Article's Content
Article's Content
What would you do with $5 million a month to spend on paid ads?
That’s not a hypothetical for Wix and Squarespace.
These two web-building giants each pour eight-figure sums into Google Ads every year.
But while the budgets are similar, their strategies couldn’t be more different:
- Wix plays a volume game, casting a wide net with freemium hooks and nurturing leads over time
- Squarespace goes premium, bidding aggressively on design-conscious users who convert quickly
Even as organic visibility shrinks under AI Overviews and search-generated experiences, Wix and Squarespace are increasing their monthly ad spend and tweaking their keyword strategies in a calculated bet on customer lifetime value.
In this breakdown, I analyze the PPC strategies behind these two web-building titans, unpacking why paid search remains such a valuable channel for each brand, how their budgets and keyword mixes diverge, and what their ad-to-landing-page funnels reveal about very different acquisition philosophies.
But first…
Why Paid Search Still Matters in 2025
For established brands like Wix and Squarespace, doubling down on paid search in 2025 might seem counterintuitive. After all, both already have massive organic footprints and brand recognition.
But three factors make Google Ads increasingly vital to their acquisition strategies:
1) CPC inflation from new entrants
AI-powered website builders like Durable, Hostinger AI Site Builder, and Shopify’s Starter plan now bid on core “website builder” terms, driving CPCs into the $30-$45 range. This inflation forces the incumbents to bid more strategically or risk losing visibility.
2) Shrinking organic shelf-space
Google AI Overviews push traditional blue links further down the page, making paid placement more valuable than ever for transactional keywords where user intent is strongest.
3) Multi-year customer value
A single website-builder conversion locks in revenue across hosting, domains, e-commerce fees, email, and add-ons. Both Wix and Squarespace can stomach a cost-per-click of $40 and above because they have a high customer lifetime value. In Wix’s case, their gross margin for Q4 2024 was 70%. When you factor in renewal rates, cross-sells, and transaction fees, the math works even at seemingly outrageous per-click costs.
Essentially, paid search is less of a volume land-grab and more of a high-stakes channel for reaching the most profitable cohorts. The days of $5 CPCs for “website builder” are long gone, forcing both Wix and Squarespace to adapt their strategies to this new reality.
And that’s what we’re seeing with both companies.
The volume of PPC keywords has dropped steadily for both companies over the last year while monthly ad budgets continue to climb.
According to SimilarWeb, paid search brought in 8.31% of Wix’s web traffic in April 2025 and 4.40% for Squarespace.
Now let’s take a closer look at how these two companies are spending those multi-million dollar ad budgets and the keywords they choose to invest in.
Wix’s $5M Monthly PPC Strategy
A lot has changed for Wix’s paid search strategy over the past few years.
In early 2023, Wix spent about $3.3 million monthly to generate around 600,000 clicks, resulting in an average CPC of about $5.5. This high-volume, relatively low-cost approach was the standard playbook for many big brands in the 2010s and early 2020s.
By mid-2023, we see a dramatic efficiency pivot: Wix trimmed its spend by 25%, but clicks collapsed by a staggering 60%, essentially doubling their CPC to $12-$13. Fast forward to 2024-25, and Wix’s budget has surged past $4.4 million monthly while clicks plateau near 150,000, pushing their blended CPC into the $30 range.
That’s a 5x increase in average CPC in just two years.
While CPC inflation certainly played a role, it looks like Wix also slashed the ultra-cheap long-tail keywords in 2023 and reallocated that budget into a much smaller pool of high-intent keywords. What was once a volume play transformed into a margin play focusing on keywords related to e-commerce, AI site building, custom domains, and more.
Keyword Strategy: Broad Funnel, Specialized Segments
According to SpyFu, Wix’s PPC strategy targets around 57,000 unique terms. Of that total, there’s a cluster of nearly 12,000 terms that overlap with Squarespace, representing the high-priority head terms like “create a website” that both companies need to compete for.
