Moving from Weebly or Wix to Squarespace

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Moving from Weebly or Wix to Squarespace

Last updated April 21, 2023 00:22

Steps to recreate your Weebly or Wix site on Squarespace, transfer your domain, and maintain your site’s SEO.

Moving your site to a new platform can be a big change. We love that you might be thinking about switching to Squarespace, and this article can guide you through the process if you need help. In this guide, you'll learn more about our key features, find steps to get started, and get answers to common questions about moving to Squarespace.

We recommend keeping your old site online with Weebly or Wix until your new site is complete. This ensures your visitors have a live site to visit, and you can refer to your old content while you complete the transition. When you’re ready to make the switch, you can close your old site.

Tip: For hands-on help migrating your site, hire a Squarespace Expert. Click Get Matched to answer a few questions about what you need, and ensure you select Site Migration as your project type.

How switching affects SEO

Squarespace is well-regarded for our search optimized design, but switching content management systems can cause your site's search ranking to initially dip. This is true no matter what platform you choose, Squarespace or otherwise.

However, by following these tips, you can reduce this effect on search results and potentially increase your search performance in the long run.

Step 1 - Learn about Squarespace

We have everything you need to grow online. Before building your site, we recommend taking a moment to explore Squarespace and learn how our platform works. We also have quick tutorial videos, free interactive webinars, and a community Forum to help you better understand our platform. To get started right away, start a free trial.

Create a website

Stand out with a professional website, online store, or portfolio.

Building your first Squarespace site - Perfect if you’re brand new to Squarespace
Starting with Squarespace FAQ - Answers to common questions about our platform and services
Video Series: Getting Started with Squarespace - Video tutorial to help you get started

Get a domain

Squarespace domains overview - Brainstorm and choose a custom domain name
Squarespace domains FAQ - Common questions about domains on Squarespace
Transferring vs. connecting domains - Explains two ways to use domains on your site

Sell anything

Whether you’re just getting started or are an established brand, our powerful platform helps your business grow.

Squarespace Commerce - Sell products, services, digital products, and memberships
Squarespace Scheduling - Book appointments or classes
Member Areas - Create member-only content so customers can access your exclusive content

Build your brand

Drive traffic to your site and measure your success with our marketing and analytics tools.

Email Campaigns - Email marketing for you to grow and communicate with your audience
SEO Tools - Optimize your site to improve your standing in search results
Unfold - Create professionally designed social content with award-winning designs and templates

If you have a specific question, you can search this Help Center to find guides on any Squarespace feature. For an overview, visit our Getting Started page, which links to popular guides.

Step 2 - Build your site

Moving to Squarespace involves redesigning your site using our tools and templates. While working on your new Squarespace site, you can avoid having two live sites at once by keeping your in-progress site private. Create a "Coming Soon" landing page or add a site password to prevent it from appearing in search results. After your new site is complete, you can transfer or connect your domain to transition visitors over, then cancel service with your previous provider. It’s not possible to import your old site, but you can build a new site on Squarespace with these steps:

Start a trial - Every Squarespace site begins with a 14-day free trial, no credit card required. Trials include access to most Squarespace features and are a great way to learn if our platform meets your needs.
Choose a template - Our template designs offer a starting point to help build your site, but all sites have the same features and style options. This means you can create a beautiful site for a range of needs, from small business sites to artist portfolios, weddings, and more.
Add pages - Place layout pages and specialized pages, like blog pages, in your navigation menu to create a site structure.
Add content - Build your site by adding blocks and moving content to create unique layouts.
Make style changes - Use the Site styles and Design panels to change fonts, colors, and other design options.

Recreating your old site

If you're using content from your old site site for your new Squarespace site, use the following tips to ensure a smooth transition:

When copying and pasting text, remove text formatting to avoid importing HTML tags. These can interfere with your site's style settings.
Format your images for display on the web so they look great on different screen sizes.

Step 3 - Upgrade to paid service

Your 14-day free trial lets you explore Squarespace. After you’ve explored the platform and decided to build your new site with Squarespace, you’ll want to upgrade to paid service.

You can keep your site private until the design is finished and you’re ready to add a domain.

Step 4 - Move your domain

When your site is ready, complete your transition with your custom domain and URL redirects. This can minimize the impact of switching hosts on your site's search engine rankings.

Tip: After moving your domain, you may want to create URL redirects to ensure old links work. While your old site is still online, we recommend cataloging your site’s URL structure in a spreadsheet.

Transfer your existing domain

If you already have a custom domain registered with or connected to your old site, transfer it to Squarespace. This way, you can manage every aspect of your site from one service instead of two. This also ensures Squarespace can help with any domain issues.

If your domain doesn’t meet our transfer requirements, or if you have a complex registration setup, you can connect it instead.

Register a new domain

If you don't have a domain, or want to register a new one, you can register a Squarespace domain. All Squarespace sites on an annual billing plan include one custom domain for a year. You can register more domains for $20 to $70 per year. To find a domain's price, you can search for it on our domain name search page or your Domains panel.

Maintain your SEO

Moving a site between platforms can impact your search ranking at first. Learn how switching affects SEO and find our tips to minimize the impact.

Step 5 - Cancel service with Weebly or Wix

Squarespace provides website hosting and, if you transferred or registered a domain with us, domain hosting. When your Squarespace site is online, you've imported or recreated all essential content, and you no longer need your old site, you can most likely cancel service with your old site.

However, if you connected a domain that’s still hosted by another provider (rather than transferring it), you'll need to keep that domain subscription. If you're not sure, contact your previous provider to confirm what services you're paying for.

FAQ

Is there a free version of Squarespace?

You can start every website with a free 14-day trial, but we don't have a free version for ongoing sites.

I can't find a design for my business.

Squarespace sites are flexible, so you can customize the template to fit your brand or business. We use demo content to show off key features, but starting with a design that uses restaurant demo content doesn't limit you to building a restaurant site. Visit our template store to find all of our current templates.

Can I remove "Made with Squarespace?"

Yes. This text is optional on every plan and template, and you’re welcome to remove it or replace it with other content.

Do I need to optimize my site for mobile?

No. We use built-in mobile styles to ensure your site looks great on any display size and have tools for previewing and customizing your mobile layout.

Can someone rebuild my site on Squarespace for me?

Yes. While we're here 24/7 to help you transition to Squarespace, you may decide that you need more extensive design or development help from a Squarespace Expert. To learn more, visit Hiring a Squarespace Expert.