How to maintain your Google ranking when switching to Squarespace

Switching CRM platforms can sometimes affect your SEO ranking if you change the structure of your page URLs. Google has already referenced your previous site’s site map to identify your content, and if there are links from other sites to your site, they are still using your old URLs too.  If these URLs change suddenly, your rank might be affected. However, with some planning, there a several ways to minimise the fallout.

For example, before you decommission your old site, it is important to write down the existing urls for all your pages. For example www.yourdomain.com/new-products or www.yourdomain.com/contact I can then apply these same urls to the relevant pages on your new site. This way the change of platform makes no change to your site structure.

Use 301 redirects

Don’t be put off by the technical term - as your web designer, I will look after all of this!

Even if you're using the same domain, some URLs might not match due to differences in how Squarespace structures URLs and your old site structured URLs.

For example, if blog posts on your old site used the URL structure www.yourdomain.com/title-of-your-post, your new Squarespace site will use the format www.yourdomain.com/blog/title. We can make sure anyone using the old format, or links using it, is redirected to the right content by setting up 301 Redirects.

Re-Index the site on Google and Bing

After we’ve migrated your content and created redirects for your URLs, I always submit a new sitemap to Google and Bing to request an index of the new site.

Keep your domain name

I often get asked by clients switching to Squarespace from another platform if they get to keep their domain if they switch to Squarespace. The answer is yes.

So, how does it work? Well, to keep your domain, I will simply need access to your hosting account. This is probably with a company such as Blacknight or LetsHost or Irish Domains if you are in Ireland. This company hosts the domain. Squarespace can host your domain too, but if you have a .ie domain, you will need a hosting account with a host company. When I get the log in details for your hosting account, I will access that account and do a few technical things to point your domain to your new site. It can take up to 72 hours for the new site to be visible, but more often than not it is automatic.

It’s not something you need to worry about. As long as you can give me the login and password to your hosting account, you can leave the rest to me.

Oh and if you don’t have a domain yet, you will need to get one from a hosting company (if you want a .ie) or you can get it from Squarespace if you want a .com. We can talk about what the best solution is for your needs.

Call me now for a chat about your next website.