleek templates and e-commerce features, however, the platform also allows users to buy and register domains.

But which one is better? Below, we compare the two to help you decide where you should register your domain.

Contents

How Much Does It Cost

All Squarespace sites within the first year of their an annual billing cycle include one free custom domain. This domain is free for its first year. Only select TLDs are eligible. Additional domains are $20 to $70 per year.

Pricing is based on the TLD. For example, common TLDs like .com and .org are $20 per year, and other TLDs like .photography .media are $30 and $50 per year. To find a domain’s price, you can search for it on the domain name search page or your Domains panel.

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Should I Buy A Domain Through Squarespace

When youre ready to start a website, one of the first things you need to do is purchase a domain name. Your domain is your websites address on the internet, and its what customers will type in to find your site. You can buy a domain through Squarespace or through a third-party provider.

If you buy a domain through Squarespace, we register it on your behalf and it automatically renews each year. If you buy your domain elsewhere, you need to manually renew it.

Should I buy a domain through Squarespace?

We recommend buying your domain through Squarespace for a few reasons:

PRO TIP:

• Ease of use: Well automatically set up and renew your domain for you.
• Better integration: Your Squarespace site will work seamlessly with your domain.
• Superior support: Our award-winning Customer Care team can answer any questions you have about your domain.

If you still decide to purchase your domain elsewhere, we recommend using one of the following providers:

Two: Link Your Domain

Note From Squarespace: If you see a message that says This domain is already connected to another Squarespace site, check any other Squarespace sites you manage to determine where the domain is connected. Then disconnect it from that site. For help logging into the correct site, visit Managing multiple sites.

Youll then select your domain provider from the drop-down list that Squarespace provides. If you dont see your domain provider from the list, select other. You will be able to connect your domain even if the provider is mentioned on the list.

Read Also: How To Connect Your Domain To Shopify

Bigcommerce Vs Shopify Video Comparison

BigCommerce trial | Shopify trial | Full BigCommerce vs Shopify comparison

If you are on a low budget and hoping to build a simple website, then Wix is worthing investigating. Check out our Wix review, our Shopify vs Wix comparison, our Wix vs WordPress comparison and our Squarespace vs Wix post for more information on this platform.

How To Choose A Domain Extension

When you pick a domain name, you need to choose a domain extension, which is also called a top level domain . The TLD is the part of the URL that comes after the last period in your website domain name. Common top level domains include .com, .org, and .net, but you can also customize your domain with options like .me or .bio for an online portfolio, or .fitness for a gym or personal training business.

Also Check: Is Global A Good Domain

Transaction Fees And Credit Card Fees

On top of the standard pricing plans, there are transaction fees and to consider.

Transaction fees are a percentage fee of your sales charged by your ecommerce platform .

With Shopify, you have the choice of either using Shopify Payments Shopifys built in payment processor or a third-party payment gateway.

If you use Shopify Payments, youll avoid transaction fees entirely on all plans except the Starter one .

You will still be charged credit card fees when using Shopify Payments, however. These vary by country, but in the USA youre looking at between 2.4% and 2.9% plus 30c per transaction, depending on your chosen Shopify plan.

If you use a third-party payment gateway to process your credit card transactions, you will pay Shopify a percentage of the transaction. On the Basic plan or higher, this fee will be 0.5% to 2%, depending on plan the Starter plan involves a 5% transaction fee.

Squarespace Domain Vs Godaddy

If youre trying to decide between Squarespace and GoDaddy for your web domain needs, there are a few things to consider. First, Squarespace has limited domain management features compared to GoDaddy. Additionally, GoDaddy offers a wider variety of top-level domains than Squarespace.

The annual price for a .com address at Squarespace is $20, while GoDaddy charges $14.99 per year for the same thing. So if price is your primary concern, GoDaddy may be the better option.

Read Also: How To Create Website After Buying Domain

The Disadvantages Of Buying A Domain On Squarespace

There are also a few disadvantages of buying a domain on Squarespace. One, you are limited in some respects of what domain you can purchase on the platform. For instance, you cannot buy a domain that has Squarespace within the name. So if you were looking for an affiliate marketing site for Squarespace, you must choose a new domain title.

Likewise, there are limited TLDs that you can buy from the platform.

Another advantage is that you need to ensure that youre happy with Squarespace. It is hard to transfer a domain and you cant have a domain on Squarespace but host your website on another platform. Therefore, be sure that youre happy with the Squarespace website.

If youre not sure about this, then you can buy a domain on another platform and then transfer that domain after two months to Squarespace and buy the domain every year after that. But that is a lot of work.

How Do I Link My Domain To My Squarespace Account

BasicDNSPremiumDNSFreeDNSPLEASE NOTEadd the domain in your Squarespace accountNamecheap accountDomain ListManageAdvanced DNSHost RecordsAdd New Record

• A record for pointing to 198.185.159.144
• A record for pointing to 198.185.159.145
• A record for pointing to 198.49.23.145
• A record for pointing to 198.49.23.144
• CNAME record for www pointing to ext-cust.squarespace.com

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Integrating An Email Marketing Tool With Squarespace And Shopify

Both Squarespace and Shopify allow you to capture email addresses to a third-party email marketing solution of your choosing GetResponse, Campaign Monitor, Mailchimp or AWeber etc.

With the exception of Mailchimp, which is very easy to integrate with Squarespace, connecting these email marketing solutions is generally easier in Shopify, due to official Shopify integrations for them being available.

In most cases, to use a third-party email marketing tool with Squarespace forms, youll usually have to use Zapier to create an integration between the app and your Squarespace site this can result in additional costs and set up time.

Alternatively, you can use HTML code to embed forms from other email marketing providers onto Squarespace site pages.

The other alternative is to use Squarespace or Shopifys new built-in email marketing features both tools now offer a way to create and send newsletters out of the box.

Lets take a look at these.