Migrating from Squarespace to Framer involves exporting your content, recreating your design in the more flexible Framer editor, transferring your domain, and setting up redirects to preserve SEO. Most marketing sites can complete the move in one to two weeks with no downtime and significant gains in design control, performance, and animation capability.
Why Teams Move from Squarespace to Framer
Squarespace is a capable platform for simple brochure sites and small commerce, but teams outgrow its template constraints fast. Custom layouts require code injection workarounds, animations are limited to preset effects, and performance lags behind modern static-rendered platforms. Framer addresses every one of those gaps with a visual editor that produces near-native performance and full design freedom.
The most common triggers for migration are a brand redesign that the current Squarespace template cannot accommodate, a marketing team wanting to ship landing pages without engineering help, a slow site failing Core Web Vitals, or a leadership decision to upgrade the design language of the company. Framer solves all four in the same platform.
For a side-by-side comparison, see our framer vs squarespace deep dive.
What You Can and Cannot Migrate
You can migrate page content, blog posts, images, brand assets, and navigation structure. Most of this transfers through manual export from Squarespace and rebuild in Framer, which is faster than it sounds because Framer designs come together quickly once you know the tools.
You cannot migrate the Squarespace template directly. Templates are platform-specific code, and Framer designs are built from primitives like stacks, frames, and components. You will redesign in Framer, which most teams treat as an opportunity rather than a cost because the new design is usually better.
Squarespace commerce data, member areas, and scheduling features do not have direct Framer equivalents. If you rely on Squarespace commerce, evaluate whether you can keep commerce on Squarespace at a subdomain like shop.yoursite.com while moving marketing pages to Framer, or migrate commerce to a dedicated platform like Shopify.
Step 1: Audit Your Squarespace Site
Before touching Framer, inventory what exists on Squarespace. List every page, every blog post, every form, and every integration. Note which pages drive traffic and which exist for completeness. Pull analytics for the past 12 months to identify your top pages by traffic, conversions, and search visibility.
This audit serves two purposes. First, it tells you what to rebuild as a priority and what to leave for phase two. Second, it gives you the URL list you will use later for setting up redirects. Save the list as a spreadsheet with columns for old URL, new URL, page priority, and notes.
Step 2: Export Content from Squarespace
Squarespace supports a partial export to WordPress XML format from the Advanced settings under Import and Export. The export includes pages, blog posts, and basic content but not images, custom code, or design configuration.
Download images separately by saving each one from the original page or by scraping the assets folder. For larger sites, use a tool like SiteSucker or wget to mirror the entire site and pull every asset in one batch. Keep these assets in a folder organized by page so you can find them when rebuilding.
Blog posts export as XML. You can parse the XML to extract titles, content, dates, and slugs, then bulk-import to the Framer CMS. For full CMS guidance, see our framer cms complete guide.
Step 3: Set Up Your Framer Project
Create a new Framer project. Decide on your breakpoints and brand variables before laying out pages. Set up colors, typography, spacing scale, and any shared components like buttons, cards, and navigation. This upfront investment pays off across every page you build later.
For brand setup with variables, see our framer variables guide. For component patterns, see our framer components guide.
Step 4: Rebuild Pages
Recreate pages one at a time, starting with the highest-traffic pages from your audit. Match the URL slug to the original Squarespace URL where possible so redirects map cleanly later. Reuse the new component library you built in step 3 to keep pages consistent.
Do not slavishly copy Squarespace layouts. Use the migration as a chance to refresh the design where it has aged, but preserve the information architecture so visitors find what they expect. Improving the design without changing the content map produces the smoothest transition for returning users.
Step 5: Migrate Blog Posts
Set up a Blog Post collection in the Framer CMS with the fields you need: title, slug, date, author, content, hero image, excerpt, and tags. Import the exported posts either by pasting into the CMS one at a time for small sites or by using the CMS API for larger imports.
For the CMS API workflow, see our framer cms api guide.
Build a blog template that renders each post and a blog index page that lists them. Test with a few imported posts before completing the full import to catch any field mapping issues early.
Step 6: Set Up Forms and Integrations
Squarespace forms typically connect to Squarespace email lists or third-party services through Zapier. In Framer, forms can connect directly to most major email platforms (Mailchimp, ConvertKit, Klaviyo) and to webhooks for custom workflows. Recreate each form with its original fields and route submissions to the same destination.
For embedded integrations like calendars, chat widgets, or analytics, paste the embed code into a Framer code component or the project head section. Most third-party tools work identically across platforms because they rely on a single script tag.
Step 7: SEO Configuration
Replicate every SEO setting from Squarespace. Each page in Framer has fields for meta title, meta description, Open Graph image, and Twitter card image. Fill these in to match the original or improve them where the original was weak.
Generate an XML sitemap from Framer (built-in) and prepare it for submission to Google Search Console after launch. Verify ownership of the new site in Search Console before launch day so you can submit the sitemap immediately. For the full SEO playbook, see our framer SEO guide.
Step 8: Set Up Redirects
Use your URL audit from step 1 to map every old Squarespace URL to its new Framer URL. Framer supports 301 redirects in the project settings. Add every entry from the audit. Pay special attention to blog post URLs, which often differ between platforms due to slug patterns.
301 redirects preserve SEO value by signaling to search engines that the page moved permanently. Without them, ranking drops are likely within weeks of launch. Test each redirect manually before going live: visit the old URL and confirm it lands on the new URL with a 301 status.
Step 9: Test Before Launch
Test every page on desktop, tablet, and mobile. Use the Framer preview QR code to load on real phones. Check every form, every link, every CMS template, and every animation. Run Lighthouse audits to confirm performance and accessibility scores. Walk through the site as if you were a first-time visitor and note anything that feels off.
For mobile testing, see our framer mobile optimization guide.
Step 10: Switch the Domain
When everything is ready, update your domain DNS to point to Framer. The process takes a few minutes to configure and up to 48 hours for global DNS propagation, though most regions update within an hour. Framer provides exact DNS records in the publish settings.
Keep the Squarespace site live until DNS propagation completes. After 48 hours, visit your domain in multiple browsers and incognito to confirm you reach the Framer site, then cancel your Squarespace subscription.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Skipping redirects is the most damaging mistake. Without 301s, every old URL becomes a 404 for search engines and loses ranking. Audit URLs before migration and add redirects before launch.
Migrating without a design refresh is a missed opportunity. The labor of migration is mostly content transfer; the marginal cost of a design upgrade is small. Most teams ship a better-looking site on Framer with the same time investment.
Underestimating CMS migration time is common. Importing 50 blog posts by hand takes hours. Use the CMS API or a CSV import where possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a Squarespace to Framer migration take?
For a marketing site with 10 to 20 pages and a blog, expect one to two weeks. Larger sites with 50 or more pages take three to four weeks. Most of the time goes into rebuilding pages, not technical migration.
Will my SEO suffer during migration?
Not if you set up 301 redirects correctly and preserve meta tags. Sites that migrate properly often see SEO improvements within three months thanks to better performance and Core Web Vitals.
Can I migrate Squarespace commerce to Framer?
Framer does not have native commerce. You can integrate third-party tools like Shopify or Stripe, or keep commerce on Squarespace at a subdomain while moving marketing pages to Framer.
Do I lose blog comments?
Squarespace native comments do not transfer. If comments matter, integrate a third-party tool like Disqus or Commento, which works on Framer pages through embed code.
How much does Framer cost compared to Squarespace?
Framer pricing starts at $5 per site per month for basic sites. Business plans for client work start at $25 per site. See our framer pricing guide for the full breakdown.