Squarespace Membership Site or WordPress? What You Give Up

Planning a Squarespace membership site? This video looks at the trade-off of building a membership site on any hosted site builder, and what the same site looks like on WordPress, where you own it.

Transcript

Thinking about building a Squarespace membership site? Before you start, look at what a membership site turns into. A hosted site builder is tempting. Your site may already be there, the hosting is handled, and there is nothing to install. Every hosted builder comes with the same trade-off. You pay a fee for as long as the site runs. Your members sit in their system, not in a database you control. And you get the features they decide to ship, on their schedule, not yours. That matters, because a membership site does not stay a page behind a login. Members want a place to talk, a directory, and private messages. Then events, courses, and a forum. So ask what you can add in a year, not only what you need today. Here is the same starting point on a WordPress site you own. A members-only area, closed to everyone who is not on a plan. A plans page with the prices you set, and a side by side view of what each plan includes. Then the parts members ask for next. A directory where they find each other and connect. Private messages between members, on your own site, not in a separate chat app. Events that members register for with one click, with a list of who is coming. A forum, where questions are answered once and the answers stay findable. And courses, on the same login. Each of these is a plugin you add when you are ready. Owning the site means three things. It runs on your domain, on hosting you choose. The member list is yours, and you can export it. And if you ever change hosting company, the whole site comes with you. This is that member list, in your own dashboard, with the export button. The plans and prices are yours to change at any time, and payments go into your own payment account. Starting on WordPress is four steps. Install the plugin. Create your member areas. Set your plans and prices. And invite your first members. You can begin with the free plugin, and add paid plans when you are ready to charge. So, side by side. A fee for as long as you stay, or plugins on your own hosting. Their member system, or your own database. The features they ship, or the ones you add. And the members on their list, or on yours. A membership site is easiest to move on the day it has no members. Every sign up after that makes the choice harder to undo. BuddyNext is the free community plugin for WordPress. Start your membership site on the site you own, this week. Get BuddyNext. The link is below.