How to Migrate Squarespace to Shopify for a Seamless Store Transition in Australia

Highlights

• Migrating from Squarespace to Shopify involves product, content, customer, and design migration.
• Shopify offers stronger eCommerce capabilities, localized integrations, and a broader ecosystem.
• SmartOSC enables smooth platform transitions tailored to Australian business needs.

Why Migrate from Squarespace to Shopify?

Limitations of Squarespace for Growing eCommerce Stores

Squarespace is a solid choice for small businesses and creative professionals, but as online stores scale, particularly in competitive markets like Australia, it can become limiting in terms of functionality and growth potential. For merchants exploring how to migrate Squarespace to Shopify, the shift offers access to a more robust, scalable platform that’s built specifically for eCommerce success. For example, despite hosting roughly 15,700 Australian e-commerce sites, Squarespace holds only a 4.6% share of Australian online retail platforms, compared to 41.7% for Shopify, which powers over 142,000 local stores.. As your catalog expands or operational needs become more complex, these limitations can impact growth, efficiency, and competitiveness.

• Restricted Inventory and Order Management: Squarespace provides only basic tools for managing products and stock levels. It lacks features like bulk editing, inventory syncing across channels, or advanced product filtering, making it hard to scale with more SKUs or complex variants.
• Limited Checkout and Payment Integrations: Squarespace only supports Stripe and PayPal. It does not offer native support for leading Australian payment methods like Afterpay, Zip Pay, or POLi, tools that can boost checkout conversions locally.
• Minimal Customization for Funnel and UX Optimization: Customizing your store’s sales funnel or checkout process is extremely limited. You cannot easily add upsells, cross-sells, custom discounts, or post-purchase flows without external plugins or costly workarounds.
• Narrow App Ecosystem: Compared to Shopify’s extensive App Store, Squarespace offers a relatively small library of third-party extensions. This means fewer options for loyalty programs, CRM integrations, automation, or marketing tools.
• Basic Analytics and SEO Tools: Squarespace has limited options for in-depth analytics and technical SEO adjustments (e.g., structured data, canonical tags, speed optimization), which are essential for long-term growth.

Why Shopify Is Better for Australian Businesses

Shopify Plus is purpose-built for eCommerce and offers a scalable, robust platform for Australian retailers. When exploring how to migrate Squarespace to Shopify, the move addresses many of Squarespace’s core limitations while unlocking powerful new capabilities. Shopify adds essential layers of localization, automation, and performance optimization, making it a smarter choice for growing eCommerce businesses looking to scale effectively.

• Optimized for GST compliance and integration with the Australian Taxation Office
• Payment gateway support including Afterpay, Zip Pay, POLi, PayPal, and more
• Seamless integration with Australia Post, Sendle, and local couriers
• Advanced marketing, analytics, and automation tools
• Purpose-built for mobile shopping experiences and omnichannel selling

Watch more: BigCommerce to Shopify Migration: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide in Australia

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Migrate Squarespace to Shopify

Step 1: Prepare Your Squarespace Store for Export

When planning how to migrate Squarespace to Shopify, the first step is to back up and export the data that Squarespace allows. This typically includes products (in a limited CSV format), blog content, and basic customer information. However, it’s important to note that not all product attributes or custom fields may be supported in the export, so you’ll need to review and prepare for potential data adjustments during the migration process.

Also, document current site structure, design preferences, and any SEO metadata not included in the export files.

Step 2: Set Up Your Shopify Store

Choose a Shopify plan that fits your business size, then:

• Select a mobile-optimized, conversion-driven theme
• Configure Australian tax rules, including GST
• Set up shipping zones based on Australia Post or courier preferences
• Connect to local payment gateways such as Afterpay, Zip, and POLi

Step 3: Import Content into Shopify

Use tools like LitExtension or Matrixify to transfer:

• Product data, including descriptions, variants, and SKUs (images may require manual upload)
• Blog posts and informational pages
• Customer records and SEO metadata

Carefully review product structures, especially for variants or bundles, as Shopify handles them differently from Squarespace.

Step 4: Rebuild Design and Navigation

As part of the process when learning how to migrate Squarespace to Shopify, you’ll need to decide whether to replicate your existing Squarespace layout using a comparable Shopify theme or take the opportunity for a full redesign to enhance user experience. During this stage, it’s essential to rebuild:

• Navigation menus
• Collection pages and filters
• Homepage design elements and branding assets

Step 5: SEO and Redirect Mapping

SEO continuity is critical during a platform switch:

• Set up 301 redirects from all Squarespace URLs to new Shopify URLs
• Reapply page titles, meta descriptions, and alt text
• Submit your updated XML sitemap to Google Search Console post-launch
• Retain structured data and schema where relevant

Step 6: Test and Launch Your Shopify Store

Perform extensive quality assurance:

• Test on desktop and mobile
• Run through checkout flows, form submissions, and search functionality
• Ensure payment gateways, shipping calculators, and analytics tools are active

Launch your site during a low-traffic window, monitor analytics, and track crawl errors using Google Search Console.

Common Issues and How to Avoid Them

1. Limited Export Data from Squarespace

As you explore how to migrate Squarespace to Shopify, it’s important to understand the limitations of Squarespace’s CSV export functionality. While it does allow basic data export, the format can create significant challenges, particularly for eCommerce stores with complex product catalogs. Key elements like product variants, high-resolution images, and custom SEO metadata often don’t transfer cleanly, requiring manual adjustments or third-party tools to ensure data integrity and a successful migration.

Challenges typically include:

• Product variants (such as size, color, material) are often excluded from standard exports
• Media files, such as alternate product images or embedded videos, are not always carried over
• SEO fields like meta titles, descriptions, and alt texts aren’t fully exported
• Blogs, categories, and custom HTML may require manual recreation

How to resolve it:

• Manually recreate missing content: Go through your Squarespace product catalog and re-input any variants, grouped products, and missing specs directly into Shopify.
• Use third-party migration tools or apps: Tools like LitExtension and Matrixify can extract deeper data layers compared to standard CSV exports.
• Restore SEO data with Shopify apps: Leverage SEO apps such as Smart SEO, Yoast SEO, or Plug In SEO to reintroduce metadata and structured tags efficiently.
• Partner with migration experts like SmartOSC: A professional partner can perform a detailed data audit, write custom scripts to extract what Squarespace omits, and ensure all content is migrated accurately, saving you dozens of hours of manual effort.

2. SEO Gaps and Traffic Loss

When planning how to migrate Squarespace to Shopify, preserving your organic search visibility is one of the most critical factors for long-term success. If URL structures are changed improperly, metadata is lost, or the sitemap isn’t properly updated, your store could suffer significant drops in keyword rankings and hinder Google’s ability to crawl your site. Careful SEO planning during the migration ensures your traffic and search equity remain intact.

Key SEO issues during migration include:

• Loss of structured URLs or product slugs
• Failure to implement proper 301 redirects from old Squarespace pages
• Missing or outdated meta titles and descriptions
• Unsubmitted sitemaps or indexing delays post-launch

How to avoid SEO pitfalls:

• Perform a full pre-migration SEO audit: Use tools like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs to crawl your Squarespace site and export a full list of existing URLs, page titles, and metadata.
• Map every old URL to its new Shopify equivalent: Maintain consistency in your top-performing URLs, and where structure changes are necessary, apply 301 permanent redirects using Shopify’s built-in URL redirect manager or apps like Easy Redirects.
• Preserve and reapply metadata: Carry over meta titles, image alt texts, H1 tags, and descriptions to your new Shopify pages.
• Submit your updated sitemap to Google Search Console: Once the Shopify site is live, upload your new XML sitemap to ensure faster indexing and re-crawling of redirected pages.
• Monitor performance post-launch: Use Google Analytics, Search Console, and tools like SEMRush to track keyword rankings, CTRs, bounce rates, and crawl errors. Be prepared to troubleshoot and optimize during the first 2–4 weeks after migration.

