Changing website providers is easier than it looks, as long as you protect the pages that bring you visitors. The steps below apply to moving from Squarespace, and from most other platforms, to a new site. Check each provider's current help pages for exact menus, because interfaces change.
What you need to carry over
Before you start, list what your current site has:
1. Your URLs. The page addresses Google has already indexed. 2. Your content. Text, images and structure of each page. 3. Your page titles and descriptions. They shape how you appear in search results. 4. Your domain. Where it is registered and how it points to your site.
Your design does not need to move. A new provider will present your content in its own layout.
Step 1: Export or save your content
Squarespace offers a way to export your content. Look in its help center for the current steps. Exports usually cover text but not every image or layout, so keep your original photos and copy them down for anything that does not transfer. For a small site of a few pages, copying the key text by hand is often quicker.
Step 2: List every indexed URL
Open Google Search Console, if you have it set up, and look at the report of indexed pages. If you do not have it, searching for site:yourdomain.com in Google shows many of the pages Google knows. Write them down, and mark the ones that matter most: your home page, pages with links pointing to them and any that bring regular visitors.
Step 3: Check how the new site names its pages
A new provider may use different page addresses. When an address changes, anyone with the old link, including Google, lands on an error unless the old address is redirected to the new one. A redirect that says "this page moved permanently" is called a 301 redirect.
Ask any new provider whether it supports 301 redirects before you commit. At the time of writing, websiites does not offer a self-service redirect tool, so if you rely on specific old addresses, tell us before you move and we will tell you what is possible. If redirects matter a great deal to you, choose a provider that supports them.
Step 4: Build and review the new site
Create the new site and check that it covers every important topic from the old one. Compare the page titles and descriptions with your list. On a service that builds from a description, you review the finished site before paying and can ask for a rebuild if something is missing.
Step 5: Switch your domain
You change the domain by updating records at your registrar. Some providers connect a custom domain with just two DNS records and give you a temporary address to check the site first, so ask what yours offers. DNS changes can take anywhere from minutes to hours to spread.
Do not cancel your old site until the new one is live at your domain. Keep the old plan active until you have confirmed the switch works.
Step 6: Resubmit your sitemap
After launch, open Google Search Console and submit the sitemap of the new site, which sits at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. Many providers serve a sitemap automatically, so check yours. Then use the URL inspection tool to check that your important pages are indexed at their new addresses.
What to expect
Rankings can move around after a change of provider, and how long that lasts depends on how much changed. Keeping addresses the same, or redirecting old ones, gives the best chance of a smooth move. Nobody can promise how quickly rankings settle.
Decide with the full picture
Moving makes sense when another option fits your needs or budget better. Weigh the cost of the move, in time and in possible search disruption, against what you gain.
If you would like to see a finished site for your own business before paying anything, websiites will build one from a short description.