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Breitloh

Move off Squarespace

Squarespace sites tend to look good, which is why leaving one feels riskier than [leaving WordPress](/services/move-off-wordpress). Usually the design is not the problem: the problem is that the site has outgrown what a template will do, and every extra thing has been bolted on as injected code. You can keep the look and lose the ceiling.

Book a callWebsite rebuild
A site built from plugins on the left, redirected page by page to a single clean build on the right, with the page weight falling

Where it usually hurts

The design is fine, the template is not
You are not leaving because it looks wrong. You are leaving because the next thing on your list needs a layout the template will not make, and the workaround is a block of custom code pasted into a settings box.
The injected code is load bearing
Most mature Squarespace sites are running on snippets somebody added years ago. Nobody knows which are still needed, and they run on every page whether they do anything or not.
Collections do not bend
Blogs, events, and product lists have to be one of the shapes Squarespace already understands. The moment your content has its own shape, you are fighting the platform on every page.

What the job covers

  • The design you have, rebuilt properly, or reworked if you would rather
  • Pages, posts, and collections brought across with their structure
  • Every injected snippet reviewed, then rebuilt or retired on purpose
  • A redirect for every old address, including the collection URLs
  • An editor built around your content instead of around a template

What it has to talk to

Your collections
Blog posts, events, or team listings come across as structured content, which means they can be sorted, filtered, and reused in ways the template would not allow.
Forms and their notifications
Squarespace forms are rebuilt and pointed at the same inbox, with the storage and the spam handling replaced by something that does not depend on your subscription tier.
Fonts and brand assets
The typefaces and the spacing that make the site look like you get carried across deliberately, which is the part that makes a rebuild feel like the same site rather than a different one.

A worked approach, not a client

How I would approach a Squarespace site you like the look of

  1. 01

    Record the design first

    Type sizes, spacing, and colours measured off the live site so the rebuild matches, then improved only where you want it improved.

  2. 02

    Audit the injected code

    Every snippet listed, tested with it removed, and either rebuilt properly or thrown away. This is usually where the speed comes from.

  3. 03

    Rebuild, redirect, launch

    Templates built, collections moved, redirects mapped including the collection addresses, which are the ones most often missed.

Questions I get asked about this

The ones that come up on almost every first call. If yours is not here, ask it and you will get a straight answer.

Can you match our current design exactly?

Yes. I measure the type, spacing, and colour off the live site rather than eyeballing it, so the rebuild reads as the same site. Most people take the opportunity to fix two or three things that always irritated them.

What about our blog posts?

They come across with their dates, authors, and addresses intact, and get a redirect each. Once they are structured content rather than template entries, you can list them in ways Squarespace would not do.

Is our site too small to be worth moving?

If it does what you need and you are happy, no, and I will tell you that on the call. Moving is worth it when the platform is stopping you doing something, when the speed is costing you, or when the subscription has quietly become the expensive option.

Can we keep the domain and our email?

Yes to both. The domain moves with you whether it was bought through Squarespace or elsewhere, and email is separate from the website, so it carries on untouched. The move happens outside working hours and the old site stays up until the new one is answering.

We sell a few things through Squarespace commerce.

That part I do not build. Online shops are a different job and I would rather point you at someone who does them properly than learn on your money. If it is a handful of items, it is worth asking on the call whether they belong on the site at all or somewhere better suited.

How long does it take?

Usually four to six weeks for a site of the size Squarespace suits, and the design stage is shorter than a new build because there is something to work from. The timeline depends on how quickly content decisions come back from your side, which is the part I cannot speed up.

Squarespace is not expensive. Why move?

If it is doing the job, do not. It becomes expensive in three ways: the plan tier that unlocks the one feature you need, the developer time spent working around a template, and the speed you cannot fix. If your site is WordPress with a page builder on top instead, moving off Elementor is the closer comparison. If none of those apply, you are fine where you are and I will tell you so.

Will our SEO settings come across?

Yes: titles, descriptions, and the address of every page, plus the redirects Squarespace has been holding. Collection URLs are the ones most often missed in a migration, and they are the ones that carry your blog traffic.

What about the code we have injected over the years?

Every snippet gets reviewed and either rebuilt properly or retired. Injected code is usually where the speed went, in the same way a page builder is on WordPress, and it is also where the tracking you forgot about is still running, which is worth knowing for your privacy notice.

Related

Tell me what you have now

Half an hour on a call, and a straight answer about whether this is the right job and whether I am the right person for it.

Book a callhello@breitloh.com