But the more interesting story lies in Wix’s distinctive keyword clusters that reveal their differentiated strategy:
- Logo/brand generators (“logo maker free,” “business logo design online”)
- Print-on-demand and dropshipping (“sell custom mugs online,” “t-shirt business website”)
- Competitor conquest focusing heavily on GoDaddy and Shopify pricing queries
- Motivational/inspirational content used primarily for retargeting (“small business success stories,” “how to start an online business”)
These clusters feed Wix’s freemium funnel. They capture emails at low cost, nurture with onboarding emails, and upsell to premium plans and app-store add-ons. The inclusion of related clusters like logo design and dropshipping adds more entry points into the ecosystem, each one a potential path to Wix’s premium website products.
Squarespace’s $5M Monthly PPC Strategy
Now for Squarespace: same monthly budget, but a very different approach.
In early 2023, Squarespace spent roughly $2.0 million monthly to generate approximately 200,000 clicks, with an average CPC of $10. That’s nearly twice what Wix was paying per click at that time.
But while Wix pulled back and restructured, Squarespace steadily ramped up. And by April 2025, their monthly spend had increased to $5 million while clicks hovered between 110,000-130,000, pushing their CPC into the $42-$45 range.
Rather than scaling back, Squarespace consistently outbid competitors and carved out a strategic moat around high-intent, design-focused keywords.
It’s a fundamentally different approach. Wix adjusted their tactics dramatically, Squarespace doubled down on its existing strategy but at higher cost thresholds.
Keyword Mix: Selective Quality Over Quantity
Squarespace’s keyword universe is about half the size of Wix’s at 30,000. Of those, roughly 18,600 are unique to Squarespace. This leaner footprint allows them to focus on higher-quality, higher-intent traffic.
Here’s where they concentrate their efforts:
- Portfolio and minimal design terms (“minimal photography website,” “clean portfolio template”)
- Cost-of-ownership comparisons (“cheap website design professional,” “affordable website design services”)
- Upscale commerce (“boutique clothing website template,” “jewelry store website builder”)
- Competitor queries focused primarily on Webflow, Carrd, and Elementor rather than mass-market alternatives
These categories reflect Squarespace’s intent-driven approach. Instead of trying to capture everyone, they prioritize users who already know what they want and are more likely to convert quickly. The emphasis is on attracting buyers, not browsers.
Keyword Groupings at a Glance: Where They Compete and Diverge
To better understand how Wix and Squarespace approach keyword strategy, we used SpyFu’s Kombat tool to compare their keyword allocations across key categories:
The split perfectly mirrors their business models. Wix spreads attention across the full funnel, from broad educational content to specific tools, matching their “start free, grow with us” positioning. Squarespace concentrates on design and portfolio terms, choosing not to target entry-level topics that attract lower-intent users.
Both companies recognize e-commerce as their highest-value segment. They’re willing to pay premium rates for these terms, but Wix maintains a much larger keyword set in this category to match their broader product offerings.
Deconstructing the “Free Website Builder” Funnel
So far, we’ve looked at the big-picture strategies. Now let’s zoom in on how Wix and Squarespace handle the same high-volume search term: “free website builder.” Despite sharing the keyword, their approaches reveal two very different philosophies.
Wix Ad Copy: Leaning Into “Free” and “Easy”
Unsurprisingly, Wix’s ad copy strategy centers around their freemium offering. The headline prominently declares Free and Easy Website Builder, setting expectations with an immediate, no-obligation promise of value.
The supporting text, “Easily Customize Your Stunning Website and Share It with the World for Free,” also focuses on the zero-cost entry point and ease of use. Every element of their ad copy reinforces accessibility and low barriers to entry, a deliberate strategy to maximize click-through rates while maintaining Quality Score.
Wix also doesn’t shy away from business language in these ads. They include site link extensions for their “Business Website Builder” and “Online Store Builder” to signal that, despite being free, their product is suitable for professionals too. This subtle positioning aims to capture users with commercial intent without frightening away those seeking a personal site.
