How to Leave Wix Without Losing Everything

You can leave Wix without losing your content, domain or Google rankings, but there's no "export my website" button. Wix's help centre says Wix sites can't be hosted anywhere else, so you save your content and rebuild the site elsewhere. It takes six steps, in this order:

1. Save your content.
2. Sort out your domain, and your email if it's on the same domain.
3. Choose where you're going.
4. Build the new site with the same page addresses, or redirects.
5. Switch over and check everything.
6. Only then cancel Wix.

The order matters most at the end. Don't cancel your Wix plan until the new site is live and your domain has moved.

Step 1: How do I save my Wix content?

Wix won't export your pages, so do it by hand. It's tedious but essential.

For each page:

• copy the text into a document,
• download the images from the Wix media manager,
• write down the page address, for example /about or /services/weddings. You'll want to match these later,
• screenshot the layout if you want to refer to it.

If you have a blog. Your posts are in the RSS feed at yoursite.com/blog-feed.xml. Save that file. It has titles, text and dates, but save the images separately.

If you have a shop. Export your products from the Wix dashboard as a spreadsheet, and download the product images separately, because the export doesn't include photos.

Allow an afternoon for a site of 10 to 20 pages.

Step 2: What happens to my domain and email?

If you bought the domain through Wix, it's yours, but Wix manages it. Transfer it to another registrar such as Cloudflare Registrar, Namecheap or Squarespace Domains. Wix explains how to transfer a domain away from Wix. You'll unlock it, get an authorisation code and start the transfer at the new registrar. Transfers usually take five to seven days.

If you bought the domain elsewhere, you only need to change its DNS records to point at the new host, which usually takes effect within hours.

Check your email first. If your email address uses your domain, find out where it's hosted before you change anything. If it's through Wix, set up email elsewhere before the switch. Google Workspace starts at £5.90 a user a month plus VAT on an annual plan.

Step 3: Where should I move my website to?

There's no single right answer. It depends on your budget, how hands-on you want to be and how much control you want. I compared the builders in Wix vs Squarespace vs owning.

Step 4: How do I build the new site without losing rankings?

• Keep the same page addresses where you can. If your about page was /about, keep it /about.
• Set up 301 redirects for any address that changes. A 301 tells Google a page has moved permanently. Google explains this in its guidance on redirects and site moves with URL changes.
• Rewrite rather than paste. It's a good moment to update anything out of date and make the words clearer.
• Compress your images before uploading. The originals you saved may be much bigger than they need to be. Free tools like Squoosh do this in the browser.

Step 5: How do I switch over safely?

Before you switch:

• test every page, form and link,
• check it on at least two phones,
• run it through PageSpeed Insights,
• set up analytics and Google Search Console.

The switch. Point your domain at the new host. DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to reach everyone, though it's usually much quicker. For a while some people will see the old site and some the new one. That's normal.

After the switch:

• watch Search Console for errors,
• check your redirects work,
• submit your new sitemap,
• update the website link on your Google Business Profile if it changed,
• keep Wix running for a few weeks in case you missed anything.

Step 6: When should I cancel Wix?

Once everything has worked on the new site for a few weeks. Check your renewal date in Wix's billing settings, download anything left in the media manager, and cancel before it renews. Plans can renew automatically for a year or more, so don't leave it to the last day.

Is moving off Wix worth it?

If you've outgrown it, yes. You stop renting, you own the result, and a simple site you own costs little or nothing to host. If Wix still does the job, stay. The signs you've outgrown it are in 5 signs your business has outgrown Wix.

If you'd rather someone else did the move, I build four-page sites for £300, with the words rewritten, redirects set up and your domain moved into your name. There's more on my Wix alternative page, or tell me about your site and I'll tell you what has to move and the fixed price before anything starts.