Outgrown Squarespace? Thinking of switching from Squarespace to WordPress and don’t know if it is the right choice? I was in your shoes too.
Recently, I’ve decided to switch from Squarespace to WordPress, I found out that WordPress is so much better for blogging – especially if you’re taking it seriously as a business like me.
Before you make up your mind, here’s why you should switch from Squarespace to WordPress:
Squarespace Has Very Limited Customization Options
In the past, I find that Squarespace is very easy to use and required literally no backend maintenance at all. However, after using Squarespace for blogging over the years, I find that I need more customization options and Squarespace is very limited and lacks customization options.
This is also one of the main reasons why people want to switch from Squarespace to WordPress.
WordPress Has Unlimited Customization Options
WordPress offers a wide variety of customization options from thousands of free and paid themes, theme builders, design and technical flexibility, CSS style and more.
WordPress Has a Plugin to Solve Every Problem
With over 54,000 free plugins, there is a plugin that solves every problem you have with WordPress. You can use plugins to solve any issues from solving technical issues to design issues.
These plugins are either free or paid and can be integrated easily into your WordPress.
WordPress Site Can Rank Higher in Search than Squarespace
Did you know that sites built with WordPress are capable of ranking higher in search results because WordPress takes care of 80-90% of Google’s crawling issues?
WordPress sites can be more SEO-friendly when you make good use of WordPress’s customization capabilities. Optimization plugins can also support more in-depth SEO to help your site rank higher.
WordPress is Better for International Traffic
Squarespace is only able to translated into six languages and limited localization options.
When you use WordPress translation plugins, your site can be better optimized and made available in almost all languages for international traffic.
WordPress is Better for E-Commerce
Even though Squarespace has a built-in e-commerce function that looks beautiful, it has very limited options. It does not support Google Pay and automated tax rate conversion only applies in the US (which does not make sense for me since I’m based in Singapore). Squarespace also does not allow for multi-currency payments which is a bummer when you get international traffic and customers.
On the other hand, WordPress does not have these issues and it is able to integrate with many well-known e-commerce systems such as Shopify.
Your Site Speed Can Be Faster with WordPress
Did you know most site visitors quit browsing when the website takes a longer time to load? Increasing the speed of your site is an important aspect to keep your visitors stay and browse longer.
When I was using Squarespace, I was not in control of my web hosting. The only way that I could optimize onsite factors is taking note of image sizes.
However, with WordPress, I can impress the site speed through better managed WordPress web hosting. This helps to supercharge my site speed and perhaps this is why you’re still here!
How to Migrate Your Site from Squarespace to WordPress
Now that you know why you want to switch from Squarespace to WordPress, here are the steps that will help you to migrate your site from Squarespace to WordPress easily.
Step 1: Sign up for Web Hosting
While most bloggers would recommend BlueHost.com for beginners, I’m using SiteGround.com for my website as it can handle higher traffic than BlueHost, excellent customer service and I’ve got it at a 80% discount during Black Friday.
Step 2: Install WordPress
Installing WordPress is very simple and easy. It only takes 5 minutes to install with just one-click from your hosting dashboard.
Step 3: Export Your Content from Squarespace
If you’ve been using Squarespace for blogging, you’ll find that it is a breeze to export your content from Squarespace as it’ll automatically export:
- Your Squarespace pages which will become WordPress pages
- Your blog page which will become WordPress blog page
- Your blog posts which will become your WordPress blog posts
- Your gallery pages
These will be the areas where you will need to take note of because Squarespace does not automatically export them:
- Album pages
- Audio, video and product blocks
- Event pages
- Folders and index pages
- Product pages
- Secondary blog pages
- Style changes and custom CSS
To export your content in Squarespace, go to Settings > Advanced > Import/Export.
When you’re at the export settings, click Export.
You’ll be given an option to export pages to WordPress or download a CSV file. Choose WordPress
Once the export is complete, click Download and the export file will be in your computer as a *.xml file.
Step 4: Import Your Content to WordPress
Login to your WordPress admin panel and in the dashboard, head over to Tools > Import.
From there, scroll down to the option WordPress and click Run Importer.
Next, click Upload file and import.
Select the file that you’ve downloaded from Squarespace and once WordPress has uploaded and analyzed it, there will be a display with import settings page. Just click Submit.
Voila! Your posts and content are ready on your new WordPress site.
Happy blogging!
Love,
Eunice
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