Blog / Fixes and rescues
Website Migration Service: Moving Your Site Without Losing a Thing
A website migration done right keeps every page, link, image and email working. Here is my checklist for moving a site off Wix, Manus, an old theme or a dead host.
Moving a website sounds like copying files from one place to another. A good website migration service is really about what you don't lose: pages, links Google already knows, images, forms, and the email that runs on the same domain. I've moved sites off Wix, off an AI site builder called Manus, off frozen old themes and off hosts that stopped answering. The checklist is the same every time.
Before anything moves: map everything
The mistakes in a migration come from things nobody wrote down. Before I touch anything, I list:
- Every page and its address
- Every image, PDF and download
- Forms, and where their emails go
- The domain: who it's registered with, where the DNS lives
- Email: which service runs it (it often lives on the same account as the site)
- Anything connected: booking tools, payment links, analytics, Google Search Console
Email is the one people forget. Change the DNS without carrying the email records, and the business stops getting mail.
Move the content, not just the look
From a builder like Wix there's no "export the whole site" button that gives you a working WordPress site. The content gets moved page by page: text, images, headings, the structure. It's a good moment to fix things: compress oversized photos, fix headings, tidy the menu.
When a client moved off Manus onto WordPress, the goal was a site they could edit themselves, so every section became an editable block on the new site.
Keep the old links working
If the new site's addresses differ from the old ones, every old address gets a permanent redirect to its new home. That keeps your Google rankings and any links people shared. I check every old URL after the switch.
Switch with no downtime
The new site is built and tested on its own address first. When it's ready, the DNS changes over. Because the old site stays up until the switch, visitors never see a broken page. After the switch I check:
- The site loads on the real domain with a valid padlock
- Forms deliver email
- Email still arrives in the business mailbox
- Old links redirect
- Search Console sees the new sitemap
Back up before and after
There's a full backup of the old site before I start and of the new one when I finish. If anything goes wrong, there's a way back.
Questions people ask
Can I move my website from Wix to WordPress?
Yes. The content is moved over and rebuilt on WordPress, and old links are redirected so you keep your search rankings.
Will I lose my Google ranking if I move my website?
Not if every page is carried over or redirected, and the new site is as fast or faster.
Will my email stop working when I change hosts?
It shouldn't. Email records are mapped before the move and carried over with the DNS change.
How long does a website migration take?
Small sites take a day or two of work. Bigger sites take longer, mostly for content. See my work or start a project.