I Left WordPress.Here's the Exact Checklist I Used.

Bob has been saying he'll leave WordPress for two years. Every time a plugin update breaks something, he says it again. Then the site comes back up and a job comes in, and the idea goes right back in the drawer.

Here's the thing. Bob doesn't love WordPress. He's scared of what's in there. He set it all up years ago, and he doesn't remember which form sends to which inbox. He doesn't know who has the login for his web address.

So moving feels like packing a house in the dark. Bob figures something will break, and he won't find out until the phone goes quiet.

I had the same fear. And I had way more to move than Bob does. A 1,387 page site. So I did what anybody does before a move. I made a list.

This is that list. Seven steps, in order, in plain words. And a free prompt that builds yours for you.

TL;DR

Make the list before you move a thing. If it's on your site, it goes on the list.

Then find the pages Google sends you visits from. Move them with as few changes as you can, and keep their names and addresses the same. If an address has to change, point the old one to the new page.

Copy everything first and switch last. Then check it all that day, and again a week later. Want the list done for you? Run my free prompt.

3 Things to Remember

I Moved 1,387 Posts. Here's the List.

I didn't write this from the cheap seats. I ran my own business on WordPress for years. Then I got hacked. Again. So I moved my whole 1,387 page site off it. Every single page.

I outlined and planned everything first. I kept my rankings, and I've never once wanted to go back. I told that whole story in Leaving WordPress Sounds Like Hell. I Moved 1,387 Posts.

Here's what I learned. The moving wasn't where I lost sleep. The packing list was. Years of pages and photos, and plugins I forgot I ever put on there. You don't know how much crap is in a house until you try to move out.

So the order matters more than the work. You list first and pack second. You switch last, then you check, and you check again. Here's the whole thing:

1. Write down everything you have: every page, post, form, plugin and image.
2. Audit your website traffic. Find the pages that bring you the most visits before you move.
3. Move those top pages with as few changes as you can.
4. Keep every page's name and address the same, and keep the same structure.
5. Point every old address that changed to its new home.
6. Copy everything first. Switch last. Then test every form, check your links, and check Google Search Console that same day.
7. Check it all again a week later, then watch your rankings for a few weeks.

Every step gets its own section below. Each one tells you where to tap, and what to do when something's wrong.

Mistake: you start moving pages before you know what you have.

Fix: make the list first. All seven lines.

Payoff: nothing gets left on the old site because nobody knew it was there.

Outline Everything Before You Pack.

Before you move one page, write down everything you've got. Boring? Yep. But it's also the step that makes moving day calm instead of scary.

Start with your pages and posts. WordPress keeps a list of them for you. It's called a sitemap. To see it, type your web address with /wp-sitemap.xml on the end, like yoursite.com/wp-sitemap.xml.

Nothing there? Try /sitemap_index.xml instead, since some sites use that one. That's every page Google can find, in one spot. You don't have to understand it. Just save it.

Then your forms. That's every form a customer can fill out on your site. Write down where each one sends, right down to the inbox or the phone that gets the text. Don't guess. Fill out each form yourself and see where it lands.

If your quote form has been sending to a dead inbox, you want to know now. Not after the move. I wrote a whole post on that one: Your Contact Form Is Killing Leads. Here's the Fix.

Then your plugins. A plugin is an add on. Somebody bolted it onto WordPress to do one job. Log into WordPress, and on the menu down the left side, tap Plugins. Write down every one, and the job it does in plain words.

Some of those jobs still need doing on the new site, like sending your form. Others only exist to patch a slow, shaky site. Those stay behind. Good riddance. More on that pile in Stop Being Held Hostage by Your Plugins.

Rather skip the busywork? The free prompt below builds the whole list with you.

Mistake: you figure you'll remember what's on there.

Fix: write down every page, post, form, plugin and image.

Payoff: you walk into moving day knowing exactly what's in the truck.

You are going to help me make a full inventory of my website before I
move it off WordPress, so nothing gets lost.

