Upgrading and Migrating WordPress Websites to Webflow: Detailed Guide
For a long time, WordPress was unrivaled among CMSs. Because of this free, open-source platform, bloggers, company owners, and e-commerce entrepreneurs may quickly release professional-looking websites with no technical expertise.
A hosting service fee and the usage of the open-source WordPress platform were all that was required to get things rolling. WordPress lost some of its sheen, though, when new rivals entered the fray.
Common WordPress sites nowadays are notoriously insecure, provide few opportunities for customization, and load slowly due to poorly organized code. As a result, it’s no surprise that many WordPress users are switching to Webflow development services.
Why Should You Migrate From WordPress to Webflow?
WordPress has its uses, but when your company expands, you may find that you no longer need it. WordPress has severe constraints on what can be designed using it.
You need to know a lot of code, or you have to settle with pre-made templates and page builders with few choices for personalization. Some WordPress themes aren’t responsive, making them seem antiquated and clumsy on screens of varying sizes.
Webflow is a very intuitive content management system (CMS). Webflow development services give you the freedom to tailor every page and piece of information to your specific requirements.
How to Migrate From WordPress to Webflow?
There are a few things you’ll need to perform to convert your WordPress site to a Webflow site. To successfully finish the migration, please refer to the instructions below.
- Protect Your Existing Website With a Backup First
Though it may not be up to your standards, your current website contains information that has been crucial in the success of your company. You’ve spent a great deal of time and money establishing the content and infrastructure of your present website. You should take precautions to protect its worth.
It’s vital that you save your current website before you begin developing in Webflow. In case of a mishap during the migration, you may simply roll back to your previous state.
- Compare your current site to others.
The success of your company depends on the efficiency of your website. In fact, it’s probably one of the main factors that influenced your decision to begin the relocation in the first place.
Remember that it is common for your search engine rankings to momentarily drop following a migration. This may take a few months, but if you plan your move well, you may notice an improvement in your search engine rankings thereafter.
- Start Your Webflow Build.
It is time to begin the Webflow development process. Select a Workspace plan and a website hosting plan to get started. If you’re the only one working on the site, the free Workspace plan and CMS website hosting package should be sufficient. You may wish to look at their more expensive options if you’ll be working with a bigger marketing team.
- WordPress Post Exporting
The simplicity with which WordPress material may be exported for use in Webflow is one of the many benefits of migrating from WordPress to Webflow development services. However, Webflow only accepts CSV imports and WordPress’s default export format is XML, so you’ll need a plugin to convert your WordPress articles to CSV.
The WP All Import WordPress plugin is an excellent choice. To go on, you’ll need to export your articles using a plugin like WP All Import or one that supports CSV exports.
- Add the Posts to Your Webflow Site
Putting together your Webflow pages from the WordPress content you exported is the next step. Make advantage of Webflow’s in-built import tool to do this. To begin importing the CSV you prepared in the previous step, just launch the program and adhere to the directions.
- Think About 301 Redirects
After you’ve imported and rebuilt all of your content, you can start planning redirects. Important post and page URLs may change throughout the transfer process. Any pages whose URLs have changed should now have 301 redirects set up (the redirect code for sites that have relocated permanently).
Simply go to the Publishing tab in your Webflow Project Settings to get started. You can input redirects by hand if you just have a few. Finsweet’s Chrome extension allows you to import a CSV file with redirected URLs, which is helpful if you have a large number of them.
- Verify for Mistakes
Make sure everything is in order on the site before you release it to the public. To achieve this, just visit the site as if you were just another web surfer interested in what you have to offer.
Check your new site for bugs, broken links, and other problems that the average visitor would encounter, and pay special attention to how quickly it loads. Don’t forget to iron out any kinks before going live.
Before releasing your website to the public, you should do a comprehensive audit using a program like Semrush. Before and after launching your website, you may use Semrush’s Site Audit tool to check for issues like broken links, missing title tags and meta descriptions, and more.
- Transfer Your Domain Name
The moment has come to unveil your brand-new website. To achieve this, go to your Webflow account’s Publishing settings after clicking on the Project Settings tab.
If you are changing the DNS settings for your domain name with your domain provider is required after you have added your domain. If you’re moving a website for a customer, they should provide you with the credentials you’ll need to access the domain name server (DNS) settings.
- Analyze and improve
Pay careful attention to your analytics as your new website makes its way across the web, searching for articles and pages that perform best and worst. Optimize low-performing pages and utilize high-performing ones as models for future blog articles and pages by learning from what works.
Conclusion
WordPress users are in luck if their sites are no longer adequate. As a team, we are actively engaged in various WordPress projects, spanning diverse topics such as lawyers, popular cars, insurance, and more. Moving from WordPress to Webflow is a worthwhile endeavour. In order to make a clean switch from WordPress to Webflow development services that may boost your SEO and conversion rates if you follow the above procedures, it is recommended to start with a complete backup of your WordPress site.