# CRITIC · squarespace-exit

**Verdict: FIX**

Reviewed Wed Oct 21, 2026 (PT), read-only. Strong, honest voice: the stay-or-go check and the Studio Mesa counterpoint make it credible. No fake team, no hype, no squad or -mallow wording. Pills and buttons (SITE MOVES, PLAN MY MOVE, GET THE GUIDE, READ THE NOTE, TALK TO A HUMAN →) are ALL CAPS with no "!" and no vendor names. The $750 move is sold correctly through intake and invoice ("No checkout on the page. The CTA goes to intake."), and there's no checkout or buy-now wording for it. The $331 to $348 line is backed by S2 and S3. The Google quote "Keep the redirects for as long as possible, generally at least 1 year." matches the live page exactly. The Leave WordPress guide at $39 and care from $69 match the live site. The refund window is 14 days on live /guides/ and no other window appears in this pack.

## Must-fix

These are deal copy: "save", "saving", "cheaper" and "better deal" in the money sense. "Save what the export leaves behind" means keep your files, and that's fine.

1. L61 (note): "If you pay month to month, switching to annual billing may save more than moving would." → "If you pay month to month, price out annual billing before you decide to move."
2. L173 (guide): "the yearly saving is smaller than what your time to move is worth." → "the yearly difference is smaller than what your time to move is worth."
3. L380 (service page): "Tell us about your site. We check whether staying is the better deal first." → "Tell us about your site. We check first whether staying is the better call."
4. L413 (X post 1): "If you pay monthly, annual billing might be the cheaper fix." → "If you pay monthly, price out annual billing first."
5. L437 (X post 3): "If staying is the better deal for you, we'll say so first." → "If staying is the better call for you, we'll say so first."
6. **X post 3 claims work that hasn't started** (L433): "We're moving small sites off hosted builders onto static sites on Cloudflare." → "We move small sites off hosted builders onto static sites on Cloudflare."

## Nice-to-have
- Note H1: the lead default allows vendor names in note headings. Match the live sibling: "Leaving Squarespace without losing SEO or email". Gate L476 can then read "No vendor name in any pill or button. Note headings may name the vendor."
- Match the live guide's sentence case: "Leave Squarespace without losing rankings or email". Fix the L42 reference to the live guide the same way ("Leave WordPress without losing rankings or email").
- Ship step 7 (session-checked download route) can go. The leak is closed and checkout shows an instant download.
- The Stripe row "Site move ... : deposit" could be renamed "Site move: invoiced after intake" so nobody builds it as a checkout.
- L98: "Mail keeps working if you do that in time" is an inference from S10. Consider "Add billing inside those 7 days to keep it running."
- Ship step 4: give the card `id="leave-squarespace"` so `/guides/#leave-squarespace` resolves.
- The proof-strip link should go to https://jkca.studio/notes/sites-that-dont-need-wordpress/ (200).

## Links checked (curl)
- 200: care.jkca.studio, /guides/leave-wordpress/, /notes/leaving-wordpress-without-losing-seo-or-email/, /notes/sites-that-dont-need-wordpress/, the Google site-move guide, studiomesa.co, sf.digital, dardo.studio, squarespace.com/pricing, all support.squarespace.com articles, Cloudflare Registrar and redirect docs.
- 403 (bot walls): forum.squarespace.com, reddit. Snapshot-only, as FACTS says, and not used in copy.
- `www.yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml` is a placeholder.
- 404, expected because the pages aren't built: /notes/leaving-squarespace-without-losing-seo-or-email/, /services/squarespace-move/. The `#leave-squarespace` anchor doesn't exist yet.

## Round 2

**Verdict: PASS**

Re-gated Wed Oct 21, 2026, 10:02 AM PT. I worked from the files, not from FIXES-APPLIED.md: I diffed PACK.md and FACTS.md against the round-1 text. FACTS.md is unchanged.

- All 6 must-fixes are fixed exactly as written.
- **No deal copy left in public copy.** The remaining "save" lines mean keep your files. "saves more" (L26) is an internal brief line, not copy.
- **The $750 move is still intake and invoice only.** No checkout or buy-now wording.
- **Ship steps:** step 4 adds `id="leave-squarespace"` (the anchor doesn't exist on live /guides/ yet). Step 7 now uses the instant-download route.
- **No new claims, numbers, "!" or vendor names in pills.** The refund line is still 14 days on live /guides/.

### Still open (nice-to-have)
- Note H1: "Leaving Squarespace without losing SEO or email", to match the live WordPress note.
- Sentence-case the product name: "Leave Squarespace without losing rankings or email".
- Rename the Stripe row "deposit" → "invoiced after intake".
- L98: "Add billing inside those 7 days to keep it running."
- Link the proof strip to /notes/sites-that-dont-need-wordpress/.