- About
- What We Do
-
-
-
Marketing Services
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
THE LEADER IN HOME SERVICES MARKETING Let’s Talk
-
-
-
-
- Who We Work With
-
-
-
Industries
Partnering With Local Businesses In the Trades
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
THE LEADER IN HOME SERVICES MARKETING Let’s Talk
-
-
-
- Case Studies
- Blog
- Resources
- Contact
How to Move Your Site to WordPress
We all have regrets in our lives—your website framework doesn’t have to be one of them. I’ve worked with many business owners to build their dream websites. As you can imagine, they all have requests for how the site should look—clean, modern, edgy, bad ass pimp daddy (And yes. One of my favorite clients ever filled that out in our website creative brief). They have requests for how the site should function (easy to navigate, responsive, galleries that lightbox, etc.). But some of them simply want a user-friendly back end that doesn’t require an IT degree to update.
If you’re unhappy with the current framework your website is built on, you might be considering moving your site to WordPress. (And if you’re not sure, give me a call and I can give you a tour of one of our sites built on the WordPress framework.)
Like with any site migration, there are a number of important things to consider when migrating your site to WordPress—especially if you have already invested time or money into improving your website’s positioning on the web.
Caution: failing to take necessary precautions could result in a significant loss in rankings, traffic, and leads—essentially making your previous investment in search engine optimization obsolete.
Considerations to Make to When Migrating Your Site to WordPress
Build on a Development Server
While you’re developing your WordPress site, you will want to make sure your existing site is live so you don’t miss out on any leads or new business. You can set up a development server in your existing hosting account, but make sure it’s no-index, no-follow until you’re ready to go live.
Don’t Forget About Your Content
Use a tool like Site Sucker to export your site content quickly and import it quickly using the Import feature in WordPress. Also, make sure to migrate your meta elements as well, as these are critical SEO components and could hurt your website rankings if you forget them.
301 Redirects
Take a look at your existing URL structure. If you have file extensions at the end of your URLs (.html, .php, etc.) you will need to create 301 redirects for each page to maintain SEO value.
Tracking!
Prior to launch, make sure all tracking codes (Analytics, Search Engine Console, call tracking, etc.) are migrated over. Post-launch, make sure you remove that no index no follow tag I talked about earlier.
Test Your Contact Forms
Post migration, make sure all proper parties are receiving your contact forms. Make sure your contact form thank you pages are set up and are triggering goals in your Analytics account.
Why I Have a Boner for WordPress
- Easy to Update – WordPress makes it easy for you to add, change or remove content from your website with little too no coding or HTML knowledge. If you can use Microsoft Word, you can use WordPress.
- Good for SEO – WordPress has built a reputation for providing a solid SEO foundation as a CMS—and with good reason. It’s not a coincidence that WordPress sites tend to rank well on Google. Its success can be attributed primarily to the built-in features that make it easy to customize a site, especially for businesses or authors with little technical experience.
- Fast Load Times – WordPress sites tend to have fast load times that can be made even faster through WordPress specific hosting plans created to optimize site speeds (optional as requested).
- Limitless Plugins – You can easily customize your WordPress site by choosing plug-ins that work to enhance your overall site functionality. There’s a plugin for almost anything you can think of.
- No designer needed – With so many free and inexpensive themes available, you can create an attractive-looking site without having to hire a designer.
Need Help?
As you can see above, there are a lot of things to consider when migrating your site. We recommend leaving it to the experts. Learn more about our WordPress migration services here.
About The Author: As the Director of Web and Media, Chase oversees the overall health, growth, and and strategy of Blue Corona's Web Development, Design and Video services. He thrives on having candid conversations about a client's business goals that ultimately translate into a functioning, lead-driving website.
View more blogs by Chase Wolf
The information on this website is for informational purposes only; it is deemed accurate but not guaranteed. It does not constitute professional advice. All information is subject to change at any time without notice. Contact us for complete details.
Ready to increase your online presence today with digital marketing?