All You Need to Know About Squarespace to Shopify Migration

Introduction

For its popularity and ease of use, you might have selected Squarespace to launch your own online business. This platform, however, was initially designed to mostly enable content-based websites. So, if your company grows quickly and requires more eCommerce functionalities, this solution may no longer fulfill your needs.

In this case, because of its amazing sales features, you can think of Shopify as an alternative to Squarespace. Especially, Shopify offers Shopify Plus which would be a promising option for you if you’re looking to scale up the business.

Now, let’s walk through the process of migrating a store from Squarespace to Shopify!

About Squarespace vs Shopify

Squarespace

Currently hosting over 2,600,000 live websites globally, Squarespace is a hosted content management system (CMS) that allows you to run websites, blogs, portfolios, and online shops. With a drag-and-drop interface, it allows businesses to create great websites without too many technical skills.

You may also take advantage of Squarespace’s 14-day free trial to test the service before making a conclusion on whether it fills your business needs. The pricing options may vary, and generally, the higher you pay, the more features your site will get.

Shopify

Shopify is a hosted eCommerce platform that is now utilized by over 1,300,000 active websites worldwide. You don't have to worry about finding a host or dealing with technical issues because all you have to do is to go to the main website and register an account.

Shopify provides a 14-day free trial, allowing you to test the platform without having to enter payment card information. The platform will charge you a monthly fee if you choose a plan, which varies depending on your package.

In case you’re still in the middle of choosing Shopify as the new platform, you can also take a look at the comprehensive Squarespace vs Shopify article for clearance. Apart from Shopify, there are other eCommerce platforms that can become the potential alternative to your Squarespace store awaiting!

Before migrating from Squarespace to Shopify

Set up a brand new Shopify store

Now if you are determined to choose Shopify, it's time to create a new Shopify store to keep your migrated data. Watch this video for visualized instruction:

https://youtu.be/bCK5fg5zXj0

You can totally own an online business with Shopify starting at $9 per month, which is really amazing!

Backing up your Squarespace data

Your data is the most important item that needs protection during the whole migration process. Your main database will serve as the foundation of your future site. Therefore, it is critical that you backup your store before making any major or even small modifications to your website.

You can back up your website in a few ways, depending on the type of platform you're using.

Manual backup is the first method, as you can receive a copy of your store data by importing it into CSV files. Another one is using third-party apps as backup tools to shorten some procedures. Although both of the ways are free, be aware that they still require technical skills and might take more time than you expect. However, with LitExtension's migration service, you are able to avoid wasting effort on these technical and time-consuming tasks as LitExtension will not interrupt anything in your store.

Migrate from Squarespace to Shopify with LitExtension

Let's begin with the data migration.

This is an extremely difficult procedure. It poses a number of threats to your website, including a decline in SEO rankings, a fall in visitors, data loss, and, even revenue loss. So, if you're struggling with it, you can hire IT people to do data migration for you.

Being the industry leader in data migration with over 160,000 successful migrations and 60,000 users globally, LitExtension is an ideal automated migration solution for you. LitExtension currently allows you to perform your migration in just three simple steps with no technical knowledge.

Let's begin by creating an account on LitExtension website before diving into the details. You can also use your Facebook or Google account to log in.

1. Set up your Source Cart and Target Cart

To begin the migrating process, after signing into the LitExtension website, click the Create New Migration button at the top right of the screen.

All you have to do now is follow the directions on the right of the page.

From the drop-down menu, choose Squarespace as the source cart type and enter your store's URL into the blank box. To complete the Source Cart setup, enter your email address and password here.

Then, select Shopify as the destination cart type and enter the URL of the Source store into the blank area. Enter the API Password from your Shopify store.

Watch this video if you want to learn the simplest way to obtain API information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kBDZ30Fv1c

2. Configure the migration

Next, click Configure your Migration to head to the next step.

Click Select All to migrate all entities, or select specific entities if desired. LitExtension allows you to select the entities you wish to migrate to Shopify at this point: products, customers, categories, orders, etc.

Furthermore, LitExtension provides Additional Options to assist you in avoiding any migration issues. For example, you can migrate Categories and Products SEO URLs or Strip HTML Tags from Category and Product Names on the Target store.

3. Perform the migration

To ensure that everything goes smoothly, you should consider a Free Demo Migration. This option allows you to migrate a restricted number of entities so that you can understand how the actual migration process works. You can, however, bypass this phase by clicking the Skip Demo Migration option and performing Full Migration immediately.

Depending on the size of your store data, the entire migration will take a few minutes or a few hours. You will be notified by email when your transfer is completed.

Once the migration begins, it will proceed smoothly on the server. You are not required to wait until the process is completed. It is also safe to turn off your computer or browser for a rest. Plus, you can still receive orders and run the business normally on your old store.

When the migration is complete, you will receive an email notification.

A few notes after migrating from Squarespace to Shopify

After you've finished migrating your shopping carts, don't forget to verify your new e-store’s results. You may take the following checklist into consideration:

Review all of your front-end and back-end products.

Check that all of your products are listed in the catalog, categories, and onsite search.

Check for the links in the menus, header, footer, and pages themselves.

Update your DNS and alter your domain name. As a result, you'll need to update your DNS settings to direct to the new IP address and domain.

Set up your shipping and choose payment methods.

Try purchasing something from your new store to ensure your customers will experience a great journey in the store!

Themes migration: when re-platforming, there is currently no option to move themes or templates. You can either customize the new theme to look exactly like the previous one or choose a new theme on Shopify.

New/Edited data migration: During the migration, your store can still run normally with LitExtension. Following that, we will ensure all new orders and customers are transferred to your new platform with the below services:

Recent data migration: Transferring all recently emerging data to your new store during and after the migration, such as products, customers, etc.

Smart-update: Not only does it migrate your newly appearing entities, but it also helps to update all of the modifications you've made to the data in your old shop.

Re-migration: To ensure the most complete migration project, this option allows you to re-migrate the data to the new store.

Finally, you can start running the store right after you finish checking the migration results and making a plan on how to increase online sales. Try installing necessary apps to improve store functionality and gain real leads in the upcoming months!

FAQ - Moving from Squarespace to Shopify

How do I switch to Shopify?

Generally, there are 3 ways to run the migration. Firstly, if you are technically skilled, you can perform the migration yourself.

The second way is to spend more money and hire developers or agencies to run it for you.

Another option is to use LitExtension automated migration service to optimize the process with data migration accuracy, data security, and 24/7 support from the technical team.

How much money should I have to start a Shopify store?

There is a free 14-day trial for Shopify newbies to construct a store from the ground up, therefore it is totally free. However, once you've decided on a plan, which may range from $9 to $299, you'll need to buy more Shopify apps to drive traffic and sales to your site. This will cost you additional fees between $100 and $300.

Final words

Still unsure of whether Shopify is the right fit for you? Try now Shopify's 14-day free trial before making the final decision!

If you are a store owner seeking a solution to migrate your entities to another platform, don’t be afraid to contact the LitExtension support team for extra help.