Moving from Wix or Squarespace to WordPress: what actually changes

Wix and Squarespace are good products, and for a lot of small businesses they are the right choice for years. The move to WordPress usually happens on the day the builder says no: a feature that does not exist, a speed problem that cannot be fixed, a price increase, or a need to connect to something else. Here is what actually changes when you move, including the parts the “migrate in one click” adverts leave out.

What you gain

Ownership, mostly. On WordPress you own the software, the files, the database and the hosting account, and you can move them anywhere. You can install anything, connect to anything, and hire anyone — there are more people who can work on WordPress than on any other platform. Sites that pass Core Web Vitals are achievable rather than a fight. And the ceiling is higher: an online store with real inventory, a members’ area, a booking system tied to your calendar, a CRM integration.

What you lose

The all-in-one simplicity. With a builder, hosting, updates, security and support are somebody else’s problem, bundled into one monthly fee. On WordPress they become yours, or your web studio’s. A WordPress site that nobody maintains does not stay still; it gets out of date and eventually gets compromised. So the real comparison is not “$25 a month versus free”; it is the builder’s subscription against hosting plus a care plan. For many businesses that is roughly a wash, with far more capability on the WordPress side.

What moves

Your text, your images, your pages and your blog posts all move, though not with one click — builders export in limited ways and the content has to be placed into new templates. Your domain moves with a DNS change. Your Google rankings move if every old address is redirected to the equivalent new one, which is the single most important task in the whole project.

What does not move

The design, in most cases; it is rebuilt rather than copied, which is usually the point. Builder-specific features — Wix’s app widgets, Squarespace’s scheduling, their built-in forms — are replaced with WordPress equivalents, which are often better but are not identical. Blog comments can sometimes be moved and sometimes not. Analytics history stays in Google Analytics, not in the site, so it is unaffected if the same property is kept.

What to do before you move

Export a list of every page and post address on the current site. Note which ones get traffic. Decide whether you are moving the design too or rebuilding it. Make sure you can log in to your domain registrar, because the DNS change happens there. And decide who will look after the WordPress site once it is live — not as an afterthought, but as part of the decision to move.

When to stay put

If the builder does everything you need, the site is fast enough, and you have no plans that it blocks, stay. Moving for its own sake is a cost with no return. We will tell you that on the call if it is true.

What it costs

A migration from Wix or Squarespace to WordPress starts at $2,000 with full URL redirects, content migration and a post-launch Search Console check; if it grows into a full rebuild it is a business website from $3,500. Looking after the result is from $99 a month.