How to Easily Move Your Site from Joomla to WordPress (Step by Step)

How to Migrate Your Website from Joomla to WordPress (2023 Guide)

Are you thinking about moving your website from Joomla to WordPress? While Joomla has its merits as a content management system (CMS), WordPress has surged ahead in recent years to become the most popular CMS in the world. Over 40% of all websites now use WordPress, from simple blogs to major business and ecommerce sites.

There are compelling reasons to migrate from Joomla to WordPress in 2023:

WordPress has an vast library of themes and plugins, making it extremely flexible and extensible
The WordPress editor (Gutenberg) makes content creation user-friendly and intuitive
WordPress is search engine friendly out of the box and offers great SEO plugins
There is a huge, active WordPress community providing support and resources
WordPress is free, open source, and easy to install on almost any web hosting

Of course, migrating an existing website to a new CMS is not a decision to take lightly. A Joomla to WordPress migration requires careful planning and attention to detail. But with some preparation and the right tools, you can move your site to WordPress while preserving your content, traffic, and search engine rankings.

In this guide, I‘ll walk you through the process of migrating a Joomla website to WordPress step-by-step. I‘ll also share some tips and plugin recommendations to make the transition as smooth as possible. Let‘s get started!

Step 1: Prepare Your Joomla and WordPress Sites

Before starting the actual migration, you‘ll need to get both your Joomla and WordPress sites ready:

Back up your Joomla site completely, including files and database. This is critical in case anything goes wrong during migration and you need to restore the original site.

Set up a fresh WordPress installation on a subdomain or in a subfolder of your live Joomla site (e.g. yourdomain.com/wordpress). Most web hosts make it easy to install WordPress from the hosting control panel. Don‘t configure your WordPress site yet – just perform the basic installation.

Step 2: Export Your Joomla Content

The next step is to export all your content from Joomla so it can be imported into WordPress. There are a few ways to do this, but I recommend using the free FG Joomla to WordPress plugin.

In your WordPress admin dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New and search for "FG Joomla to WordPress". Install and activate the plugin.

In your Joomla admin panel, go to the Global Configuration settings. Under the Server tab, locate the Database Settings and make a note of the following:

Database type (usually MySQLi)
Hostname
Username
Database name
Database table prefix

Next, go to the FG Joomla to WordPress plugin in your WordPress dashboard. Enter your Joomla site‘s URL and the database details you noted down. Hit the Test the database connection button to ensure WordPress can access your Joomla database.

In the Content section, select which Joomla content types you want to export to WordPress, such as articles, categories, tags, meta descriptions, images, and so on. You can leave the default options selected in most cases.

When you‘re ready, click the Start / Resume the import button. The plugin will begin exporting content from your Joomla site into WordPress. Depending on the size of your site, this may take a few minutes.

After the import finishes, visit your WordPress site and spot check that your Joomla content has carried over correctly. Your Joomla articles should appear as WordPress posts, and categories should be preserved.

Step 3: Set Up Redirects

It‘s important to set up proper redirects from your old Joomla URLs to the new WordPress URLs. This preserves any SEO authority your Joomla site has built up and prevents visitors from hitting 404 errors when trying to access old links.

Fortunately, the FG Joomla to WordPress plugin can automatically set up redirects for you. In the Redirection section of the plugin settings, enable the Redirect Joomla URLs to WordPress URLs option.

To configure WordPress permalinks to play nicely with the redirects:

Go to Settings > Permalinks in WordPress
Select the Post name option under Common Settings
Click Save Changes

Now when visitors or search engine bots hit a Joomla link, they should be seamlessly redirected to the equivalent WordPress link. To test this, try accessing an old Joomla URL and make sure it redirects to the right WordPress page.

Step 4: Install a WordPress Theme

One of the best parts of moving to WordPress is getting to choose from its huge selection of themes. Your WordPress site will be using a default theme after migration, so now‘s the time to give it an upgrade.

There are countless free and paid WordPress themes available. When picking a theme, consider the following factors:

Responsive design that looks good on mobile devices
Customization options that fit your branding
Page templates and content blocks that match the type of site you‘re building
Good ratings, reviews, and recent updates from the theme developer

Some of my favorite places to find WordPress themes include:

The official WordPress.org theme directory (all free)
ThemeForest
StudioPress
Astra
OceanWP

Once you‘ve picked a theme, install and activate it from the WordPress dashboard under Appearance > Themes. Spend some time exploring the theme options and customizing your site‘s colors, fonts, header, footer, and home page to your liking.

If you‘re comfortable with HTML/CSS, you can add even more customizations by editing your theme files under Appearance > Theme Editor. Just be sure to use a child theme so your changes don‘t get overwritten by theme updates.

Step 5: Configure Essential WordPress Plugins

In addition to themes, WordPress plugins are another major reason to make the switch from Joomla. Plugins can extend your WordPress site with all sorts of useful features, from contact forms to SEO to security hardening.

