In this detailed step-by-step guide we will walk you through the process of migrating Wix to WordPress. If Wix is no longer enough for you and you are looking to gain more control over your site, migrating from Wix to WordPress will allow you to do just that.
The basic process of migrating from Wix to WordPress is as follows:
- Sign up for and a WordPress web host
- Set up your new WordPress site
- Import your Wix blog posts via RSS
- Create your Wix pages in WordPress
- Add your images to WordPress
- Redirect your Wix site to WordPress
- Perform a final site run
Below we present in detail the process so that you can migrate as quickly and easily as possible.
Preparing for conversion
When moving from Wix to WordPress, the first thing you’ll need to do is prepare your new WordPress site for the conversion.
The length of this conversion process will depend on how large your existing Wix site is, whether you need your current SEO setup, and your familiarity with WordPress. If you’re an absolute beginner, you might want to check out our , which covers everything from A to Z.
Below, we’ll walk you through the two steps you need to take before migrating your Wix site to WordPress.
1. Buy a new hosting
With Wix you are using a hosting package included in your package. Therefore, when you stop using Wix, you will need a way to host your new website. In addition to hosting, you will also need to either move your domain from Wix (if you purchased one through them).
If you’re looking for a solid, beginner-friendly server, then check out . You will also receive a free domain name or the ability to transfer the one you purchased through Wix!
2. Set up your WordPress site
Now that you have WordPress hosting and you have a domain pointing to your new site, it’s time to start building your new website home. Follow these steps to install WordPress and build your site:
2.1 Install WordPress
The shape of your site depends on the hosting environment you choose.
But the easiest way to install WordPress is by using a 1-click installer. On , this tool is available in the hPanel, in the section Website and then clicking self installer.
You will now have WordPress installed on your site and have access to the backend of your site. The URL will be something similar to this: http://yoursite.com/wp-admin.
2.2 Set up your site
Login to the admin area and you will see your WordPress dashboard.
Before we start with the customization we are going to change some settings.
First, go to Settings > Permalinks. Then, select the option ‘input name‘. This will change the structure of your URLs to make them more readable and search engine friendly.
The next thing you’ll want to do is adjust your site’s title and tagline. To do so, go to Settings > General.
At the top, you will see two boxes, ‘site title‘ Y ‘Short description‘. Change them to reflect your current site name and tagline.
These two changes will be enough to get you started, but feel free to adjust other settings as you like.
2.3 Customize your site
You can customize your WordPress site using templates and plugins.
There are plenty of ones available that you can install directly from your WordPress dashboard. To do so, go to Appearance > Themes > Add New.
In addition to the selection of free templates, many paid templates are also available. Paid templates will generally be of higher quality and offer you more features and customization options.
If you are looking for a paid template visit the following platforms:
Chances are you’ll be able to find a template that closely mimics your current Wix site design if that’s your goal.
Customizing your template is quite simple. You can go to Themes > Customize to make some basic changes. Or, you can visit your theme’s documentation for more complete guidance.
With your site ready, it’s time to transfer your current Wix site to WordPress.
Two Ways to Migrate Wix to WordPress
There are two different ways to migrate your site:
- Using an RSS feed, plus a bit of copy and paste.
- Using an automatic migration plugin.
Use RSS to import Wix into WordPress
The first method of migrating your site is through an RSS feed.
Please note that this approach will only work for older Wix blogs. Newer blogs no longer have an RSS feed. So, if you have recently built your site on Wix, you will have to move on to the second migration option.
If you are using an older version of Wix, follow these steps:
1. Locate your RSS feed
First, you’ll need to open your existing Wix RSS feed. To do this, add /feed.xml at the end of your URL.
If your site is mydomain.comwould become mydomain.com/feed.xml either mydomain.com/feed.
This will also show you if your current Wix site has an RSS feed or not.
2. Save your RSS file
With the RSS feed open, right-click on the page and select Save as. Depending on the browser you are using, you may need to rename the file extension as it might be saved as .txt.
Change the file extension to .xml and save it to your desktop.
3. Import to WordPress
Now go to your WordPress dashboard, and then to Tools > Import.
