HOW TO MOVE FROM BLOGGER TO WORDPRESS
As you have probably noticed, www.iheartcosmetics.co.uk has had a facelift. I deliberated for two years whether or not to switch to WordPress. I wanted to ensure the personal feel of my blog remained even if I switched to a professional layout. I worried about the time it takes to move from Blogger to WordPress and what I wanted the blog to look like. Now I absolutely love my layout, especially the homepage, check it out!
I FINALLY DECIDED
I do most of my serious life thinking when I’m on holiday. Last month’s trip gave me plenty of time to decide I needed to stop resisting change. I needed to have more belief in myself and the blog and push it forward. I decided to outsource the technical side to convince me to pursue this venture. I researched and realised the cost of paying to be migrated. Turns out, hour on hour, it’s less than the money I would spend by doing it myself.
I decided that after 7 years of I needed to reflect the effort I have been putting. I think this has a lot to do with self-belief, I didn’t think much of my abilities until the last few months. Now I understand it’s an amazing thing to have created a blog and kept it running for so many years. I’ve had no breaks or ‘writer’s block’ and I must remind myself to be proud of my achievements. I love to write and express myself so it’s important I now think of it as more than a hobby. Sometimes the only good thing I’ve had to focus my mind on during really hard times in my life.
HOW DID YOU START THE PROCESS?
Time and again when researching migrating Phil from Pipdig came up so I did some digging. I found Pipdig has a migration package which isn’t expensive that does everything to move you smoothly from Blogger to WordPress. I am sure Phil is available for help and advice prior to purchase but I took one look at my now blog template and fell in love. I tested out the live site they have using the template and decided it was now or never. So I bought it!
I read through the information on Pipdig’s site about transferring and set up a hosting account with their recommended provider Siteground. I sent all of the logins and relevant information to Phil so he could begin the transfer. Despite my google account trying to block Phil thinking he was a hacker there weren’t any issues. The transfer won’t take long, mine took 5 days which gave me ample time to write some new blog posts.
SOUNDS PRICEY! WHAT IS THE COST INVOLVED IN MIGRATING?
Cost wasn’t a concern of mine but your view would depend on your situation. I have a separate, full time job which can fund things such as this whether I do any sponsored posts or not. I do partake in the odd sponsored post when I feel it beneficial, over the year these more than cover the costs of running the blog. If you want to save money Pipdig do provide advice on how to install the templates you buy from them manually. The costs are listed on the Pipdig and Siteground websites and none are expensive. I found both very reasonable.
WHY WORDPRESS OVER BLOGGER?
Back when I started this blog (before it was even called Iheartcosmetics) blogger was the place to be. I didn’t start hearing about WordPress until years later so at the time it was the optimum choice.
I got to the point where I found Blogger quite limiting. I started having problems with the sizing of my pictures and text. In draft it looked fine but once the post was set live everything went wonky. I got to the point where I was incredibly frustred. Using WordPress I can maximise the full potential of my blog and make it a more enjoyable reading experience for you hopefully making it more likely that you will share my link with friends and increase my readership. It is also really easy to use especially from an SEO point of view.
HOW HAVE YOU FOUND USING WORDPRESS SINCE MIGRATING?
It is amazing. I have far more control over my blog now. I found Blogger quite limited and temperamental but my amazing new template means each blog post looks perfect. There are many plug-ins and widgets you can install to make the most of your blog on WordPress. I am starting to learn more about SEO of which WordPress is much more conducive than Blogger. You can add the Google Analytics plugin and make your blog more SEO friendly by adding categories, meta and alt tags to posts and photos. All of which will hopefully mean I will so soon see the reader numbers creep up. I have also had no more problems with the margins and layout, wooo!
WHERE THERE ANY PROBLEMS?
Only with the text in my only blog posts and this is entirely caused by Blogger. Some text didn’t transfer properly so I have had to go through and rearrange lots of text and I am still working on the older posts.
Over the coming weeks I will be working my way through my older posts and re-formatting them so they have the correct tags and categories. My tags didn’t transfer from Blogger so a lot of old posts need editing.
ANY LAST TIPS?
Make sure you’re aware of all costs before you proceed with the move and that you can afford it. Have an idea of what you want your blog to look like. Decide beforehand what template you want and what colour scheme you like, I suggest using something clean and simple.
I hope you found this useful but any other questions just feel free to comment below, I am happy to help.