Migrate From Wix or Squarespace to WordPress Without Losing SEO
Quick Answer
A safe migration from Wix or Squarespace to WordPress preserves URLs where possible, maps every changed URL with a 301 redirect, rebuilds each page's H1, meta and internal links, and monitors Search Console for 60 days. Done well, most sites lose no rankings — some gain due to WordPress's superior technical flexibility.
Wix and Squarespace are excellent starter platforms, but many businesses outgrow them. Common triggers: needing custom functionality, better SEO controls, faster performance, or wanting to consolidate ecommerce and content on one platform. Migrating to WordPress unlocks those but does it without wrecking your existing search rankings, which are often worth more than the site itself.
This guide walks through the migration process we use with clients — carefully engineered to protect SEO equity, business continuity and content quality.
Table of Contents
- Before you migrate: audit what you have
- Build the WordPress site in parallel
- The URL redirect map
- Launch day sequence
- Post-launch monitoring: what to watch for 60 days
- Frequently Asked Questions
Before you migrate: audit what you have
Export a full list of URLs from Search Console (Coverage report) and a crawler like Screaming Frog. For each URL capture:
- Current URL
- Page title and H1
- Meta description
- Primary content (copy-paste to a document)
- Images and their alt text
- Any embedded forms, videos or third-party widgets
- Current organic traffic and rankings (Search Console → last 3 months)
This audit becomes your migration bible. Nothing gets lost, nothing gets forgotten.
Build the WordPress site in parallel
Set up your new WordPress site on a staging URL (`staging.yoursite.com` or a subdomain), never on your live domain yet. Recreate each page with the same URL slug where possible, the same H1, and the copy migrated from your audit. This is also the moment to upgrade thin pages, add schema, tidy heading hierarchy and improve internal linking.
Add `noindex, nofollow` to the entire staging site during construction (Settings → Reading → "Discourage search engines"). Turn it off only after launch.
The URL redirect map
For every URL that changes — even if it's just moving from `?p=42` to `/services/plumbing` — you need a 301 redirect. Build a spreadsheet with two columns: old URL, new URL. Use a plugin like Redirection (free) or a server-level rewrite for cleaner performance.
Keep the following URLs identical when possible: homepage, top-ranked service pages, top-ranked blog posts. Only change URLs when there's a genuine reason (structural correction, removing dates from blog slugs, cleaner hierarchy).
Test every redirect with `curl -I https://yoursite.com/old-url` before launch. You should see `HTTP/2 301` and the correct Location header.
Launch day sequence
Publish in this order to minimise downtime and search visibility risk:
- Take a full backup of the old site (Wix export, Squarespace export, or manual)
- Point your domain DNS to your new WordPress host (allow up to 24 hours for propagation)
- Immediately enable indexing on WordPress (Settings → Reading → uncheck "Discourage")
- Submit your new sitemap to Google Search Console
- Request indexing on your top 20 pages via the URL Inspection tool
- Keep your Wix or Squarespace subscription active for at least 30 days as a rollback safety net
Expect 10-30% of your organic traffic to wobble for the first two weeks, then recover. That is normal recrawl activity, not a permanent loss.
Post-launch monitoring: what to watch for 60 days
Set up daily checks for the first two weeks, then weekly:
- Search Console Coverage report — any new "Excluded" URLs?
- Search Console Performance report — total impressions holding within 15% of pre-launch?
- Third-party rank tracker for your top 20 commercial keywords
- GA4 organic sessions and conversion rate
- Uptime monitoring (UptimeRobot free tier is fine)
If impressions drop more than 20% and stay down after two weeks, something is broken. The usual culprits: missed redirects, broken canonicals, staging noindex left on, or new pages that don't load the primary keyword correctly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I lose Google rankings when migrating?
Not if you preserve URLs where possible, redirect every changed URL with a 301, keep H1s and body content on ranking pages, and monitor Search Console. Most migrations preserve rankings; badly-run ones can lose 30-60% temporarily.
How long does a Wix or Squarespace to WordPress migration take?
A five-page site: 5-15 hours of focused work. A twenty-page site with a blog: 25-40 hours. Ecommerce migrations add another 15-30 hours for products and orders.
Can I migrate my Squarespace store to WooCommerce?
Yes. Export products via Squarespace's XML export, then import to WooCommerce with the built-in importer. Order history and customer accounts require more care — often a paid migration tool or specialist help.
What WordPress hosting should I use after migration?
For most SMBs: Kinsta, WP Engine, SiteGround or Cloudways. Avoid the cheapest shared hosting — the performance hit erodes SEO gains from the platform switch.
Should I hire someone for the migration?
If you rank for meaningful commercial keywords, yes. The cost of a specialist (£1,000-£4,000) is trivial compared to the risk of a botched migration that costs you a year of rankings. See our WordPress migration service.
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