Do you want to move your blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org? Many beginners often start with WordPress.com, soon realize its limitations and want to switch to the self-hosted WordPress.org platform. In this step-by-step guide, we'll show you how to properly move your blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org.
WordPress.com allows anyone to start a blog by creating an account. However, beginners soon realize that there are many limitations to your free WordPress.com blog, such as limited ability to monetize, not being able to install plugins, third-party ads on your users, etc.
This is why users soon switch to the more powerful and popular hosted WordPress.org platform.
To understand the differences between the two platforms, check out our full comparison of WordPress.com versus WordPress.org.
We recommend using WordPress.org as it gives you complete ownership of your website and the freedom to control all of its features. To learn more about all these features, check out our full WordPress review with its pros and cons.
With that said, let's see how to successfully migrate your blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org.
To get started with WordPress.org, you will need a WordPress hosting account and a domain name.
We recommend using Bluehost because they are one of the largest hosting companies in the world and are the officially recommended WordPress hosting provider.
They are also offering WPBeginner users a free domain name and 60% discount on web hosting. Basically, you can get started for $2.75/month (and this also includes free SSL).
→ Click here to claim this exclusive offer from Bluehost ←
If your WordPress site already has a custom domain name, then you'll still need web hosting. Go ahead and sign up with Bluehost and under the domain step, add your blog domain. We'll show you how to keep the same domain when transferring from WordPress.com to WordPress.org without losing search rankings in later steps.
In addition to the hosting account, you will of course need access to your WordPress.com account, so you can easily move all your posts, pages, images, comments, and other data to your self-hosted WordPress site. /P>
Free Bonus Offer: As many of you have requested, we now offer a free WordPress.com to WordPress.org migration service as part of our free WordPress blog setup service. This means that one of our expert team members will do the entire migration for you (100% free). This means you can switch from WordPress.com to WordPress.org without any risk.
However, if you are someone who likes to learn and do things by yourself, you can follow our step-by-step tutorial below.
You must first log in to your WordPress.com account and access your blog's dashboard. From the left column, you will need to click on the WP Admin link to open your blog admin area.
Next, you have to visit the Tools »Export page.
Clicking on the Export tool will take you to a new page asking you to choose between Free or Guided Transfer. You need to choose the free option by clicking the 'Start Export' button.
On the next screen, you will be asked what data you want to export. Select "All Content" and press the Download Export File button.
The exporter will now download an XML file to your computer. This file will have all of your posts, pages, images, comments, custom fields, categories, tags, navigation menus, and other information.
Now that you have exported your WordPress.com data, the next step is to set up a new WordPress installation on your web host.
WordPress is very easy to install and it only takes a few clicks. If you signed up with Bluehost like we mentioned above, WordPress will automatically install for you.
Alternatively, you can follow our step-by-step tutorial on how to install WordPress in 5 minutes.
Once you've installed WordPress, it's time to import your content to your new self-hosted WordPress website.
In order to import your old WordPress.com content to your new WordPress.org site, you will need to log in to the admin area of your newly installed WordPress site. From here you have to visit the Tools »Import page and click the 'Install Now' button under WordPress.
WordPress will now install the WordPress importer for you. Once done, you need to click the 'Run Importer' link to continue.
It will take you to a screen where you will be prompted to upload the WordPress.com XML file that you downloaded in step 1 of this tutorial.
Note: If your file size is larger than 2MB, then you have two options. One is to ask your web hosting company to increase that limit temporarily, so you can continue with the process. The other option would be to split your file using a WXR file splitter.
When you start importing, you will have the option to assign imported content to a current user or create a new user. You will also have the option to import your old attachments. It is very important that you check this box, so that your image files are imported correctly.
If you have been using the Links feature on your WordPress.com blog to store the blogroll or other links, you need to follow these instructions to import them. Users who did not use this feature can skip to Step 5.
Blogroll links are exported in OPML format. It is an XML format that allows you to export and import your links and link categories. Your WordPress.com links have an OPML file located at an address like this:
http://example.wordpress.com/wp-links-opml.php
Replace the example with your WordPress.com blog subdomain. If you are using a custom domain with your WordPress.com blog, you can access your OPML file by visiting a URL like this:
http://www.example.com/wp-links-opml.php
Your OPML file will open in your browser window, and you need to save it to your desktop. Press CTRL + S (Command + S on Mac) to save the file to your computer.
Now that you have a backup of your WordPress.com links, the next step is to import them into WordPress. However, WordPress does not have a link manager enabled by default.
You will need to install and activate the Link Manager plugin. The plugin page says that it has not been updated in the last two years. This is because there was no need to update it, and you can install this plugin with confidence.
Upon activation, the plugin will add a new menu item in the WordPress admin bar labeled 'Links'.
Your WordPress site is now capable of managing blogs and you can safely import them. Visit Tools »Import and click Blogroll to install the OPML importer.
After installation, you will be redirected to the importer. Where you need to load the OPML file you saved earlier and click the import OPML file button.