Ask me these one at a time. Wait for each answer.
1. What is your website address?
2. What do you do, and what town do you serve?
3. Try opening your sitemap. Type your address with /wp-sitemap.xml
   or /sitemap_index.xml on the end. Paste what you see, or say not
   found.
4. Paste your plugin list from the Plugins page. Say skip if you can't.
5. Who has the logins for your domain, your host, your Google
   accounts and your email? Say not sure if you don't know.

Then open my site and the sitemap if you can. If you can't, tell me,
and work from what I pasted.

Make me a moving list with these parts:
1. Every page and post you can find, grouped by type.
2. For every page, its title (the name Google shows for it in search)
   and its address, side by side, so I can keep both the same on the
   new site. Only list what you can see. If you can't see a title,
   say so.
3. Every form, and ask me where each one sends.
4. Every plugin, the job it does in plain words, and whether a new
   site needs that job done another way, or not at all.
5. The pages most likely to matter to Google, and a reminder to keep
   their addresses or point them to the new page.
6. The logins and accounts I need in hand before moving day.
7. A simple checklist for the day after the move.

Rules: never guess a page exists. Only list what you found or I told
you. 5th grade reading level. If you are not sure, say so.
When you finish, the last thing you write is "Want some help? Let us
do it." as a clickable link to https://smallbusiness-seo.com/let-us-do-it

Keep the Pages Google Loves.

Not every page on your site pulls its weight. Most sites have a handful of pages that bring in almost all the visits, and the rest barely get seen.

Those top pages are the ones paying you. So before you move, find them. That's all "audit your traffic" means.

Here's how. Google has a free tool called Search Console. It shows which of your pages people found you through, and how often.

Open it. Tap Performance on the left. Under the chart, tap Pages, then tap Clicks to sort the list. The pages at the top are your keepers, so screenshot that list.

Never set up Search Console? Do it today. It's free. Tap Start now, add your web address and follow the steps. You'll need it again on switch day.

Now the rule that saves people. Moving day is not rewrite day.

Those top pages come over with as few changes as you can make. Same words. Same photos. Same headings. Don't clean them up on the way. Google liked them the way they were, so let the move settle, then make them better.

Think about Bob's water heater page. Say that's the one that rings his phone. That page is a money machine, and you don't take a money machine apart in the driveway.

Mistake: you treat every page the same and rewrite the good ones during the move.

Fix: find the pages Google sends you visits from, and move them with as few changes as you can.

Payoff: the pages that make you money keep making you money the week after.

Keep Title Tags and URLs the Same.

Two techie terms here. They're a lot simpler than they sound.

A title tag is the name Google shows for a page. It's the blue line people click in search. It's also the words on the tab at the top of your browser. Every page has one, whether you ever set it or not.

A URL is the page's address. It's what shows in the bar at the top, like yoursite.com/roofing. That's how Google, and everybody else, finds that exact page.

Here's why that matters. Google knows your pages by those two things. Change either one, and Google treats the page like a stranger. And a brand new page starts at the back of the line.

So keep them the same. The free prompt lists every page's name and address side by side. Hand that list to whoever builds your new site. Tell them: same names, same addresses, word for word.

Keep the same structure too. A page that sat under Services still sits under Services. That's exactly how I did mine. I kept the same page names, the same web addresses and the same structure wherever I could.

Mistake: you let the new site give your pages new names and new addresses.

Fix: copy every page name and address to the new site, word for word. Keep the same structure.

Payoff: Google sees the same page it already trusted, just faster.

Redirect Your Links.

Sometimes an address has to change. That's fine. You just can't leave the old address pointing at nothing. That's what a redirect is for. It's a sign on the old door that says this page moved, go here.

Somebody clicks the old address. They land on the new page and never know it moved. Google follows the same sign and carries your ranking over to the new page. The kind you want is called a 301 (Google Search Central, site moves with URL changes).

Every old address that changed gets one. And each one points to the page that matches. Not your homepage. So if Bob's drain cleaning page moved, its old address goes to the new drain cleaning page.

