Kentico to WordPress: A Step-by-Step Process for Migrating Your Website

Kentico and WordPress are both popular content management systems (CMS), but they cater to different needs. Many companies choose to migrate Kentico to WordPress for its cost-effectiveness, ease of use, and larger community support. While the migration process offers many benefits, such as improved scalability and user experience, it can come with challenges like data transfer and SEO preservation.

This article provides in-depth information on the process of migrating from Kentico CMS to WordPress. For beginners, however, we recommend hiring a professional for WordPress migration.

Why Migrate from Kentico to WordPress?

Migrating from Kentico to WordPress offers several advantages, especially for businesses looking for a more flexible, cost-effective solution. While Kentico is a powerful CMS, WordPress has become the go-to platform for many due to its ease of use, scalability, and extensive support. Below are the key benefits of making the switch.

Benefits of Migrating from Kentico to a WordPress Website:

• Cost-Effective: WordPress is an open-source platform, meaning no licensing fees. This can significantly reduce overall website costs.

• User-Friendly: WordPress has an intuitive interface, making it easier for non-technical users to manage website content and updates.

• Large Plugin Ecosystem: WordPress offers a vast range of plugins for every functionality, from SEO to eCommerce, allowing for greater customization.

• Scalability: As your business grows, WordPress can easily scale with it, whether you need additional features, better performance, or more content.

• Larger Community Support: With its global community, WordPress offers a wealth of tutorials, forums, and developer resources to solve any issues quickly.

• SEO-Friendly: WordPress has built-in SEO features and many powerful SEO plugins that help improve search engine rankings.

• Regular Updates: WordPress receives frequent updates, ensuring better security, features, and overall performance.

Complete Guide: How to Update WordPress Automatically and Manually

Choosing a Professional WordPress Agency for Kentico Migration

Selecting the right WordPress agency is crucial for a successful Kentico migration. An experienced agency can ensure a seamless transition from existing website and help avoid common pitfalls. Here’s what to consider when choosing the right agency for your migration:

Experience with Kentico Migrations

Look for a WordPress agency with proven expertise in migrating from Kentico to WordPress. Agencies like Seahawk, for example, have a strong track record of successful migrations. We help agencies and top hosting providers with their client’s website migrations. Our experience ensures that we can handle complex migrations smoothly.

Expertise in WordPress Development, Design, and SEO

Ensure the agency has expertise not only in migration but also in WordPress development, web design, and SEO. As a well-rounded agency, we can help you create a visually appealing site with optimized performance. Plus, we help preserve your site’s SEO rankings.

Customer Service and Ongoing Support

Good customer service is essential. Choose an agency that offers reliable support throughout the migration process and after the launch. Clear communication and accessible WordPress support can help resolve any issues quickly.

Plugin Compatibility and Successful Migration Approach

Ask the agency about their approach to ensuring plugin compatibility during the migration. They should have a strategy for handling plugins and ensuring that all necessary features are successfully transferred to WordPress without disruptions.

Preparing for a Smooth Migration Process: Setting Goals and Preparing Resources

A successful migration from Kentico to WordPress requires thorough planning and preparation. Setting clear goals and organizing resources will help streamline the process and ensure a smooth transition. Here’s how you can prepare:

Define Migration Goals

Before starting the migration, defining what you hope to achieve is essential. Ask yourself the following:

• Improved Usability: Do you want a more user-friendly platform for content management?

• Better SEO: Are you aiming to improve search engine rankings through better SEO results?

• Enhanced Scalability: Will your new WordPress site need to grow as your business expands?

Check out: Top Most Notable And Inspiring WordPress Websites

Inventory and Analyze Your Kentico Website

Next, take inventory of all content and features on your Kentico website. This includes:

• Pages and Content: List every page and identify which ones are critical for migration.

• Media Files: Ensure all images, videos, and documents are accounted for.

• Custom Code: Review any custom code or third-party integrations that may need to be replicated in WordPress.

Identify what is necessary for the new site and what can be discarded or improved. This analysis will help you migrate only essential data.

Ultimate Guide: WordPress Website Migration and its Types

Prepare Resources and Allocate Responsibilities

A smooth migration requires a clear division of tasks and the right tools:

• Team Members or Agencies: Determine whether your in-house team will handle the migration or if you need external WordPress experts.

