Planning to migrate your current website to WordPress? If so, then you are going to select a platform trusted by millions of business owners and individuals. Day by Day WordPress is becoming popular and its user-friendly interface is encouraging people to move their current website to WordPress.

In the early days, most of the individuals build their website on any platform or CMS, which is totally fine because they are aware of the platforms that are either recommended by friends or visible in the ads. But as your business starts to grow you need a reliable and flexible platform and there is no other than “WordPress.

If you have already made your decision to migrate your current website to WordPress, then you have probably made the best decision. WordPress will be making your back end function more simplified and flexible.

Most of the time people worry whether after migration the website is going to offer the same feel to visitors or not? Well if you feel the same then you can always consult with an experienced WordPress website design company that can offer some essential tips to move the current website to WordPress.

In this article, we are going to highlight how you can migrate your current website to WordPress. And the things you need to do before migrating your website.

Let’s start from scratch……

You might be running your current website on a CMS or non-CMS powered platform. Our main goal is to migrate all the data and other important info to WordPress so that you are able to offer a more optimized version of your website to visitors. Before we head toward creating a migration plan, first let’s understand what type of platform your website is currently running:

Website Migration From Another CMS to WordPress

Apart from WordPress, there are other CMS platforms like Joomla and Drupal. If your current website is running on either one of the CMS platforms then the migration process can be a bit easy. You can make use of a plugin or app to transfer your data and other important information to WordPress.

No matter whether you are having a blogging website or a fully functioning e-commerce website using plugins you can import content and other data from various content management systems (CSM) to WordPress. There are various migration tutorials available as well, which can give you an in-depth idea about how you can migrate a website from another CMS to WordPress.

However, if your website contains important data and content that you can’t afford to lose, then we recommend consulting with an experienced WordPress website design company that can help with the migration process.

Migration From Static Website to WordPress

Compared to CMS migration a static website to WordPress can be a difficult job, but once you successfully move your current website to WordPress then your back end functioning will be more simplified. You can even give access to individual people depending on their role, even if they don’t have any knowledge about programming.

In short migrating, your static website to WordPress will offer you more control over your site content management. You can easily edit, post, and update your content. Create new pages and categorize them under a specific category without even touching the code.

Migrating your current WordPress website to WordPress on your own helps you to get an in-depth idea of WordPress features and functioning. However, if your website contains essential data then we recommend taking the help of a highly experienced WordPress website design company so that you are able to transfer your data without harming or losing website data.

Create a Website Migration Plan

Before you migrate any website to WordPress you need to have a solid plan that offers you detailed ideas about how you’re going to carry out the migration process? Every individual has learned in their life that nothing goes right without a solid plan.

If you are used to accessing static websites then it’s important to know that WordPress short content in pages and posts, and organize them in categories and tags. So while creating your plan you need to think from a WordPress standpoint and start planning to keep your destination in mind. If you are new to WordPress then you can make use of the tutorial to learn more about how WordPress functions.

Below we are listing some of the important points that you need to consider while creating your website migration plan:

1. Start by organizing your content

Undoubtedly website content plays a crucial role in showcasing your brand, delivering your business message, and most importantly increasing visibility of the website by getting it ranked on the top in SERP. While migrating your current website to WordPress you need to pay attention to different content present on your website.

Perfect migration planning starts with organizing your existing content. You can start by identifying the total number of pages and posts on your websites like your service page, blog post, and other important sub-pages within your website.

If you are already aware of the total number of pages and posts on your website then you can jump on identifying what type of content do those pages contain? and whether you want to modify those contents or not?

You can take note of all the content present on your website and organize them in the form of posts and pages. So that when you migrate your website to WordPress you are able to identify whether you are going to add the particular content in the form of post or pages and under what category and tag you are

Earlier if you have thought of redesigning your current website but due to a busy schedule you were unable to do that then there is no better time than this. While creating your migrating plan you can also plan to redesign your website with an experienced WordPress website design company.

