Content Migration Guide: Moving Your Squarespace Blog to Framer

Switching your blog from Squarespace to Framer can improve site performance, design flexibility, and SEO. Framer offers faster load times, real-time collaboration, and a fully integrated visual CMS. Here's a quick overview of the migration process to help you get started:

• Backup Your Content: Create a detailed inventory of your blog posts, images, and custom code. Save everything locally or in cloud storage.

• Export From Squarespace: Use the XML export feature (if available) or manually copy your content. Download images and other assets directly.

• Set Up Framer: Recreate your blog posts, upload media files, and use Framer's CMS to organize content.

• Preserve SEO: Set up 301 redirects for old URLs, optimize meta titles and descriptions, and verify sitemap and robots.txt files.

• Test and Audit: Run a full site audit to fix broken links, ensure proper indexing, and check performance metrics like load times and Core Web Vitals.

This streamlined process ensures a smooth transition while maintaining your site's structure, SEO, and user experience.

Before You Start: Migration Checklist

Create a Content Inventory and Backup

Backing up your Squarespace site is crucial to avoid losing any data. Start by creating a detailed content inventory to keep track of all blog posts, images, and custom content.

• Document Your Site Structure
  

  List every page on your site and take screenshots to capture the layout and navigation.

• Set Up a Backup Strategy
  

  Save copies of essential assets:

  • Copy blog posts into a document editor.

  • Download all images and store them in cloud storage or on your local drive.

  • Save any custom code or CSS changes from Settings > Advanced > Code Injection.

  • For Squarespace 7.0 users, export site styles as JSON via Design > Site Styles > Export Style Pack (Beta).

• Duplicate Your Site
  In your Squarespace dashboard, click the three-dot menu next to your site name and select Duplicate Site. Use this duplicate to test exports without affecting your live site.

Download Your Squarespace Content

The steps to export content vary depending on your Squarespace version:

For Squarespace 7.0
Navigate to Settings > Advanced > Import/Export and click Export to download an XML file. This file includes layout pages, gallery pages, blog posts with comments, text blocks, and image blocks (formatted for WordPress.com).

For Squarespace 7.1
Since XML export isn't available:

• Manually copy or save blog content in a document editor.

• Export product data through Commerce > Inventory > Export All to download a .CSV file.

• Download images directly from your Media Library.

Once you've secured your blog posts, products, images, custom code, and site styles using these methods, you're ready to start setting up your Framer blog.

Setting Up Your Framer Blog

Moving Posts and Media Files

When uploading images, include descriptive alt text to improve both SEO and accessibility. Use Framer's CMS to recreate and organize your posts, making it easier to design dynamic layouts.

Building Custom Content Elements

Follow these steps to create custom content elements using a Framer template:

• Pick a template that fits your needs.

• Remove any pages you don’t need.

• Update text through the component fields.

• Adjust colors in the Assets section.

• Personalize components to match your design.

• Use the Figma-to-HTML plugin to import Figma layers, ensuring your design stays consistent.

After setting up your elements, make sure to protect your site’s SEO by setting up proper redirects.

Keeping Your SEO URLs

Framer supports three types of redirects to keep your SEO intact:

• Basic path: Redirects like /old-post → /blog/new-post.

• Wildcard: Redirects all paths under a directory, e.g., /blog/* → /articles/*.

• Segment-match: Redirects using placeholders, e.g., /blog/:year/:month → /archive/:1/:2.

To set these up, go to Site Settings → Redirects. Add your old-to-new URL rules, prioritize them as needed, and publish the changes. This ensures your URLs remain optimized and functional.

SEO and Quality Checks

After setting up redirects, wrap up your migration with an SEO audit and thorough quality checks.

SEO Setup Guide

Once the migration is complete, fine-tune your SEO settings using Framer's tools. Here's what to focus on:

• Custom meta titles and descriptions: Assign unique titles and descriptions to every page.

• Heading structure: Ensure a clear hierarchy for H1, H2, and H3 tags.

• Structured data: Add JSON-LD for better search engine understanding.

• Verify key files: Check Framer's automatically generated sitemap.xml and robots.txt files.

• Analytics integration: Connect Google Analytics to track performance.

