Squarespace uses its own URL structure, built-in features, and default SEO settings. Moving to WordPress means recreating all of that from scratch - and the gaps show up in your traffic.
These are the specific pitfalls of moving from Squarespace to WordPress. Every one of them causes problems if you don't catch it before launch.
Squarespace generates URL slugs from page titles with its own formatting rules - it lowercases, strips special characters, and handles spaces differently than WordPress. The same page title produces different URLs on each platform. Without 301 redirects from every old Squarespace URL to the new WordPress URL, every existing link breaks.
Squarespace blogs use a single "Blog" collection with post metadata like tags, categories, and featured images handled its own way. WordPress uses a dedicated blog system with categories, tags, custom post types, and archives. The content transfers, but the structure, URL patterns, and archive pages all change.
Squarespace gallery blocks are proprietary components with specific layouts, lightbox behavior, and automatic image optimization. WordPress has no equivalent built-in gallery. You need to rebuild every gallery using a plugin or the native WordPress gallery block, re-upload images, and configure layouts from scratch.
Squarespace forms submit to Squarespace's backend with built-in spam protection and email notifications. WordPress has no built-in form system. Every contact form, newsletter signup, and feedback form needs to be rebuilt using a plugin like WPForms, Gravity Forms, or Contact Form 7.
Squarespace provides free SSL certificates and global CDN delivery automatically. On WordPress, SSL depends on your hosting provider and CDN setup varies. You need to configure HTTPS enforcement, certificate renewal, and potentially set up a CDN like Cloudflare separately - all of which Squarespace handled for you.
Squarespace generates basic SEO metadata automatically - page titles, meta descriptions, and Open Graph tags based on your content. WordPress ships with no SEO system. You need to install an SEO plugin like Yoast or Rank Math and configure settings for every page, or your new site ships with empty metadata.
MigrateKit compares your old Squarespace site against the new WordPress site page-by-page. Here's what the scorecard covers.
Compares every page's meta title between Squarespace and WordPress. Flags pages where titles are missing, changed, or differ from what Squarespace was serving.
Checks that meta descriptions were ported correctly. Catches pages where WordPress is serving empty descriptions or where content was lost during migration.
Maps every old Squarespace URL to its new WordPress equivalent. Flags pages where URLs changed without redirects and pages that return 404.
Verifies that every image loads correctly and that alt text was preserved. Flags broken images and missing accessibility attributes.
Confirms that canonical tags point to the correct new WordPress 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 during the move.
Send the old Squarespace URL and the new WordPress URL. The scan starts immediately and the pass/fail scorecard appears on the page.