Squarespace Ad Copy: Premium Wrapped in “Free”
Squarespace takes a different approach with their ad copy. While they do use “Free Website Builder” in their headline in order to match the search query, they immediately pivot away from it in their supporting text.
Their subline reads “All-In-One Platform to Build a Beautiful Online Presence,” with the emphasis clearly on “beautiful” rather than “free.” This subtle (and somewhat disingenuous) reframing is kind of like a first-level qualification filter. It signals to users that while yes, they can try the platform without initial payment, the real value proposition is aesthetic quality.
That’s why Squarespace avoids diving into pricing details in their ads. Instead of highlighting “free” like Wix does, they frame their offering as a no-credit-card-required trial of a premium product. The word “beautiful” shows up again and again, reinforcing their brand as the polished, design-forward choice.
Wix Landing Page: The Email-First Journey
Once users click through, Wix’s landing page continues their volume-first strategy. Their hero headline shifts away from “free” and toward aspiration: “It’s more than a website. It’s your future.” This emotional appeal attempts to elevate what begins as a free tool into something more significant, a platform for growth.
What stands out immediately on Wix’s landing page is the email capture.
Rather than sending users straight to templates or the editor, Wix places an email field plus “Start Now” button as the primary call-to-action. It’s a move designed to drive immediate engagement, following the conversion strategies common in the freemium SaaS model.
Visually, Wix employs a vibrant, energetic design language with pastel-colored AI mock-ups of various website types. The layout walks users through a progression, starting with design, moving into management, and ending with growth, mirroring the journey from curious free user to long-term paid subscriber.
That journey begins with a single action. Every section reinforces it, ending with the same clear call to “Start Now.”
Squarespace Landing Page: Frictionless Product Exposure
Squarespace’s landing page takes the opposite approach. Their hero headline, “The affordable way to build a website,” acknowledges the cost-conscious nature of the search query but reframes “free” as “affordable,” subtly setting expectations that this is a premium product with a trial, not a forever-free tool.
Squarespace’s primary CTA is a simple “Get Started” button that leads directly into their template browser and product experience. It’s a low-friction entry point that signals confidence in the product’s ability to convert based on quality alone.
This leads into a much longer landing page that includes:
- A benefits section that focuses heavily on value, with explicit callouts to “no unwanted branding,” “free domain for a year,” and “unlimited bandwidth”
- A cost-comparison against competitors in general, showing the savings benefits of Squarespace
- A section showcasing their high-quality templates and inviting visitors to browse their collection
- An overview of all the e-commerce tools they have included in their offering
These landing page differences, like the ad copy, reflects fundamentally different conversion approaches:
Wix starts by capturing an email, then sends users into the free editor. With a longer upsell runway, their focus is on growing the list rather than driving immediate revenue. It’s a volume play, betting that enough users will convert over time.
Squarespace leads with frictionless product exposure, betting that once users experience their product quality, a substantial portion will convert without needing nurture sequences.
If you want to see another SEM duel between two competitors, check out our breakdown of how Mimecast and Barracuda play the PPC game.
Paid Search Isn’t Over. It Just Demands a Smarter Playbook
Paid search isn’t cheap anymore, but it’s still effective. Both Wix and Squarespace have increased their ad spend in recent years, adapting to higher costs with more focused strategies.
- Wix shifted away from broad targeting in 2023 and now invests in high-value keyword clusters aligned with its AI and e-commerce products.
- Squarespace doubled down on premium design seekers, willingly paying a higher CPC to keep the brand synonymous with polish and professionalism.
For marketers in other verticals, the lesson is clear: decide whether you’re playing a volume game or a value game. Structure your keyword set, ad promise, and landing-page offer accordingly to match your strategy, and be ready to adapt as conditions change.
Generative AI and search engine changes are compressing organic visibility, meaning paid search becomes less about awareness and more about capturing high-intent, high-value prospects at critical decision points. The days of cheap clicks and broad nets are over.
The winners will have clear segmentation, sharp keyword focus, and landing pages built to convert.
Need help overhauling your paid search strategy? Let’s chat about strategic PPC optimization.
