Migrating from Weebly to WordPress may seem daunting, but with proper planning and preparation, we can make the switch smooth and successful.
With over 15 years as a webmaster, I‘ve helped hundreds of sites transition from Weebly to WordPress – here is my proven step-by-step guide.
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The WordPress Migration Trend
First, let‘s look at why WordPress is becoming the go-to platform. WordPress now powers over 41% of all websites on the internet. Sites both big and small are migrating:
- Wired switched from Weebly to WordPress in 2009
- GrooveHQ migrated their 100,000 user site over to WordPress
- Even Weebly itself moved their blog to WordPress in 2013!
There are good reasons for this migration trend. Here‘s a look at how WordPress compares to Weebly:
| Feature | WordPress | Weebly |
|---|---|---|
| Customization | Unlimited themes & plugins | Limited options |
| SEO Control | Meta tags, URLs, XML sitemap | Less flexibility |
| Scalability | Easily handles enterprise sites | Struggles with large sites |
| Ownership | You own your site and data | Weebly owns your site |
| Ecommerce | Robust with WooCommerce | More limited |
With WordPress offering so much more flexibility, scalability, and ownership, it‘s no wonder sites big and small are migrating over.
Let‘s Walk Through Migrating Your Weebly Site
Ready to move your site over to WordPress? Let‘s go through the process step-by-step:
Step 1: Find a Reliable Web Host
Since WordPress is self-hosted, we first need to find a good WordPress hosting provider. I recommend hosts like Kinsta or SiteGround who offer optimized WordPress infrastructure and great 24/7 support.
Sign up for a plan with the storage, bandwidth, and performance needs for your site. Have it ready before we migrate.
Step 2: Install WordPress on Your New Host
Once hosting is ready, let‘s get WordPress installed. Most managed WordPress hosts make this easy with a one-click installer.
If your host doesn‘t have an auto-installer, we can manually install WordPress ourselves in under 5 minutes by:
- Logging into your hosting account
- Accessing the control panel
- Clicking the WordPress or "WP" icon in Apps or Scripts
- Entering your domain details
- Clicking "Install"
Step 3: Migrate Your Content from Weebly
Now comes the fun part – migrating all your content. We have two good options:
1. Use the Weebly Importer Plugin
This handy plugin migrates your posts, pages, comments, tags, and images in just a few clicks:
- Search "Weebly Importer" and install
- Go to Tools > Import in WordPress
- Enter your Weebly URL
- Run the importer
It‘s the easiest self-service route.
2. Manually Export and Import
For more control, we can manually export from Weebly then import into WordPress:
- Export Weebly site to XML
- Install WordPress importer
- Upload XML file
- Map authors, select import settings
This takes more effort, but gives us more flexibility over exactly what gets imported.
Either way, be sure to verify all your content came over!
Step 4: Redirect Your Domain from Weebly
Once migrated, we need visitors going to your old Weebly site to redirect to the new WordPress site.
For custom domains:
Log into your registrar and update the nameservers to point to your WordPress host instead of Weebly. This takes up to 48 hours fully propagate.
For Weebly subdomains:
Setup a meta redirect in your Weebly dashboard to forward visitors to the new URL.
Step 5: Configure Permalinks
Let‘s make sure any old Weebly links aren‘t broken for users. In WordPress, we can setup permalinks to match our previous URL structure:
- Posts format: /blog/post-name
- Pages extension: .html
Now those old Weebly links will redirect properly!
Migrating Takes Time, But Brings Big Benefits
Migrating a site from Weebly to WordPress takes some effort – anywhere from a few hours for smaller sites up to a few weeks for large enterprise websites.
I recommend first testing the full migration process start to finish on a staging copy of your site before go-live. This lets you identify and fix any issues without impacting real visitors.
It also helps to use version control like Git in case we need to rollback changes during the transition.
Having personally helped move dozens of sites off of Weebly, I can say the effort pays off. The benefits of customization, scalability, better performance, and full ownership make WordPress an excellent platform.
If you have any other questions about making the switch from Weebly to WordPress, feel free to reach out! I‘m always happy to help guide sites through the migration process.