Finding and Fixing Issues

Run a full site audit using tools like Screaming Frog SEO Spider to spot and resolve potential problems. Key areas to check:

• Broken links: Use a site crawler to locate and fix any broken links, updating 301 redirects as needed.

• Indexing problems: Review your robots.txt file and meta tags to ensure proper indexing.

• Analytics setup: Double-check that your analytics tags are correctly implemented and tracking data.

Migration Progress Sheet

Stay organized with a detailed tracking sheet to manage your migration. Include the following:

• URL Mapping
  Document the transition of each page, noting the original URL, its new Framer URL, and the status of redirects. Use Google Search Console's Crawl Stats report to confirm that search engines are processing your updates.

• Content Status
  

  Track the migration of page content, meta descriptions, custom redirects, and analytics tags. Ensure all critical elements are accounted for.

• Performance Metrics
  

  Keep an eye on post-migration metrics like crawl rate, indexing status, and organic traffic to measure success.

Leverage Screaming Frog's comparison feature to analyze changes between crawls and quickly spot new issues. This will help you maintain a smooth and efficient migration process.

Work with Striking Alchemy

After tracking every URL and content element, team up with experts to complete your migration. Striking Alchemy brings 15 years of digital marketing experience and proven strategies to ensure a smooth transition from Squarespace to Framer. While you focus on your content, we’ll handle the technical side.

Professional Migration Services

Our migration package covers:

• Complete content transfer: Blog posts, images, and custom content elements, all while keeping your site structure intact.

• Site audit and documentation: A detailed analysis paired with step-by-step progress tracking.

• SEO and technical setup: Includes 301 redirects, URL preservation, analytics integration, and performance monitoring.

• Brand-consistent design: We implement your design elements in Framer, optimized for the platform.

Why Choose Our Team

Here’s what sets us apart:

• Technical Expertise: We specialize in building fast, modern Framer websites that improve user experience and boost conversions.

• Strategic Planning: By analyzing your site’s architecture, we create a migration plan that retains your SEO value while enhancing performance.

• Brand-Consistent Design: Your new Framer site will stay true to your brand while taking advantage of Framer’s advanced design features.

Our migration process includes:

• Initial Audit: A thorough site review and migration strategy development.

• Content Migration: Full transfer of content and precise URL mapping.

• Design Implementation: Setting up responsive designs and custom elements.

• Testing and Launch: Quality checks, performance testing, and a smooth go-live process.

After the migration, we’ll guide you on the next steps to optimize and grow your Framer blog.

Next Steps with Your New Framer Blog

Now that your migration is done, it's time to focus on improving performance and visibility. Start by checking your Core Web Vitals using tools like Google Search Console or PageSpeed Insights. Aim for these metrics: LCP under 2.5 seconds and INP under 0.2 seconds.

Take advantage of Framer's built-in CMS to streamline your content management. This tool makes it easier to organize and update your blog.

Optimize Media for Better Performance

To keep your blog running smoothly, make sure your media assets are optimized:

• Images: Use the "Auto" resolution setting in Framer.

• Logos and icons: Stick to SVG files for clarity and fast loading.

• Videos: Compress with tools like veed.io or embed them to reduce load times.

• Alt text: Write clear, descriptive alt text for accessibility and SEO.

• Video thumbnails: Add a poster image to improve loading visuals.

Monitor Performance Regularly

Use Framer's analytics dashboard to keep an eye on key performance metrics like page load times, bounce rates, and how users interact with your content. Here are some performance goals to target:

• Time to First Byte (TTFB): Under 0.8 seconds

• First Contentful Paint (FCP): Under 1.8 seconds

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Under 2.5 seconds

• Interaction to Next Paint (INP): Under 0.2 seconds

• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Under 0.1

• DOM Size: Keep it as small as possible

These benchmarks align with Google's Core Web Vitals recommendations.

Refine Your Content and SEO Strategy

Keep your SEO efforts on track by regularly reviewing your content. Focus on creating high-quality posts that include relevant keywords without overloading them. This balance helps your blog rank well without compromising readability.

For third-party tools or scripts, use the async or defer attributes to prevent them from slowing down your page rendering. If you have long pages, break them into smaller sections to reduce DOM size and improve performance.