Impact of SEO Content Moving to WordPress.com from WordPress.org

  • Unknown's avatar
    ddelgadodb68b6fb10 · Member ·

    We are in the process of creating a new website to replace our existing site which has had a significant amount of SEO updates implemented over the past two years by a contracted marketing company.
    Currently we are using the WordPress.org platform hosted by FlyWheel. However, we would like to shift to WordPress.com (Hosted by WordPress). The concern is, if we shift from .org to .com, will we be starting over in terms of our Google rankings. We’ve done so much thus far using organic tactics such as SEO-friendly content and keywords embedded on our site, development of a blog, utilization of backlinks… all the ‘standard’ best-practice tactics to increase our rankings with Google. We’re just concerned that shifting to WordPress.com will essentially force us to start over. Can you please explain the implications of this? Is it any worse than creating an entirely new site in the WordPress.org environment? Would the impact to SEO be the same if we did it on WordPress.com?

    WP.com: Yes
    Jetpack: No
    Correct account: Yes

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

  • Unknown's avatar
    kleyhalisson · Member ·

    Hi. It’s been a while since I studied SEO so if anyone has different thoughts feel free to say so, but if you Import Everything, and properly transfer/connect your domain, you shouldn’t have a problem because your content and sitemap will be the same. You’ll have problems if you change the domain and/or URL.
    You can also refer to this document from Google Search Central for more information about minimizing the impact of changing your hosting service while maintaining the URL. If you are changing the URL, see this document instead.

  • staff-totoro · Staff ·

    Hi there,

    I’m not sure that I would recommend the plugin mentioned by the volunteer above, you can instead use our official plugin, which will migrate an exact copy of your current WordPress site on Flywheel:

    WP
    Import a Website » Import using Move to WordPress.com
    in WordPress.com Support
    3 min read
    Use the Move to WordPress.com plugin to migrate a self-hosted WordPress site to WordPress.com. Follow the steps in this guide to import your site (including your content, media, plugins, and theme) directly from your wp-admin dashboard. Prerequisites To follow the steps in this guide, you will need: Your source site: a WordPress site with any other hosting provider (referred to as a se

    We’re just concerned that shifting to WordPress.com will essentially force us to start over

    This is a great question, and my short answer is: Nothing to worry about here! :)

    As long as you are using our plugin to move your site, it will be an exact copy, same theme, plugins, pages, blog posts, settings, uploaded media, etc. The only difference is that the migration will place this copy of the site on a private URL on WordPress.com that you can use to get set up, confirm the migration was a success, and make any changes you wish to do out of view of the public. When you feel you are ready to “launch” the new site, you will move your URL as the last step, which will seamlessly replace the old site with the new one.

    When you’re ready to move your domain, we can help walk you through that in more detail!

    The concern is, if we shift from .org to .com, will we be starting over in terms of our Google rankings. […] Can you please explain the implications of this?

    When you move your domain as the last step, your new site on WordPress.com will have the exact same URL structure as the previous site, so Google and peers will have no idea you moved at all. To them it will be the exact same site at the URL they expect it to be at, with no surprises or hit to your current ranking.

    The only caveat is that while our migration plugin will not make structural changes to your site (that affect your URL structure) it can be the case that changes you make can affect it. This is unlikely but if you plan to take this migration as the opportunity to make changes to ‘freshen up’ your site, it is best to avoid changing any page URLs.

    Is it any worse than creating an entirely new site in the WordPress.org environment?

    As long as you are moving an exact copy of your current WordPress site (and using the same URL) this move would be no different than moving between .org hosts. In fact, it will be easier since our plugin helps ensure a smooth content migration, and you have access to our in-house support team should you have any issues with your move.

    Hope that helps. Please let us know if you have any more questions.

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