Moving off Squarespace: what actually happens

The short version: your site stays live the entire time, and the switch itself takes about thirty minutes.

The reason people put this off is not the money. It is the fear that the site goes dark, the email stops, and they spend a weekend on the phone. So here is the whole process, in order, including the parts that can go wrong.

Step 1 — We look at your current site together

Every page gets listed. While we are in there you tell me what is out of date, because this is a free chance to fix stale prices, old photos and services you stopped offering. Most people find three or four things.

Step 2 — I rebuild it

You get a private preview link to open on your phone and your computer. We go back and forth until you like it. Your real site stays live and untouched this whole time — nothing about your existing website changes while this is happening, and if you decide against the whole thing at this point, nothing has been lost.

Step 3 — You find three logins

This is the only homework, and it is the step that stalls everyone, so start it early:

• Where your domain name is registered. Often GoDaddy, sometimes the same company as your website. I can usually work out which from the outside if you are not sure.
• Your current website account — Squarespace, Wix, whoever.
• Whatever runs your email, if your address is on your own domain like [email protected]. Tell me about this one before anything else. It is the single thing that can genuinely break if handled carelessly, and it is completely safe if we plan for it.

Step 4 — Switch day

We point your domain at the new site, together, with you logged in — because they are your accounts and you should be the one holding them. Done properly there is zero downtime: visitors never see a gap.

Your old site stays paid-for and reachable for a week or two afterwards as a safety net.

Step 5 — Cancel the old subscription

Only after we have confirmed, out loud, that the site loads, the contact form actually delivers, your email still flows and any booking links work. Then you turn off auto-renew, and that is the last money that service gets.

What does not survive the move

Your text, photos, menus, galleries and layout come across exactly — they end up looking identical, mobile and tablet included. Three things cannot come over as-is, because they only work while the old platform's software runs in the background:

• Background video — replaced with a still image or a short clip.
• A live Instagram feed — replaced with a grid of recent photos that links through to your profile.
• A real shopping cart — replaced with simple buy buttons for a small number of products.

If your site has any of these I will point them out before quoting, so there are no surprises on preview day.

How long it takes, and what you have to do

A typical three-to-ten-page site takes one to two weeks start to finish, and most of that is waiting on feedback and logins rather than building. Your own time investment is about two hours total: finding the logins, reviewing the preview, and the thirty-minute switch-day session.

What makes a move harder

• Straightforward: a few pages, a contact form, photo galleries, booking handled by a "book now" link out to something else.
• Medium: a blog with a lot of posts, a mailing-list signup, gift certificates through a payment link.
• Talk to me first: a full online store with a cart and inventory, customer logins or memberships, or replacing your booking system itself — that last one I will usually talk you out of.