WordPress to Squarespace: The Complete Migration Guide

What transfers

Blog posts and pages. Squarespace has a built-in WordPress importer that handles posts, basic pages, and their associated images. It’s not perfect — formatting can shift — but it gets the content across.

Images. Most images embedded in posts will transfer via the importer. However, we recommend re-uploading key images manually to ensure quality.

Your domain. Whether your domain is registered with WordPress.com, GoDaddy, Namecheap, or another registrar, it can be transferred or pointed to Squarespace.

Your theme and design. WordPress themes don’t exist in Squarespace. You’ll be choosing a new Squarespace template and redesigning.

Plugins. This is the big one. Every WordPress plugin needs a Squarespace alternative — and we’ll cover the most common replacements below.

WooCommerce products. If you’re running an online store, product data needs to be exported as CSV and imported into Squarespace Commerce. Subscriptions, memberships, and custom product types may need manual recreation.

Custom PHP code. Any custom functionality built with PHP won’t work on Squarespace. Most custom features have Squarespace equivalents or can be replicated with code injection.

Step 1: Export your WordPress content

In your WordPress dashboard, go to Tools, then Export, then select All Content. Download the XML file. This is what Squarespace’s importer will use.

Step 2: Start a Squarespace trial and import

Create a Squarespace account and start a free trial. In Settings, go to Advanced, then Import/Export. Upload your WordPress XML file. Squarespace will begin importing your posts and pages.

Step 3: Review and fix imported content

The importer does a good job, but it’s not perfect. Check every imported page for formatting issues, broken images, and missing content. Shortcodes from WordPress plugins will appear as raw text — these need to be replaced with Squarespace blocks.

Step 4: Rebuild your design

Choose a Squarespace template and start customising. Match your brand colours, upload your logo, and set your typography. Then build out each page using Squarespace’s block editor.

Step 5: Replace your WordPress plugins

This is where most of the work happens. We cover the most common replacements in the next section.

Step 6: Set up redirects

WordPress and Squarespace use different URL structures. Map every old URL to its new location using Squarespace’s URL Mappings feature in Settings, Advanced.

Step 7: Transfer your domain and go live

Transfer or point your domain to Squarespace. Test everything. Submit your new sitemap to Google Search Console. Launch.

This is the question every WordPress user asks: what about my plugins? Here are the most common replacements:

Yoast SEO → Squarespace has built-in SEO tools for meta titles, descriptions, URL slugs, alt text, and sitemaps. No plugin needed.

Contact Form 7 / Gravity Forms → Squarespace Forms. Built in, customisable, with email notifications and Google Sheets integration.

WooCommerce → Squarespace Commerce. Handles products, checkout, subscriptions, and digital downloads natively.

Elementor / Divi → Squarespace’s block editor. Different approach, but equally powerful for layout building once you learn it.

Wordfence Security → Not needed. Squarespace handles security, SSL, and DDoS protection as part of the platform.

UpdraftPlus Backups → Not needed. Squarespace maintains automatic backups.

Google Analytics plugin → Built into Squarespace. Just paste your GA tracking ID in Settings.

The process depends on where your domain is actually registered. If you’re on WordPress.com, your domain is registered through them. If you’re self-hosted, your domain is likely with GoDaddy, Namecheap, or another registrar.

Either way, the process involves unlocking the domain, getting a transfer authorisation code, and initiating the transfer from Squarespace.

WordPress users often have strong SEO in place. Here’s how to protect it:

Export your Yoast data first. Before migrating, note down every custom meta title and description from Yoast. These don’t transfer via the importer.

Match your URL structure where possible. If WordPress used /blog/post-name, configure Squarespace to use the same format.

Set up redirects for every URL that changes. Non-negotiable.

Resubmit your sitemap to Google Search Console on launch day.

Install Squarespace Analytics or reconnect Google Analytics immediately.

If your WordPress site has fewer than 10 pages, no e-commerce, and no custom functionality, a DIY migration is manageable. Budget a weekend.

If your site has 20+ pages, an online store, complex plugins, or strong search rankings you can’t afford to lose, hiring a professional is the smarter move.

At Novule, we’ve migrated dozens of WordPress sites to Squarespace. We handle the content transfer, the redesign, the plugin replacements, the SEO setup, and the redirects. You get a better site without the headache.

Book a free migration consultation →

It depends on your needs. For most service businesses, Squarespace offers a better balance of design, simplicity, and total cost of ownership. WordPress remains better for highly custom applications or sites that need specific plugin functionality.

Your content and backlinks transfer. Your Yoast settings need to be manually recreated. With proper redirects, most sites see no ranking loss - and many see improvements from Squarespace’s cleaner code.

DIY: 2-4 weeks for a typical business site. Professional with Novule: 3-9 weeks depending on complexity.