How to Migrate from Blogger to WordPress Using WordPress Plugins

Earlier this year, I made the decision to migrate my blog from Blogger to WordPress. It seemed a little scary, and I kept putting off the migration.  I looked for someone who could migrate my posts from Blogger to WordPress.  I knew it would cost several hundred dollars, but I wanted to make sure it was done correctly.

I approached a person that a fellow blogger had recommend to do the migration, but after an initial response, she ghosted me. At that point, I started looking into if Chauncey and I could migrate my blog from Blogger to WordPress on my own. Chauncey is in the tech industry, and a computer whiz. After researching, Chauncey thought it was possible. . . so we did.

WHY I SWITCHED FROM BLOGGER TO WORDPRESS

There are two main reasons I switched from Blogger to WordPress.  First, and most importantly, I wanted to take advantage of the SEO plugins available with WordPress.  Second, I wanted to have more control over my blog design.  There were features I wanted (like a search option on the navigation bar) that my layout designer for Blogger couldn’t do.

HOW TO PREP FOR THE MIGRATION FROM BLOGGER TO WORDPRESS

I had around 500 blog posts to migrate from Blogger to WordPress.  Chauncey had everything set up for wordpress.org (NOT wordpress.com) and installed my new theme beforehand.  The theme came with easy to follow instructions for installation.  I redesigned my logo, as I wanted a new look across the board. Chauncey also signed me up for a new webhost and took care of all the backend work for that.

HOW TO MIGRATE FROM BLOGGER TO WORDPRESS USING PLUGINS

We did the actual migration over one weekend. While there’s always some kinks, it was actually easier than I had prepared myself for thanks to four WordPress plugins we used while switching from Blogger to WordPress. I’ve gotten so many questions about this, so I’m sharing how we did it in case you want a DIY switch from Blogger to WordPress!

To find these plug-ins, click on the Plugins tab on the WordPress navigation bar. Once you find and download the plugins, follow the directions given by each plugin to complete the step.

PLUGIN TO MIGRATE FROM BLOGGER TO WORDPRESS: BLOGGER IMPORTER

The first plug-in is the most important.  The “Blogger Importer” plug-in allows you to import all of your posts, pages, comments (not Disqus comments though), and categories from Blogger to WordPress.

PLUGIN TO MIGRATE FROM BLOGGER TO WORDPRESS: DISQUS CONDITIONAL LOAD (Optional)

If you use Disqus, you’ll need to use this plugin to migrate your comments over.

PLUGIN TO MIGRATE FROM BLOGGER TO WORDPRESS: CUSTOM PERMALINKS

When migrating from Blogger to WordPress, it’s important that you make sure all of your old permalinks still work, so that links, pins, and other social media shares still direct to those pages. The default permalink formatting for Blogger and WordPress is different, so we used this plugin to make the WordPress permalink format mirror the Blogger permalink format.

PLUGIN TO MIGRATE FROM BLOGGER TO WORDPRESS: CACHE IMAGES

Of course, all of my images were hosted on Blogger/Google images.  I used this plugin to grab all of those hot-linked images, as I would need them to do featured images for my older posts.

PLUGIN TO MIGRATE FROM BLOGGER TO WORDPRESS: QUICK FEATURED IMAGES PRO (Paid Plugin)

I paid for this plugin (under $20), and I’m so glad I did!  My theme has featured images, but it would be so time-consuming to go back through 500 posts and set the featured images. This plug-in allows you do it in a bulk actions.  In less than 10 minutes, my 500 posts all had featured images!!! You basically just set it to grab the first image from each of your old post to use as your featured image.

THINGS NOT TO FORGET WHEN MIGRATING YOUR BLOG FROM BLOGGER TO WORDPRESS

You will want to make sure that any analytical coding is set-up and re-installed. Also, if you host a linkup, check to see if you need a plugin to make the coding work (I use the EZ InLinz linkup plugin).  Add an SEO plugin–I prefer Yoast SEO. When working with your SEO, make sure to setup all the meta tags and link your social media accounts.

Good luck!  If you’re a novice trying to migrate your blog, I recommend doing it over a weekend so you have time to work out kinks before the new WordPress site goes live. And if all else fails, Google what you’re having issues with.

I’m very happy I made the switch from Blogger to WordPress.  If you’re thinking about it, then I recommend making the jump sooner rather than later!