How to Backup Your Squarespace Website
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Are you ever shocked to find out just how easy it is to delete a Squarespace website? A few clicks, and it completely disappears! This can be quite scary for any business owner, as you don’t want to lose all of the time and work you’ve spent on your site. So, you need to backup your site! There are quite a few steps to do this, so let’s go over everything you need to do to backup your Squarespace website. Keep reading!
How to backup your Squarespace site
There are quite a few things you’ll want to do to properly backup your website to make sure your site and all of its contents are as safe as can be. Let’s list them out.
Keep track of website architecture
The first step to backing up your Squarespace website is to keep track of your website’s structure. One easy way to do this is by creating a visual sitemap, so you understand your website’s architecture in case you need to recreate it. You can create a visual sitemap map on a tool like Canva or just in a Google Sheet. Make a note of the relationship between different pages so you have a clear understanding of your site. If anything goes wrong, having a clear layout of your site can save you a lot of stress later on!
Keep a duplicate your website
One of the best and simple ways to backup your Squarespace site is to keep a duplicate version of it. To do this, in your Squarespace dashboard, click the three dots on the right side of your site, then click Duplicate Website.
The duplicate site will turn into that expires after 14 days (unless you upgrade it), but the content remains saved for four months. During this period, you won’t be able to make edits unless you upgrade to a paid plan. If you decide to pay for the duplicate version of your site, just make sure you put it on private so that Google doesn’t index the duplicate site.
You’ll want to regularly create a new duplicate after making significant changes or adding new content. This way, you can always go back to a recent version if you ever need to.
Download your XML file
An XML file, which stands for Extensible Markup Language, is a file used to store and transport data between systems. Squarespace allows you to export some content from your site into an XML file, which is useful if you want to transfer your site to WordPress. You can export the following:
Layout pages
A blog page (including posts and comments)
Text blocks
Image blocks
Gallery pages
Text from blocks like the embed & Instagram blocks
To get your site’s XML file, head to the Settings panel in your Squarespace site. From there, select Website then Import & Export Content. Then click the Export button.
This will generate the XML file for you to download. Then store it in a safe place, like your computer or a cloud storage service.
Save PDFs or screenshots of your pages
Another protective measure you should take to backup your site is to save a visual reference of your site’s design and layout.
To do this, you can take screenshots of each of your pages, or you can also save each of your pages as PDFs. Most browsers allow you to either export a webpage as a PDF or print a page and then choose to save the file instead of printing it out, which is perfect for keeping a record of your content.
Having these visuals on hand helps you if you need to recreate your site down the line and is a simple step that adds an extra layer of security to your backup strategy!
Keep a copy of all your content
Another important step to backing up your website is keeping a copy of all your content. Start by saving all your website copy, blog posts, product descriptions, and any other written content in a Word document or Google Doc.
This step is crucial because if anything happens to your site, you’ll be able to copy and paste all your content into the newly created version. Plus, having all your content organized in one place makes it easier to manage updates and changes in the future. So, take the time to gather your content; it’s an effective way to ensure your hard work isn’t lost!
Save all your assets
When it comes to backing up your Squarespace site, don’t forget to keep a copy of all your assets (images, videos, & files). Ideally, you’ll store each of these elements in a separate folder on your computer in Google Drive whenever you add them to your website, but if you don’t have them stored already, you can download each image and file from your asset library (unfortunately you can’t download them all at once). Here’s how:
Navigate to your Asset Library.
Click on Files.
For each file, click on the three dots in the upper right-hand corner.
Click File Details.
Right-click on the image and save it to your computer (then upload it to a Google folder if you’d like).
Similar to your images, you can’t download all of your files (like PDFs) at the same time, but you can download them individually. Here’s how:
Go to the page where you’ve linked a file.
Click the button or text where you’ve linked the file.
If you attached the file to a button, also click the pencil icon.
Click the link to the file.
Download the file from that link.
As for your videos, Squarespace doesn’t have a way for you to download them from your website, so make sure you keep a copy of them before you delete them from your computer.
Save your product files
If you’re running an online store through Squarespace, exporting your product CSV file is a must for backing up your site. This file contains all your product details—like names, descriptions, prices, product IDs, and stock levels—making it super useful for both backup and future updates.
