Migrating from WordPress to GitHub CMS saves $200-1000/year in hosting and plugin costs while improving page speed by 3-4× and AI citation rates by 30-45%. The migration takes 6-8 weeks for a typical site and preserves all SEO metadata through proper 301 redirects and matching URL structures.
Migration Steps
1. Export Content
Use the WordPress export tool (Tools → Export) to download all posts and pages as XML. Convert to Markdown using wp2md or a custom script. Verify that all content, images, and metadata are preserved.
2. Preserve URLs
Match the original WordPress URL structure in your Markdown slugs. For any changed URLs, create 301 redirects in nginx:
location /old-wordpress-url {
return 301 /blog/new-github-cms-url/;
}
3. Add YAML Frontmatter
Each post needs proper frontmatter with title, description, date, author, category, and tags. The original WordPress metadata maps directly to frontmatter fields.
4. Build and Test
Run npm run build locally and verify all pages render correctly. Check that JSON-LD, Open Graph, and sitemap are generated for every page.
Migration Checklist
| Task | Time | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Export WordPress content | 1 day | Critical |
| Convert to Markdown | 2-3 days | Critical |
| Add YAML frontmatter | 2-3 days | Critical |
| Set up 301 redirects | 1 day | High |
| Test SEO preservation | 2 days | High |
| Deploy and monitor | 1 week | Medium |
Summary
The migration to static GitHub CMS is a one-time investment that pays off continuously: faster loading, better AI visibility, lower costs, and zero security maintenance.