Moving from Squarespace: check what the export includes.
Before leaving Squarespace, make a list of the pages, images and files you want to keep, then check what the new provider has actually received. We call that list a content receipt. It helps you spot a missing post, download or function while there is still time to bring it across.
Platform guidance reviewed 27 September 2026. Check the current provider instructions and your own agreement before acting.
What the native export gives you
Squarespace can export certain content in a WordPress-format XML file. The export supports one blog, but it does not carry across the site's style settings or custom CSS, and several page and block types are excluded. The format is a content-transfer route, not a complete copy of the visual site. Check its current supported-content list against your actual site. Squarespace's export documentation.
An export helps retain content; the replacement still needs planning, writing, design and checks. Compare building it yourself with a complete website project.
Choosing that export format does not settle the destination platform. The receiving provider still needs to explain how it will use the material and which parts of the site it will rebuild.
Make a content receipt
Look through the current website as well as the export file. Give each important page, file or function a row, and check it off as the new provider receives and tests it. The suggested statuses below help you organise that work; the tool cannot do the checks for you.
The table scrolls sideways on smaller screens.
| Item to account for | Record in the receipt | Useful acceptance evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Service and company pages | Current URL, approved text and destination | The complete approved copy is visible on the intended replacement page |
| Blog content | Each required post, date, author, media and URL | A comparison against the source inventory, including additional blogs |
| Images and documents | Original file, usage rights, alt text or description, linked pages | The retained file opens and is used in the agreed place |
| Design decisions | What should be preserved, improved or replaced | A representative page approved against that brief |
| Forms and integrations | Purpose, destination, account owner and required result | An authorized test reaches the actual receiving service |
| URLs and redirects | Keep, redirect or retire decision | The public destination behaves as agreed after launch |
Use four plain statuses: To retain, Received, Checked, and Exception agreed. Do not mark an item checked because a filename exists. Record the exception and its approver if something is intentionally omitted.
Give the design its own brief
Keeping useful content does not mean keeping the same design. Tell the new provider who the website is for, what each page needs to explain and how you want it to feel. Include the material you already have and what you want visitors to do next.
Decide how future editing will work. A team that publishes every week may need a different arrangement from a business that asks a supplier for occasional changes. Confirm that workflow before choosing the replacement technology. Use the website brief builder.
Treat connected services as live dependencies
Record where enquiries, bookings, transactions and member access are actually processed. A link or embedded screen may belong to a separate service with its own account, subscription and permitted domains. Ask whether it stays, reconnects or needs replacing; agree and test the answer.
Keep domain registration, DNS and email in the handover too. Squarespace distinguishes pointing a domain, forwarding it and transferring registration. Choose the operation your destination needs rather than treating them as interchangeable. Squarespace's domain-move options.
Compare suppliers against the same receipt
Give each provider the same list and ask which parts they will handle, where they need your help and what is excluded. Put the build price, content transfer and ongoing services together in the comparison, so you can see the whole cost and what each quote includes. The editable RFP pack gives you a common set of supplier questions and responsibility fields.
Before ending the old arrangement, approve the replacement, verify useful URLs and connected journeys, and agree who can reverse the launch if needed. A move can change search visibility; a tested URL plan helps prevent avoidable errors but does not guarantee rankings. Prepare the URL map.
We design, write and build replacement business websites with an agreed scope. Send us the content receipt with your current website, and we can discuss what needs to come across and whether any connected services need specialist work.
Create your Squarespace replacement plan · Discuss the scope