How to move your website from Wix or Squarespace to WordPress without losing your SEO

Yes, if you keep your web addresses and set up redirects. Most ranking loss during a move comes from changed or broken URLs, not from WordPress itself. By mapping each old address to its new one with a 301 redirect, you carry your SEO across. WordPress is open source and free, and W3Techs detected it on about 43 percent of all websites in 2026.

Quick answer

• Most ranking loss in a platform move comes from changed URLs, not from WordPress.
• A 301 redirect forwards both visitors and search value from an old address to a new one.
• Wix exports blog posts through an RSS feed but not your full pages or images (Duplicator, 2025).
• Squarespace allows only a partial export of basic content, not your design (SaffireTech, 2026).
• Keeping your domain protects your traffic, and 46 percent of Google searches have local intent (Backlinko, 2024).

Can you move to WordPress without losing your SEO

Yes, and the key is protecting your web addresses. Search rankings are attached to specific URLs, so a move only hurts when those addresses change and nothing tells Google where the pages went. If you keep your domain and redirect each old address to its new one, the ranking value follows. WordPress also gives you full control of the on-page details that affect SEO, which is part of why so many businesses move to it after outgrowing a builder.

Why websites lose rankings when they change platforms

The damage comes from broken links, not the new platform. When a page's URL changes during a move and there is no redirect, Google eventually drops the old page and the ranking it earned. Visitors who click an old link hit a dead end too. This is avoidable: the entire risk is concentrated in the URLs, so handling them deliberately is what separates a clean move from a costly one. Keeping the same domain matters as well, because your address is part of how local customers find you, and 46 percent of all Google searches have local intent (Backlinko, 2024).

Step 1: get WordPress hosting and your domain ready

Start by setting up a place for the new website to live and pointing your domain at it. You will need WordPress hosting and access to your domain settings so you can move the address when the new website is ready. Because WordPress is the most widely used website software, with W3Techs detecting it on about 43 percent of all websites in 2026, hosts compete on price and setup is well documented. Keep your existing domain rather than starting a new one, so you do not throw away the trust your current address has built.

Step 2: export what you can from your current builder

Pull out everything that exports cleanly, then plan to rebuild the rest. Wix lets you export blog posts through an RSS feed but not your full pages or images, so that part is manual (Duplicator, 2025). Squarespace offers a partial export of basic content but not your design (SaffireTech, 2026). Make a simple list of every page and its address before you change anything, because that list becomes your redirect map in step four. For why these exports are limited, see what website data portability means and how to check if your builder lets you leave.

Step 3: recreate your pages and import your content

Bring the content into WordPress and rebuild the pages you could not export. Imported blog posts drop in directly, and the remaining pages are rebuilt in the Gutenberg block editor, which is point-and-click and needs no code. This is also your chance to keep the same headlines and text so the pages still match the searches they ranked for. Once it is in WordPress you own 100 percent of the files, content, and database, which is the ownership advantage covered in do you own your website if you built it with a website builder.

Step 4: map old URLs to new ones with 301 redirects

This is the step that saves your rankings, so do not skip it. For every old address on your list, create a 301 redirect, a permanent forward, to the matching new address in WordPress. The 301 tells Google the page has moved for good and passes the old page's ranking value to the new URL, while sending any visitor to the right place. If your old website was on Wix, you may need a small JavaScript redirect technique because of how Wix handles addresses, but the goal is the same: no old link should ever dead-end.

Step 5: keep your titles, meta descriptions, and images

Preserve the on-page details Google already associates with your pages. Reuse the same page titles and meta descriptions where they were working, keep your images and their alt text, and match the headings to the old structure. Small wording upgrades are fine, but wholesale changes on day one add risk on top of the move. Treat the first version in WordPress as a faithful copy, then improve it once the rankings have settled.

How long the move takes and whether it hurts rankings

A standard small business website of a handful of pages usually moves in a few days to a couple of weeks, and done carefully it is SEO-neutral or better. The content that exports goes fast; the pages and design that do not export are the time cost. The only real danger is moving without redirects, which breaks the links Google trusts. Plan the redirects, keep your domain, and the rankings carry over. If you are weighing whether to move yourself or hire help, see is it worth paying someone to build a website.

What transfers cleanly when you move

Frequently asked questions

Can you move from Wix or Squarespace to WordPress without losing SEO

Yes, if you keep your web addresses and set up redirects. Most ranking loss during a move comes from broken or changed URLs, not from WordPress itself. By mapping each old address to its new one with a 301 redirect, you pass your existing SEO value across. WordPress is open source and free, and W3Techs detected it on about 43 percent of all websites in 2026.

Why do websites lose rankings when they move platforms

Because the web addresses change and the old ones break. When a page's URL changes and nothing tells Google where it went, the ranking that page earned is lost. The fix is a 301 redirect from each old address to the new one, which forwards both visitors and search value. Keeping the same domain also matters, since 46 percent of Google searches have local intent (Backlinko, 2024).

Can you export your content from Wix or Squarespace

Only partly. Wix lets you export blog posts through an RSS feed but not your full pages or images, so part of the move is manual (Duplicator, 2025). Squarespace offers a partial export of basic content but not your design (SaffireTech, 2026). You bring across what exports cleanly and rebuild the rest in WordPress, where you then own 100 percent of it.

How do redirects protect your SEO during a move

A 301 redirect is a permanent signal that a page has moved to a new address. It sends visitors to the right place and tells Google to transfer the old page's ranking value to the new URL. Mapping every old address to its new one before you switch is the single most important step for keeping your rankings through a platform move.

How long does it take to move a website to WordPress

For a standard small business website of a handful of pages, the move usually takes a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on how much rebuilds by hand. The content you can export goes quickly; pages and design that do not export are recreated in the block editor. Planning your redirects first keeps the SEO transfer clean and avoids rework.

Will moving to WordPress hurt your Google ranking

Not if you keep your domain and redirect your URLs. Done carefully, a move is SEO-neutral and often improves things, because you gain full control of titles, structure, and speed. The risk is doing it without redirects, which breaks the links Google already trusts. Plan the redirects, keep your titles and images, and the rankings carry over.

The bottom line

Moving from a builder to WordPress is mostly a careful exercise in protecting your web addresses. Keep your domain, map every old URL to a new one with a 301 redirect, and reuse your titles and images, and your rankings come along for the ride.

If you would rather start clean on WordPress instead of migrating, Expert Built builds you a complete WordPress website you own, free to preview, that you edit yourself with the Gutenberg block editor and get online with hosting through Bluehost. Expert Built has partnered with Bluehost since 2017 and earns a commission when you host through us, which keeps the website generator free to use. To see how that works, read how Expert Built works.