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Most businesses move from Wix to WordPress for the same reasons: they want a faster site, more control over SEO, features Wix doesn’t offer, or simply to own their website outright. The move itself is very manageable, as long as you plan for the two things Wix makes difficult: exporting content and keeping your URLs working.
Why businesses move from Wix to WordPress
- Ownership. A WordPress site is yours: you can move host, change developer or extend it at any time.
- Speed. A lean WordPress theme on good hosting is usually faster than a Wix site, which matters for Core Web Vitals.
- SEO control. Full control of URLs, schema markup, redirects and technical settings.
- Features. Thousands of plugins and custom development for anything that doesn’t exist yet.
- Cost as you grow. No platform plan tied to your site; you pay for hosting and the features you use.
What can and can’t be exported from Wix
| Content | How it moves | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Blog posts | RSS import | Wix publishes a blog feed that WordPress can import |
| Pages | Manually or with a migration tool | Text and layout are rebuilt in WordPress |
| Images | Downloaded and re-uploaded | Ideally compressed and converted to WebP on the way |
| Design | Rebuilt | Wix templates can’t be exported |
| Wix Stores products | CSV export | Imported into WooCommerce |
| Forms, bookings, members | Rebuilt | Replaced with WordPress plugins |
| Domain | Stays or transfers | Only the DNS needs to change |
How the migration works, step by step
01Capture what you have
Export your page list from your Wix sitemap and your top pages and queries from Google Search Console. This is the list every redirect will be built from.
02Build the WordPress site on staging
The new design is built on a private staging copy, with a custom theme or a page builder your team can edit. Your Wix site stays live throughout.
03Move the content
Blog posts come across through the RSS import; pages, images and products are moved and checked. Titles and meta descriptions are carried across page by page.
04Redirect every Wix URL
Wix uses its own URL patterns, so old addresses need a 301 redirect to the new ones:
| Typical Wix URL | WordPress URL |
|---|---|
| /post/how-to-choose-a-plumber | /blog/how-to-choose-a-plumber |
| /product-page/blue-lamp | /product/blue-lamp |
| /about-us | /about-us (kept the same) |
| /services-1 | /services |
Where a page keeps the same URL, nothing needs to change. Where it doesn’t, the redirect sends visitors and Google to the right place.
05Reconnect forms, analytics and tracking
Contact forms, Google Analytics, Search Console, Meta pixel and any booking or CRM connections set up again and tested.
06Switch the domain
Point your domain’s DNS to the new host. You can leave the domain registered with Wix or transfer it to another registrar; either works. Then cancel the Wix plan once everything is confirmed.
07Monitor Search Console
Submit the new sitemap on launch day and check for crawl errors and missed redirects over the next two weeks.
How long does it take, and what does it cost?
A small business site usually takes 2–3 weeks; a larger site, a store or one with a lot of blog content takes longer. Pricing follows the size of the new site: in New Zealand, a business site typically costs NZD $1,200–$2,500 and a custom theme NZD $2,500–$6,000, with content migration and redirects included in a fixed quote. Full numbers are in the NZ pricing guide.
Will I lose my Google rankings?
Not if the redirects and meta are done properly. Expect a small, temporary dip while Google recrawls the new site, usually recovering within a few weeks. Rankings are lost when old URLs return errors, titles and descriptions are rewritten carelessly, or pages that brought traffic are dropped.
- Wix has no full export, so plan a rebuild plus a content move
- Capture every URL before you start
- Blog posts move via RSS; pages and images are moved and checked
- A 301 redirect for every changed URL protects your rankings
- Keep Wix live until the new site is checked, then switch the DNS