{"id":23144,"date":"2016-12-08T07:26:09","date_gmt":"2016-12-08T12:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/therockysafari.com\/?page_id=23144"},"modified":"2021-05-31T12:05:50","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T16:05:50","slug":"migrate-a-wordpress-com-blog-to-self-hosting","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.therockysafari.com\/migrate-a-wordpress-com-blog-to-self-hosting\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Step Guide to Migrate a WordPress.com Blog to Self-Hosting"},"content":{"rendered":"
After building this\u00a0blog on WordPress.com<\/a> for four wonderful years, I made the decision to migrate this WordPress.com blog to self-hosting a month before my blog’s fifth birthday. The transition to self-hosting was a move I contemplated making for several months but avoided due to how convoluted and potentially costly the migration process seemed. Interestingly enough, as my “free” wordpress.com blog became more complex, it started to incur self-inflicted costs that mostly eliminated any advantages of using a free blogging platform, to begin with, hence I made the decision to switch.<\/p>\n I will begin this guide by discussing\u00a0the differences between wordpress.com<\/a> and wordpress.org<\/a>. If you are\u00a0already\u00a0familiar with this\u00a0distinction, please feel free to proceed to the next section.<\/p>\n WordPress.com<\/strong> is a free blogging platform. Anyone can sign up to create an account and start blogging right away. However, as you might expect from a free platform, you are forced to work around technical\u00a0limitations. For example, your URL will include “xyz.wordpress.com” at the end. With that being said, the branded domain\u00a0is\u00a0<\/strong>free and so is the hosting. If you do not know, hosting is essentially the storage space where your website’s files are stored and accessed whenever needed. WordPress.com allows you to map a custom domain and upgrade to\u00a0additional storage space for an added\u00a0fee.<\/p>\n On WordPress.org<\/strong>, you install and control everything. You can purchase your own domain name, you can buy any WordPress theme you like, the blog is yours to customize and create. It is up to you to keep your content optimized, backed up, and secure. You manage both the front end and the back end of your blog. This can get a bit complicated at times and some technical knowledge may be needed but, the WordPress interface is generally easy to use and plug-ins open doors to endless functionality on your site.<\/p>\n I recommend new bloggers start with wordpress.com. First, get\u00a0a taste for blogging and see how you like it before you ever pay a penny. Use the free platform as a way to become familiar with the WordPress interface (it doesn’t change much between the free and self-hosted version.) Then, whenever you and your blog are ready, follow this guide and migrate\u00a0to WordPress.org<\/strong>. You’ll have full control over your blog’s appearance, plug-ins, advertising, and more.<\/p>\n If you’re anything like me, you may have a few concerns about migrating away from WordPress.com after blogging there for so long. Hopefully, this section will help mitigate your fears and convince you that the migration is worth it<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Some bloggers\u00a0like to use WordPress.com because of\u00a0the large community of WordPress.com bloggers\u00a0and this is a practical reason\u00a0to go that route. I know that WordPress.com’s now-retired Daily Post community really helped my blog get going back in 2013. That was invaluable to me at the time. However, when you write, do you want an audience comprised of other bloggers? Maybe you do! (I certainly didn’t mind it!) But most\u00a0people want casual internet browsers to find their blogs too. For this reason, a self-hosted blog is advantageous\u00a0since SEO is much easier to control with the help of a few plug-ins.<\/p>\n If I have convinced you to migrate your WordPress.com blog to a self-hosted site, then let’s proceed with my Guide on How to Migrate Your Blog in 7 Days or LESS.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Purchase new hosting. This is the first step since you will now need a new place to store your WordPress blog files. I recommend using Bluehost<\/strong><\/a> since they are the same hosting provider that I use for this blog. Their customer service is top-notch and they offer unlimited storage space which is huge! \ud83d\ude42 (I would highly advise you AVOID HostGator- they provided\u00a0horrible service for\u00a0my other technology blog and I did\u00a0NOT enjoy working with ASmallOrange when I used to host with them. Please learn\u00a0from my mistakes haha.)<\/p>\nWhat is the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?<\/h1>\n
Which is better?<\/h3>\n
5 Reasons to Consider Migrating Your Blog<\/h3>\n
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My Seven-Step Guide to Migrate a WordPress.com Blog to Self-Hosting<\/h1>\n
Day 1<\/strong><\/h3>\n