Find the RSS importer and click Run importer. If you haven’t installed it, please click Install Nowthen the option ‘run importer‘.
On the next screen, you will be able to upload the RSS file you downloaded earlier.
Once the importer has finished, you’ll want to see if your posts loaded successfully.
go to Posts > All Posts and check if all your existing blog posts went through well. You may have to work out some formatting issues, but hopefully all of your posts are now on your new blog.
RSS migration will only transfer your blog posts, not pages on your site, so you’ll need to do this manually.
4. Add pages to WordPress
Without a direct method to migrate your Wix site pages, you will have to do it the old-fashioned way using copy and paste.
Open your pages on your Wix site and copy the content of that page. Next, open WordPress and go to Pages > Add new.
Then paste that content into your new page.
With the new Gutenberg editor, the content will be broken into blocks, so it can take a bit of time to get the look just right. For more information on the editor, see this .
Now, you will have to do this one by one until all your pages are copied to WordPress.
5. Migrate your images
The RSS feed migration above will copy your content, but your images will still be hosted on the Wix platform.
You have two ways to transfer your images:
The first is to download all the images from your Wix site and save them to your computer. Then upload them to WordPress via Media > Add New.
The second way involves using a plugin to download and transfer the images for you. This plugin will download your images from Wix, copy the new images to your site, and update any existing image links.
To do this, install the named plugin and activate it. then go to Media > Import Images and click «Import images now«. This will upload the images to your library and change any existing image links.
Use the CMS2CMS plugin for automated migration
The plugin will automatically transfer your Wix site to WordPress.
It is a premium plugin, but for a low price, it will do all the work for you. It will do the entire migration process in less than twenty minutes.
To use this plugin, follow these steps:
1. Install the plugin
To install the plugin, go to your WordPress dashboard, then go to Plugins > Add New. In the search bar, type CMS2CMS.
Then click Install Now Y Activate.
2. Create an account
Open the plugin by navigating to Plugins > CMS2CMS Connector.
Now, create an account, or log in to your existing account if you have already created one.
3. Connect your Wix site
In the next step you will connect to your existing Wix website.
Enter the URL of your existing Wix website and click Verify Connection. If you entered your URL correctly, then you are ready to migrate.
4. Run the migration
Now you can configure your migration settings. Choose which content you want to migrate and which content to ignore.
For an additional fee you will have access to more migration settings such as:
- Migrate your metadata
- Transfer your images
- Set up 301 redirects
then click Start Free Demo Migration. This will give you a report showing if there are any migration errors.
Then you will get a price quote. Here you can add more migration features or buy migration insurance in case something goes wrong during the process.
If you’re happy with your migration setup and final price, click Complete Migration.
The migration will start as soon as your payment is processed.
Post Migration from Wix to WordPress
No matter which method you choose, there are a few things you’ll want to do before your site goes live to the world.
Here are four things you can do to clean up your site:
Create a WordPress menu
Your main navigation menu will help visitors navigate your site.
Go to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Appearance > Menus. Give your menu a name and click create menu. Now select any page you have created from the left side and click on add to menu. Once your menu is complete, click save menu.
To place the menu on your site, click Manage locations. Depending on your template, you will be able to choose different places where you can add the menu. If you want to display it at the top of your site, this option will be called Main menu either header menu.
Redirect your Wix site to WordPress
You will now want to redirect your old Wix site to your new WordPress site. This way, every time someone lands on your old site, they will be immediately taken to your new site.
However, if your Wix site was built on a subdomain, then you cannot implement the redirect feature. Also, if you used the CMS2CMS plugin and paid for the additional redirect feature, then your job is done.
Otherwise, we can move forward with the redirect. First, copy this code into your preferred text editor:
var hashesarr = { “#!about/ghit7”:’/about-us/’, “#!contact-us/fe37”:’/contact/’, “#!dog-article/c6hg”:’/dog- article/’ }; for (var hash in hashesarr) { var patt = new RegExp(hash); if (window.location.hash.match(patt) !== null) { window.location.href = hashesarr; } }
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