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Blogger or WordPress – Tips on How to Move

Last Updated: May 24, 2016 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 103 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

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Blogger or WordPress - Tips on How to MoveAfter 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.

 

How to Transfer a Blog from Blogger to WordPressStep 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

 

How to Transfer a Blog from Blogger to WordPress

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 Feed

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?

 

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103 Comments
Filed Under: Blog, Career, Extra Income Tagged With: Blog, Career, Extra Money

About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  1. Dani says

    February 2, 2016 at 3:56 am

    What is your opinion on which is better wix or WordPress ?

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      February 2, 2016 at 11:35 am

      I’ve never heard anything about Wix, except for people asking your exact question haha. I highly recommend WordPress.

      Reply
      • DNN says

        July 12, 2018 at 10:39 am

        I’m with Michelle on WordPress. With WP, you do amazing things. Check out my little rap..

        WordPress, RSS, SEO & .PHP…they see me sitting pretty like vintage ads in Times Square Manhattan along with Bloomberg & HSBC TV! 🙂

        Reply
  2. Julie says

    March 21, 2016 at 10:13 am

    I’ve had my blogger site for awhile but now I’m thinking of transferring over to wordpress. Are you talking about wordpress.com or wordpress.org? I’m confused!

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      March 21, 2016 at 10:30 am

      WordPress.org. You don’t want to be on the free version of WordPress (which is WordPress.com)

      Reply
      • Tracey says

        March 7, 2019 at 6:48 am

        Hi Michelle,

        I don’t understand how WordPress.com is free because I have paid for a business plan.
        Does this mean I’m not self hosted? I wish I did more research!

        Reply
        • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

          March 7, 2019 at 11:19 am

          They have a paid version on WordPress, but I don’t recommend it. It’s not self-hosted. You can always transfer your blog.

          Reply
  3. Elizabeth Carty says

    April 13, 2016 at 8:43 am

    I am trying to follow these steps, but the WordPress import process is quite different now. It asks for you to upload the XML but it doesn’t seem to be working… 🙁

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      April 13, 2016 at 11:28 am

      I’m sorry. I recommend contacting Bluehost’s online chat. They probably have an updated tutorial.

      Reply
    • Valerie says

      November 20, 2018 at 7:29 pm

      Hi Elizabeth! I know i’m late on this, but once you purchase your hosting through Bluehost, you can call their support line and they will walk you through the process step by step. They can also help you make certain changes on the back end as well depending on what you need. I migrated my website from a free site (Wild Apricot) to a self-hosted WordPress site a couple of years ago and it was the best decision I could have made. PS: You’ll get an even bigger discount on your hosting through BlueHost if you buy 3 years upfront. Best of luck! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Miki says

    October 16, 2016 at 11:40 pm

    Which one would you recommend ? Bluehost or Bigscoots?

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      October 17, 2016 at 10:37 am

      I recommend Bluehost for new bloggers.

      Reply
  5. Dawn says

    May 24, 2017 at 7:42 pm

    Looking for guidance…I created a blog page back in October 2016 through “Blogger”. I only created the name — I haven’t done any actual blogging, there are no comments, pictures, etc. I’ve decided I want to use Bluehost, but I don’t think I want to transfer my blog to Bluehost. Rather, I think I’d like to create the same blog page (domain) name, but want to do it on Bluehost. My question…can I just go to my current page on Blogger, do the steps to permanently delete the blog, THEN create my blog on Bluehost with the name of the blog I permanently deleted on Blogger? Thanks for any feedback!

    Reply
  6. Jill Kennedy says

    February 10, 2019 at 11:41 am

    Hello,
    Please help me in a different way. I already have a website with a blog started with GoDaddy. ( jillwkennedy.com) my blog is: Broken Relief by jill) Can you still help me with what I have or must I switch over to use the site that you use?

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      February 10, 2019 at 11:45 am

      Sounds like you’re self-hosted?

      Reply
  7. Cindy says

    February 16, 2020 at 12:51 pm

    Hello, and thank you for all your great tips. Years ago, I had a great personal website, but then I became ill. My website years ago was extremely expensive. But, I know longer find it. I did use WordPress and found it easy to navigate. I went too Go Daddy and a huge disappointment came too me immediately. They sold my name too a porno site. I’m greatly disappointed. They said I had too pay them 50K to get it back. Oh dear. So, I dropped my goal of starting an awesome Blog. I’m standing with my thumbs up my $&@. I really wanted too convert my Website too start my new Blog. I’m getting ready for a life changing experience (besides my cerebral hemorrhage). I’m retired and plan on traveling, the World. Can I somehow get my page back, since my name will be changing? I had my WordPress along with some nice, features. Can you please, give me advice? Cindy
    If you want too see some porn. 😂😂 My website was CINDYBALOURIS.COM. ENJOY? (I guess?)😂😂

    Reply
  8. Tamara Gonsor says

    March 13, 2020 at 7:46 am

    Hi Michelle,

    I have read all your blogs about the “self hosting” topic. However, all that seems to be compared is blogger and word press, I am still very confused. I really want to make this work and set myself up right the first time. I have a blog on WIX currenlty, have my own domain but maybe this is why my blog is not so recognized.
    There are so many platforms these days, so many that my head spins. For example Shopify is one of the biggest e-commerce platforms. I have worked on many WP sites but I am far from fluent in coding, or website design, which is much needed in a word press platform. In fact, I have found WP to be very hard (not user friendly at all) and very expensive to get someone to help. I very much want to start blogging and take your course.
    With having very little money to get this all started is WP really the only option?
    Is WP the only platform that allows “self hosting”? In my google search, this topic is not well discussed.

    Thank you kindly, Tamara

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      March 13, 2020 at 3:31 pm

      WordPRess is simply the platform I prefer and am used to. I find it easy to use, and once your website is designed, there’s really not much to it. There are other platforms, but if I were to choose a second choice, that would be Squarespace. I haven’t heard very many good things about Wix from their current users.

      Reply
      • Tamara Gonsor says

        March 17, 2020 at 1:22 pm

        Thank you for all that!

        Reply
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My name is Michelle and I'm the author/owner of Making Sense of Cents. Learning how to save money and make more money changed my life. It allowed me to pay off $40,000 in student loans, start my own business, and I now travel full-time.
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