Moving off Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress without losing your search traffic

The biggest worry we hear from owners thinking about a move is search: "I finally show up on Google. Will switching ruin that?" Done carefully, it shouldn't. Here's what matters.

Keep your addresses the same

Search engines know your site by its page addresses — yourbusiness.com/services/drain-cleaning, for example. The single most important thing in a move is that those addresses keep working.

When we move a site to Flagstage, we copy it page by page and keep the same paths wherever possible. Old-style addresses — like pages ending in .html — continue to lead visitors to the right place.

Keep your content the same — at first

A move is not the time for a rewrite. Bring the site over as it is, confirm everything works, then make improvements as a series of previewed changes. That way, if anything shifts in search, you know exactly what caused it.

Check the details that are easy to miss

• Page titles and descriptions — the text that shows up in search results.
• Image descriptions (alt text) — helpful for both accessibility and image search.
• Your sitemap — a list of your pages that helps search engines find everything.
• Internal links — menus and buttons should point to the new pages, not back to the old builder.

Switch the domain cleanly

Your domain stays registered where it is. When the copy is ready and you've reviewed it, you update a couple of DNS records so your address points to the new home. Your old site keeps running until then, so visitors never hit a dead end.

Then cancel — carefully

Once your domain points to the new site and everything checks out, you can cancel the old builder subscription. Before you do, make sure nothing else depends on it — especially email, if it was bundled.

What to expect afterward

It's normal for search rankings to wobble slightly for a few weeks after any move. With the same addresses and the same content, they typically settle back where they were. A faster site often helps rather than hurts.