Let me guess, you started your blog on a free blogging platform but now you feel like you’re outgrowing it, so you want to know how to transfer your free blog to WordPress.org?
Free blogging platforms are easy to start on and great for testing out if blogging is something you enjoy. But free blogging platforms do have a lot of limitations plus you don’t own your free blog, so if you are getting more serious about your blog, it’s a good idea to move your site to a web host and have a self-hosted blog with WordPress.org.
In this post I’ll show you how to safely move your free blog to wordpress.org in 7 simple steps.
For this tutorial we’ll look at how to transfer your blog from WordPress.com and Blogger.com to a self hosted WordPress.org site.
STEP 1: EXPORT YOUR OLD BLOG
Exporting your blog from WordPress.com
Go to your WordPress.com dashboard and click on Tools > Export
Click Export All.
Wait till the export is complete. When your export is successful you’ll see this message.
Check your email and download your blog files to your computer and keep them safe.
Exporting your blog from Blogger.com
Go to your Blogger Dashboard and click on Settings > Other.
In the Import & back up section, select Back up Content > Save to your computer. The XML file will be downloaded automatically to your computer.
STEP 2: SET UP WEB HOSTING
To be able to have a self hosted site on WordPress.org, you need to buy web hosting. The good web host I recommend is ASPHostPortal. I’ve used both these web hosts for years and find them reliable, easy to use and they both have great support.
If you’re new to hosting and find all the tech stuff intimidating I recommend using ASPHostPortal because they install WordPress for you and they have a dashboard that guides you with instructions.
They also install a free SSL certificate for you which is a really good thing because an SSL certificate protects your blogs data, improves trust with your site visitors and is better for ranking in Google.
We’re almost ready to transfer your free blog to wordpress.org.
Your hosting will send you a welcome email that has a link to your new blog.
Click on this link and you’ll see a login screen where you enter your domain name and the password you wrote down earlier.
Next you’ll be asked to name your site and add a tagline. If you don’t have a tagline, just describe in a few words what your blog is about. Click Continue.
Next you can pick a WordPress theme. You can choose one of the free themes or you can scroll to the bottom and click skip this step. I recommend skipping this step and using a premium theme as this will make your web design process a lot easier. My favourite theme is Enfold because it’s easy to use and has fantastic support.
Now we are ready to transfer your blog!
STEP 3: IMPORT FREE BLOG TO YOUR SELF HOSTED WORDPRESS BLOG
In your new wordpress.org dashboard click on Tools > Import.
Depending on whether you are transferring a blog from blogger.com or wordpress.com, choose the platform from which you are transferring your old blog.
Click Install Now. This will install an importer plugin.
Next you click on Run Importer.
Click on Choose File and select your XML blog file that you downloaded in step 1.
Click on Upload file and import. It might take a few minutes to upload all your files.
Next it will give you the option to assign authors. You can create a new user or assign posts to an existing user.
Select the box: Download and import file attachments to make sure your images and other files are also imported.
Click Submit.
You should get a success message to let you know your site has been successfully imported.
Congratulations!
You have managed to transfer your free blog to a self hosted site!
STEP4: CHECK YOUR NEW BLOG
After transferring your free blog to WordPress.org it is important to check over your whole site.
Check if all your posts are showing up correctly, if your formatting still looks the same and if your images are all there.
STEP 5: DELETE THE IMPORTER PLUGIN
You won’t need the importer plugin anymore so it’s best to delete it so you don’t slow down your new site with unnecessary plugins. Click on Plugins, Select the Importer plugin and delete it.
STEP 6: REDIRECT YOUR OLD BLOG TO YOUR NEW BLOG
If your old blog had a good following or search engine ranking, it might be a good idea to create a site redirect. A redirect will also make sure that all your old Pinterest pins will keep generating traffic to your new site.
There are a few free plugins to help you redirect your site.
The Simple Website Redirect plugin will direct your old url to your new url.
The Redirection plugin is good for one-off redirects where a URL for an old page should point to a new page.
If you don’t feel confident using a plugin and configuring this, you can use the Site Redirect
service from WordPress.com. For $13 per year they’ll redirect all your blog posts and pages for you.
If you transferred your blog from Blogger.com you can use the Blogger 301 Redirect Plugin for WordPress, or the Blogger to WordPress Redirection plugin.
STEP 7: FIX UP YOUR INTERNAL LINKS
Another important thing to update is your internal links. Did you add links to other related posts in your old blog posts? Make sure to change all these links to go to your new domain name because you don’t want your new site redirecting your visitors back to your old site!
Other things to consider
- If you transferred your site from Blogger, you’ll need to update your permalinks. Go to Settings > Permalinks and select Month and Name.
- To stop people from going to your old blog make sure to make it private. In your WordPress.com dashboard go to Settings > Reading and set this old blog to private.
HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF A SELF HOSTED BLOG
Having a self hosting blog on WordPress.org is great for adding functionality to your site.
You can add functionality by installing plugins and a premium theme. Good premium themes will have functions like:
- contact forms
- slideshows
- portfolio grid
- buttons
- pricing tables
- icons
- testimonials
- special headings
- and much more
Premium themes also save you so much time. I remember when I first started out, I spent weeks trying to build a site with a free theme and every time I’d get stuck with a problem. I was so frustrated, many times I just wanted to give up completely…
But then someone recommended the Enfold theme to me. And OMG! A whole new world opened up to me.
It was literally like my prayers had been answered. Finally a theme that made everything easy!
I’ve been using Enfold for 7 years now and I can’t fault it. (It is the best rated theme on Theme Forest and over 9000 users have rated this theme 4.82 stars! So that might explain it…)
It has a simple drag and drop editor that even the most non-tech person will be able to use with ease and if you get stuck with anything the support team will always help you out.
One last thing you should do is instal some must-have plugins. I’ll list 5 free plugins that I install on every website I create. These plugins are vital for the wellbeing of your site:
- Wordfence Security or Ithemes Security – a security plugin to protect your site from hackers.
- Updraft Backup Restore – a backup plugin so you can restore your site if anything would happen to it.
- Smush – this plugin compresses your blog’s images so it loads faster.
- W3 Total Cache – a caching plugin that will also increase your website speed.
- Yoast – this plugin helps you optimise your website for search engines.
