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Squarespace Launches v5 of Their Hosted Publishing Platform
NY-based Squarespace is announcing the launch of version 5 (v5) of their online publishing platform today. Squarespace v5 is a total rewrite of the platform and is "completely different" than previous versions. Squarespace is a hosted publishing platform focusing on blogging similar to Wordpress’ hosted version. There’s a new user editing interface which allows complete control inside of a Web browser. There are a variety of widgets including search and data collection. The Squarespace team has invested in the backend architecture as well and is using Peer1 in NYC for hosting.
Squarespace is different than most other hosted blogging platforms as there is no free option available. All Squarespace clients pay for their usage and Squarespace Founder Anthony Casalena explains that this is part of the contract between the client and Squarespace. He says that people put their money in and expect a high level of service or will leave. By charging all clients, everyone is treated at the same level and it has helped the team to put their priorities in place. By charging clients for their usage, Squarespace doesn’t have to worry about the drop in online advertising fill-rates and pricing. Without a free version, their total users will always be lower than other free services, but their revenue per user should always remain higher.
I spoke with Casalena this morning who tells me that the company has grown to seven employees and he has also brought in Dane Atkinson as the new Squarespace CEO. I can never seem to get Anthony to share any stats but he did say that Squarespace is generating revenue in the "multi-million dollar" amount yearly and that the business is "more than supported" by their paying customers. Casalena also noted that the customer makeup is evenly split between companies and individuals.
I am going to try to get over to their offices next week for an in-person demo and also get Anthony’s thoughts on the new crop of commenting services on the market and how they differ from what Squarespace offers. Check out our Squarespace interview with Casalena along with my thoughts on free vs. paid services.
Here are some screenshots of the new Squarespace v5:
As the saying goes, “you get what you pay for”! The service is great and the turn around time from responses to questions is literally minutes. They do every thing they can to accommodate you. and anthony’s not bad looking either…
if i had to switch from squarespace to wordpress, free or not, it would be a downgrade. I have been a squarespace user for nearly 4 years
I have been using squarespace for one month now. After the Free Trial ends and you purchase a business category of options a whole new world of tutorials opens up. I am EXTREMELY HAPPY with squarespace and recommend it to anyone looking to start a new site. A 22-minute “HOW TO CREATE A BUSINESS WEBSITE” has helped me build a site where the traffic doubled in the last week alone.
I sent in a support-ticket in my first week and expected a reply in a day or two. Literally in two minutes I had a reply with detailed instructions and a how-to video attached.
Squarespace will be around for many decades to come.
[...] skyrocketed, and today they’re considered one of NY Tech’s greatest success stories. Read more over at Center [...]
Whoa! Didn’t see that coming!
Free is MOSTLY better http://startupmeme.com/free-does-matterfree-does-matter/
Think of Ubuntu and other Linux Distros, Windows Live Services, Yahoo, Google, Wordpress and so many more.
It is better, Ubuntu, Wordpress, Gmail and so so many more examples are there that I could use to prove you wrong :)
Free always has a cost, try accounting for your time in setting things up or managing your hosting etc., that is where a paid service shines. There are too many Freetards out there that jump on the free bandwagon and refuse to even consider spending a few dollars to make their lives easier, its a shame. They spend hours and days scouring the web for a free option and then work just as hard to make it fit their needs, even if it sucks, they will love it, cause it’s free.
And yes, Google is the only example I can think of where free is kicks ass, other than that, wordpress is an unsecure, buggy piece of shit, don’t even kid yourself.
Squarespace looks awesome, but when compared to Wordpress, I’d say it’s no competition as free is better :)
free is rarely ever better
We’ve been using Squarespace for our Convos blog, our Convos Help Center, and I use it for my personal blog. Overall, it’s been fantastic.
V5’s new UI took some getting used to but it’s definitely faster to get things done than V4. The site templates / modules are easy to work with and if you want to get your hands dirty with the CSS / code, you can do that too.
overall it’s simple, free will always have more users but paid will have more money in total – plus casalena does not care about the online ad market – this is very smart
I´ve been with SQ since 2005 and I am very pleased. I have been tinkering a lot with WP the last year but thats just the problem. WP is too my much tinkering while SQ is much easier and faster. That´s most important for me. In V5 og Squarespace I/you have total control over the design it´s just your skills that´s holding you back…
Oh, and the service has always been top notch !
= )
Gmail free?! Have you ever read their TOS? The only cost is allowing them to mine your data, read your emails and sell you to advertisers. I use gmail, and I understand the cost. I also use squarespace AND wordpress for clients. The feature set at SS is terrific.