WordPress hosting: Move your blog from WordPress.com to your own hosting server

A few weeks ago we published a guide on how to successfully move your blog from blogger platform to self hosted WordPress. Today, we’ll guide you how to move your WordPress.com blog to your own WordPress hosting server.

Step 1: Get a hosting account and install WordPress

If you didn’t set a custom domain on WordPress.com, as a first step of the migration, you’ll need to get a hosting account and install WordPress for your new site. We always recommend InMotion as a hosting platform: See why we love InMotion hosting here.

If you did set a custom domain on your WordPress.com blog, install WordPress on a temporary URL on your host and change the DNS settings after the complete migration. As setting temporary URL differs for each host, you will need to look for your hosting company’s tutorial for this.

dns zone editor

Step 2: Export content from WordPress.com

Sign into your WordPress.com account. Under Tools menu, click Export. This will take you to a page where you’ll be asked to choose between free transfer or guided transfer. As you are doing it yourself, choose free.

export content

Then select all content and click Download Export File button.

Step 3: Import content into your self-hosted WordPress site

To import the export file into your new host, go to your self-hosted WordPress dashboard. Under Tools menu click Import << WordPress. You’ll be asked to install the Import WordPress plugin. After installing it, activate the plugin and run it. Then, choose the file you want to import and upload the file.

import wordpress

In order to make the permalinks identical, make sure you choose Day and name in Settings>> Permalinks in the WordPress dashboard.

permalink settings

Step 4: Set your WordPress.com blog to private

Once the content is migrated to your new host, set your WordPress.com blog to private by going to Settings menu<<Reading << Choose “I would like my site to be private.”

Step 5: Redirect visitors to your new WordPress site

Unlike Blogger.com, you can’t redirect your blog visitors to your new site for free. You’ll need to pay for the redirection ($13/year). Go to WordPress.com blog’s dashboard. Under Store menu item, choose Site Redirect. This 301 redirection will automatically redirect your site visitors and search engines to your new site.

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