Squarespace to Webflow:
step-by-step guide

What this Squarespace to Webflow migration guide covers

This guide outlines everything you need to know when switching to Webflow with the goal of increasing your site’s functionality:

Who this guide is for

Our detailed Squarespace-to-Webflow migration guide is for anyone looking to make the switch to more customizable design functionalities. It’s for users and businesses focused on website scaling with advanced CMS, better SEO control, integrated hosting, and optimized performance in mind.

When migrating from Squarespace to Webflow makes sense

Squarespace is well-suited for solo entrepreneurs and startup websites, but it offers a limited number of templates and imposes restrictions on customization. Switching to Webflow makes sense for businesses that have outgrown Squarespace's CMS limitations and are seeking greater design flexibility and customization add-ons that Squarespace lacks. 

What’s included in this guide (and what’s not)

This guide covers everything you need to ensure a smooth transition with no loss of website functionality, including:

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• Main reasons for migrating from Squarespace to Webflow
• Step-by-step migration process
• Timeframe and migration complexity expectations
• Answers to some of the main questions regarding migration
• Potential setbacks during the process

Step-by-step: How to migrate from Squarespace to Webflow

This step-by-step guide will help you preserve all website content, SEO rankings, and functionality during the migration. Here’s how it’s done:

Step 1 – Audit your website and create a migration plan

Conducting a comprehensive website audit is crucial before you even begin executing the migration plan. This way, you’ll know exactly what you’re moving, which prevents potential mistakes like broken links or missing content further down the line. 

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To start off on the right foot, you should make a complete inventory of your site’s elements. These include:

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• Core site pages
• On-site content (blogs and articles)
• Portfolio projects and gallery items
• Product pages (in case you were using Squarespace Commerce)
• Summary blocks and linked content
• Index pages and nested sections
• Headings and canonical tags
• SEO metadata 
• Custom CSS and code injections

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To identify the most valuable pages faster, you can use free tools like Google Analytics or the Search Console to rank them based on traffic and search volume. From there, you can use Ahrefs and similar services to pinpoint pages with the most backlink value.

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It’s important to differentiate between static pages and dynamic content, as the latter requires careful CMS mapping in Webflow. Also, make sure to categorize the internal linking structure, URLs, and content navigation references and links.

We’d also recommend cleaning up the site by identifying unused or outdated elements, such as legacy Summary Blocks in Squarespace. Prioritize high-value pages and components first and take screenshots of each page to document existing layouts, spacing, and typography. These references help ensure visual consistency when rebuilding the site in Webflow.

Step 2 – Define your Webflow site architecture

With your full Squarespace website audit complete, you can start mapping out how your content will translate into Webflow. At this phase, you can migrate and build around your website's needs and overcome the constraints of Squarespace templates. 

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Here’s what we mean by that:

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• Convert Squarespace page types to Webflow: Standard Squarespace pages like the "About Us" or "Contact Us" should translate to static Webflow pages, while blogs and portfolio items should be mapped to and structured as CMS collections. 
• Set up CMS collections and custom fields: Webflow’s CMS offers greater flexibility than Squarespace does. You can use the CMS panel to create a new collection for each specific content type and add fields that match the data structure of your Squarespace website.
• Plan dynamic content relationships: Webflow also lets you establish connections through reference fields, which is handy if you have multiple authors contributing to your blog or portfolio projects linked to specific categories.
• Refine your URL architecture: Freshen up your URL structure by creating cleaner and more logical URLs for better SEO performance.

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This is also your opportunity to do some decluttering. Our best advice is to focus on eliminating underperforming blogs and pages, as well as outdated portfolio pieces and potential content duplicates that add no value to your new Webflow website. 

Step 3 – Map SEO, URLs, and redirects 

No matter how well you execute the migration, moving your website to Webflow can still cause a temporary dip in traffic. That’s why a careful SEO mapping plan with URLs and redirects in place can help preserve rankings. 

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Here are some steps you can take to ensure that:

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• Build a detailed URL mapping sheet: List every existing Squarespace URL and point them to their Webflow counterparts. You’ll also have some room to update slugs, but make sure to do it concisely. 
• Transfer all SEO elements: Move all SEO metadata from Squarespace to Webflow, including title tags, meta descriptions, and Open Graph settings. Thankfully, Webflow has an integrated "SEO Fields" suite for this purpose, which gives you granular control over each page. 
• Map redirects: Plan all 301 redirects to move traffic to the new page. Webflow lets you manage them in bulk, which simplifies the process.

Step 4 – Recreate your website design in Webflow

During the migration, major design changes may have a greater impact on user engagement and traffic. That’s why you should see what is not working well design-wise and then improve it in Webflow.

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It’s a good thing that Webflow has much greater design capabilities, and they give you more control than Squarespace's template-based system. We recommend introducing custom interactions, refining spacing, and polishing all elements related to animations to improve the UX and engagement. 

