You might be thinking about canceling your current website subscription (on Squarespace, Showit, Wix, etc.) because you want to simplify, cut costs, or build a new website with AI.

But maybe you’re hesitant to cancel because you don't want to make a mistake and you wanna be prepared beforehand. That’s why I wrote this. I wanna help you make an informed decision if you really do want to make the move, and cover what you need to know before you do.

I’m assuming that at the end of all this you’ll still have some type of website people can visit. If you’re not sure about having a website at all, here are 2 reasons I’d strongly encourage having one:

• People assume a functioning business has a website, and not having one can create friction and distrust, especially if your prices are premium.
• If you’re an introvert, you know how vital a website is. If your audience is anything like you, their first instinct is to research you and your business (without having to initially talk to you). Your website lets you curate information about your offers and services in a way social media doesn't.

So you could cancel your website subscription anytime you want if:

• You haven’t been blogging.
• You haven’t worked on your SEO (or maybe you have, but after a year it’s still not working, though keep in mind SEO can take anywhere from 30 days to a full year to show results, with 6 months being the average).
• And most importantly, no clients or leads have found you through your website. Basically your website doesn't seem to be playing a role in getting clients.

Sidenote: SEO is all about making it easier for people to find you on Google, ChatGPT etc

In that case, you could cancel your website subscription tomorrow if you wanted to, and then gradually build a brand-new website however you like.

BUT...don't cancel your website subscription yet if:

• You’ve been working on your SEO,
• blogging your heart out, and (most importantly):
• clients are actually finding you through Google, ChatGPT, or AI search

Then please do not Thanos-snap your website out of existence.

Because if you do, all that hard work will disappear overnight. People will stop finding you, and you’ll basically be hitting the reset button and starting from absolute zero.

So if you want to move your website, you need to give yourself enough time to do it right.

So here’s my personal rule of thumb for how much time you need to move your website:

If you have a:

• 1-page website: Give yourself at least 1 month.
• 5-page website: Give yourself 3 months.
• A giant beast of a website (I’m talking 10+ or 20+ pages, case studies, blogs, and where 90% of your funnels live): Give yourself 6 months.

For example, when I went through a rebrand and moved my website from WordPress to Webflow, it took longer than 6 months to fully complete the move (partly due to the rebrand).

Here’s a sneak peek of how amazing the site turned out:

Here's the one thing that you cannot afford to ignore:

The important thing you'll need to do when moving your website is keeping your website links the same after your move.

So to explain this, imaginethat every page on your website has a physical address. And people use GPS at first to find each page. If you moved tomorrow without telling anyone, and they showed up at your old address and didn’t find you, they’d be super confused cause you weren't there right?

Now imagine the people visiting you are Google, or Bing, or whatever search engine you use. These platforms assume your address will stay the same, and if it changes, you’ll let them know.

That’s what I mean when I say keep your links the same. So if your website link is www.bakerytornado.com/cookies on Squarespace, when you move to Showit it should be exactly the same.

If it’s not, you need to let Google know something has changed. You can do that by setting up something called 301 redirects, which tell Google, “Hey, this page still exists and here’s the new address.”

If you wanna learn more about that, check out this blog on 301 redirects.

There is so much more that goes into safely moving a site, which is why I put together a YouTube video breaking down the 4 more core things you need to think about before you move.

If you are seriously considering moving to a new platform but are feeling overwhelmed by the process, then I’d love to help. I do offer website migration as a service, starting at $2000 for a 1-3 page website, and $5000 for 5+ page websites. So fill out my contact form to reach out.

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