See more: How to Migrate from WooCommerce to Shopify and Keep Your Australian SEO Intact

How SmartOSC Supports Squarespace to Shopify Migration in Australia

SmartOSC offers a full-service, end-to-end migration solution designed specifically for Australian eCommerce businesses transitioning from Squarespace to Shopify. Their approach ensures not only a smooth technical migration but also protects long-term SEO performance, enhances user experience, and aligns with local compliance needs.

For businesses navigating how to migrate Squarespace to Shopify, SmartOSC offers expert, end-to-end support backed by deep experience in both platforms and a proven track record across Australia. Our tailored migration services include:

• Accurate data transfer, including products, customers, and order history
• Full configuration of Australian tax, currency, and shipping settings
• Complete SEO preservation with URL mapping and metadata handling
• Performance testing and post-launch optimization
  

A lifestyle brand based in Melbourne partnered with SmartOSC to migrate from Squarespace to Shopify. Through careful data mapping, strategic SEO handling, and design enhancement, the brand:

• Retained 94% of its organic search traffic
• Achieved a 30% increase in conversion rate within the first 30 days post-migration
• Reported improved checkout speed, enhanced mobile UX, and easier backend management

FAQs: how to migrate squarespace to shopify

Can you migrate Squarespace product images to Shopify automatically?

Not entirely. While some product data, including titles, descriptions, and prices, can be exported from Squarespace in CSV format, the platform does not include product images in a way that Shopify can directly interpret during import. As a result, product images often need to be manually re-uploaded, or mapped using Shopify import tools or migration platforms like LitExtension. For a seamless experience, many Australian businesses choose partners like SmartOSC to automate this process as much as possible and minimize time spent on manual tasks.

Will I lose my SEO rankings after migrating?

A properly executed migration should not cause a drop in your search rankings. To preserve SEO equity, it’s critical to implement a comprehensive 301 redirect strategy from your old Squarespace URLs to the new Shopify URLs. In addition, metadata such as page titles, meta descriptions, and image alt text should be preserved or re-added on the Shopify platform. Submitting your updated sitemap to Google Search Console and closely monitoring crawl performance in the weeks following the transition will also help maintain search visibility and organic traffic.

What apps do I need after moving to Shopify?

The exact apps will depend on your store’s specific needs, but most Australian businesses migrating from Squarespace to Shopify typically install apps for customer reviews, loyalty programs, email marketing automation, SEO optimization, and analytics. Shopify’s App Store offers a wide variety of apps that are either free or paid, many of which are tailored to the needs of local eCommerce, including integrations with platforms like Afterpay, Klaviyo, and Australia Post. SmartOSC can help you evaluate and implement the best tools for your growth stage and goals.

Can I preserve my blog content from Squarespace?

Yes, blog content can be preserved, although it requires a bit of manual effort. Squarespace allows you to export blog posts in XML or other supported formats, and these can then be re-imported or recreated in Shopify’s CMS. Some formatting, such as embedded media or custom HTML blocks, may need to be cleaned up during the process. However, with careful migration planning, or with the support of an experienced partner like SmartOSC, your blog can retain its structure, internal linking, and SEO value with minimal disruption.

Conclusion

Understanding how to migrate Squarespace to Shopify is a smart move for Australian businesses looking to scale in a competitive eCommerce environment. Shopify’s powerful features, combined with SmartOSC’s expert migration support, make it possible to transition smoothly while maintaining data integrity, enhancing user experience, and preserving SEO performance. If you’re ready to elevate your online store, connect with SmartOSC for a customized Shopify migration plan tailored to your brand and your customers. Contact us now!