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Focus on creating a consistent design system for simpler organization based on the following:

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• Establish the color palette and typography upfront
• Create reusable classes for consistent layouts and text styles
• Build component libraries for buttons, cards, and navigation elements

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Here’s a pro tip to help with this: focus on prioritizing responsiveness and accessibility while you’re at it. Rely on Webflow’s breakpoint system to optimize the page design for all screen sizes and make sure to test how these elements will appear during development.

Step 5 – Migrate content and CMS data

Now comes the time to move content and CMS data from Squarespace to Webflow, and in this case, the best approach is a combination of hands-on work and automation. We can’t stress this enough: the structural differences of these two platforms simply don’t allow for a fully-automated approach. At least one that works completely, that is.

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That’s why it’s best to approach things manually at first, especially if your website has custom layouts or unique content blocks, and we recommend using the platform’s native CSV export function. The hands-on work is related to cleaning up that file so it can be imported into the Webflow CMS.

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You can download some elements like images and media from Squarespace and upload them to Webflow using the platform’s "Asset Manager". Then, reconnect them within Webflow’s CMS items. 

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We’d advise you to carefully review rich text content, embedded videos, and custom code blocks, as they may not always transfer clearly between platforms. 

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After this step is complete, make sure to validate CMS data by doing the following:

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• Check each entry for complete and accurate field data
• Test embedded links and media
• Make sure that the layouts have been transferred correctly

Step 6 – Reconnect integrations and scripts

Now that you’ve dealt with the design elements and the content itself, it’s time to restore any of the integrations that your Squarespace website might have been using. Webflow’s native form system allows you to capture submissions within the dashboard itself, and you can build them using the virtual form designer.

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Naturally, you may still need to reconnect the main integrations. That’s why it’s a good thing that Webflow offers over 900 integrations, either directly or via third-party solutions. Here are just a few examples:

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• HubSpot
• Typeform
• Jotform
• Mailchimp
• Calendly

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From there, you can connect form submissions to CRM platforms like Salesforce, as well as link them to automation tools like Zapier. For reintegrating website tracking and analytics platforms, head over to Webflow’s project settings, where you can reinstall tools such as:

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• Google Analytics
• Meta Pixel
• LinkedIn Insight Tag
• Hotjar
• Microsoft Clarity

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Finally, you need to migrate forms, integrations, and custom scripts to Webflow. It happens if you’ve been using custom code injections in Squarespace’s header or footer, and you can run connection tests by:

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• Submitting tests
• Confirming accurate data translation
• Checking if tracking works adequately on key pages

Step 7 – QA, performance, and SEO validation

Before you launch, it’s advised that you optimize for Core Web Vitals to see how the site looks and feels right across different breakpoints. Here’s how you do it:

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• Run website performance and responsiveness tests
• Identify images, scripts, and oversized assets that may not have optimized right
• Check layouts, spacing, buttons, and other elements

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Moving on, you should validate CMS content by sampling items from each selection. Here’s what to focus on:

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• Text formatting inconsistencies
• Incomplete or missing field data
• Broken links
• Images that aren’t displayed properly

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At this point, it’s also vital to run URL redirect tests and conduct a full SEO audit. You can use tools like Screaming Frog to help with either of these checks, including the following key elements:

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• Title tags and meta descriptions
• Heading structure
• Canonical URLs
• 301 responses 
• 404 errors
• Schema markup
• Sitemap accuracy

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At Flow Ninja, we offer dual-phase audits for every website migration. That means you can get one full check during the staging, and one right after the site goes live. This way, we ensure that any potential issues are caught early and that your website’s search visibility remains intact.

Step 8 – Launch and post-launch monitoring

As you launch the site, make sure to immediately submit the sitemap via the Google Search Console and follow these steps:

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• Monitor for crawl errors and indexing issues
• Confirm that all redirects from your old Squarespace URLs are functioning
• Address any technical issues

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One thing worth pointing out is that search engines need some time to adjust to the new site’s structure, so visibility stabilization could take some time. That gives you some wiggle room to track your analytics, note patterns in user behavior, and quickly fix any issues as Google re-indexes your pages.

Common mistakes when migrating from Squarespace to Webflow

There’s always room for error when conducting CMS migrations, and here’s a summary of common mistakes:

Going all-in without a pre-audit

Failing to conduct a full content, SEO, and functionality audit on your Squarespace website first is one of the worst moves you can pull. Squarespace lacks the capability to export layouts and dynamic data, so not doing a full audit potentially leads to broken pages and data loss.

Expecting direct template transfer

Squarespace templates and elements do not directly translate into Webflow. If you copy them pixel-for-pixel without any optimization, you’ll only slow down the new website.

Overlooking SEO settings

Existing search rankings can easily get lost without proper 301 redirects from the Squarespace website. You should also deal with broken links, optimize meta tags, and create a detailed redirect map before switching domains.

Ignoring form functionality limitations

Webflow’s form capabilities are different from those of Squarespace, so you should identify them early and be prepared to use integrations to get the job done.

Underestimating asset optimization

This is especially important for images, since unoptimized, uncompressed images may hurt the new website’s performance and SEO.