• Essential Tools: Make a list of tools you’ll need, such as backup plugins, CMS migration tools (e.g., All-in-One WP Migration), and data migration solutions.

• Backup Solutions: Ensure you have reliable backup solutions in place to avoid data loss during the migration.

You can minimize delays and potential issues during the migration process by preparing the necessary resources and allocating tasks effectively.

Know about: Best WordPress Website Migration Agencies

Step-by-Step Guide for Kentico to WordPress Migration

Now, let’s take a look at the step-by-step guide to migrating from Kentico to WordPress. This process covers everything from planning and content migration to theme setup and SEO preservation for optimal results.

Setting Up the WordPress Environment

Setting up your WordPress environment is the first crucial step before migrating your website. Here’s how you can do it.

Choose WordPress Hosting

Choosing the right hosting is critical for the performance and security of your site. Key factors to consider include:

• Server Performance: Look for hosting with fast load times and high uptime reliability.
• Security: Opt for providers that offer robust security measures, such as SSL certificates and regular backups.
• Ease of Scaling: Choose hosting that allows for easy upgrades as your website grows.

Recommended hosting providers that support WordPress:

• DreamHost: Great for beginners with reliable customer support.
• Hostinger: Known for its speed and excellent customer service.
• Pressable: Offers high-end managed hosting for WordPress with superior performance and security.

Related: Best WordPress Hosting Providers

Install WordPress

Once you’ve chosen your hosting, it’s time to install WordPress. Most hosting providers offer two installation options:

• Manual Installation: You’ll download WordPress and upload it to your server via FTP, which gives you more control but takes more time.

• One-Click Installation: Many web hosts provide a one-click install option, making the process quick and easy.

Set Up Essential Plugins

To ensure a smooth migration and better site management, install plugins such as:

• All-in-One WP Migration: A popular plugin for migrating content from other platforms to WordPress.

• Security Plugins: Consider installing Wordfence to protect your site from threats.

• SEO Plugins: Use All in One SEO to optimize your site for search engines.

• Backup Plugins: Install UpdraftPlus or WP Umbrella to create regular backups of your site.

Know more: Free WordPress Plugins To Use

Migrating Content and Data from Kentico to WordPress

Migrating your content and data from Kentico to WordPress requires careful planning to ensure all content, media, and custom features are successfully transferred. Here’s a brief guide on how to handle this process.

Content Migration: Here, you have two options:

• Manual Migration: Copy and paste content from Kentico to WordPress. Export text, images, and files manually, then upload them to WordPress using the editor. This gives you full control over what gets transferred, but it can be time-consuming.

• Automated Migration: Use plugins like WP All Import to automate the migration. This can speed up the process and reduce human error, especially for large websites.

Transferring Media Files: Export all images, videos, and documents from Kentico. Use WordPress’s media uploader to import files. Plus, ensure file names and alt texts are preserved for SEO.

Migrate Custom Content Types and Fields: Kentico may have custom fields or content types that need to be recreated in WordPress. Here, use custom post types and custom fields in WordPress. Or, you can use plugins like Advanced Custom Fields to ensure compatibility.

Ensure Data Accuracy and Completeness: Double-check content during the migration for accuracy. Also, review all pages, posts, and media to ensure nothing is missing or broken post migration. Use a tool like Broken Link Checker to spot any errors.

Setting Up Themes and Replicating the Design

When migrating from Kentico to WordPress, choosing the right theme ensures your website maintains its original look and feel.

Choosing a WordPress Theme: Select a theme that closely matches the design and layout of your original Kentico site.

• Options: Consider premium themes like Divi or Astra for flexibility, or opt for a custom theme if your design requires specific features.

• Custom Development: If needed, hire a developer to create a custom theme tailored to your requirements.

Replicating Website Design and User Experience: Use WordPress design tools like Elementor or WPBakery to recreate the layout and design of your Kentico site. Next,

• User Interface Adjustments: Consider improving usability with a more modern design, faster load times, and mobile responsiveness.