2. Select the right hosting

As you are planning to migrate your current website to WordPress then you need to know things that are required to run a WordPress website and web hosting is one among them. Selecting the right hosting provider can enhance your website functioning. On the other hand, if you end up buying the wrong provider can impact your website speed as well as performance.

If you are working with a tight budget then it’s always recommended to select the shared hosting but make sure your hosting provider is offering PHP and MYSQL. There are many popular shared hosting providers like Bluehost, HostGator, and more that have these components pre-installed in the starter plan.

On the other hand, if your website is getting huge traffic and working in an ecommerce industry we recommend selecting dedicated hosting for your WordPress website. Selecting a dedicated host offers you more privacy and security over your data as it is not shared with others. The performance of dedicated hosting is far better than shared hosting.

While creating your website migration plan you need to be aware of the hosting providers so that your migration process is much more effective and easier.

If you are looking to learn more about the best WordPress hosting then make sure to check our blog on 5 Best WordPress Hosting Provider For Your Online Store in 2020

3. Create a new site structure

Before you move ahead with the migration process it is important for you to have a predefined site structure so that you are able to categorize your content and define the main page and subpage in your WordPress website.

If you are selecting the same domain then the migration process may not harm you SEO but if your website has a subdomain then you need to install WordPress in the base or root directory. Beauce default installer makes a new folder called “wp” every time you install WordPress inside a folder.

While creating your site structure you can plan your menu for better user experience. Make a navigation friendly menu structure that is easy to follow. Having a site structure makes your migration process much easier, as it offers you a brief idea about how and where you’re going to place your content and how many pages you are going to create on your website.

4. Keep SEO in your list

While creating a migration plan you need to consider SEO. Most of you might have already optimized your existing web pages and blog post for SEO, so if you don’t want to re-write your tile and description we recommend you to capture your existing meta title and descriptions.

WordPress is an SEO-friendly platform and offers various plugins that can help you to optimize your web pages for SEO. Yoast SEO is one of the popular plugins that can help you to insert meta title and description and allows you to check whether your page is optimized for SEO or not.

However, if you wish to know more about WordPress SEO then you can check out blogs or guides by MOZ and Yoast SEO to get a better understanding of How SEO functions in WordPress?

If your current website is running on a custom URL then make sure you use the redirection plugin so that those URLs still function post-migration. Using the redirection plugin you can keep a track of errors and manage 301 redirects.

Most of the time during the migration process websites end up losing their current ranking. If you are not experienced with the migration process then we recommend taking the help of an experienced SEO agency.

5. Contact Form

Today every website needs a contact form so that site visitors are able to contact you. Or you can get site visitors details for future conversion, either way, the contact form is going to be beneficial for your business. A contact form tells your visitor that you are open to feedback, suggestions, and new business.

If your previous website had a custom coded contact form then you can use the same or create a new one using the WordPress contact form plugin. There are various popular contact form plugins like contact form 7, constant contact, wp forms, and more. Using their user-friendly interface you can easily set up multiple contacts for different purposes depending on your needs.

While creating your migration plan you can determine what type of forms you are going to have on your website and what section those forms will contain. Most of you might look to create a lead generation form that contains the name, email address, phone no.(optional), and more. Whereas others may want to include other sections as well like messages, comments, location, occupation, and more.

6. Select the best theme

Before you migrate your current WordPress website to WordPress you need to identify and select the best theme that meets your business needs. There are hundreds of themes available on WordPress for different businesses and industries. Depending on your industry you can search for a theme and use it for your WordPress website. You can also make use of a third-party theme that meets your requirement.

Before selecting any theme for your WordPress website make sure you check the review and rep[uation, selecting a heavily coded theme can affect your website speed and ranking. There are premium as well as free themes available in WordPress. Compared to free themes, premium themes offer more customization features that you can use to create a website design, typography, and more.

Make sure you are selecting a theme that meets your current as well as future requirement. Most of the themes are not optimized for speed which can directly affect your website performance and user experience. so make sure you are selecting the right theme for your website.

