Should I move my website off Wix or Squarespace?

When staying makes sense

Stay when the problem is the pages: an old layout, thin copy, too few photos of your work, or a phone number that doesn’t tap to call. You can fix each of those inside the site you already have, and your page addresses, domain and plan stay the same.

On Wix, you can’t switch the template of a site you’ve built, but you can change its look and rebuild pages one at a time, with Site History to undo. Changing your Wix template and redoing your Wix website cover both routes.

On Squarespace, the redesign guide lets you keep some or all of your content while you try a new style and structure, “without any permanent changes to your existing site.” It also says these changes won’t affect your website subscription.

A Squarespace site on version 7.0 can move to 7.1 with the update tool, which keeps SEO, orders, domains and URL mappings intact. The update is permanent, so preview it before you publish.

When moving makes sense

A move is worth its cost when one of these is true.

• You want the site on a host you choose, or a copy you can take anywhere. Wix says a site only works on Wix’s own servers, and Squarespace exports only some content, as a WordPress file.
• You need a feature or a connection to your other software that the platform doesn’t offer, and its support team has confirmed it.
• You’ve lost control of the account and can’t get it back. Wix says it can’t mediate disputes between you and another party, and Squarespace’s terms say it tries to stay out of them. Who owns my website covers what to check first.

What a move costs in time and risk

If you import Squarespace content into a self-hosted WordPress site, Squarespace warns that images might not migrate and can stop working once you cancel. Importing into WordPress.com copies them instead.

Then there’s search. Google’s site move guide says to expect ranking fluctuations, that a medium-sized site can take a few weeks or more to show its new addresses in search, and to keep redirects generally at least a year.

If you move, do it in this order

1. 01

   List every page address

   Google’s guide starts with a URL mapping: each old address and the new page it should go to.

2. 02

   Build and test the new site first

   Keep the old site live while you build. Google also says to change one thing at a time, so don’t change the platform and the design in the same step.

3. 03

   Set the redirects

   Add a 301 redirect on the new site for every old address. Squarespace’s guide says a 301 tells search engines a page has moved and passes the old page’s rank to the new one.

4. 04

   Record your DNS settings

   Squarespace recommends a screenshot of your DNS settings before a transfer, because most domain hosts can’t keep them in place.

5. 05

   Transfer the domain, then cancel

   Remove the domain lock, send the transfer code to the new provider, and cancel the old plan only after the domain has moved. Squarespace’s transfer guide gives the same order.

Where Katsa fits

Katsa takes the staying route. We rebuild your home page inside your current Wix, Squarespace, WordPress or Duda site, in your own account, so the page addresses, domain and plan don’t change.

The rebuild comes with a fix list for the rest of the site. The Wix page and the Squarespace page cover the details for each platform.