How to Properly Move Your Blog from Tumblr to WordPress

Moving your blog from Tumblr to WordPress is a smart choice if you’re looking for more flexibility and control. WordPress is a powerful platform that allows you to build any website you want, with endless customization options.

By switching to WordPress, you gain access to a vast range of features that Tumblr doesn’t offer. This includes thousands of themes, plugins, and tools to help you create a unique and professional website.

In this article, we will guide you through the process of properly moving your blog from Tumblr to WordPress, ensuring a smooth transition.

Why Should You Move Your Tumblr Blog to WordPress?

Tumblr started as a fully hosted microblogging platform and gained popularity among the more casual bloggers. We loved Tumblr’s more fun approach, ease of use, and innovative features.

However, it offers limited ability to monetize the content. Users find it difficult to design their blogs and connect their content to eCommerce and subscription features.

WordPress, on the other hand, is the most popular blogging platform in the world. It powers more than 43% of all websites on the internet.

It gives users more flexibility to design websites, add an online store, offer membership features, and more.

To learn more about WordPress and what you can do with it, please see our complete WordPress review with pros and cons.

There are two types of WordPress.

First, there is WordPress.com, which is a hosted platform owned by Automattic, the same company that owns Tumblr.

Then there is WordPress.org, also called self-hosted WordPress. To understand the difference, please see our comparison of WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org.

We recommend using WordPress.org because it allows you to build any website. It also gives you full control over your site and unlocks access to all WordPress features.

Things You’ll Need to Move Tumblr to WordPress

To start with WordPress.org, you’ll need a domain name and a web hosting account.

We recommend using Bluehost. They are an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider and one of the largest hosting companies in the world.

They are offering WPBeginner users a free domain name, a free SSL certificate, and a discount on hosting. Basically, you can get started for $1.99 / month.

If you can spend a little more, then we recommend SiteGround. They are also an officially recommended WordPress hosting service.

Note: Bluehost and SiteGround don’t allow the hosting of adult content on their servers.

If your Tumblr blog contains adult content, then we recommend Hostinger. They are also on our list of the top WordPress hosting companies.

Once you have purchased hosting, the next step is to install WordPress. Most hosting providers offer a one-click WordPress installation. If you cannot find the option, ask your hosting company, and they will install WordPress for you.

Alternatively, you can follow our step-by-step guide on how to install WordPress to do it yourself.

After installation, you’ll reach the WordPress dashboard screen, which looks like this:

Moving Your Content From Tumblr to WordPress

To migrate your Tumblr blog to WordPress, First visit the Tools » Import page in your new WordPress site’s admin area.

After that, click on the ‘Install Now’ button below Tumblr.

WordPress will now fetch and install the Tumblr Importer tool for you.

Once done, click on the ‘Run Importer’ link to continue.

On the next screen, you’ll need to provide the OAuth Consumer Key and Secret key. These keys allow your WordPress site to connect and import your content from Tumblr servers.

To get these keys, you need to click on the URL shown on the screen.

This will take you to the Tumblr website. You will be asked to log in if you are not logged in.

After that, click on the ‘+ Register application’ button to continue.

Next, you need to fill in the ‘Application Name’, ‘Application Website’, ‘Application Description’, and ‘Default Callback URL’ fields. You can leave the rest blank.

You need the full URL of your WordPress site and the default callback URL fields. For the application name and description, you can use anything you want.

Once you are done, click the ‘Register’ button at the bottom to continue.

Tumblr will now register the application and return you to the application dashboard.

From here, you can copy the consumer key. To reveal and copy the secret key, click on ‘Show Secret’.

You now need to go back to your WordPress admin area, go to the Tools » Import page, and rerun the importer.

You can enter the keys you copied earlier in the importer settings and click on the ‘Connect to Tumblr’ button.

On the next screen, you need to click on the ‘Authorize the Application’ button.

This will take you to Tumblr, where you will be asked to allow the app to connect with your account.

Click on the ‘Allow’ button to continue.

Next, you’ll be redirected back to your WordPress site, and the importer will now show your Tumblr blogs.

Simply click on the ‘Import this blog’ button next to the blog you want to import.

The importer will now start importing your Tumblr content to WordPress. The import process may take some time, depending on how much content you have.

Once finished, you will see the success message.

You can now visit your WordPress blog’s Posts and Pages sections to see your imported content.

You can also visit your WordPress website to see how the posts are displayed on your live website.

Redirecting Tumblr Visitors to Your New WordPress Blog

Now that you have imported the content, you will want your Tumblr visitors to be able to find your new blog.

To do this, you need to edit the theme of your Tumblr blog. First, go to the Tumblr settings page.

From here, it will show you a list of blogs you have created under your Tumblr account.

Click on the blog name that you want to edit to open its settings.

This will open your blog settings.

On this screen, you need to click on the ‘Edit theme’ button to continue.

