How to Move Your Blog from WordPress.com to Self-Hosted WordPress in 3 Simple Steps (2025 Guide)

What Actually Matters in 2025

Speed is king. Your visitors won’t wait 5 seconds for your page to load. Neither will Google.

Here’s my no-BS checklist for choosing hosting:

• SSD storage (non-negotiable in 2025)
• Free SSL certificate (Google penalizes sites without it)
• One-click WordPress install (because who has time for tech headaches?)
• 24/7 chat support (trust me, you’ll need it at 2 AM eventually)
• Automatic daily backups (because stuff happens)

My Top 3 Picks (Tested Personally)

1. Bluehost - Perfect for beginners

• Starts at $2.95/month
• Free domain for the first year
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• Use case: My mom’s craft blog runs here. Zero tech skills needed.

2. SiteGround - Best for growing blogs

• Starts at $3.99/month
• Super fast customer support
• Free email accounts
• Use case: My own blog moved here after hitting 50k monthly visitors.

3. Kinsta - Premium choice for serious bloggers

• Starts at $30/month
• Lightning-fast load times
• Google Cloud infrastructure
• Use case: My friend runs a 200k+ monthly visitor blog here. Worth every penny.

Pro tip: Start with the cheapest plan. You can always upgrade later.

Quick Setup Guide

Once you’ve picked your host, the setup takes literally 5 minutes:

1. Choose your plan
2. Register your domain (or connect your existing one)
3. Click the WordPress install button
4. Done!

You’ll get login details via email. Bookmark your new admin URL: yourdomain.com/wp-admin

Before You Export: Quick Cleanup

Take 10 minutes to clean house. Your future self will thank you.

• Delete spam comments
• Remove unused tags and categories
• Check for broken images
• Update any posts you meant to fix “later”

The Actual Export Process

Here’s the step-by-step:

1. Log into your WordPress.com dashboard
2. Go to Tools → Export (it’s in the left sidebar)
3. Click “Export All” (not the free option, trust me)
4. Download your XML file (it’s smaller than you think)
5. Save it somewhere safe (desktop works fine)

What gets exported?

• All your posts and pages
• Comments and likes
• Categories and tags
• Your images (as long as they’re under 2GB total)

What doesn’t?

• Your theme (you’ll pick a new one anyway)
• Widget settings (easy to recreate)
• Some custom CSS (but you can copy-paste this)

Real talk: My export file for 150 blog posts was only 12MB. Your internet can handle this.

Pre-Import Checklist

Before we import, let’s set the stage:

• Log into your new WordPress admin
• Pick a basic theme for now (we’ll customize later)
• Maybe grab coffee? This takes 2-5 minutes

The Import Dance

Follow these exact steps:

1. In your new site, go to Tools → Import
2. Install the WordPress importer (just click “Install Now”)
3. Upload your XML file (the one from Step 2)
4. Assign posts to your new user account
5. Check “Download and import file attachments” (this gets your images)
6. Click “Submit” and wait

While you wait: WordPress is working its magic. Don’t refresh the page. Don’t panic if it takes a few minutes.

After Import: The Quick Wins

Once it’s done, here’s what to check first:

• Your homepage - Does it load? Good.
• A few posts - Images showing up? Great.
• Comments - Did they transfer? They should.

Common hiccup: Images might look broken. Don’t worry. Install the “Add From Server” plugin if needed. It fixes 90% of image issues automatically.

Setting Up Redirects (Keep Your Traffic)

Option 1: WordPress.com Site Redirect (easiest)

• Costs $13/year
• Automatically sends visitors to your new site
• Perfect if you have lots of traffic

Option 2: Domain Pointing (if you have a custom domain)

• Update your nameservers to your new host
• Takes 24-48 hours to propagate
• Pro tip: Do this during low-traffic hours

Quick SEO Checklist

Don’t lose your Google rankings:

• Install Yoast SEO (free version is fine)
• Set up Google Search Console for your new site
• Submit your new sitemap (Yoast creates this automatically)
• Check your permalinks (make them match your old structure)

My story: I forgot to set up redirects for my first migration. Lost 40% of my traffic overnight. Learn from my pain.

“My Images Are Missing!”

• Install the “Add From Server” plugin
• Run it once - usually fixes everything
• If not, re-upload the problem images manually

”My Theme Looks Weird!”

• That’s normal. WordPress.com themes don’t work on self-hosted
• Pick a new theme from the WordPress repository
• Or browse ThemeForest for premium options

”My Widgets Disappeared!”

• They do that. It’s like moving houses - some stuff gets lost
• Recreate them in your new theme
• Takes 5 minutes, and you’ll probably make them better