Blogger or WordPress – Tips on How to Move

After my How to Start a Blog on WordPress post (this post included tips on how to get your domain, self-hosting, etc. and reasons for why you should pay for blog hosting), I received several e-mails on how to switch from Blogger to WordPress, questions about the whole migration process, whether a person should choose Blogger or WordPress, and so on.

A lot of you asked me what is better: Blogger (Blogspot) or WordPress? I've also been asked “What will happen if I move my Blogspot blog to self-hosting?”

Let me say that I am definitely no expert in this area and just fiddled around with it just so that I could try and help you guys.

This is a very basic set of instructions. If you don't have the time to sit down and do this, please, please just pay someone to migrate your blog from Blogger to WordPress for you.

Some of the tips in this blog post will be a repeat of the How to Start a WordPress Blog post, as I'm trying to help each individual person instead of having someone having to flip back and forth between the two blog posts for the basics.

If you sign up for Bluehost through my link and purchase at least 12 months of blog hosting, then you will get your domain for FREE plus receive discounted pricing!

As, I said above, this is a very basic How to Transfer a Blog From Blogger to WordPress post.

It would be really hard for me to say everything in one blog post that could possibly be said about moving from Blogger to WordPress. I definitely do not want to be held accountable if anything happens! If you are the type of person who can search things online if anything extra does come up, then this guide should suffice.

Obviously if all you want to do is create a whole new blog and start all over on your WordPress blog, then all you have to do is follow the How to Start a Blog post, and then make a new post on your old blog saying that you're moving. Voila, you're done if all you wanted was to start over with a brand new blog.

If you don't feel comfortable with making the switch from Blogger to WordPress completely on your own, there are several website designers out there who offer migration services for this. E-mail me if you are interested in having me connect you with any of them.

Excerpt from my How to Start a Blog post on why you should be on WordPress:

“I started my blog in August of 2011 and have come across some major hurdles.  I started on Blogger, which I still really regret. If you’re still on Blogger, switch to WordPress now! On Blogger, you might think you own your blog since you “have” your own domain, but you really do not.

Blogger can delete your blog whenever they want, and it actually happened to me one time. I had to practically beg for it back, and I heard they don’t usually do this. Usually your blog is just deleted forever. I had a huge panic attack when that happened.

All of my work just deleted? And all they had to do was click a button and everything was gone!?”

Why you should move to WordPress from Blogspot. 

If you want to make money blogging, the first thing you will need to do is make sure you have a self-hosted blog, such as through Bluehost.

I recommend you start on self-hosted WordPress (this tutorial will help you start your blog the correct way). I cannot say this enough, but I do not recommend Blogger or WordPress.com (you want the self-hosted version, which is WordPress.org – confusing, I know). Buying that $10 domain name from Blogger or GoDaddy does not mean you own it either.

Advertisers, companies, and readers will know you are still on Blogger or free WordPress, which can look unprofessional. Plus, your blog can be deleted at anytime and for no reason when on a free version, and it even happened to me. This can hurt your chances at earning your income online.

Seriously, just trust me. Go with self-hosted WordPress, and it will significantly increase your chances of monetizing your blog.

If you want further proof, take a look at my past income reports. You can tell that my income through blogging didn’t take off until just as I switched to WordPress. Right there is a lot of proof that being self-hosted on WordPress is the way to go!

So, to recap, the positives of being self-hosted on WordPress through Bluehost include:

• You have a more professional website meaning you may be able to make more money on self-hosted WordPress.
• The ability to have complete control over your blog.
• You own your blog, and it can’t be deleted for no reason.

If you are interested in starting a blog of your own, I created a tutorial that will help you start a blog of your own for cheap, starting at only $3.49 per month (this low price is only through my link) for blog hosting. In addition to the low pricing, you will receive a free blog domain (a $15 value) through myBluehost link if you purchase at least 12 months of blog hosting. FYI, you want to be self-hosted if you want to learn how to make money with a blog.

Switching to WordPress from Blogger isn't for everyone but WordPress is definitely better.

I completely understand if switching to WordPress from Blogger isn't for you. I was hesitant for over a year before I finally switched. However, I am EXTREMELY happy that I made the switch to WordPress from Blogger, and I still regret not making the migration sooner.

If you are thinking about whether Blogger or WordPress is for you, from the post above there are obviously many positives of being on WordPress.

