Migrating from WordPress to VeloCMS

Migrating from WordPress does not have to be a weekend-ruining project. Here is the playbook we use internally — it preserves post dates, URLs, categories, and (critically) your existing SEO rankings.

1. Export from WordPress

In your WordPress admin, go to Tools → Export and pick All content. You get a single WXR XML file with everything: posts, pages, comments, categories, tags, authors, and media references.

2. Download your media

WordPress media lives in /wp-content/uploads. Download the entire folder via SFTP or use a plugin like Export Media Library. Keep the folder structure — our import tool preserves relative paths.

3. Import into VeloCMS

Go to Tools → Import in your VeloCMS admin and drop the WXR file and the media folder. We parse the XML, upload every image to Cloudflare R2, rewrite image URLs in post content, and create matching posts, categories, and tags.

4. Set up 301 redirects

This is the step everyone forgets. WordPress URLs like /2023/07/my-post/ will 404 on VeloCMS unless you tell Google the content moved. We auto-generate a redirect map during import — it matches legacy URLs to new ones and is served from the edge.

5. Submit a new sitemap

After import, fetch your new /sitemap.xml and submit it in Google Search Console. Rankings should stay steady or improve — VeloCMS's LCP under 1s is a ranking signal WordPress rarely achieves.