• Enhancing User Experience: Make sure your design is intuitive, with easy navigation and clear calls to action, improving overall site interaction.

Check out: Fastest WordPress Themes with PageSpeed Scores

Implementing Essential Functionalities and Plugins

After migrating your content and design, it’s important to implement the necessary functionalities that Kentico previously handled.

Identify and Install Necessary Plugins

• Form Builders: Use plugins like Contact Form 7 or WPForms to recreate the forms from your Kentico site.

• Ecommerce Functionality: Install WooCommerce for ecommerce needs, offering full functionality like product management and payments.

• Other Essential Plugins: Consider All in One SEO for SEO optimization, Bricks for page building, and WPML for multilingual support.

Recreate Custom Functionalities

If your Kentico site had custom features, such as client portals or member areas, you can recreate these in WordPress using plugins like MemberPress. For custom content types, use Advanced Custom Fields to maintain flexibility in your WordPress site.

Testing for Compatibility and Performance

After installing the necessary plugins, thoroughly test each one to ensure it functions correctly with your WordPress setup. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to ensure your site loads quickly and runs smoothly.Lastly, test for conflicts between plugins and custom features and ensure everything works seamlessly across different browsers and devices.

Preserving SEO and Redirects

Preserving SEO during the migration from Kentico to WordPress helps to avoid losing search engine rankings. Here’s how to manage SEO and redirects.

• Mapping Old URLs to New URLs: If URLs change, search engines may not recognize the new pages, leading to a loss in rankings and traffic. Thus, maintaining the same URL structure is key to preventing SEO issues during migration.

• Set Up 301 Redirects: This process permanently redirects old Kentico URLs to their new WordPress counterparts. Use a plugin like Redirection or set up redirects manually in your server’s .htaccess file to forward traffic and preserve link equity.

Related: Best WordPress Redirect Plugins

• SEO Migration Checklist: Ensure all meta titles, descriptions, and other SEO elements are transferred correctly. Don’t forget to carry over alt texts for all images, as they impact SEO. Lastly, maintain your internal links structure for smooth navigation and search engine crawling.

Infographic Guide: Complete SEO Checklist

Testing the Migrated Website

Once the migration from Kentico to WordPress is complete, it’s essential to test the new site to ensure everything works correctly. This step ensures your site functions as expected and provides a smooth user experience.

• Quality Assurance (QA) Testing: Test all website elements, such as forms, links, images, and videos, to ensure they are working properly. Check that the site is fully responsive, meaning it adjusts well on desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. Lastly, review all pages to confirm that content was migrated correctly and appears as it should.
• Performance Testing: Use tools like GTmetrix to test how fast the site loads.

• User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Involve end-users or stakeholders in testing to ensure the website meets expectations. Have them perform key tasks on the site and provide feedback on usability, design, and functionality.

Ultimate Guide: Quality Assurance Checklist for WordPress Website 

Ensuring a Successful WordPress Site Launch

A successful launch of your WordPress site requires careful final preparations and monitoring to ensure everything runs smoothly post-launch. These include:

• Domain Pointing: Update your domain’s DNS settings to point to the new WordPress site.

• Go-Live Preparations: Double-check that all content, features, and redirects are set up correctly before launching.

• Backup: Ensure you have a full site backup in case any issues arise.

Also, you need to monitor and address post-launch issues. This includes:

• Monitoring Tools: Use Google Analytics to track site traffic and Google Search Console to monitor search performance.

• Addressing Issues: Check for broken links, slow load times, and missing images. Use tools like Broken Link Checker to identify and fix issues quickly.

• Ongoing Updates: Keep your plugins, themes, and WordPress core updated to maintain security and performance.

Read: Why Website Maintenance is Essential

Final Thoughts

Migrating from Kentico to WordPress can be a complex process, but with the right approach, it can lead to a more flexible, user-friendly, and scalable website. While it’s possible to handle the migration yourself, working with a professional WordPress agency ensures a seamless transition. 

Experts can manage the technical aspects, preserve SEO, and address any post-launch issues efficiently. So, if you’re considering migrating, get in touch with Seahawk. We can save time, reduce risks, and guarantee a smoother, more successful migration to WordPress.

Kentico to WordPress Migration FAQs