WordPress migration
Move to WordPress without losing a reader, a ranking or a day online.
From Blogger, Medium, Ghost, Wix, Substack or another host. We move every post, map every old URL to a 301 redirect, check SEO parity page by page and switch over with no downtime.
Old site stays live
301 for every URL
SEO parity checks
- OK
crawl › 1,842 URLsEvery post, page, image and feed on the old site listed - OK
import › 1,206 postsPosts, authors, categories, tags and comments moved - WARN
images › 37 hot-linkedImages still served from the old platform — re-uploaded - OK
redirects › 1,842 → 1,842Every old URL answers with a 301 to its new address - WARN
dns › TTL 86400TTL lowered a week before cutover so the switch spreads fast - OK
parity › titles, meta, schemaOld and new pages match, template by template - OK
security scanNothing malicious carried over - OK
cutoverDNS switched — old host kept until its traffic reaches zero
The rules of a site move
Rankings survive a move when the redirects are right.
Google publishes exactly how it wants a site move done. Most lost traffic after a migration comes from skipping one of these steps — not from WordPress itself, which already runs 40.1% of all websites (W3Techs).
301
or 308 — the permanent, server-side redirects Google treats as “this is the new address”
1 year
the minimum Google suggests for keeping redirects in place — longer if you can
10
redirect hops is where Google’s crawlers stop following — we keep every chain to one
180 days
that Search Console’s Change of Address tool forwards signals to a new domain
Where you’re coming from
Blogger to WordPress, Wix to WordPress — or just a new host.
We have moved blogs and publications of all sizes. The goal is simple: readers and search engines notice nothing except a better site.
- Blogger, Medium, Ghost, Wix, SubstackPosts, pages, images, authors, categories, tags and comments moved into WordPress.
- WordPress to a new hostFiles and database transferred, domain and SSL set up, DNS switched with no downtime.
- Large archives and custom platformsCustom import scripts and a staged move with a content-freeze plan.
What moves with you
Everything readers and Google rely on — moved, mapped and checked.
01 / 04 — Content
Every post, exactly as it was.
Posts, pages, images, authors, categories, tags and comments imported — then checked post by post, so formatting and images survive the trip.
02 / 04 — Redirects
Every old link still works.
A complete map of old URLs to new ones, set up as permanent server-side 301 redirects and tested — one hop each, no chains.
03 / 04 — Subscribers
Your audience comes too.
Email lists exported from Substack, Ghost or Medium and imported into your new newsletter tool. Paid subscriptions are set up again on the new platform.
04 / 04 — Aftercare
Two weeks of watching.
We monitor 404 errors and crawl issues for two weeks after launch and fix what we find, while Google catches up with the new addresses.
How the move happens
Your old site stays live until the new one is proven.
Everything is built and checked on the new host first. Readers only switch over once you’ve approved the result.
-
List everything that has to move
We crawl your current site and record every URL, image and piece of content — the checklist for the whole migration.
- Full URL crawl
- Content and media inventory
- Titles, meta and schema recorded
-
Rebuild it on WordPress, out of sight
Everything is imported into WordPress on the new host, and the redirect map is built URL by URL.
- Content import
- 301 redirect map
- Subscriber export
-
Compare old and new, page by page
We check content and SEO parity across every template, and you review the new site before anything switches.
- SEO parity report
- Redirects tested
- Your sign-off
-
Switch at a quiet hour
DNS is switched, redirects go live and a new sitemap goes to Search Console.
- DNS switched
- Redirects live
- New sitemap submitted
-
Catch what Google finds
We watch 404s, crawl errors and traffic, and fix anything that slipped through.
- 404 and crawl monitoring
- Fixes as they appear
- Hand-over notes
Why zero downtime matters
What a botched cutover would cost you.
A DIY move that takes the site offline costs sales or ad revenue for every hour it’s down — and Google advises keeping even a planned outage to a day or two at most. Plug in your own numbers.
If the move takes the site offline
$632Cost of a migration that goes wrong
- Revenue lost while offline
- $132
- Your time spent on clean-up
- $500
- Revenue per hour the site earns
- $11
Spreads monthly revenue evenly over 730 hours (the average month). It leaves out lost rankings from broken URLs, which are harder to price and slower to recover. A model, not a quote.
The zero-downtime cutover
No “propagation” panic. Just a planned switch.
DNS records are cached for as long as their TTL says — often a full day. Plan for that, and the switch is invisible to readers.
A week before
Lower the TTL
Google suggests lowering TTL to a few hours at least a week ahead. On Cloudflare, Auto TTL is 300 seconds — five minutes.
Launch day
Switch at a quiet hour
The new site is already built and checked, so DNS is the only thing that changes. Both hosts serve the same content in between.
The days after
Keep the old host running
Google’s advice: watch the old server’s logs and shut it down only once its traffic reaches zero. A short dip in crawl rate is normal.
Scope your migration
Where you’re moving from shapes the job.
Choose your starting point and archive size for a ballpark range. Your written quote confirms the exact price before anything moves.
New domain too?
When you need Google’s Change of Address tool.
It only applies when the domain itself changes — and it only works once the redirects are in place.
Needed
example.com → example.net
Moving to a new domain or subdomain. We verify both properties in Search Console, add the 301s, then file the change.
Not needed
Same domain, new platform
HTTP to HTTPS, www to non-www or new paths on the same domain. Redirects and a fresh sitemap do the job.
Expect
A few weeks of movement
Google calls temporary ranking fluctuation “normal”, and says medium sites can take a few weeks or more to show the new URLs.
After the move
Moved is the start. Better is the point.
Once readers and Google have settled on the new site, it’s the right moment to make it faster and tighten the technical SEO.
- A new sitemap in Search ConsoleSubmitted at cutover so Google learns the new URLs quickly.
- Two weeks of 404 watchingAny old link we missed gets its redirect while it still matters.
- A deeper technical reviewCrawling, indexing and structured data checked beyond the parity report.
Questions, answered
How long should the redirects stay in place?
Google says to keep them for as long as possible — generally at least a year. We set them up on the server, not in JavaScript, so they keep working whatever the visitor’s browser does.
Can I use 302 redirects to test first?
Not for the real move. Google treats 301 and 308 redirects as a sign that the new URL should replace the old one; 302 and 307 don’t send that signal. We test on staging instead.
Will I lose my Google rankings?
A well-planned migration keeps rankings stable in most cases. Redirects and SEO parity checks are there to protect them. Short-term movement is normal while Google recrawls.
Can you move my Substack subscribers?
Yes. We export your list and import it into your chosen email tool. Paid subscriptions need to be set up again on the new platform.
Do I need to pick a theme first?
It helps. Many bloggers moving to WordPress choose one of our themes, and we can set it up during the migration.
Is my site offline during the move?
No. Your old site stays live until the new one is ready and checked.
What about technical SEO after the move?
Platform migrations include parity checks. For a deeper review, add technical SEO for WordPress.
Get a free quote
Let’s build something great.
Tell us about your project and goals. A WordPress engineer — not a salesperson — will reply within one business day with a plan and a fixed price.
- Free, no-obligation quote within 24 hours
- NDA available on request
- Fixed price — you approve the scope before work starts
