Squarespace generates clean HTML inside its own framework. Moving to Next.js means rebuilding from scratch - and the content, metadata, and structured data rarely survive intact.
These are the specific pitfalls of moving from Squarespace to Next.js. Every one of them causes problems if you don't catch it before launch.
Every Squarespace page is wrapped in proprietary divs, data attributes, and CSS classes that only work inside Squarespace. When you move to Next.js, you can't reuse that HTML - you need to extract the raw content and rebuild it in clean, semantic JSX. Text, images, and embeds all need to be restructured.
Squarespace has dedicated SEO fields for title tags, meta descriptions, and social sharing images that you configure per-page. Next.js has no built-in SEO system. You need to implement metadata using next/head or next-seo for every single page, or your site ships with empty or generic titles and descriptions.
Squarespace uses URL patterns like /blog/post-title while Next.js routing depends on how you structure your file system. If you set up /posts/[slug] or /blog/[slug], the URLs may match - but if you change anything, every blog URL breaks and you need redirects for every post.
Squarespace automatically generates JSON-LD structured data for blog posts, products, and local business pages. Next.js generates nothing by default. You need to build a structured data system from scratch - implement JSON-LD templates for each content type and inject them into your page head.
Squarespace handles image optimization, responsive sizing, and CDN delivery automatically. Next.js Image component does similar work but requires explicit configuration - you need to set up domains, sizes, and loading strategies. Without it, images may load at full resolution, break on mobile, or miss lazy loading.
Squarespace forms are built into the platform and submit to Squarespace's backend. Next.js has no form handling - you need to build your own form components, set up server actions or API routes, and configure email delivery or a third-party form service. The form fields, validation, and submission logic all need to be recreated.
MigrateKit compares your old Squarespace site against the new Next.js site page-by-page. Here's what the scorecard covers.
Compares every page's meta title between Squarespace and Next.js. Flags pages where titles are missing, duplicated, or differ from what you had on Squarespace.
Checks that meta descriptions were ported correctly. Catches pages where Next.js is serving empty descriptions or where content was lost during the rebuild.
Verifies that JSON-LD structured data exists on every page where Squarespace generated it. Flags missing Article, Product, or Organization schema.
Confirms that canonical tags point to the correct new Next.js URLs, not the old Squarespace URLs or generic defaults.
Checks that social sharing metadata is present and correct for every page, including og:image which often gets lost in the migration.
Scans all internal links to find broken references, redirect chains, and links still pointing to old Squarespace URLs.
Send the old Squarespace URL and the new Next.js URL. The scan starts immediately and the pass/fail scorecard appears on the page.