How to Migrate Your Website from Kentico to WordPress?
Table of Contents
- Why Migrate from Kentico to WordPress?
- For Marketers: Why is WordPress better than Kentico?
- Step-by-Step Process to Migrate Kentico to WordPress.org CMS
- Why Choose a Professional WordPress Agency for Kentico Migration?
- To Wrap Up
Frankly speaking, no one enjoys a website development platform that costs an arm and a leg, lacks flexibility, and has a steep learning curve.
With over 12 years of experience in website development, we’ve consistently seen this issue with many enterprise CMS platforms.
In fact, many digital businesses in Australia have approached us in the last year alone, to move from expensive platforms like Kentico to WordPress. If you’re in the same boat, then this article is for you.
In this guide, we’ll provide a detailed comparison of both platforms and also highlight key reasons why migrating from Kentico to WordPress might be beneficial. We’ll also outline the essential steps involved in the migration process and how it can benefit most businesses.
Without further delay, let’s answer the difficult question first:
Why Migrate from Kentico to WordPress?
It is a known fact that both Kentico and WordPress are powerful Content Management Systems (CMS), but they serve different needs.
Kentico is geared toward enterprise-level solutions, offering features like e-commerce and marketing automation but at a higher cost and complexity. For most mid-level businesses, this is just an additional overhead cost since they do not need such a solution to manage their day-to-day website requirements.
WordPress, on the other hand, is open-source, more cost-efficient, and easier to use, and used by almost 70% of websites around the globe – all this makes it a popular choice for businesses looking for flexibility and growth.
So, if you are someone who is not using all the enterprise-level features Kentico offers and still spending a lot on just website management, then migrating to WordPress would be the best option.
In simple terms, migrating from Kentico to WordPress is for everyone who is:
- Looking for a more flexible website platform
- Doesn’t want to bear high costs
- Doesn’t want to spend a lot of time in upskilling to manage Kentico
- Doesn’t have the necessary support available (either from Kentico community or on-hand developers) to manage their website needs
For all of these people, moving to WordPress would be a much better option.
For Marketers: Why is WordPress better than Kentico?
For marketers, WordPress often outperforms Kentico in several key areas:
- Better Performance and Responsiveness: WordPress themes and plugins are optimized for speed and responsiveness, enhancing user experience.
- Easier Lead Generation: WordPress offers a wide range of lead generation plugins and tools that simplify the process of capturing and managing leads.
- Seamless Customisation: With a vast selection of themes and plugins, WordPress allows for easy and flexible website customisation to meet specific marketing needs.
- Integration with Marketing Platforms: WordPress integrates smoothly with various marketing platforms, including Google Ads, enabling efficient campaign management and tracking.
- Flawless Script Integration: You can add scripts and tracking codes without making your site bulkier, maintaining performance while enhancing functionality.
Read More: 10 Reasons WordPress is the Best Choice for Marketing Teams in 2024
Step-by-Step Process to Migrate Kentico to WordPress.org CMS
We believe that your website is fully ready for migration from Kentico to WordPress.org and you have the WordPress CMS installed on your hosting solution. Once all things are in place, the next step is to start the migration process.
1. Back-up Your Kentico Website
To ensure that you don’t lose any data during the migration process, it is essential that all of your Kentico website data is already backed up to third-party storage. The data backup should include all content, databases, and media files.
2. Create the Layout of Your Website on WordPress
Once your website migration is complete from Kentico to WordPress, you need to recreate the whole website with a WordPress theme. This would include fixing the layout, scripts, site structure, menus, navigation, and categories.
WordPress themes can offer you flexibility in design, so choose one that aligns with your website’s design requirements. You can also go for a custom theme design on WordPress if you are looking for more exclusivity.
This is the most time-consuming process of all, as you may want to use the opportunity to refresh the look and feel of your website. If that’s the case, you will need to work with a designer to draft a new layout or find a theme that works for you.
If you simply want a similar look and feel, you can hire a developer to replicate the site or follow this process to do it on your own.
3. Export Kentico Website Content
Kentico offers a pre-built export functionality to its users. Once the website is backed up, you can simply export the content of your website with the help of a download link.
The downloaded content folder will include all content of your website including content, databases, and even theme files.
4. Migrate Content to WordPress
Once the files are available, you can directly import them into WordPress using the Manual migration method.
You can also use tools like CMS2CMS if you want to migrate scripts and automate the whole migration process. This will ensure that all your files are automatically moved from Kentico to WordPress with minimal effort.
If you are unsure how to migrate your Kentico website to WordPress, you can also get in touch with us and our expert team can help you with the migration process.
5. Install Plugins to Match Kentico Website Features
Install all the plugins that match the functionality of features that were available on the Kentico website. You can install these plugins directly on the WordPress website from the plugin library.
The best part about these plugins is that most of them are completely free.
Some important plugins you will need for your website will include SEO plugins for site optimisations, Ecommerce plugins for product catalogues, and/or Forms for lead generation.
6. Test Your WordPress Website for Errors
After adding the plugins and finalising the theme structure of your WordPress website, it is time to test it.
Make sure that the website works on all devices, is fully responsive, and not showing any server or technical errors.
Also, test all the pages and posts that were available on the website pre-migration to make sure that they are opening properly post-migration.
A quick tip is to check all of these pages/posts through a sitemap to ensure that all links are tested.
7. Post-Migration Maintenance & Management
Once your website is launched, you will need to monitor it at least for the first month to make sure:
- That it is working properly at all times.
- There are no breakages or errors showing up
- That the site is fully responsive and works on all devices
- Check if there are any broken links, missing images, or loading problems
Monitoring your website performance will ensure that your website is working in a timely fashion and not facing any issues that can impact your business’s bottom line.
Why Choose a Professional WordPress Agency for Kentico Migration?
We all know that migrating from Kentico to WordPress is challenging, especially for beginners. It is also very time-consuming and for businesses that have already a resource crunch, it makes more sense to off-load migration to a third-party WordPress development agency.
By working with a professional development company, you can:
Save Time and Resources: By hiring WordPress development professionals, the migration will be a lot more efficient, and allow you to focus on running your business.
Ensure Quality: WordPress professionals will ensure your data consistency, integrity, and functionality.
Maintain SEO: Professionals preserve your SEO rankings and keep your URLs consistent. Moreover, they make sure that all sorts of technical errors arising due to migration from Kentico to WordPress are solved before the website is launched.
Handle Compatibility Issues: They tackle any plugin compatibility, feature integration, or design-specific issues that come up during migration.
Ongoing Support: Most WordPress development agencies have post-migration support that keeps your site secure and up-to-date.
To Wrap Up
Switching from Kentico to WordPress offers a range of benefits for digital businesses, including reduced costs and simpler management. By following the structured migration process provided in this article, you can easily migrate your Kentico website to WordPress with minimal effort and launch a successful website that is easy to customise, scale, and grow.
Migrate Kentico to WordPress with WPCreative
At WP Creative, we’re passionate about helping Australian businesses succeed with custom WordPress solutions. If you’re looking to migrate your Kentico-based website to WordPress in a highly efficient way, then get in touch with us today.
We’re here to help you build something that truly stands out.
