Moving Your Therapy Website Off Squarespace or Wix: When and How

Move your therapy website off Squarespace or Wix when the builder is holding you back: you need features it can't offer, you've outgrown its page structure, or its privacy setup doesn't fit how you take intake. If the site works and client data already lives in your EHR, staying put is often fine.

If you do move, the two things that matter most are redirects and privacy. Redirects protect the search visibility you've built. A privacy cleanup makes sure nothing on the new site sends client data where it shouldn't go.

This guide is part of our Therapy Practice Marketing Guide. It covers when to move, what each builder lets you take with you, and the steps that keep a move from costing you inquiries. It's marketing guidance, not compliance advice, so check privacy decisions with your counsel.

When moving makes sense

Common reasons practices move:

• You're growing into a group practice. You need clinician pages, filters by specialty or insurance, and a careers page. Our group practice vs solo website guide covers what changes.
• You need more control over page structure and speed. Builders limit templates, scripts and how pages are organized.
• Your privacy setup is patchy. For example, form entries are stored in the builder and emailed around, with no BAA in place.
• You want to own a portable site. You'd like to be able to change hosts or developers without rebuilding from scratch.

When staying is the better call

Moving costs time and carries some risk. Stay if:

• The site loads quickly, looks current and brings in inquiries.
• Intake, booking and messaging already happen in your EHR or a HIPAA-capable scheduler.
• You don't need features the builder can't offer.

Both builders offer some HIPAA options, according to their own help pages (checked 29 October 2026):

• Squarespace's Acuity HIPAA page says Acuity Scheduling is the only Squarespace feature currently designed for HIPAA obligations. It says HIPAA features need the Powerhouse or Premium plan and a separate BAA per account. It also says other parts of the platform, including the form block, can't be part of a HIPAA-compliant solution.
• Wix's HIPAA help article says you can turn on PHI protection and sign a BAA on certain plans. It says you shouldn't handle PHI until both steps are done, and that some apps and analytics are restricted once protection is on.

If those options fit your practice, fixing your setup may be cheaper than moving. Our Squarespace vs Wix vs WordPress comparison goes deeper.

What you can take with you

From Squarespace

Squarespace's export help page says the export is a single XML file in WordPress format. It lists what does and doesn't come across:

The same page warns that, with a self-hosted WordPress site, images may not migrate and links to them may break once you cancel Squarespace. Plan to download and re-upload images yourself.

From Wix

Wix's help article covers HIPAA settings, not a full site export. In practice, most moves from Wix mean copying text and images into the new site page by page. Make a full inventory before you start.

Either way

Your design won't transfer cleanly. Treat the move as a rebuild that reuses your content, not a copy-paste.

Step-by-step: a move that keeps your rankings

1. Inventory every URL

List every page and blog post on the old site, with its URL. Include pages that get traffic from Google, which you can see in Search Console.

2. Map old URLs to new ones

Google's site move guidance says "it's important to map your old site's URLs to the URLs for the new site." Keep URLs the same where you can. Where they change, decide the closest new page for each old one.

3. Set permanent redirects

Google's redirects documentation recommends a "permanent server-side redirect whenever possible," meaning a 301 or 308. Avoid chains where one redirect leads to another. Google's site move page says to keep redirects for at least a year.

4. Rebuild with privacy in mind

This is the best moment to clean up:

• Keep the contact form short. Ask for name, email, phone and preferred time only.
• Route intake and booking to your EHR or a scheduler that offers a BAA.
• Leave ad pixels off until you've reviewed them. HHS's tracking guidance still applies to booking tools and login pages, even after a June 2024 court ruling vacated the part about public pages.
• Don't put Google Analytics on booking or login pages. Google's help page says Google doesn't offer a BAA for it.

5. Launch and verify

• Submit the new sitemap in Google Search Console.
• Test a sample of old URLs and confirm each lands on the right page.
• Send a test form and a test booking.
• Update your Google Business Profile, Psychology Today profile and other directories with any new URLs.

Google's site move page says to "expect temporary fluctuation in site ranking during the move." That's normal. Watch Search Console weekly for errors.

6. Keep the old plan briefly

Don't cancel your old builder until the new site is live and checked. If your domain was registered through Squarespace or Wix, transfer it to a registrar in your name.

Our therapy website launch checklist covers the full pre-launch check.

What a move costs

Cost depends on page count, how much content needs rewriting, design work and integrations. A move that also adds specialty pages, clinician profiles or a new booking setup is a bigger project. Our therapist website cost guide explains the cost drivers. For eSEOspace, see pricing; we quote per scope.

Next step

If you've decided to move, the next step is planning the new structure so you keep what works. eSEOspace handles therapy practice website builds and moves, including redirects and a privacy review. Book a discovery call to talk through your current site.

Frequently asked questions