Here are some of the top WordPress plugins I recommend installing on most sites:

Yoast SEO or All in One SEO for search engine optimization
WPForms for easy drag-and-drop form creation
Jetpack for site stats, downtime monitoring, related posts, and more
UpdraftPlus or VaultPress for automatic site backups
WP Rocket or WP Super Cache for page speed improvements
Wordfence or Sucuri for security scanning and firewalls
OptinMonster for email marketing and lead generation pop-ups

Browse for plugins under Plugins > Add New, then install and activate them on your site. Each plugin will have its own settings panel where you can configure options.

In general, it‘s best to install only the essential plugins you really need, as having too many plugins can slow down your site. You can always add more features over time as your site grows.

Step 6: Review and Launch Your WordPress Site

By now, your WordPress site should be looking good and working well as a replacement for your old Joomla site. But before making the switch, it‘s important to do a thorough review:

Proofread all your imported content for any formatting issues or broken links
Test your forms, sliders, and any other dynamic page elements
Verify that key pages are displaying the right SEO title tags and meta descriptions
Check your site‘s responsiveness and performance on various screen sizes/devices
Put yourself in the user‘s shoes and make sure you haven‘t missed anything!

If everything looks good, it‘s time to point your domain to your new WordPress site and retire the old Joomla site for good. In your web host control panel, update the domain‘s DNS settings to the IP address of your WordPress installation.

Keep in mind that DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to fully propagate worldwide. During this time, you may want to keep your Joomla site accessible at a temporary URL just in case.

Once the domain is fully pointing to WordPress, do one last sweep to make sure everything is working properly. Congratulations – you‘ve now successfully migrated your site from Joomla to WordPress!

Troubleshooting Common WordPress Migration Issues

While following the steps above should result in a smooth transition, website migrations are rarely without some issues. Here are a few common problems you might encounter and how to fix them:

Internal links still pointing to old URLs: Install the Better Search Replace plugin to easily update URLs in your WordPress database.
Broken images: Ensure that your images transferred over to the WordPress wp-content/uploads folder and that the file paths are correct.
Missing menus: You may need to recreate your navigation menus under Appearance > Menus in WordPress.
Unimported content types: The FG Joomla to WordPress plugin may not import every content type (like forum posts or products). Find WordPress-specific plugins to handle that data or migrate manually.
Styling broken after theme changes: Some content from Joomla may have custom CSS that doesn‘t play well with your new theme. You may need to restyle some elements in the WordPress theme editor.

If you get stuck, don‘t panic! There are plenty of resources available to help:

Search the WordPress.org support forums for threads related to your issue
Check the documentation for the FG Joomla to WordPress plugin and your other plugins
Consult WordPress tutorial sites like WPBeginner and Smashing Magazine
Hire a WordPress developer or expert to assist you

Enjoying Your New WordPress Website

With the Joomla migration out of the way, it‘s time to enjoy the many benefits of your new WordPress site. Some of the things you‘ll love about WordPress include:

Intuitive content creation with the Gutenberg editor
Flexible layouts with content blocks and columns
Easy management of user roles and permissions
Built-in comments and discussion capabilities
Fast setup of landing pages/ad campaigns
Powerful blogging and content scheduling features

Of course, you‘ll also have to learn the ins and outs of WordPress if you‘re not already familiar. Some key topics to dive into are:

User roles and capabilities
The WordPress template hierarchy
Hooks, actions, and filters
The WordPress REST API
How to keep WordPress secure
Optimizing WordPress for performance

The good news is that the WordPress community has created a wealth of resources to help you master the platform. The official WordPress Codex and developer handbooks are great places to start.

And when you‘re ready to take your site even further, you can explore more advanced topics like e-commerce stores, membership sites, online courses, and web application frameworks.

The beauty of WordPress is that your site can evolve and expand along with your changing needs. You‘re no longer constrained by the limitations of Joomla. With WordPress, the possibilities are endless!

Conclusion

Moving a site from Joomla to WordPress is no small endeavor. But by following this guide, you should be well-equipped to tackle the migration yourself.

Just remember to take the process step-by-step:

Prepare your Joomla site and set up a fresh WordPress install
Export your Joomla content and import into WordPress
Configure redirects to preserve traffic and links
Install and customize a WordPress theme
Add essential features with WordPress plugins
Thoroughly test your site before flipping the switch

Yes, you may encounter a few hiccups along the way. But don‘t let that scare you off from making the move to WordPress. With a little patience and persistence, you can join the millions of site owners who rely on WordPress to power their online presence.

Trust me, once you experience the flexibility and user-friendliness of WordPress, you‘ll wonder why you didn‘t switch sooner. Your visitors will enjoy a better browsing experience, your search rankings will get a boost, and you‘ll unlock powerful new capabilities for your site.

So what are you waiting for? Get started on your Joomla to WordPress migration today!