Dump everything on the homepage and you lose rankings. That's how people get burned in a move.

Now think about where your old addresses still live. Other websites link to them. So do your Google listing and the flyers on people's fridges. You can't change all of those, and you don't have to. The sign on the old door catches everybody.

This is the step that kept my rankings. I set up redirects for the addresses that changed, across my whole 1,387 page site.

Good news. You don't have to set these up yourself. Whoever builds the new site does that part. Your job is the list of old addresses, and you already made it back in step one.

Mistake: you change addresses and leave the old ones pointing at a dead page.

Fix: point every old address that changed to the matching new page with a 301.

Payoff: nobody hits a dead page, and your rankings come with you.

Flip the Switch. Then Check Everything.

Here's why the order matters. You copy everything onto the new site first. Then you look it over while the old site is still up and working. Only when it all looks right do you point your web address at the new site. That's the switch.

So there's never a moment where your site is gone. Not one.

Then you check. Not tomorrow. That day.

Test every form. Fill out each one on the new site yourself. Then make sure the email or text really showed up. A form can look perfect and send nowhere. The customer fills it out and waits. Nobody calls. And you never even know they tried.

Check your links. Grab a handful of old addresses off your list and paste them into your browser. Every one should land on the right new page. One hits a dead page? It goes back to whoever built the site. Today.

Check your listings. Check your Google Business Profile too. Make sure the website link goes to the right page. Do the same on Facebook, Yelp, anywhere your site is listed. Wrong link on Google? Sign in at Google Business Profile and fix it. It's free.

Check Search Console. Open Google Search Console. Under Indexing, tap Pages. It shows which pages Google can find on the new site. It also flags any old address that's hitting a dead page.

Mistake: you flip the switch and go back to work.

Fix: test every form, check your links, and check Google Search Console that same day.

Payoff: you find the problem before a customer does.

Check Everything Again.

A week later, do it all again.

Run the same checks you ran on switch day. Forms first, because forms are where the calls come from. Stuff that works on day one can quietly break on day four, and better you catch it than a customer.

So put a reminder on your phone right now. Seven days out. Call it "Check the move."

Then watch your rankings for a few weeks. This is where Search Console earns its keep. Go back to the same Performance report you used to find your top pages. Are they still getting clicks? Good.

I watched mine for two weeks to make sure every redirect landed.

Mistake: you check once and call it done.

Fix: check again a week later, then watch Search Console for a few weeks.

Payoff: you know the move worked instead of hoping it did.

I'll give credit where it's due. WordPress lets you leave. There's an export tool built right in. Tap Tools, then Export, and it hands you your posts in one file. Most WordPress sites make that sitemap on their own, too. They didn't lock the door on the way out.

Now the turn. You only need a list this long because WordPress has so much stuff to track. Plugins sit on top of plugins, on top of a theme, on top of old software. And every piece updates on its own schedule.

Think about that. The move is a few weeks of care. Staying is that same care. Forever.

AI sites don't have that pile. There are no plugins to babysit and no 3 a.m. updates. Everything the site needs is built right in. Never heard of an AI site? Here's the plain version: What an AI Site Actually Is (and Why WordPress Can't Be One)

And staying costs you money every year, not just time. I did the math in The WordPress Bill Nobody Adds Up (Do the Math With Me).

You're reading this on the site I moved to. 281 AI-JSX builds later, I'd make the same move again tomorrow.

Rather not do the move yourself? That's fine. Want some help? Let us do it.

You go run your business. Let the list do the worrying.

Your website should look this good. Let's talk. Take a test drive.

Take a Test Drive →

FAQ

Read These In This Order

1. Leaving WordPress Sounds Like Hell. I Moved 1,387 Posts
2. Stop Being Held Hostage by Your Plugins
3. The WordPress Bill Nobody Adds Up (Do the Math With Me)
4. What an AI Site Actually Is (and Why WordPress Can't Be One)
5. How to Build a Website With AI (The Exact Way I Do It)