Tip before you begin your Blogger to WordPress migration: Make sure you back-up your blog and everything else attached to it before you do anything major and potentially mess it up. Some posts may not show up the exact same way also, so you might need to go through old posts and edit them.

Step 1: Domain

After you've decided that WordPress is for you with the “Blogger or WordPress” decision, the first step in the Blogger to WordPress migration is to get your domain. If you already have a domain then you can skip to Step 2.

For the loooongest time ever, my blog was known as senseofcents.blogspot.com. I finally bought the domain, www.makingsenseofcents.com, through Go Daddy and haven’t looked back since. I don’t think anyone has ever said “I regret buying my domain and looking more professional.”

You can buy your domain and your Bluehost web hosting for one cheap price. If you use my Bluehost link, then you can get your domain for free through them if you purchase a hosting plan of 12 months or more.

Step 2: Hosting

The next step with the Blogger to WordPress migration is to get your web hosting.

There are a lot of hosting companies out there and Bluehost seems to be one of the best. Hosting starts at only $3.49 per month. It’ll most likely cost you around $60 a year (it's cheaper if you pay for the whole year upfront instead of paying it monthly), which is a really good deal! You can also pay for just one month at a time also, which lessens the burden but keep in mind that you will be paying twice as much if you do this. I highly recommend signing up for 12 months or more as you will receive the cheapest pricing and a free blog domain too.

1. Go to Bluehost and click the sign-up button
2. Click over to “I have a domain name” or create your domain name through Bluehost directly.
3. Enter your information and choose your hosting plan

Having a self hosted blog seems to be the way to go definitely. Having your blog self hosted pretty much means that you can do whatever you want, and there are no major limitations as you would with Blogger and free WordPress. You can download any theme you want, make your blog look any way you want, and you have TOTAL control over your blog when you are self hosted.

And if you’re looking to make money off of your blog, then self hosted is the way to go. You can run any of your own advertisements, affiliate links, direct advertising, etc. on your blog.

To learn about how to connect your domain and hosting, please read Step 3 and Step 4 on my other post How to Start a Blog. This will give you many additional tips that I didn't want to post here as then there would be WAAAY too much overlap.

Step 3: Transfer your Blogger blog to WordPress

The third step with your Blogger to WordPress migration is to actually start transferring your Blogger blog to WordPress. I promise this is easy and anyone can do it!

When logged into your WordPress account, look on the left hand side bar and go to “Tools.” Then click on import and select the Blogger option (for me it was the very first option).

Here are the tips directly from WordPress:

1. Click on Authorize
2. If you are not already logged into Google you will be asked to log in
3. You will be asked to grant WordPress access to your Blogger information, to continue press Grant Access
4. You will be presented with a list of all of your blogs
5. Select the appropriate blog and press the import button
6. Wait while the posts and comments are being imported
7. Press the Set Authors button
8. Select the appropriate mapping for the authors
9. Review categories, posts and comments

Other tips

To minimize broken links because of your old post structure while on Blogger, you will want to have the same Permalink structure. Log into your WordPress account after everything is set up and go to Settings > Permalinks. Click on Custom structure and type in this /%year%/%monthnum%/%postname%.html. Of course, if your Permalink structure was something else, then click on that option. If you are migrating from Blogger though, then it is most likely the custom structure that I just listed.

Also, if you are concerned with your Page Rank, it is best to revert all of your posts on your old Blogger website to Draft form. Don't do this until your site is completely ready though! You will want to make them all draft form because Google penalizes sites that have the same posts/pages as another website. I wouldn't delete the old posts just in case you didn't do a step correctly and want to go back. Your images will all still be on Blogger, so you do not want to delete your Blogger blog. Just keep it there,  it won't impact anything as long as the posts are in draft mode.

Transfer Your Feed

Another major tip for your Blogger to WordPress migration: When you are about to transfer everything over, make sure to warn your readers before hand. Let them know of your potential new domain so that they know where to find you! Make sure to update your feed also when you are done so that you don't lose your subscribers. I was able to keep most of mine and in the end nearly everyone has found me. You want to be able to redirect your followers.

First, log into Blogger. Then go to Settings > Other > Site feed and type in your new URL in the Post Feed Redirect URL like shown in the above picture.

Have you moved your blog from Blogger to WordPress? What's holding you back? What made you choose Blogger or WordPress?