WordPress Move Guide: How to Migrate a Site Without Losing SEO

Migrating your website to WordPress unlocks flexibility and scalability—but if done carelessly, it can devastate your SEO. This guide shows how to protect rankings while making a WordPress move.

Key Takeaways

• Learn the exact steps to execute a website migration to WordPress safely.
• Avoid common SEO pitfalls like broken URLs and lost metadata.
• Tools, checklists, and real client stories included.
• Ensure zero downtime and ranking stability.
• Get a free technical migration consultation from BytesBrothers.

Why Migrate to WordPress?

Whether you’re coming from Wix, Squarespace, Drupal, or a custom CMS, WordPress offers:

• Full control of code, performance, and SEO.
• Access to 59,000+ plugins for every business use case.
• Scalable integrations with CRMs, ERPs, analytics, and headless architectures.

A SaaS startup we helped migrated from Webflow to WordPress and cut bounce rate by 38% while boosting organic traffic 60% within 90 days—without losing a single indexed page.

Pre-Migration SEO Checklist

Audit Current Site

• Crawl your current site with Screaming Frog.
• Export all URLs, meta titles, descriptions, canonical tags, hreflang attributes.
• Identify top-ranking pages by traffic and backlinks (use Ahrefs or SEMrush).

Back Up and Benchmark

• Back up the entire existing site and database.
• Benchmark Google rankings, load time, and Core Web Vitals for top pages.

Step-by-Step Migration to WordPress Without Losing SEO

Step 1: Set Up WordPress Staging Site

• Create a staging environment (e.g., wp.staging.yourdomain.com).
• Use GeneratePress or Kadence for a fast, SEO-optimized theme.
• Install Rank Math or Yoast for SEO metadata control.

Step 2: Content Migration

• Use these tools: FG Joomla to WordPress, CMS2CMS, or manual copy via HTML import.
• Preserve heading structure, alt tags, internal links, and anchor text.
• Rebuild forms, dynamic sections, and plugins with equivalent WordPress tools.

Step 3: URL Structure & Redirects

• Maintain identical slugs where possible.
• Map old URLs to new ones (301 redirects) using the Redirection plugin.
• Submit redirect list to Google Search Console after going live.

Step 4: Update Sitemaps & Robots.txt

• Regenerate your sitemap.xml via Rank Math.
• Ensure noindex and disallow directives are not blocking important pages.
• Submit updated sitemap in Google Search Console.

Step 5: Monitor SEO Post-Migration

• Use Google Search Console and GA4 to track crawl errors, indexing issues, and ranking drops.
• Compare pre- and post-migration traffic for at least 30 days.
• Fix any discrepancies fast (BytesBrothers offers managed monitoring).

Common SEO Issues After WordPress Migration

Real-World Migration Example

Client: B2B Consulting Firm
Platform: Joomla → WordPress
Problem: Outdated CMS, difficult to scale content
Solution:

• Full migration with URL preservation
• Redirect plan and content audit
• Integration with HubSpot and Calendly

Result:

• No traffic loss
• +23% in organic leads
• Faster mobile performance (+42 Lighthouse score)

Get a Zero-Risk WordPress Migration Plan

BytesBrothers helps startups and scaling businesses:

• Plan SEO-first migrations
• Execute zero-downtime, traffic-safe transitions
• Customize post-migration optimization

Thinking about a website migration to WordPress?

Book a Free Consultation Now

— we’ll audit your current site and create a tailored migration roadmap.