However, if you wish to create a WordPress website that looks exactly the same as your current website then we recommend you to create a custom coded WordPress website for your business. You can hire a highly experienced WordPress website design company that can help you to create custom-coded WordPress websites for your business.

7. Backup and Security

Your website backup and security play a cruel role in keeping your website working in a vulnerable environment. WordPress is one of the safest platforms when it comes to security. But sometimes due to small vulnerabilities or malicious activities, your website may go down. That’s when your backup will help you to keep your website running.

There are thousands of developers working at the backend of the WordPress just to mitigate those vulnerabilities. To ensure that your website is working in a safe environment we recommend that you consider backup and security as your first priority.

There are various security and backup plugins available in WordPress which you can install after you successfully migrate your current website to WordPress. Again WordPress offers hundreds of back and security plugins so differentiation and selecting the best one can be a difficult task. Don’t worry, we have got your covered to find the best backup plugin you can check our blog on

How To Backup A WooCommerce Store? Explained With Best Backup Plugin In 2020

5 Best WordPress Security Plugins To Use In 2020

8. Ecommerce website

If you are planning to migrate a current ecommerce website to WordPress then you need to pay special attention to the site structure and the content for each page. Your current ecommerce website will be having a minimum of 20 pages including a category page and product page.

Each page in your ecommerce website will have a title and description of the product, while migrating your website to WordPress you need to ensure that you have a list of each page with title and description. It will be helpful when you will start creating category pages and product pages on WordPress websites.

Undoubtedly in WordPress, there is no better plugin than woocommerce that comes with a bunch of features built solely for handling ecommerce websites. There are free and premium ecommerce themes offered by WordPress using which you can create a fully functioning ecommerce website.

If you are looking to know more about woocommerce then make sure to check our blog on:

How To Set Up A Fully Functioning WooCommerce Store Using WordPress?

21 Best WooCommerce Themes (2020) For Your Ecommerce Website

10 Best WooCommerce SEO Plugins (2020) To Boost Your Online Presence

8 Ways To Optimize Woocommerce Product Page To Drive More Sales In 2020

How to move your static HTML website to WordPress?

By now you might be aware of which hosting and theme you are going to select for your WordPress website. Once you have a migration plan next you can start the process of moving your current website to WordPress:

Setting up WordPress Installation

To migrate your current website to WordPress you need to install WordPress locally or with the hosting provider, you have selected in the planning phase. Web hosting is the place where you will store all your content and files.

If you are planning to install WordPress locally then the process might be a bit complicated. On the other hand, installing WordPress with a web host is simple and straightforward. Even a new beginner can do it without facing many difficulties.

There are web hosting providers that offer easy 1 click installation and some of the popular hosting providers like Bluehost come with preinstalled WordPress so that you don’t have to spend time in the installation process. If you face any difficulties then you can also take the help tutorial or can contact the hosting provider.

If you are planning to use the same domain for your WordPress website then you can create a new sub-directory and install the WordPress in the same sub-directory. Once done you can move the site to the original directory or you can point the domain to the subdirectory after the site is ready for launch. This way your current site can remain active while you work on a new WordPress website.

If you don’t want the search engine to crawl your website during the development phase then you can navigate to the admin section i.e go to seating-> in the admin screen you can find an option called Discourage Search engine from indexing this site click on it. Once you successfully develop a WordPress website then you can uncheck it.

Installing theme

Before you start importing your content you need to select a theme for your WordPress website. If you have not determined which theme you are going to use for your WordPress website then it’s time to select a theme that meets your needs.

Since there are thousands of themes available for different industries, selecting the right one can be a difficult job. So before selecting the theme, start understanding and learning about your requirement. Once you have a list of requirements then your selection process can become easier.

Different themes come with different features and designs. A perfect theme should offer a beautiful design, navigation menu, widgets support, shortcodes, and more. Make sure you are selecting a light weighted theme for optimized speed and better performance.

