I used to use Squarespace as the main host for my domain, but recently, I transferred my domain from Squarespace to Wix. In this post, I’ll share the entire process how to transfer a domain from Squarespace to Wix.
INDEX
●Why I Transferred My Domain: A Comparison Between Squarespace and Wix
As a freelance designer, I currently run two businesses under the names PHAINO DESIGN and LITTLE FUJI.
One of them, PHAINO DESIGN, primarily focuses on PowerPoint presentation creation and design services.
Looking back, I initially created my first portfolio site using Elementor on WordPress.
However, I found WordPress’s dashboard cluttered and difficult to navigate, and the frequent updates became a hassle. That’s why I switched to the simpler Squarespace platform.
1. Squarespace: Good option for Simple and Sophisticated Designs
Squarespace is a no-code website-building tool based in New York, USA.
What I personally liked about Squarespace was the abundance of simple and stylish templates, as well as its easy-to-understand drag-and-drop interface.
I especially appreciated how intuitive it was to use—creating web pages was as simple as dragging and dropping text and images.
2. The Downsides of Squarespace: Less Suitable for Customized Responsive and Multilingual Design
However, because the design templates mainly feature minimalist, I found them harder to customize to my preferences.
They were also less suitable for creating designs in languages other than English.
This was particularly true for Japanese designs. Japanese text involves multiple character types, including hiragana, katakana, and kanji, which don’t integrate well with templates designed for English’s alphabetic characters.
While Squarespace excels at minimalist, refined designs and works well for sites with limited content, my honest impression is that it’s not ideal for those who want to customize their design more extensively, even with no coding skills.
Additionally, from an SEO perspective, I wanted to add more content to my portfolio site.
That’s why I decided to switch to Wix, another no-code tool that offers greater customization options and a variety of unique apps.
3. Efficient Portfolio Management and Updates with Wix CMS
When renewing my portfolio site, I designed and built the website using the Wix Editor.
Portfolio site created with the Wix Editor: PHAINO DESIGN
Wix is also a no-code tool, but what I particularly like about it is that the Wix Editor provides separate editing views for desktop and mobile devices. This makes it easy to fine-tune the mobile display.
Additionally, it offers a wide range of Japanese fonts by default, and the customer support is excellent. It’s been about a year since I switched to Wix, and I’m very satisfied with both the usability and the features.
The dashboard is simpler and less cluttered compared to WordPress, and I find CMS management especially straightforward in Wix.
Wix also supports multilingual websites, so I’ve been updating my site in both Japanese and English.
That said, there are a few areas where it falls short.
For instance, certain CMS features like the “Tag Field” aren’t fully multilingual, meaning some items can’t be translated.
Occasionally, I find myself wishing for just one more feature to make it perfect.
●Transferring a Domain from Squarespace to Wix
Even after transferring my site to Wix, I continued using the custom domain I had purchased through Squarespace by connecting it to Wix.
However, as the renewal date for my Squarespace domain contract approached, I decided to transfer the domain itself from Squarespace to Wix.
The steps for transferring an external domain to Wix are as follows:
Open the Domains page in your Wix account.
Select Add an Existing Domain, then choose Transfer a Domain to Wix.
Enter the domain name you wish to transfer and select the provider. Note: Squarespace is not listed as a default option, so select Other instead.
In a separate window, open the Squarespace Domains page, unlock the domain and request an authorization code.
Return to the Wix page, enter the authorization code, and complete the domain purchase.
Let’s dive into the details one by one!
1.Open the Domains page in your Wix account
To manage domains in Wix, start by clicking the Wix logo (in my case, Wix Studio) in the top left corner of the dashboard to open your Wix account page. Then navigate to:
Billing & Subscriptions > Domains
This will open the domain management page.
2.Select Add an Existing Domain, then choose Transfer a Domain to Wix
Next, at the top of the domain management page, select:
Add an Existing Domain > Transfer your domain to Wix
※Note: The option Connect a domain you a;ready own is used for domain connection, not transfer. For details about the differences between domain transfer and connection, refer to Wix’s Help Center page.
Ref: Learn more about the difference between transferring and connecting a domain.
3.Enter the domain name and select the provider
From here, follow the on-screen instructions in Wix.
Enter the domain name you wish to transfer and select the provider. Since Squarespace is not included in the default list, I chose Other.
It’s worth noting that there are some domains that Wix does not support.
As of December 2024, the domains supported by Wix are as follows:
.com、.org、.net、.agency、.art、.biz、.blog、.ca、.center、.christmas、.cloud、.club、.co、.coach、.company、.club、.design、.digital、.directory、.email、.expert、.finance、.fit、.fitness、.fun、.gifts、.group、.guru、.holiday、.info、.land、.life、.live、.london、.love、.me、.media、.mx、.ninja、.online、.party、.photography、.photos、.pictures、.rocks、.site、.shop、.solutions、.space、.store、.studio、.tokyo、.today、.top、.technology、.tips、.training、.website、.wiki、.work、.world、.xyz と .yoga
For example, the LITTLE FUJI site uses a .nz domain. However, since Wix does not currently support this domain, I use it via domain connection instead.
If you attempt to transfer a domain that Wix does not support, you will see an error screen like this:
4.Unlock the domain and request an authorization code from Squarespace
Next, keep the Wix page open and open the domain management page in Squarespace in a separate window.
The Squarespace domain page looks like this, and here you’ll need to turn DOMAIN LOCK OFF.
Then, click REQUEST TRANSFER CODE > SEND AUTH CODE in the lower-left corner of the page. This will send an authorization code to the email address registered with Squarespace.
However, note that it can take up to 24 hours for this authorization code to arrive. Compared to other domain transfers, where the code is issued within a few minutes, Squarespace feels significantly slower in this regard.
In my case, the authorization code finally arrived via email about 7 hours after I requested it through Squarespace.
5.Enter the authorization code and complete the domain purchase in Wix
After receiving the authorization code via email from Squarespace, enter the code into the Wix screen you opened earlier and select Next.
Finally, input your contact information, choose the domain registration period on Wix (at least one year), and complete the domain purchase.
Once these steps are completed, you will receive a domain transfer confirmation email at the email address registered with Wix.
If the information is correct, select Verify Information.
Returning to the Wix domain management page, you’ll see a notification indicating that the domain transfer is in progress.
The domain transferring process can take up to 7 days to complete.
In my case, I completed the domain transfer process on a Sunday and received the notification of completion the following Saturday, taking exactly 7 days.
That’s the complete process for transferring a domain from Squarespace to Wix.
I hope this guide is helpful!
LITTLE FUJI : New Zealand Based Creative Design Service
At LITTLE FUJI, we provide web design services led by Ayaka FUJI, a Japanese designer based in New Zealand.
If you're looking for a website built using the no-code tool Wix Studio, one that's easy for you to manage even after delivery, feel free to contact us!
With a deep understanding of both New Zealand and Japanese cultures, I specialize in 3D design using Spline 3D and multilingual website design with Wix Studio.
As a top 5% designer on Contra, I have worked with a variety of clients, including local businesses in New Zealand and those from other countries, delivering a wide range of design solutions.
Selected Our Works:
