Wix is a well-performing platform, and I have no objection to that. However, if you want more control and freedom over your website, moving from Wix to WordPress might be a tempting option to consider. Equipped with a powerful set of plugins, WordPress can surely help you step up your blogging and eCommerce game.
In this article, I'll walk through the process of how to convert Wix to WordPress effortlessly. Let's discuss:
- Why migrate from Wix to WordPress?
- What to consider before the Wix to WordPress migration
- How to convert Wix website to WordPress using RSS Feed
- How to transfer Wix to WordPress with LitExtension
WordPress vs Wix – Why Make The Move?
From my experience with both platforms, WordPress might be the ideal solution for merchants who crave freedom. This platform allows you to have complete control over hosting, features, and performance of your store. With WordPress, you can hand-pick all the elements and customize every bit of your website.
Here's a quick overview of all the features that WordPress outshine its counterpart in the Wix vs WordPress battle. If these are what you want to improve, consider this a sign to transfer Wix to WordPress.
Features | WordPress | Wix |
Customization | Extensive theme and template library with deep code editing (CSS & HTML) | Limited theme customization |
Functionality | Massive plugin library for adding features like contact forms, eCommerce, SEO, and more | Limited features that require upgrading to a higher tier |
Freedom to control | Great control over your data and website thanks to the nature of an open-source platform | Limited control, largely depend on Wix |
Scalability | Ability to handle extensive content and high traffic | Might struggle with scalability as website grows |
SEO benefits | Flexible and controllable SEO elements (headings, titles, meta description,...) along with powerful SEO plugins | Limited SEO customization |
What to Consider Before Wix to WordPress Migration?
Before making any significant change, you should do the necessary preparations to ensure your result as expected. Therefore, to best prepare for moving Wix to WordPress, let's take these elements into consideration.
Choose a WordPress hosting
Your WordPress hosting is the foundation of your online store. It's where all your website's files and data live, just like how your store needs a physical space to operate. Picking the right host ensures your website runs smoothly and delivers a great experience for your customers.
Here are some key criteria that you should note:
- Reliability: You want a hosting provider known for keeping your website up and running 24/7. Downtime means lost sales, so choose a company with a strong uptime record.
- Security: Your store likely collects customer information, so secure hosting is crucial. Look for a provider with features like automatic backups and malware protection to keep your website safe.
- Performance: A fast-loading website keeps customers happy. Choose a hosting plan with good server speed and resources to ensure your store loads quickly on any device.
- Customer support: Running a store can bring questions. Opt for a hosting provider with responsive and knowledgeable customer support to help you whenever needed.
Buy and register a new WordPress domain
Your domain name is your online address. It's what customers will type in their browser to reach your store.
Here's how to find the perfect domain name:
- Keep it short and memorable: Choose a domain name that's easy to remember and spell. This will make it easier for customers to find your store online.
- Reflect your brand: Ideally, your domain name should be relevant to your store's name or the products you sell.
- Availability: Before settling on a name, check if it's available for registration. Most hosting providers offer domain registration services along with your hosting plan, making the process quick and convenient.
Remember, your domain name is your online identity, so take some time to choose one that reflects your brand and makes a lasting impression!
Back up Data On Your Wix Website
Before kicking off the Wix to WordPress migration, my advice is that you should back up your data on Wix. This action will ensure all your entities stay intact during and after the migration. This way, you can rewind your store to the original state in case of unexpected errors.
Currently, Wix provides Site History, a useful feature that automatically creates a backup for your site. If you accidentally make a change on your site, you can easily restore it to the previous version.
As a matter of fact, you are able to make a manual backup by duplicating your current website on Wix. We recommend you perform this manual backup to save the best version of the website as you need. Here are detailed steps to perform this process:
Step 1: Log in to the Wix dashboard and select the site you want to backup.
Step 2: After selecting the site, click Site Actions then Duplicate Site
Duplicate site
Step 3: Name that version and select Duplicate.
Name the duplicated site.
After that, you can see your new site in My Sites
Your duplicated site
Please remember that some important data will not be backed up after the duplicating process such as store orders, contacts, invoices, and so on. You have to export them manually to a CSV file.
For example, we will guide you on how to export your product data on Wix manually.
Step 1: Select Store Product, then click on Product
Export products
Step 2: Select this highlighted symbol to export your Product.
Export products
Install and setup WordPress
After backing up all your crucial data, you will create a new WordPress store. Initially, you need to install WordPress. If you already have a host for your website and want to install WordPress manually, our tutorial video will help you proceed with it exactly:
However, the process may seem rather complicated to you. Therefore, we recommend that you have your WordPress site automatically installed by your hosting provider.
Currently, there are many hosting services that support you to do it like BlueHost, Cloudways, etc. You can visit your hosting provider's website and easily perform a data backup following the instructions of this service provider.
Option 1. Migrate from Wix to WordPress by Using RSS Feed
The first method to transfer Wix site to WordPress is using RSS Feed. It will automatically duplicate all your blog posts and images on your new WordPress site.
Please note that this approach only works for older Wix blogs. Therefore, if you are on a newer version of Wix website, consider hiring an eCommerce migration expert to carry out the project. I will get back to this method later, so stay tuned!
Import blogs from Wix to WordPress
Before starting the transferring process, here are two essential steps you need to follow.
- Find your RSS Feed
Firstly, it's important to locate your RSS feed. To do this, at the end of your Wix site's URL, add /feed.xml. If the result returns a page full of code, RSS feed is still available on your Wix site.
Now, you can proceed to the next step.
- Save your RSS file
When the RSS page opens, right-click on that page and select Save as or press Ctrl+S / Command+S on your keyboard. It will be saved to your computer as a .xml file.
Now that all your posts are stored in your RSS feed file, it's time to import blogs from Wix to WordPress.
- Navigate to your WordPress Admin and select Tools Import.
- In the RSS importer, click Run Importer.
- Upload your file by clicking Upload file and import.
- Go back to your Admin Dashboard and check if your posts have been transferred.
Import pages from Wix to WordPress
Unfortunately, the RSS feed method doesn't work with pages. Therefore, with pages, you'll need to convert Wix website to WordPress manually.
WordPress offers several page builders to help you build your page in no time. So, all you have to do is select a page builder that best suits your needs and recreate your page on WordPress.
Import images from Wix to WordPress
Since all your images are hosted in Wix, so migrating images from Wix to WordPress is impossible with the RSS Feed function. In this case, you might need to manually upload your images to WordPress.
Simply go to Media Add New and select the file that you want to import.
As you may see, migrating from Wix to WordPress using RSS Feed is quite limited. It only supports content import and leaves out the rest. Therefore, if you want to minimize the manual effort, opting for a migration service is highly recommended.
Migrate from Wix to WordPress with LitExtension
Instead of spending your time and effort in migrating your data manually, you can choose LitExtension to automatically perform this process. LitExtension is an official solution recommended by WordPress, it will transfer all your data from Wix to WordPress seamlessly, accurately, and securely without interrupting your business.
Now, please follow the three steps below to perform your migration with LitExtension.
To begin with, register a new account or Sign In to the LitExtension website. You can also Login to LitExtension with your existing Facebook or Google account.
Login to LitExtension
Fill in your Source and Target Cart information
After logging in to the LitExtension Website, click on Create new migration. You will see a setup section immediately.
Migration setting
Find and select Wix as your Source Cart Type. Then, you need to fill in your Wix store URL; Admin Email and Admin Password of your Wix account.
Next, repeat the same process to set up your Target Cart. In case you don’t want to provide us your WordPress account, you can select “I want to manually upload connector!” and install the connector yourself.
Finally, click Next to jump into the next steps.
Configure your migration
There, you can choose which entities you want to migrate from Wix to WordPress. LitExtension helps you to transfer all your important data including customers, products, orders, reviews and so on.
LitExtension also offers 8 additional options, carefully tailored for your WordPress migration to help you save lots of time and effort after moving to the new online store.
Additional options
For example, you can choose to Create the 301 redirects after migration to avoid 404 errors when customers access the old URLs. This helps you maintain customer experience and SEO ranking as well.
Please make sure that your selections are right as you wish. Click Next and you are ready for the full migration.
Perform the Wix to WordPress migration with LitExtension
You can try our free demo first to have a quick overview of how it works. Or you can skip the demo and run full migration.
Free demo
After the Free Demo, if you feel content with LitExtension service, you can start the full Wix to WordPress migration. It might take some time to perform.
As this process is cloud-based, you don’t have to turn your computer on during migration. You can take a break and we will send a notification via email when the process finishes.
Post-migration Checklist for Wix to WordPress Migration
Check result after migration
Now that the Wix to WordPress migration is completed, your new store is almost ready to go live. Please check out our post-migration checklist and check the result on WordPress as well to ensure that your new website includes all the data you need.
Don’t hesitate to contact our support team if you got any bugs or problems.
Full migration
Run Recent Data Migration or Smart Update if needed
During and after your Wix to WordPress migration with LitExtension, your old store may still receive new orders as well as new customers. Therefore, you should transfer these entities to your new website to manage your store more easily.
You can transfer your newly incurred data by using the Recent Data Migration or Smart Update function from LitExtension. Let’s watch this video to know how to use two useful features.
Customize your new WordPress website
Now that all your data is successfully transferred to your new WordPress site, it’s time to customize it. Here are what you should do before going to live your website.
Choose a theme for new store
Firstly, you should select a theme by WordPress. A good theme helps your store attract more customers and encourage them to buy more products. It is also easier to manage your items thanks to a good theme configuration.
Currently, WordPress provides a great number of themes for your choice (about 4000 themes). You should take some time to find out one eye-catching theme which is aligned with your brand and customers. Plus, you can also explore more appealing themes on some prominent websites like Themeforest or Templatemonster.
Add extensions and plugin
Next, you should add some extensions to manage your store more effectively. They also help you extend your website in the market by supporting SEO, inventory management, marketing and almost any field you can think of.
The number of WordPress extensions is enormous thanks to its open-source nature. You can easily find alternative extensions for the old ones in your Wix store.
Besides, we also want to recommend you the best WordPress plugins in 2021. You may explore new useful extensions here and determine to use them to develop your website.
WordPress plugins
Switch domain name
Domain name plays an important role in your brand awareness. It is a familiar place for buyers to shop on your website. Furthermore, a good domain name may enhance your SEO and attract more people to visit your site.
We know that your team might need to brainstorm for a long time in the past to come up with your domain name. Consequently, if you want to keep your current domain for your website, please read this guideline. It is a simple way to switch your domain name after WIX to WordPress migration.
Final Thoughts
In brief, this article has shown you how to convert Wix to WordPress with LitExtension and provided you a checklist after migration as well. Within three simple steps, all your data will be transferred completely, securely and speedily.
We believe that you are now confident to migrate Wix to WordPress after reading this blog. If you have any questions regarding this topic, we are always there to listen and give you a helping hand.
Finally, don’t forget to check out our LitExtension blog and join our community to get more eCommerce tips and tricks!