WordPress blogs are self-hosted. That means you fully own your blog and all its contents. Meanwhile, BlogSpot is a Google-run platform, which means your blog there is actually owned by Google and you give them rights to your contents.
Self-hosted WordPress blogs appear more professional than BlogSpot sites.
WordPress has lots of customization options. It has outnumbered BlogSpot in this feature. You’ve got more freedom in creating your blog the way you imagined it to be if you’re on WordPress.
WordPress lets you access your blog’s code, so you are free to customize anything anytime.
WordPress offers more bandwidth and storage space than BlogSpot.
After choosing your web hosting service, set-up an account with them and create your custom domain name. Proceed to installing WordPress as your content management platform.
You can individually refer to your chosen web host’s instructions for doing so.
You will receive your login and password information after successfully installing WordPress on your web host’s account.
2. Back up your BlogSpot site.
It is imperative that you have a back-up copy of your original BlogSpot blog files just in case something goes wrong during your WordPress migration process.
To do so, follow these steps:
Open your blog’s BlogSpot dashboard.
Select Template from the menu on the left side.
Click the Backup/Restore button on the upper-right side of the dashboard.
BlogSpot will then create a back-up copy of your site’s XML templates. The XML file’s name will include the word “blog” followed by the date you backed it up. Save the file in your desktop for easy access.
Now, you’re ready to start the WordPress importing process.
3. Import the site to WordPress.
This is the actual migration of your blog to WordPress. Do these easy steps to ensure a smooth migration:
Open your WordPress dashboard.
Go to the sidebar and click Tools.
Select Import from the choices.
A screen containing a list of various blog platforms will appear. Click on Blogger.
Another pop-up screen will appear prompting you to install the Blogger Importer Plugin. Select Install.
Wait for the plugin to successfully install. An on-screen message will tell you if the plugin installs successfully.
Click the Activate Plugin & Run Importer link underneath the on-screen message.
Click on Authorize.
A Google Account screen will appear. WordPress will ask you for permission to access your BlogSpot account. Click on the Allow Access
Your WordPress dashboard will reappear, now showing a list of your BlogSpot blogs. Select the blog you want to migrate and click on the Import WordPress will then migrate your blog files from BlogSpot.
Choose Permalinks. The Permalinks dialog box will appear.
Click the radio button beside CustomStructure.
Enter the following permalink structure in the box: /%year%/%monthnum%/%postname%.html
This structure is the common permalink used in BlogSpot.
Alternatively, you can also choose the Month and Name option on the Permalinks dialog box.
Save your settings.
6. Create redirects from BlogSpot to your new WordPress posts.
Once your WordPress permalink settings are done, it’s time to make redirects to WordPress.
This is done so that when followers of your old BlogSpot site click on old links meant for BlogSpot, it will redirect them to your new WordPress blog version.
This way, you don’t have to risk your search engine ranks and old links when migrating to WordPress.
Search engines will also know that you’ve migrated your site because of your redirects.
You can manually enter redirect codes to BlogSpot to accomplish the redirection of links.
Alternatively, a plugin called Blogger to WordPress redirection will help you in completing this step if you are not familiar with HTML codes.
You may install and use it by following these steps:
Test your redirects by entering one of your old BlogSpot links in another tab on your Internet browser. If the redirects are working properly, it should take you to the new WordPress equivalent page.
Some BlogSpot redirect links might not work due to the differences in the slugs of BlogSpot and WordPress.
BlogSpot usually omits filler words such as “a” and “the”, so a post titledA Walk in the Park will have the following slugs:
BlogSpot: walk-in-park
WordPress: a-walk-in-the-park
To make sure that these kinds of links redirect correctly, do the following:
Go to the WordPress dashboard and select Posts, then click on All Posts.
Navigate to the post experiencing this issue.
Choose Quick Edit.
Locate the Slug part and check the slug structure of the post.
Remove the portions that make the slug different from the BlogSpot version. In the example above, you will remove “a” and “the”.
Save your changes.
Recheck your links. They should be correctly redirecting now.
7. Create feed redirects.
Your BlogSpot site’s RSS feed subscribers may not notice that you’ve migrated your site to WordPress even if you keep on adding new contents.
To solve this, feed redirects must be set-up.
Here’s how to do it:
Go back to your BlogSpot dashboard.
Go to Settings, then choose Other.
Look for the SiteFeed
Click on Add next to the PostFeedRedirectURL.
Type in or paste your new WordPress feed address in the box that appears.
Click on Save at the upper-right corner of the page.
8. Test Your New WordPress Blog
Once everything is done, it’s time to test your WordPress blog for its functionality.
Go to whatever old BlogSpot posts you may have and reload them.
If not, there might be something wrong in your codes or on your redirecting attempts. Go back and recheck several times to be sure your new blog is working well.
Congratulations, you have now imported your BlogSpot site to WordPress!
Now you can start exploring themes, installing needed plugins, and arranging your blog formatting to better enhance your new WordPress blog.
Keep These in Mind
There are a few considerations to remember in moving your BlogSpot blog to WordPress. Keep these things in mind to ensure that your blog migration will be as flawless as possible:
Keep your old BlogSpot blog so that all the redirects you made will work properly.
Let your BlogSpot followers know your move by writing a post stating your migration to WordPress. Leave the WordPress link on your post as well. This will prepare your blog followers in advance so that they don’t feel surprised and overwhelmed when you finally complete your blog migration to WordPress.
Formatting from your old blog may change a little in WordPress. Go through your entire WordPress blog to clean up any broken links and fix other formatting changes.
Images from your BlogSpot site will automatically be imported in WordPress once the migration process is complete. Check your WordPress Media Library to see your images. Your images must ideally link back to your new WordPress domain.
If you have external images showing up on the Media Library but the post URL keeps on linking to an old address, you can install and use the Velvet Blues Update URLs Once activated, the plugin will search for all traces of your old URL and automatically change them to the new one.
Missing images can be recovered through the Import External Attachments Simply search, install and run the plugin by clicking on the Import Attachments Now button. The plugin will link all the images left out by the Blogger Importer.
This will also help keep your SEO rankings and let search engines know you’ve made a switch.
Test your WordPress site frequently to check its functionality and formatting, as some of the original BlogSpot functions and formats might be different from the WordPress formats.
Patiently check your posts, editing the necessary elements to make them fit for WordPress. In the end, all your efforts in moving your BlogSpot site to WordPress will be well-worth it.
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