How To Redesign A Squarespace Website

Don't have time to read this? Schedule a 30-minute call and we will walk you through exactly how this applies to your business. Book a call

Key Takeaways

• Squarespace redesigns are faster than most platform rebuilds, but they come with specific constraints around URL structure, SEO control, and design flexibility.
• Switching Squarespace templates changes more than the visual layout, it can affect page structure, content blocks, and navigation in ways that require cleanup.
• Squarespace's SEO tools are limited. If organic traffic is a business priority, this redesign is the moment to evaluate whether you are on the right platform.
• The safest Squarespace redesign process uses a trial site or a duplicated page structure before making changes to the live site.

Is your Squarespace site still serving your business, or is it the platform itself that is holding the redesign back?

That is the first question to answer before starting. Because a Squarespace redesign and a migration off Squarespace require completely different approaches, and choosing wrong wastes months.

Here is how to think about both, and how to execute either correctly.

Should You Redesign on Squarespace or Move Platforms?

Squarespace is a strong platform for certain use cases. It is not the right platform for others.

Squarespace is a good fit when:

• The site is primarily portfolio, service, or content-focused with low page count (under 50 pages)
• The team managing the site has no technical background and needs a simple editor
• Design quality is a priority and the built-in templates fit the brand direction
• No complex integrations, custom functionality, or advanced SEO requirements

Consider moving platforms when:

• Organic SEO is a significant acquisition channel and you need more SEO control than Squarespace provides
• The site needs custom functionality that Squarespace's template system cannot support
• You are hitting the design ceiling of available templates and need a completely custom visual system
• The business is scaling and needs a CMS that can handle a large content library efficiently

For the platform comparison, the Webflow vs. WordPress decision covers what each platform handles well and where each falls short, which helps frame where Squarespace fits in the broader platform landscape.

Option A: Redesigning Within Squarespace

If staying on Squarespace is the right decision, here is the process.

Step 1: Audit the Current Site

Before changing anything, document the current state.

What to capture:

• Export all page URLs from Squarespace (Pages panel) and cross-reference with your Google Search Console URL list
• Document current keyword rankings using Google Search Console's Performance report
• Pull GA4 data: top landing pages, conversion events, bounce rate
• Note every custom CSS block, code injection, and third-party integration currently running

Why this matters: Squarespace template changes can affect page structure, and any existing custom code may need to be reapplied after switching templates.

Step 2: Choose Your Redesign Path

Squarespace redesigns take one of two paths.

Path 1: Update the existing template

Customize your current template's layout, colors, fonts, and content without switching to a new template.

Best for: Sites where the current template structure works but the visual presentation needs updating.

Advantage: Preserves all existing page structure and custom code.

Path 2: Switch to a new Squarespace template

All Squarespace 7.1 sites run on a single unified template system. Switching templates on 7.1 is mostly visual, it changes the starting design, not the underlying architecture.

Squarespace 7.0 sites are different: On 7.0, switching templates can significantly change page layouts and requires more cleanup. If you are on 7.0, this is also a good time to evaluate upgrading to 7.1.

Step 3: Work on a Duplicate or Trial Site

Squarespace does not have a native staging environment.

Workaround options:

• Duplicate your site: In Account settings, use "Duplicate Site" to create a copy under a new trial URL. All redesign work happens on the copy.
• Use a free trial for design exploration: Start a fresh Squarespace trial, explore templates and layouts, and use it to prototype the new design direction before applying it to the live site.

Do not redesign directly on the live site. Any mistake affects your actual visitors and customers immediately.

Step 4: Handle SEO During the Redesign

Squarespace's SEO control is more limited than most platforms, but there are still key items to manage.

Squarespace SEO checklist:

• [ ] Page titles are unique and under 60 characters (set in Pages > SEO tab for each page)
• [ ] Meta descriptions are unique and under 160 characters
• [ ] Clean URL slugs (no auto-generated long strings)
• [ ] Image file names are descriptive before upload (Squarespace does not allow post-upload rename)
• [ ] Image alt text is set for all key images
• [ ] No pages are marked as "Not Indexed" unless intentional
• [ ] Google Search Console verified (set in Settings > Connected Accounts)

If you are changing any page URL slugs during the redesign, set up 301 redirects in Settings > Developer Tools > URL Mappings before the change goes live.

Step 5: Test Before Going Live

With the duplicate site complete and ready:

• Walk every page on desktop and mobile
• Test all forms (contact, booking, e-commerce checkout if applicable)
• Verify navigation is correct and all links resolve
• Confirm any custom code blocks or third-party embeds still function
• Check that connected integrations (email marketing, booking tools, social accounts) are still properly linked

Once satisfied, apply the changes to the live site or swap the live site to the redesigned version.

Option B: Migrating Off Squarespace

If the redesign requires capabilities beyond Squarespace's platform, migration is the right decision.

Common migration destinations:

• Webflow: Best for marketing sites that need complete design control, strong CMS flexibility, and high performance without managing hosting or plugins
• WordPress: Best for large content operations, complex plugins, or development teams comfortable with the WordPress ecosystem
• Shopify: Best if the redesign involves significant ecommerce functionality beyond Squarespace Commerce

Migration process:

1. Export Squarespace content: use the Export function to download page content, blog posts, and product data (what exports depends on your Squarespace plan)
2. Map every current URL to its new destination URL
3. Build the new site on the target platform
4. Implement 301 redirects: at the Squarespace level, use URL Mappings for redirects before disabling the account; at the DNS level, point the domain to the new platform after the new site is ready
5. Submit the new sitemap to Google Search Console
6. Monitor Search Console for 404 errors and indexing coverage in the first 30 days

For a full breakdown of what a professional redesign costs across platforms, the website redesign cost breakdown covers how platform choice affects the total project investment.

Webflow Development Services

Webflow Experts On-Demand

Whether you're starting fresh or need a full revamp—we create fast, modern Webflow sites built for growth.

Let's talk

The Squarespace Redesign Mistake Most Teams Make

They redesign the visual design and forget the content.

A new template with old, thin, or outdated content does not produce better business outcomes. The visual layer is the last thing the search engine reads and one of many things the visitor evaluates.

The website redesign process treats content as a first-phase deliverable, not a post-launch cleanup task, because that is where most of the actual performance improvement comes from.

LOW/CODE Agency is a leading AI product team for SMBs and startups. If your Squarespace site has hit its ceiling and you are evaluating what a redesign on a more capable platform would look like, we run those discovery conversations regularly.

Website projects start at $10,000+. Let's talk