You probably have already realized Career Mom Online is now in WordPress, with an awesome Prose theme powered by the Genesis framework, which had been graciously installed by my software developer friend Enstine Muki of EasyRetweet fame. Oh, and Enstine generously added in CommentLuv Premium, too.
Image courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
It wasn’t necessarily an easy journey, if I must say so. But it was, so far, worth all the hassle. Not that I’m saying I don’t like Blogger. I do love Blogger. Yes, the usual blogger refrain you most likely have already read from somewhere else, the same line bloggers who’ve made the switch declare, but believe it or not, this can’t be any farther from the truth.
I was with Blogger for a full year, and I was perfectly happy with it until that day I decided Career Mom Online was ready for the next level.
Why the switch?
If there was anything challenging about Blogger, making changes in the layout had always been a painful process for me, especially since I don’t have any idea how to tweak codes and all that stuff.
Plus, I wanted CommentLuv installed in the blog, hence, my installation of IntenseDebate days prior to the switch. Still, given the noticeable lag in load time shortly after installation, IntenseDebate wasn’t exactly my idea of an engaging commenting platform. The decision to switch was, therefore, imminent.
Before the switch
Because I knew this was going to be huge, before I worked on the actual switch, here is a list of things I did to prepare:
- I checked out YouTube tutorials.
- I read every possible online tutorial I could read until I was confident enough that I might be able to pull the switch off on my own.
- I contacted somebody who would be willing to do the actual switch for a minimal fee if I run into some sort of a snag.
And here are a few important things I made sure to secure before the switch:
- Domain. Career Mom Online has had its own domain for over a year with GoDaddy, so that was already a given.
- Hosting. Initially, I planned to go with a free hosting account I won via a giveaway. Unfortunately, one blogger friend has had an unsavory experience with the provider, hence, my decision to partner with HostGator. Plus, I’m a firm believer in the saying, “you get what you pay for.” Free isn’t always free.
The actual switch
Shortly after HostGator’s cPanel was activated, I decided to put the process off for a few more days. I have a regular 9-to-5, and I thought I should be ready to work on it the following weekend.
Weekend came, but nothing happened. Tuesday morning arrived, and I decided it was now or never. I contacted my blogger friend who was supposed to do the switch for me. As it turned out, she, too, was busy that day and couldn’t accommodate me.
Armed with the conviction that “if others can do it, then I can as well,” I went ahead with the switch despite the apprehension. Here are two of the 3 or 4 tutorials I had open at that time:
- How to Migrate from Blogger to WordPress by DiTesco
- Moving Your Blog from Blogger to WordPress Without Losing Traffic and SEO by Don Caprio
The dreaded Error 404
I was able to hurdle the first few steps without running into a brick wall. But the moment I tried searching for previously indexed posts via Google, I was doomed. The fix Don Caprio outlined didn’t work, and I had this nagging suspicion that I did something wrong.
One nervous Alt+Tab later, I was back at DiTesco’s tutorial and was redirected to another tutorial. That, for some reason, didn’t work, too. At that point, I was positive I missed something important, which, unfortunately, I couldn’t point a finger to.
Because I wasn’t ready to do everything over again, I turned to my Ask Pinoy Bloggers community, and Charlie, the administrator directed me to another tutorial. This time, to my surprise, the redirect worked. I was ecstatic!
After the switch
I’m still in the process of working on the layout of the blog and other things, but I’m all good. I just need a bit more time to have everything set up to my liking. What I can honestly tell you though is that, from this point onward, this blog is officially open for business.
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Congrats, Maricel! You’re using Genesis theme and I envy you for that! Just kidding!
Transferring from Blogger to WP.org is great move if you’re really serious on online marketing. I hope next I could do the switch, too. We’re fortunate the geeks from the Ask Pinoy Bloggers are there!
Cheers!
P.S. Congrats for bagging the second place in the 6th Blog Engage Guest post contest this year! Woot! Woot!
Jerome Ibuyan recently posted…7 Enchanting Filipino Bloggers Worth Following
Thanks, Jerome! Nah, the Genesis framework and theme was actually given to me for free by my good friend Enstine.
Yes, I think transferring from Blogger to WordPress is one of the best moves I’ve done so far. Although I’m not that well-versed with WordPress yet, I can tell it’s a bit easier to tweak.
Thank you! Don’t forget, I owe the win to your support, too!
Wow, congrats sis.
The first Blogger to WordPress switch was a little easy for me since my host was kind enough to do it for me:)
Rovie recently posted…Beautifully Healthy In A Natural Way
Hey, Rovie, thanks!
I actually thought of contacting my hosting provider to get help with the migration. But like they say, all is well that ends well. At the very least, I was able to experience how it is to migrate from Blogger to WordPress myself.
This is a great move. And maintaining your blog stats is impressive.
Archie, yes, I think so, too. I actually made sure I went through those tutorials that promised blog stats won’t be compromised even after the switch. Well, they were right. The only setback I guess is the FB likes and others no longer reflecting now. Then again, as they say, you can’t have it all.
Wow! You mention AskPB! Thank 🙂 and congrats at walang masyadong naging problema sa pagmigrate mo 🙂
Charlie, of course, I can’t forget APB. You were very helpful, and you were there for me along the way, too. Thank you so much again!
For sure wordpress is much much better than blogger, you got to make the switch sooner or later happy blogging.
Hey Mac, I guess you’re right. Thanks for visiting!
Hey Maricel,
Welcome to WordPress and thanks for the shout out.
Where have you been all these days?
Enstine, thank YOU! Sorry, I’ve been really busy trying to fix the posts that need fixing. I’m down to the last 20, LOL.
I wonder if you migrate from blogger to wordpress and if your blogger site already has its PR will it be affected?
Hey, Lea, thanks for visiting. If you keep your Blogger permalinks as outlined in the tutorials I linked to above, your PR won’t be affected, just like what happened with mine. I retained my PR2 from Blogger. 😉
Congratulations Maricel. You took a big step that most bloggers dread. I agree with Mac and think that any serious blogger who is still using a hosted blog like blogger.com is going to have to make the switch sooner or later. You have so many more options available to you now that you have a self hosted blog.
Thank you, Larry, and thanks for the comment. Well, it was one step I did dread. But like you said, at one point or another, a serious blogger would just have to make the switch. It’s true that there are a lot of options now, but I haven’t really explored those options yet. And one thing I might add, if a blogger is serious about switching, better to switch sooner than later. 🙂