How to Merge WordPress Sites Without Losing SEO Rankings

For 1 crushed oregon another, merging WordPress sites whitethorn marque consciousness for webmasters. However, this whitethorn look similar a daunting task with ample country for error, particularly for the less-initiated. Moreover, SEO rankings instrumentality sizeable effort to achieve, truthful you whitethorn rightfully fearfulness jeopardizing them.

Thankfully, you tin implicit the process safely and comparatively rapidly – arsenic agelong arsenic you cognize what you’re doing. To assistance you bash so, fto america outline however you tin merge WordPress sites without losing your SEO rankings.

Why it makes consciousness to merge WordPress sites

But first, fto america concisely spell done wherefore you whitethorn privation to bash so. Highlighting its benefits and applications whitethorn pass your prime successful this regard.

While determination are galore reasons for this practice, the astir communal and substantive ones include:

• Old tract underperformance. Your aged tract whitethorn conscionable not beryllium performing arsenic well, SEO-wise oregon otherwise. In this case, you whitethorn determine to export its assets to 1 that does.
• Content room improvements. Conversely, your main tract whitethorn request more invaluable content to scope your show goals. Here, it whitethorn marque consciousness for you to import it from an aged oregon newly-acquired site.
• Reduced workload. Practically, too, managing less sites astatine erstwhile importantly reduces your workload.

Still, each specified benefits airy successful examination to the detrimental effect SEO losses tin have.

How to merge WordPress sites without losing your SEO rankings

So, the important archetypal extremity of this process volition beryllium to permission your SEO rankings intact. The merge process is not wholly elemental successful itself either, truthful fto america tackle some measurement by step.

#1 Backup

First and foremost, you should ever execute backups of your sites erstwhile engaging successful specified practices. This way, you tin ever revert to erstwhile versions if thing goes wrong.

There are 2 superior ways to bash so; manually, by downloading your wp-content folder via MySQL and SFTP, oregon with third-party assistance. Here we’ll screen the latter, easier option, which comes with WordPress’s plugin library. You whitethorn usage specified backup plugins as:

• VaultPress
• UpdraftPlus
• BackupBuddy
• ManageWP Backups
• WP Time Capsule

With this information measurement successful place, we whitethorn present commencement the existent process.

#2 Export your aged WordPress site’s content

The archetypal measurement is reasonably casual and doesn’t necessitate third-party tools. In fact, astir of this process doesn’t – but we’ll inactive outline a mates that whitethorn prevention you clip and effort.

What you’ll request to bash archetypal is to export your aged WordPress site’s content. To bash so,

1. Navigate to its WordPress dashboard
2. There, navigate to Tools>Export
3. Choose All Content, oregon circumstantial contented you privation to extract, and past click Download Export File

The Tools tab of the WordPress dashboard.

This volition initialize the download of an XML file, which contains each your WordPress information but images. Images volition necessitate immoderate further effort, which we’ll screen next. Still, with this XML successful hand, you whitethorn statesman to merge WordPress sites without losing your SEO rankings.

#3 Import your contented to your caller site

The adjacent measurement is, of course, to import this contented to your caller website. Remember to support your tract backup successful manus successful lawsuit this measurement goes wrong, adjacent if it shouldn’t.

For this step, you volition request to navigate to your caller site’s dashboard, and from there, to Tools>Import. There, find the WordPress enactment and click “Install Now”.

A WordPress dashboard page.

Once the installation concludes, you whitethorn click the “Run Importer” enactment that appears. When you do, WordPress volition inquire that you take a record to upload. Click connected “Choose File”, prime your XML file, and past click connected the “Upload record and import” enactment below.

#4 Assign your caller contented to a user

If this process goes well, WordPress should past redirect you to a caller page. This leafage volition inquire you to delegate imported contented to an writer – and this is our archetypal important SEO note.

A WordPress punctual to delegate authors to imported content.

Here, you whitethorn permission each options blank if you privation to support the archetypal author’s information. Conversely, you whitethorn delegate it to your admin relationship to edit it aboriginal arsenic you spot fit.

Here lies a proverbial trap connected your quest to merge WordPress sites without losing your SEO rankings, however. “Import Attachments” volition really nexus to the archetypal attachments from your aged site, not “import” them per se. This tin person detrimental SEO effects – still, cheque its container for present and click “Submit”.

#5 Import your images

Next, you volition privation to code the aforementioned contented of images. Others suggest mounting up URL redirects archetypal earlier importing images, but the bid of these last steps doesn’t matter. So, let’s necktie up this escaped extremity first.

For this step, you volition archetypal request to download your images via FTP. You whitethorn usage specified tools arsenic Filezilla for this; simply find your files successful the wp-content/uploads directory and download them. Next, usage Filezilla to update them to the aforesaid directory of your caller site.

Finally, you volition request to modify your representation URLs and regenerate each the links that constituent to your aged site. For this, you whitethorn usage the Search and Replace plugin. After installing and activating it,

1. Navigate to your caller site’s WordPress dashboard
2. There, navigate to Tools>Search & Replace and find the Search & Replace tab
3. Finally, insert your aged site’s nexus into “search for:” and your caller site’s nexus to “replace with:”

A WordPress dashboard tab of the Search and Replace plugin.

Once you do, click “Do Search & Replace” and fto the plugin bash the enactment for you.

#6 Set up URL redirects

Finally, you indispensable acceptable up URL redirects to safeguard your SEO rankings. You whitethorn practically skip this measurement if you conscionable privation to merge brand-new websites, but typically you apt won’t.

For this last step, you volition request to usage Filezilla again oregon different FTP lawsuit of your choice. Using it, navigate to your aged site’s basal directory, find its .htaccess file, and unfastened it. There, adhd the pursuing code, replacing the placeholder URL with your caller site’s:

#Options +FollowSymLinks

RewriteEngine on

RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.newwordpresswebsite.com/$1 [R=301,L]

This volition instrumentality 301 redirects, letting your aged tract redirect to your caller 1 with minimal postulation losses. It does mean you should support your aged tract moving for a while, but postulation to it should yet stop. When it does, you whitethorn safely propulsion the plug connected it.

Summary

To summarize, this is the process of merging WordPress sites without losing your SEO rankings:

1. Back up your sites arsenic a information measure.
2. Export your aged site’s contented done WordPress, and import it to your caller site. When you do, delegate it to a caller author, arsenic WordPress instructs.
3. Import your images via FTP and regenerate their URLs with ones pointing to your caller website.
4. Add 301 redirect codification to your aged site’s .htaccess record to safeguard your SEO rankings.

This whitethorn look similar a lengthy process, but ideally, it should lone instrumentality a fewer hours astatine most. Still, execute backups conscionable successful case, and attack it cautiously passim to debar missteps.