To migrate from Squarespace to WordPress, you export your content from Squarespace as a WordPress-format XML file, import it into a new WordPress site with the WordPress Importer, then move your images, rebuild the pages and features the export leaves out, match or redirect your URLs, and finally point your domain at the new site. The export does a fraction of the work. The rest is rebuilding and checking, and that is where most of the time goes.
This guide covers how to migrate from Squarespace to WordPress in the order that keeps your site live and your search traffic protected throughout.
How to migrate from Squarespace to WordPress: start with the export limits
Before you touch anything, understand the limits of the export, because they shape the whole project. According to Squarespace’s export documentation, the WordPress export includes:
- Layout pages.
- One blog page, with its posts and comments.
- Text blocks and image blocks.
- Gallery pages, plus text from embed and Instagram blocks with minimal structure.
It does not include, among other things:
- Other page types such as album, index, portfolio, calendar and store pages.
- More than one blog page.
- Product, audio and video blocks, and dropdowns.
- Content in page-specific headers, footers and sidebars.
- Drafts, style settings and custom CSS.
Squarespace also notes that images may not transfer to a self-hosted WordPress site through the WordPress Importer, and that image links can break after you cancel your Squarespace site. Plan for moving images yourself. The site also has to be published with public availability, and you cannot export from a trial site.
Step 1: Inventory your Squarespace site
Make a spreadsheet of every page on the current site. For each one, note:
- The URL.
- The page type (layout, blog, store, portfolio, gallery and so on).
- Whether it will export, based on the list above.
- Its SEO title and description.
- Any forms, embeds, video or code blocks on it.
Add your blog post URLs and product URLs. A crawler such as Screaming Frog, plus the pages listed in Google Search Console, will catch anything you miss in the navigation. Mark the pages that bring the most traffic and leads.
This list does three jobs: it tells you what to rebuild, it becomes your redirect map, and it is your checklist for the final review. The same approach applies to any platform change, which we cover more broadly in our SEO migration checklist.
Step 2: Set up WordPress on its new home
You need a self-hosted WordPress install on a hosting account, set up somewhere you can work without touching the live site: a temporary domain, a subdomain or a staging environment provided by the host.
While it is still private:
- Install WordPress and set Settings > Reading to discourage search engines from indexing the site. Add password protection if your host offers it.
- Pick and install a theme. You will rebuild your design here, since Squarespace style settings and CSS do not carry over.
- Install an SEO plugin for titles, descriptions and sitemaps.
- Set your permalink structure under Settings > Permalinks. Look at how your Squarespace blog post URLs are formatted and choose a structure that matches them as closely as you can. Matching URLs means fewer redirects.
Step 3: Export your content from Squarespace
In Squarespace, open the Import & export content panel in your site settings and choose Export. Click the WordPress icon; the file is only available in WordPress format. If you have more than one blog page, choose the one to export as the primary blog. Wait for processing to finish, then download the XML file.
Because only one blog exports, sites with several blogs need a plan for the others: either export once per blog by temporarily changing which is primary, or move the extra posts by hand. Test the first approach on a copy of your data before relying on it.
Step 4: Import into WordPress
In your new WordPress dashboard, go to Tools > Import, find WordPress in the list, install the importer and run it. Upload the XML file. You will be asked to assign the imported posts to a WordPress user and given an option to download and import file attachments; tick it, as it may pull in some images.
When the import finishes, check:
- That all exported pages and posts are present, with the right titles and dates.
- That categories and tags came through on blog posts.
- How the content looks. Squarespace layouts often arrive as a long run of blocks or HTML that needs cleaning up in the block editor.
- That internal links in the content still point to the right pages.
Step 5: Move your images properly
This is the step people skip and then regret. Open several imported posts and check where the images are loading from. If they still point to Squarespace rather than your WordPress Media Library, they will break when the Squarespace site is closed.
You have two main options:
- Download the images from Squarespace and upload them to the WordPress Media Library, then replace them in each post and page.
- Use a WordPress plugin that finds external images in your content and imports them into the Media Library automatically. Test it on a few posts first and check the results.
While you are at it, add alt text where it is missing and compress large images so the new site is not slower than the old one.
Step 6: Rebuild what did not export
Go back to your inventory and work through every item marked as not exported:
- Store and products. Squarespace can export products to a CSV file. If you are moving to WooCommerce, its product importer accepts CSV, but you will need to map columns and check variants, prices and images. Orders and customers need their own plan.
- Portfolio, index and album pages. Rebuild these with your theme’s layouts or the block editor.
- Forms. Squarespace form blocks will not come across. Recreate them with a WordPress form plugin and connect them to wherever submissions should go.
- Video and audio. Re-embed them.
- Headers, footers and navigation. Rebuild menus and sitewide elements in the theme.
- SEO titles and descriptions. Check whether they carried over; if not, copy them from your inventory into the SEO plugin.
- Tracking and scripts. Re-add analytics, ad pixels and any code that was injected sitewide.
Step 7: Match URLs and set up redirects
Compare the old URLs in your inventory with the new WordPress URLs. Wherever they differ, add a 301 redirect from the old address to the new one, either with a redirect plugin or at server level. Common differences include blog post paths, store and product URLs, and pages you renamed during the rebuild.
Redirect every old page to its closest equivalent. Do not send everything to the home page. Test each redirect from your list once the site is live.
Step 8: Switch the domain and launch
Only switch once the new site is complete and checked. Then:
- If your domain is registered with Squarespace, decide whether to transfer it to another registrar or keep it there and change its DNS records to point to your new host. Either way, note your existing records first.
- If you use email on the domain, make sure the MX and related records are kept so email keeps working.
- Update DNS to point the domain at the WordPress host and install an SSL certificate.
- Update the WordPress site address to the real domain if you built on a temporary one.
- Turn off “discourage search engines” and remove any password protection.
- Submit the new XML sitemap in Google Search Console and check the Pages report over the following weeks.
- Keep your Squarespace subscription active until you have confirmed every image and page is served from WordPress.
When to hand it over
If you are still weighing how to migrate from Squarespace to WordPress yourself, be realistic about scope. A small site with a handful of pages and a blog is a manageable DIY project. A site with a store, several blogs, lots of images or significant search traffic is where mistakes get expensive. If you want it done for you, our Squarespace to WordPress migration service covers the export, rebuild, redirects, hosting and launch. You can reach us at support@growthscribe.com. For a broader view of what a move involves, see our explainer on what website migration is.
FAQ
Can I move my whole Squarespace site to WordPress automatically?
No. Squarespace’s WordPress export covers layout pages, one blog, text, image blocks and galleries. Store pages, products, extra blogs, portfolio and index pages, forms, audio and video blocks, styles and custom CSS have to be rebuilt or moved separately.
Will my images transfer from Squarespace to WordPress?
Not reliably. Squarespace notes that images may not migrate to a self-hosted WordPress site through the WordPress Importer and may still point to Squarespace. Download and re-upload them, or use a plugin that imports external images, and confirm before cancelling Squarespace.
Will I lose my Google rankings moving from Squarespace to WordPress?
Some temporary movement is normal during any site move. You protect your rankings by keeping URLs the same where possible, adding 301 redirects where they change, carrying over titles, descriptions and content, and submitting the new sitemap in Search Console.
When should I cancel my Squarespace subscription?
Only after the new WordPress site is live on your domain and you have confirmed every page, post and image loads from WordPress rather than Squarespace. Keep a copy of your XML export and your page inventory as a record.