WordPress will now import your links and link categories from the OPML file. You will be able to see the progress and at the end you will see the success message.
Now, if you don't want to redirect your old users to your new site, this will be your final step.
You have to go to the Settings »Reading page in the admin area of your WordPress.com blog. In the 'Site Visibility' section, select the last option "I would like my blog to be private, visible only to users I choose" .
Attention: If you've been writing for a while and have a loyal following, then there's no point in leaving them hanging.
Also, if your blog has been around for a while, then it's probably indexed in Google and other search engines. You can maintain all search engine rankings and easily redirect your old users to your new blog by following Step 6 (highly recommended if your site is established).
Redirecting users to a new location with the 301 header is a standard solution for maintaining search rankings while moving a site from one location to another. Since you don't have access to .htaccess on WordPress.com, you can't make any changes yourself to retain search engine rankings. However, WordPress.com offers a paid upgrade feature called Site Redirection that provides this functionality.
Simply go to the WordPress.com blog dashboard and click on the Settings menu item. Under the 'Site Address' option, click the 'redirect' link.
On the next screen, you will be asked to provide the domain name where you want to redirect visitors. Enter the new domain name of your WordPress.org site and click the Go button.
Note: Site Redirection is a paid upgrade and costs $13 per year. You'll add a 301 redirect that redirects visitors and search engines from your WordPress.com blog to your new site.
Some of you may ask how long I have to keep paying for this external forwarding feature. The answer is for as long as you want. However, we personally believe that 2 years would be enough time for your old users to memorize your new domain name.
If you're changing domains, then another thing you want to do is update all the URLs in the post. If you ever interlinked your posts, then those links need to be updated. You can use our article on how to update URLs when moving your WordPress site.
If you had a custom domain on WordPress.com, then you don't have to worry about a thing. Simply change the DNS record to your host and you will retain all the SEO benefits.
We wrote the first version of this article in January 2013. Since then, we've received tons of great questions. Many of which we've responded to via email or in comments, so we thought it would be nice to compile the popular ones in one place where everyone can see them.
What about my WordPress.com subscribers?
Fortunately, WordPress.com allows you to migrate your subscribers on one condition. You need to use their Jetpack plugin which adds the same subscriber functionality that you had on WordPress.com. Once you install and activate the Jetpack plugin, you will need to contact the WordPress.com team and ask them to migrate subscribers for you. Our hope is that in later versions of Jetpack, this will be easier and users will be able to do it themselves.
Can you help me transfer from WordPress.com to WordPress.org for FREE??
Absolutely. We offer migration from WordPress.com as part of our free WordPress blog setup service. If you need our help, just sign up. It's free 
What are the costs of switching to WordPress.org?
WordPress is free. However, there are some minimal web hosting costs. We recommend that you read this article on:Why is WordPress free? What are the costs and what is the catch?
I already paid on WordPress.com, can I get a refund?
If you can. If you recently purchased a custom domain or paid plan from WordPress.com, you can request a full refund from them.
Note:Domain registrations can be canceled within 48 hours of registration. Los planes y otras compras se pueden cancelar dentro de los 30 días de la compra..
¿Se romperán mis imágenes??
No they will not. Cuando transfiere utilizando el archivo de importación, todas las imágenes adjuntas se descargan y el enlace se actualiza. Sin embargo, hay una advertencia que notamos. Si la URL de su imagen comienza con files.wordpress.com, no se convertirán. Si observa que la URL de la imagen no ha cambiado y aún apunta a WordPress.com, le recomendamos que use el complemento de importación de imágenes externas, y se encargará de eso..
Registré mi dominio a través de WordPress.com, ¿puedo moverme??
Sí tu puedes. WordPress cree en capacitar a los usuarios y darles el control total de su contenido. Si ya tiene un nombre de dominio a través de WordPress.com, todo lo que necesita es una cuenta de alojamiento web. Le recomendamos que configure con Bluehost o cualquiera de estos otros proveedores de alojamiento de WordPress. Durante la fase de registro, se le preguntará si tiene un dominio o desea registrar uno nuevo. Simplemente seleccione la opción que tengo un nombre de dominio e inserte el dominio que se registró en WordPress.com. Lo siguiente que tendría que hacer es cambiar los servidores de nombres para que apunten al proveedor de alojamiento. Podemos ayudarlo con esto como parte de nuestro servicio gratuito de configuraciones. También puede solicitar asistencia a su proveedor de alojamiento web..
¿Mi sitio web se apagará cuando cambie??
Si lo haces correctamente, entonces NO. El método que sugerimos anteriormente garantizará que su sitio web nunca se caiga. Si está preocupado, entonces sepa que estamos aquí para ayudarlo. Le invitamos a utilizar nuestro servicio gratuito de configuraciones en cualquier momento..
Esperamos que este artículo te haya ayudado a mover correctamente tu blog de WordPress.com a WordPress.org. También puede querer ver nuestra lista de verificación de las cosas más importantes que debe hacer después de instalar WordPress.
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