Choose a website platform by testing the work your business needs to do: publish accurate pages, receive inquiries, make changes, and retain access to your content and domain. Wix, Squarespace, and a custom site can each serve that purpose. The useful comparison is the proposed implementation and its upkeep.
Who will make the next change?
If you need to publish offers or edit opening hours yourself every week, try that task in the builder before buying. Check how the layout behaves after a longer heading, a new image, or a second service is added.
With a custom site, agree who changes content and how those changes are requested. A handover of source code and a hosted editing interface are different deliverables. LifeVen provides source code handover and optional care for content updates requested by email. If you need a separate editing interface, include that requirement in the discussion before agreeing the project.
Test a real page for search access
Ask for a sample service page and check its title, description, canonical address, readable text, and links. Open both its initial HTML and rendered version. Google renders JavaScript with documented limitations; making essential information available in HTML reduces dependence on a later rendering step.
Wix provides a robots.txt editor. Squarespace provides settings that request exclusion from search or AI crawling. Check the actual output for your site and its current settings before assuming a platform blocks or allows a particular crawler.
A custom site allows the search structure to be designed around your services and content. Include indexing settings, redirects, internal links, and the contact path in its acceptance checks.
Understand what you can take with you
Wix says a Wix site needs to run on Wix infrastructure. Squarespace offers a content export with limits on what is included. Neither should be confused with receiving the complete source and runtime of an independently hosted custom site.
Before committing, list the assets you need to retain: domain registration, written content, original images, customer submissions, redirects, and any source code covered by the contract. Test the available export rather than discovering its contents when you need to move.
Compare the cost of the whole arrangement
| Decision | Ask for this in writing |
|---|---|
| Initial build | Pages, content preparation, images, integrations, and review rounds |
| Routine updates | Who edits, which changes are covered, and response arrangements |
| Hosting and subscriptions | Which accounts you pay and which limits apply |
| Search maintenance | Who checks redirects, indexing issues, and changed business information |
| Leaving | Export format, account access, source handover, and migration assistance |
Avoid comparing a builder subscription with a full design and implementation quote as though they cover the same work. Our website budget guide gives a checklist for making quotes comparable.
Measure the site you will use
Platform averages cannot tell you how your page performs. Test a representative page on a phone with the proposed images, fonts, scripts, and contact form. After launch, inspect real visitor performance when enough field data exists.
A static site can serve finished HTML without assembling it for every visit. It still needs sensible media sizes, accessible controls, working forms, and someone responsible for changes.
Our website projects include content, search foundations, an inquiry path, and source ownership. Share how often you expect to update the site and which business tasks it needs to support.
Sources
- Wix: editing robots.txt.
- Wix: exporting or embedding a site elsewhere.
- Squarespace: requesting AI crawler exclusion.
- Squarespace: exporting site content.
- Google: JavaScript SEO basics.
Platform documentation checked October 21, 2026. Confirm the plan and settings for your own site before choosing.