How to Move Your Blog from WordPress.com
Exporting your blog from WordPress.com to a self-hosted site is quite simple. There are lucid steps that you need to take. If you follow the steps without any error then you can effortlessly export your blog without any loss of data and even without affecting the rank of your website.
Preparing for the Move
You need a few things before you can export your blog. You will need a domain. You can buy a domain yourself or you can get a free domain if your webhost offers one. You will need a webhost unless you have your own servers and can manage your own hosting. There are webhosts that would offer you a free domain and will also discount the upfront monthly charges. Your criteria to choose a webhost must include compatibility with WordPress. Some webhosts will provide you the resources you need to move your blog from WordPress.com. Some webhosts charge for this service while many do it for free. You may want to explore this option if you are not very familiar with migrating or exporting blogs and websites. The last thing you would need to prepare for the move is your WordPress account details.
Stepwise Guide to Export your Blog from WordPress.com
Log into your account and go to the dashboard of WordPress. Go to Tools and look for the Export option in the dropdown menu. Click on Export and you will be taken to a page where you will find two options. There is a Free Transfer and a Guided Transfer. You can choose Free Transfer and this will redirect you to a new page where you would be prompted to choose the data that you wish to export. You should choose All Content. There will be a Download Export File option. Click on the button and wait for the file to be downloaded. The downloaded file will be in XML. This file will contain everything that was on your WordPress.com blog. You will have images, posts, pages, comments, categories, navigation menus, custom fields, tags and everything else.
Save the XML file in your computer and ensure it is not deleted or mistakenly moved. You may want to have a backup of this file, using cloud storage or in your email. You would need to set up WordPress on your new self-hosted site, rather domain. This should be easily facilitated by your webhost. Do not choose a webhost that does not work well with WordPress. Many webhosts have WordPress auto-installed. You can simply activate it or set up the features you want. Once WordPress is installed for your self-hosted blog or site, you will be able to access the familiar login and you would get access to the dashboard through the interface of your webhost.
You would need to import the content of your old blog onto your new self-hosted site. This is not complicated. Look for the option Tools on the dashboard menu of your self-hosted WordPress.org site and there will be an option to Import. You may be prompted to install a plug-in for this purpose. It is called WordPress Importer. Install the plug-in and activate it. Run the tool and you will be taken to a new screen where you can upload the XML file. This XML file is often larger than 2MB and many webhosts do not allow uploads of such files. You can ask your webhost to review the limit and increase it for now. The limit can be reset after you are done. Alternatively, you can use a file splitter to break down the large XML file into smaller files.
You can import all your data and assign it to a new user or you can pick the current user. There is no thumb rule here. Whatever works for you is fine. When you import the data, you need to check the box for images. After all your data has been imported, you need to ensure that your new blog is accessible to all users, old and new. You should not switch your blog to private. Setting a blog as private will allow you to control who gets to see or access the site. This works well for those who do not wish to go live with the new site immediately. The old blog may still be accessible. The new blog can be made accessible to selected users. You should not set the blog as private if it is ready to go live and if you want all users, especially your existing audience, to find you. It is also necessary to retain all your existing traffic and accomplishments on search engines so redirecting your old blog to new is imperative.
Set up a 301 header and redirect your audience to the new site. The new blog will retain the rank on search engine result pages if you go for the paid upgrade that is available on WordPress.com. It is not possible for you to retain the ranking since you do not have any scope to worth with .htaccess for WordPress.com sites. Site Redirect is the upgrade offered by WordPress for the functionality to retain search engine data. You don’t need to do anything if you go for this functionality. Site Redirect doesn’t cost much per year. It will set up the 301 header and automatically redirect incoming traffic to the new blog. You don’t need to keep paying for this functionality. Do so as long as you think is necessary for all your readers to be familiar with the new WordPress own domain. You should also publicize your new domain so people don’t keep on heading to the old blog. Usually, a year should suffice. At the most, you need the redirect header for two years.
Teething Issues with Moving your Blog from WordPress.com
There are various little issues that you may be concerned about at the time of exporting your blog from WordPress. You will need to update all URLs to reflect the change in domain name or website address. You must reflect the changes adequately in your content as well. You can export all your subscribers from WordPress.com and import them onto your new blog but you must use a special plug-in, Jetpack. You may have to work with the support staff at WordPress.com if there are any issues. They would help you to migrate all your subscribers.
Unless you are hiring someone to move your WordPress.com blog to your self-hosted website, you don’t need to pay anything to anyone but for the redirect functionality. Your webhost may or may not offer a free site transfer. Choose your webhost accordingly. If you have paid anything to WordPress.com for any new custom domain or you have had a premium plan then you can ask for a refund since you would not be using them anymore. WordPress usually offers a full refund. There will be a time limit though. Domains purchased and registered can be cancelled in the first forty eight hours after registration. Other purchases and any paid plans can be cancelled within a month of paying.
WordPress provides absolute control and freedom to anyone who uses the platform. You may have purchased a domain through WordPress and still move it effortlessly and without any additional cost. You can export and import all data without any loss, be it images or other types of contents. You may have to use some plug-ins for specific purposes as recommended and often mandated by WordPress. These are usually free plug-ins.