Next, click on the ‘Edit HTML’ option under the theme name.

This will allow you to edit the HTML code of your Tumblr theme.

Tumblr will now show you the HTML code of the theme.

First, you need to paste this code snippet right after the <head> tag:

<!-- Inside head -->
<meta name="description" content="this is a legacy blog page, and will redirect to the same post on my new blog">
<script type='text/javascript'>
   let new_slug = window.location.pathname;
   let new_root = "https://example.com";
   let new_url = new_root + new_slug;
   console.log(`<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"" + ${new_url} + "\">`);
</script>

Don’t forget to replace example.com with the actual URL of your new WordPress blog.

After that, you need to paste this second piece of code right after the <body> tag:

<!--Inside of <body> -->
<script type='text/javascript'>
    window.location = new_url;
</script>

You can now click on the ‘Update Preview’ button and then click on the ‘Save’ to store your settings.

This code will send your Tumblr visitors to your WordPress site. However, users visiting a specific page or post will see a 404 error. That’s because the URL format of Tumblr and your WordPress site are different, so you will need to redirect users to the correct posts.

Setting Up Redirects in WordPress for Your Tumblr Posts

There are two easy ways to set up redirects in WordPress for your Tumblr posts. We will show you both, and you can choose the one that best suits you.

1. Set Up Redirects Using All in One SEO

All in One SEO for WordPress is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market. It allows you to easily optimize your WordPress website for search engines.

It also comes with a powerful Redirection Manager, which we will be using for this tutorial.

First, install and activate the All in One SEO for WordPress plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit the All in One SEO » Redirects page. Under ‘Add New Redirection’, you need to enter the following values:

Source URL: ^//post/\d+/(.)

Target URL: /$1/

Don’t forget to check the ‘Regex’ box under the Source URL option.

After that, click on the Add Redirect button to save your changes. All in One SEO will redirect users to the correct articles on your site.

2. Set Up Redirects Using Redirection

This method is helpful if you are not using the All in One SEO plugin.

First, you need to install and activate the Redirection plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit the Tools » Redirection page to configure settings. Under the ‘Add new redirection’ section, you need to add redirection using regular expressions like this:

Source URL: .*/post/\d+/(.*)

Target URL: /$1

After that, check the ‘Regex’ checkbox and then click on the ‘Add Redirect’ button to save your settings.

That’s all. Your Tumblr blog posts will now redirect to the correct article on your new WordPress blog.

Congratulations! You have successfully moved your blog from Tumblr to WordPress.

Things to Do After Moving From Tumblr to WordPress

Now that you have moved your content from Tumblr to WordPress, you may want to explore WordPress, learn the basics, and take advantage of this powerful platform.

Following are a few pointers to help you get going.

Set Up a WordPress Theme

The first thing most users want to do after moving to WordPress is change their blog’s design. WordPress offers thousands of free and paid themes to choose from.

Here are some of our expert picks of the best WordPress themes for different kinds of blogs:

• Best free WordPress blog themes
• Best WordPress magazine themes
• Best free WordPress photography themes
• Best Tumblr Style WordPress themes

Need help setting up a new theme? See our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress theme.

Installing WordPress Plugins

Next, you would want to take advantage of WordPress plugins.

WordPress plugins are like apps for your WordPress site. They allow you to add new features and functionality to your website, such as a contact form, Google Analytics installation, membership features, social media buttons, and more.

However, choosing the right plugins can be overwhelming for new users. That’s why we have compiled a list of essential WordPress plugins that you can install.

Learning WordPress

WordPress is quite easy to use and manage. However, there is a learning curve involved whenever you start with a new platform. This is where WPBeginner can help.

WPBeginner is the largest free WordPress resource site for beginners. We have lots of helpful content that is created specifically for beginners, business owners, and bloggers.

Following are a few of the helpful resources you will find on WPBeginner (all of them are completely free):

• WPBeginner Blog – The central place for all our WordPress tutorials and guides.
• WPBeginner Dictionary – Our WordPress glossary will help you quickly familiarize yourself with the WordPress lingo
• WPBeginner Videos – New WordPress users can start with these videos to master WordPress.
• WPBeginner on YouTube – Need more video instructions? Subscribe to our YouTube channel with more than 1 million subscribers and 53 Million+ views.
• WPBeginner Engage – WPBeginner’s Facebook group has 98,000+ active users. It is a good place to ask your WordPress questions and get answers from the WPBeginner community.
• WPBeginner Blueprint – Check out the plugins, tools, and services we use on WPBeginner.
• WPBeginner Deals – Exclusive discounts on WordPress products and services for WPBeginner users.

Many of our users use Google to find answers on WPBeginner by adding ‘wpbeginner’ at the end of their search term.

We hope this article helped you move your blog from Tumblr to WordPress. You may also want to see our actionable tips to drive traffic to your new WordPress blog or our expert pick of the best page builder plugins for WordPress.

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