Importing content

Once you select the right theme for your WordPress website next you can plan to import the content from the existing HTML website to a WordPress website. Compared to other migration process importing content from HTML to WordPress can be a bit tricky, as you have to know

Does your existing HTML website use any kind of CMS for back end management?
Do you have an importing tool (or pre-written script) available or are you going to do it manually?
Are you going to important bund content or a small amount of content? Importing bulk content manually can be a time-consuming process. If you are planning to import bulk content manually then we recommend taking the help of a WordPress website design company for the migration process.

If your current HTML website is already using a CMS then you may find a tool or plugin for importing your content from your current website to a WordPress website. All you have to do is find the right plugin or app, install it, and learn how you can use the tool to import your content.

But somehow if you are unable to find a tool then you can either content your backend developer or content an experienced WordPress website design agency that can help you with the migration process.

If your HTML website doesn’t use any tool then you may have to upload your content manually. To import bulk content we always recommend taking help from a WordPress website design company. Nowadays spending time in copying and pasting content can be worthless, taking the help of a WordPress website design company will make your job easier so that you can focus more on growing your company.

On the other hand, if your website contains less content than you can do it by yourself just make sure you are using a word document or notepad for copying and pasting. Most of the time people copy the content directly from the website and trade their old formatting. While importing your content you can rationalize, re-structure, add or subtract your old content so that it offers more fresh output.

Make sure you keep a track of your new as well as old URL. If you are creating new pages then you have to use the old URL so that you don’t end up losing your SEO ranking. Create a spreadsheet and paste all your URLs. While Importing content you can also edit the URL.

Designing your theme

Once you have a theme next you can plan to design your WordPress website, so that it reflects your business and conveys the desired message. Designing might sound interesting but it takes lots of research work to create a perfect design that relates to your target audience thinking. Focus on creating a simple and research-based look that grabs your potential customer attention.

WordPress offers various page builder plugins that can help you to create a page you desire. However, if you wish to have a research-based design that drives more traffic and sales then you can take the help of a leading WordPress website design company to help you create a simple and conversion-centric design.

Most of the time custom coded WordPress website design offers a more appealing look. You could either perform the designing process before importing content or after importing content. But make sure the design you create will play a major role in showcasing your business image and reputation in the competitive market.

So, investing a little amount in the WordPress website design can offer you more lucrative results. There are chances that your revenue can grow by 710%.

Installing Required Plugin

If you are looking to run a fully functioning and conversion-centric website then you need to focus on having the right WordPress plugin installed in your dashboard. WordPress comes with thousands of plugins that offer plenty of options to optimize your website’s functioning. If you had a specific functionality in your HTML website then you can replicate the same using WordPress plugins.

There are both free and premium plugins available in WordPress that you can use to optimize your website functioning. Paid plugins offer more features than free plugins. But there are free popular plugins like Yoast SEO, contact form 7, Autoptimizer, WP-Cache, Elementor, and more whose features are more than sufficient to run a fully functioning WordPress website.

WordPress plugin plays a crucial role in making your back end function more easier and flexible. However, downloading too many plugins can slow your website. So before you start installing plugins in your WordPress dashboard you can look at every single plugin’s features and check whether it meets your requirement or not. Below we are listing some of the important plugins that you can integrate into your WordPress website:

Yoast SEO
WP Super Cache
SMUSH Image compression plugin
Elementor
WP Forms
MonsterInsight
Sucuri
Beaver Builder
JetPack
Akismet Anti-Spam
Google XML Sitemaps

Check our blogs to know more about WordPress plugins:

5 Best WordPress Landing Page Plugins To Use In 2020

WordPress Plugins List: Best Free WordPress Plugins to use in 2020

5 Best WordPress Lead Generation Plugin To Use In 2020

13 Best Live Chat Plugins In WordPress (2020) To Optimize Customer Experience

10 Best WooCommerce SEO Plugins (2020) To Boost Your Online Presence