Begin to Blog: Blogging Platform Transfers

Since we talked about the Blogging Platforms yesterday, I thought I'd take a minute to share about transferring Blogging Platforms.

I didn't want to transfer platforms and start to pay for a service until I hit my one-year anniversary. I told myself from Day 1 that I would only invest my time since these hosting companies cost money. Since most blogs stop publishing within 6 months, I wanted to make sure it was something I really enjoyed. Obviously, I am still very passionate about it since I'm here!

If you do make a switch from one platform to another, consider hiring someone to help you with the transfer. I tried to do this on my own. I did quite a bit, but was overwhelmed with the new CSS (cascading style sheet) language and many features that WordPress offers.

I'm not a coder. I'm not a designer. I have aspirations to have a better than average understanding of the CSS language one day. But, trying to learn the language and implement at the same time is NOT ideal, especially if you want to maintain a bit of normalcy in your day to day routine. I should have remembered that from my Corporate days of implementation!

Create and maintain a project plan for your move. It doesn't have to be anything major or advanced. Use excel in google docs, even, to track each action item. But, DO have a project plan! Yes, it does seem formal, but it's not as simple as going from point A to point B. You have to consider your old posts, images, comments, feed and on…on…on! If you care about your site, the formality is necessary to ensure your transition is seamless to your customer – your readers!

Also, remember your readers in any transition. I have found with anything, advanced communication helps your readers be aware of what is going on for the smallest to even the largest site changes!

Do you remember my domain switch when my blogspot went *private* for a few days? Even though I shared the move on the site, it wasn't done far enough in advance for my *casual* direct readers (by direct, I mean those entering my url versus subscribing for site updates).

I lost 2/3 of my readers that weekend – they couldn't find me! Bloggers kept telling me they were getting emails with *Where did Mommy Snacks go?* Hey, my subscriptions still worked though :) That's another great benefit of having a feed/subscription for your readers (more on that later).

I opened my blogspot site back up so people could find me. I only have one post viewable on the page. All links on the blogspot direct people over here. I will eventually shut the it down completely.

So, take it from someone who has been there with a transfer: experience HELPS!

Action Plan: If you are one one platform and considering a switch, create an action plan for yourself to make it a seamless transition. Hire experienced help if necessary. It's so worth the money for the headaches you will avoid (trust me on this one).