Preparing for the Move
You need a few things before you can export your blog. You will need a domain. You can buy a domain yourself or you can get a free domain if your webhost offers one. You will need a webhost unless you have your own servers and can manage your own hosting. There are webhosts that would offer you a free domain and will also discount the upfront monthly charges. Your criteria to choose a webhost must include compatibility with WordPress. Some webhosts will provide you the resources you need to move your blog from WordPress.com. Some webhosts charge for this service while many do it for free. You may want to explore this option if you are not very familiar with migrating or exporting blogs and websites. The last thing you would need to prepare for the move is your WordPress account details.
Stepwise Guide to Export your Blog from WordPress.com
Log into your account and go to the dashboard of WordPress. Go to Tools and look for the Export option in the dropdown menu. Click on Export and you will be taken to a page where you will find two options. There is a Free Transfer and a Guided Transfer. You can choose Free Transfer and this will redirect you to a new page where you would be prompted to choose the data that you wish to export. You should choose All Content. There will be a Download Export File option. Click on the button and wait for the file to be downloaded. The downloaded file will be in XML. This file will contain everything that was on your WordPress.com blog. You will have images, posts, pages, comments, categories, navigation menus, custom fields, tags and everything else.
Save the XML file in your computer and ensure it is not deleted or mistakenly moved. You may want to have a backup of this file, using cloud storage or in your email. You would need to set up WordPress on your new self-hosted site, rather domain. This should be easily facilitated by your webhost. Do not choose a webhost that does not work well with WordPress. Many webhosts have WordPress auto-installed. You can simply activate it or set up the features you want. Once WordPress is installed for your self-hosted blog or site, you will be able to access the familiar login and you would get access to the dashboard through the interface of your webhost.
You would need to import the content of your old blog onto your new self-hosted site. This is not complicated. Look for the option Tools on the dashboard menu of your self-hosted WordPress.org site and there will be an option to Import. You may be prompted to install a plug-in for this purpose. It is called WordPress Importer. Install the plug-in and activate it. Run the tool and you will be taken to a new screen where you can upload the XML file. This XML file is often larger than 2MB and many webhosts do not allow uploads of such files. You can ask your webhost to review the limit and increase it for now. The limit can be reset after you are done. Alternatively, you can use a file splitter to break down the large XML file into smaller files.
You can import all your data and assign it to a new user or you can pick the current user. There is no thumb rule here. Whatever works for you is fine. When you import the data, you need to check the box for images. After all your data has been imported, you need to ensure that your new blog is accessible to all users, old and new. You should not switch your blog to private. Setting a blog as private will allow you to control who gets to see or access the site. This works well for those who do not wish to go live with the new site immediately. The old blog may still be accessible. The new blog can be made accessible to selected users. You should not set the blog as private if it is ready to go live and if you want all users, especially your existing audience, to find you. It is also necessary to retain all your existing traffic and accomplishments on search engines so redirecting your old blog to new is imperative.
Set up a 301 header and redirect your audience to the new site. The new blog will retain the rank on search engine result pages if you go for the paid upgrade that is available on WordPress.com. It is not possible for you to retain the ranking since you do not have any scope to worth with .htaccess for WordPress.com sites. Site Redirect is the upgrade offered by WordPress for the functionality to retain search engine data. You don’t need to do anything if you go for this functionality. Site Redirect doesn’t cost much per year. It will set up the 301 header and automatically redirect incoming traffic to the new blog. You don’t need to keep paying for this functionality. Do so as long as you think is necessary for all your readers to be familiar with the new WordPress own domain. You should also publicize your new domain so people don’t keep on heading to the old blog. Usually, a year should suffice. At the most, you need the redirect header for two years.
Teething Issues with Moving your Blog from WordPress.com
There are various little issues that you may be concerned about at the time of exporting your blog from WordPress. You will need to update all URLs to reflect the change in domain name or website address. You must reflect the changes adequately in your content as well. You can export all your subscribers from WordPress.com and import them onto your new blog but you must use a special plug-in, Jetpack. You may have to work with the support staff at WordPress.com if there are any issues. They would help you to migrate all your subscribers.
Unless you are hiring someone to move your WordPress.com blog to your self-hosted website, you don’t need to pay anything to anyone but for the redirect functionality. Your webhost may or may not offer a free site transfer. Choose your webhost accordingly. If you have paid anything to WordPress.com for any new custom domain or you have had a premium plan then you can ask for a refund since you would not be using them anymore. WordPress usually offers a full refund. There will be a time limit though. Domains purchased and registered can be cancelled in the first forty eight hours after registration. Other purchases and any paid plans can be cancelled within a month of paying.
WordPress provides absolute control and freedom to anyone who uses the platform. You may have purchased a domain through WordPress and still move it effortlessly and without any additional cost. You can export and import all data without any loss, be it images or other types of contents. You may have to use some plug-ins for specific purposes as recommended and often mandated by WordPress. These are usually free plug-ins.