Moving your site from Craft CMS to WordPress can be stressful, especially when it's an SEO based site.
Imagine putting months or years of hard work into improving your search engine rankings. You wouldn't want all of that gone because of a transition. As a website owner, you might wonder how to seamlessly transition from Craft CMS to WordPress without losing SEO.
The good news is that this is very possible. You can enjoy the flexibility, plugins, and scalability that come with WordPress after the transition. And if properly managed, you can still maintain your website's SEO.
Not to bore you, let's go straight into this guide, which explores seven steps to help in your transition from Craft CMS to WordPress without losing your SEO.
1. Audit Your Current Craft CMS Website
Any successful migration from Craft CMS to WordPress starts with a clear image of what you already possess.
Begin by auditing your current website. Review all pages, posts, photos, and links. Then, identify the pages that receive the most traffic and the keywords that generate organic traffic. These high-performing components should be preserved at all costs.
During the audit, give special attention to your URL formation. Craft CMS can have variations on its URL patterns, similar to those of WordPress, and this fact will become relevant later in making proper redirects. You should also write down your meta titles, descriptions, and heading tags, as they are essential to your search engine optimization.
Finally, explore your analytics to understand which pages attract leads or conversions. Mark these as priorities in your migration plan. This way, you'll have a comprehensive roadmap for an audit, which will ensure you do not lose important aspects of SEO during the move.
2. Plan Your WordPress Structure
After determining what you need to preserve, the next step is to arrange everything in WordPress.
WordPress's posts, pages, categories, and tags differ significantly from those of Craft CMS. Thus, take the time to place all pieces of content in the right place to give the new site a familiar and easy-to-navigate look for users.
You will base your permalink strategy on the results of your audit as well. WordPress allows you to edit URL formats, so attempt to make them as similar as possible to your current Craft CMS URLs. In the event of inevitable changes, pre-plan redirects to avoid 404 errors.
In this step, also select a WordPress theme and search engine optimization (SEO)-friendly plugins. To control your metadata and ensure high search positions, you can use such tools as Yoast or Rank Math. This strategy ensures a seamless transfer and preserves your search engine optimization.
3. Export Content From Craft CMS
Now that you have your structure ready, it's time to move your content. Craft CMS stores information in fields and sections; therefore, you will need to export all the data, like pages, posts, pictures, and other media, in a format that can be imported into WordPress in a CSV or XML file.
Metadata should not be ignored during export. Titles, meta titles, descriptions, and alt text for images all play a significant role in SEO. If these details are lost, your rankings may suffer. Also, remember the custom fields and map them to the corresponding fields in WordPress.
It is always best to make a full copy of your Craft CMS site before proceeding. This security line has the advantage that, in the event of a failure, you can revert to the original. An attentive export procedure will ensure that your content is transferred without any issues and that your SEO components are maintained.
4. Set Up WordPress and Import Content
With your content exported, it's time for the exciting part: building your WordPress site. Begin by installing WordPress on a test or staging server. This will enable you to make all preparations at your own convenience without impacting your live site. Choose the theme you want and add necessary plug-ins depending on SEO, caching and security.
Once ready, start importing the content that has been exported from Craft CMS. WordPress includes an embedded set of tools and third-party imports to facilitate CSV or XML imports. Plot out every content accordingly. After importing, verify that images are correctly displayed, formatting has been maintained, and all metadata has been retained.
Lastly, check your internal links. They should refer to the relevant pages in WordPress. Double-checking these details will save time in the future and ensure you do not confuse users and search engines.
5. Implement 301 Redirects
Even with the best planning, some URLs may need to be updated during the migration process. To safeguard your SEO, you should establish 301 redirects on any old links in the Craft CMS that currently lead to new pages on the WordPress site. A 301 redirect informs search engines that the page has been permanently transferred and that authority has been transferred to the new URL.
Create a comprehensive list of old URLs from your audit and remap them to their WordPress counterparts. The redirects can be handled manually with the help of the .htaccess file or by the Redirection Plugin.
After you have redirects set, test them carefully. Ensure that the right content is always sent to visitors and search engines. This is a crucial step, and failing to do it may result in a loss of ranking and unhappy users.
6. Test Your Website Thoroughly
Your WordPress site should be thoroughly tested before going live. Browse all pages, visit all links, and verify that images, metadata, and content are displayed properly. Check the site with different devices and browsers to guarantee a consistent experience.
Conduct an SEO audit using tools like Google Search Console or Screaming Frog. These are the tools that may assist you in noting missing titles, duplicated descriptions, or broken links. Be sure also to test the speed of your website; WordPress is not always fast without the necessary optimization. Next, install caching and image compression extensions (where required).
Comprehensive testing will ensure that your new location is launch-ready. It also helps you identify minor issues before they become significant problems once they have gone live.
7. Submit Updated Sitemap and Monitor SEO
Once you’re confident everything is working, it’s time to go live. After launching your WordPress site, create a new sitemap and submit it to Google and other search engines. This helps your new pages get indexed quickly.
The initial few weeks should be dedicated to closely observing your SEO. Check rankings, traffic, and indexing reports of Google Search Console. If you notice a lack of metadata or broken links, fix them right away.
In addition to monitoring, continue to invest in your content and optimization. Regular search engine optimization will not only ensure your new WordPress site does not lose its positions but also increase its strength over time.
Conclusion
Migration from Craft CMS to WordPress doesn’t have to mean losing SEO. With careful redirects, content exporting, and auditing of your present site, you can save the search rankings you have labored so much to achieve. Comprehensive testing and sending a new sitemap will make your new site easily identified by search engines.
Most importantly, keep in mind that small details are crucial, including metadata, URLs, and redirects. When you plan your move and execute it carefully, you will be able to leverage the advantages of WordPress and proceed to grow your online presence without incurring any losses.