To do this, navigate to the Products & Services Panel and click Products. Then click Export All. This will give you a CSV file of your product data except for your images, so if you haven’t saved them, make sure you do! Once you have your CSV file, save it in a safe spot.
And don’t forget to export your Orders file if you don’t have it stored anywhere else. To do this, navigate to the Content & Memberships panel, then click Orders. Click Download CSV and choose All Time. Then click Download. Save this file in a safe spot too.
Export contacts/mailing list
If you’ve built a mailing list through your Squarespace site or collected contact data through forms, saving a copy of your contacts is a crucial part of your backup plan.
To export your contacts, head over to your Contacts panel. Then click Lists & Segments. For each of your lists (Subscribers, Potential Customers, Form Submitters, etc.) click the three dots on the right. Then click Export then Confirm. This will give you a CSV file of your contacts that you can safely store on your computer or in the cloud.
Save your code
If you’ve added any custom code to your site to enhance your site’s functionality or design, make sure you keep a backup of the code. This is important because having your custom code handy will save you a lot of time and effort if you need to recreate your site in Squarespace or create a site with similar functionality.
You’ll be able to quickly reapply your customizations without starting from scratch. You’ll want to save your CSS code and code injections.
To save your CSS code, navigate to your Page panel. Scroll down to Utilities and click Website Tools. Then Custom CSS. Copy the code and save it in a Google or Word Doc. Keep in mind that while most of the code won’t work on a new Squarespace site since the block IDs will be different in your new site, it will still be a lot easier to recreate the code.
To save your code injections, navigate to your Website Tools then click Code Injection. Copy any code you have in there (Header, Footer, Lock Page, Order Confirmation Page, and Order Status Page) and save it in a Google or Word Doc.
Keep track of your URLs and URL mappings
When backing up your Squarespace site, don’t forget to keep track of your URLs and URL mappings. Why? Well, for example, if you need to recreate your site and your about page goes from example.com/about to example.com/about-us, that will cause your old link to break, which can be harmful to your site’s SEO and user experience. So, make sure you have an Excel or Google Sheets file that keeps track of all your URLs.
You’ll also want to keep track of any URL mappings you have stored in Squarespace. URL mappings are the redirects you set up for pages that have moved or changed. If you ever need to restore your site, having these mappings saved will help ensure that visitors find the right pages and that you don’t lose any search engine rankings.
To save your URL mappings, head to your Settings panel, click Developer Tools then URL Mappings. You can copy and paste this information into a Word Doc or Google Doc for safekeeping.
Bonus tip #1: Organize all your documents in a folder
🚨Public Service Announcement!🚨
As you can see, there are a lot of things that you should download if you want to backup your site. So, make sure you save all these documents in one folder and organize them in a system that makes sense to you (most likely keeping each page’s contents in the same folder). This way, you aren’t looking through all these files crazily trying to find the right one.
Bonus tip #2: Duplicate a specific page.
Let’s just say you accidentally delete an important page of your site, but not the whole site. That could also give you a big headache. So, to avoid this, it may be a good idea to duplicate and keep a copy of your important pages within your site. Just make sure to hide the page from search engines so Google doesn’t penalize you for duplicate content!
Why you should backup your Squarespace site
Even though backing up your Squarespace site can be a lot of work, especially if you haven’t been saving your files as you add more pages and content, it’s very important to do so. First off, accidents happen. Deleting a website from Squarespace only takes a few clicks, while creating the content for your website may have taken years. So, don’t take that chance.
Many of the steps in this guide can also help you if you decide to switch web builders. You’ll have all the content you’ll need to make that transition as seamless as possible.
And while Squarespace is pretty reliable, no system is perfect. Having backups of many forms can give you peace of mind, knowing you’re covered in case of any unexpected issues.
So, take some time in backing up your site. You won’t regret it!
Want to learn more?
Hopefully, you can now sleep tight now that you know how to back up your Squarespace website! But do you need more help? You can learn more about Squarespace, design, copywriting, SEO, and more on the blog! Here are some of our favorites!
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