Squarespace prices have increased every renewal cycle since 2021. Their 2024 plan structure moved from $16/month to $25/month for the personal plan, and their business plan went from $23 to $36. The trend is up.

If you've decided to move, the SEO concern is legitimate: Google has indexed your current URLs, and you don't want to lose that ranking when you switch. This guide covers the full migration process.

What you're migrating

Before starting, take stock of what your current Squarespace site has that needs to carry over:

1. Your URLs — all the page paths Google has indexed 2. Your content — the text, images, and structure of each page 3. Your SEO metadata — page titles, meta descriptions 4. Your domain — where it's registered and how it points

What you don't need to migrate: your Squarespace design or templates. On an AI-built platform, the design is regenerated from your description. The content and URLs are what matter for SEO continuity.

Step 1: Export your content

In Squarespace, go to Settings → Advanced → Import / Export → Export. This downloads an XML file with your pages and blog posts.

Not everything exports cleanly — images are not included in the XML, gallery layouts don't transfer, and some block types produce plain text only. The export is most useful for capturing your text content, not your design.

For most small business sites (under 10 pages, minimal blog content), it's usually faster to simply copy-paste the key text from each page into your new site's description or rebuild it from your current knowledge of your business.

Step 2: Note every URL that's indexed

Before you cancel Squarespace, go to Google Search Console (if set up) and check the Coverage report to see which URLs Google has indexed. Write them down.

If you don't have GSC, go to Google and search: site:yourdomain.com — this shows all indexed pages.

The most SEO-critical URLs are:

Step 3: Build your new site

On websiites.com, describe your business and build the AI-generated site. The URL structure will be different from Squarespace (your page slugs may change), but the homepage URL stays the same since it's your root domain.

Configure the new site to match your services, location, and key content. Check that the new site covers all the key topics your current site covers.

Step 4: Set up 301 redirects for changed URLs

This is the critical SEO step. A 301 redirect tells Google: "This page moved permanently. Send the ranking signals to the new URL."

In Squarespace, page URLs often look like /about, /services, /contact. In your new site, they may be the same or slightly different. For any URL that changed, you need a 301 redirect from the old path to the new one.

On a websiites.com site, contact support to configure 301 redirects for any changed paths. This is standard migration support and typically done within 24 hours.

Step 5: Switch your domain

Point your domain to the new site by updating your DNS records. Your registrar (wherever you bought the domain) is where you make these changes.

Add the A record and CNAME that websiites.com provides. Once DNS propagates (15 minutes to several hours), your domain will serve the new site.

Do not cancel Squarespace until you've confirmed the new site is live at your domain. You need Squarespace's domain pointing intact until the switch is complete.

Step 6: Resubmit your sitemap to Google

After launching the new site, go to Google Search Console and submit your sitemap URL: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml — This tells Google to re-crawl your site and discover the new structure.

Use the URL Inspection tool in GSC to verify key pages are indexed at their new URLs.

What to expect post-migration

There is almost always a temporary ranking dip after a domain migration. This is normal — Google needs to re-evaluate the new site. With proper 301 redirects and a sitemap resubmission, the recovery period is typically 2–6 weeks.

Without 301 redirects, recovery can take months or never happen for specific URLs. The redirects are not optional if you care about SEO continuity.

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Squarespace has been a good product. But if the price increases have moved it out of range, or if you want a site that updates itself from a description rather than one you have to maintain manually, the migration is manageable.

websiites.com builds the new site from your description and shows it before you pay anything. Contact support for migration help once you're subscribed.