Moving from Joomla to WordPress means rebuilding the site, not copying files across. Done properly, your content, structure, users and search rankings all come with you. This guide covers how the move works: what maps to what, the tools, the redirects, the parts that usually go wrong, and how long it really takes.
If you’d rather hand it over, our migration service covers everything below.
Why so many sites are leaving Joomla now
Joomla releases a new major version every two years and supports each one for about three years. In practice that means a major upgrade every two to three years, whether you need one or not:
- Joomla 3: reached end of life in August 2023.
- Joomla 4: reached end of life in October 2025.
- Joomla 5: gets security fixes only from October 2026 and reaches end of life in October 2027.
If you’re on Joomla 3 or 4, you have to move anyway, and the effort of a major Joomla upgrade (template and extension compatibility) is close to the effort of moving to WordPress. Most owners compare the two and choose the platform with the bigger ecosystem. According to W3Techs (October 2026), WordPress runs 39.5% of all websites and Joomla runs 2.4%. See our Joomla vs WordPress comparison if you’re still deciding.
The short version
- Audit the Joomla site: every URL, the pages that rank, every extension.
- Back up Joomla, then build WordPress on a staging copy.
- Import content with a migration plugin.
- Migrate users, and decide what happens to their passwords.
- Rebuild the design and replace extensions with plugins.
- Keep URLs where you can, and 301-redirect the rest.
- Fix internal links, images and SEO meta.
- Test, launch, then watch Search Console for a few weeks.
What maps to what
| In Joomla | Becomes in WordPress |
|---|---|
| Articles | Posts (news, blog) or pages (static content) |
| Categories (and sections in Joomla 1.5) | Categories |
| Tags | Tags |
| Menus and menu items | WordPress menus |
| Users and user groups | Users and roles |
| Custom fields | Custom fields (e.g. ACF) |
| Template | A new theme or custom build |
| Modules | Blocks, widgets or template parts |
| Extensions and components | Plugins with equivalent features |
| VirtueMart / HikaShop store | WooCommerce |
| K2 items | Posts or a custom post type |
| Media folder | Media library |
Step 1: Audit before you touch anything
The audit protects your rankings. Collect:
- Every URL. Crawl the site (e.g. Screaming Frog) and export the sitemap. This list becomes your redirect map.
- The pages that matter. In Google Search Console, export the top pages and queries for the last 12 months. These pages must keep their URL or get a redirect.
- Every extension. For each one, decide: replace it with a plugin, rebuild it, or drop it. Most Joomla sites carry extensions nobody uses any more.
- Backlinks. Note the pages other sites link to. They need working redirects too.
Step 2: Back up, then build on staging
Take a full backup of the Joomla files and database, for example with Akeeba Backup. Install WordPress on a staging copy, such as a subdomain or local environment, never over the live site. The Joomla site stays live and untouched until the new one is approved.
Step 3: Import the content
You have three realistic options:
| Method | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| FG Joomla to WordPress plugin (free / Premium) | Most sites. It connects to the Joomla database and imports articles, categories, images and internal links. | Users, menus, tags, custom fields and SEO meta need Premium. K2, VirtueMart and others need paid add-ons. |
| Online migration services | Quick one-off imports | Less control over URLs, and the design is never carried over |
| Custom import scripts | Large or unusual sites, custom components | Needs a developer, but gives full control |
Whichever you choose, the import moves the content, not the design. Plan the design rebuild separately.
Step 4: Migrate users and passwords
This is the part most guides skip. Joomla 3.2 and later store passwords as bcrypt hashes. Since WordPress 6.8, WordPress checks any hash it doesn’t recognise with PHP’s standard password_verify(), so a bcrypt hash imported from Joomla still works. Members can log in with their old password, and WordPress quietly upgrades the hash the next time they do.
Caveats:
– Very old Joomla sites (before 3.2) used md5:salt hashes, which WordPress can’t check. Those users need a password reset email, or an importer that adds its own login check.
– Map Joomla user groups to WordPress roles before importing, so nobody ends up as an administrator by accident.
– Membership sites with paid access need extra planning: subscriptions don’t carry over between membership extensions automatically.
Step 5: Rebuild the design and functionality
Don’t try to clone the old Joomla template. A migration is the cheapest moment to fix the design, page speed and mobile layout. Rebuild on a clean theme or a custom build, and replace each extension from your audit list with one plugin, or with no plugin at all if WordPress already does it.
Step 6: Keep URLs and redirect the rest
Rankings are kept or lost here. Joomla URLs come in a few shapes:
| Joomla URL | Typical WordPress target |
|---|---|
/blog/my-article (SEF URLs on) |
/my-article/ or keep /blog/my-article/ |
/index.php/blog/my-article |
the same page without index.php |
/component/content/article/12-my-article?Itemid=101 |
the article’s new URL |
/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12 |
the article’s new URL |
- Where you can, set WordPress permalinks to match the old structure, so most URLs never change.
- Everything else gets a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one, using the Redirection plugin or your server config.
- Pattern-based (regex) redirects can handle whole groups at once. For example,
^/index\.php/(.*)→/$1. - Test every URL from your audit list. Each should land on the right page with a single 301, never a 404 or a chain of redirects.
Step 7: Fix links, images and SEO
- Internal links: search the content for old Joomla links (
index.php?option=,/images/) and replace them. - Images: check that they all moved and that alt text came across.
- SEO data: copy page titles and meta descriptions into Yoast or Rank Math. The free importer doesn’t do this.
- Sitemap: submit the new XML sitemap in Search Console.
Step 8: Launch and monitor
Switch the domain to WordPress at a quiet time, clear all caches and test the key pages, forms and checkout. For the next 4–6 weeks, check Search Console for 404s and pages that lost positions, and fix them early. A short dip is normal; a lasting drop almost always means missing redirects.
How long does a Joomla migration take?
As a rough guide:
– Small brochure site (under 30 pages): about 1–2 weeks.
– Content site with hundreds of articles: 2–4 weeks.
– Membership sites, multilingual sites and VirtueMart stores: 6–12 weeks, because users, translations and orders need extra work.
The audit gives the real number before any work starts.
Common mistakes
- Migrating straight onto the live site instead of staging.
- Forgetting the
index.phpand?option=com_contentURLs in the redirect map. - Carrying over every old extension “just in case”.
- Losing titles and meta descriptions because the importer didn’t copy them.
- Not checking Search Console after launch.
Need it done for you?
We migrate Joomla sites to WordPress and WooCommerce. The process is: audit, redirect map, clean rebuild, content and user migration, and launch with Search Console monitoring. Your current site stays live until you approve the new one. See our migration service or ask for a quote.
Frequently asked questions
Will I lose my Google rankings?
Not if every old URL either stays the same or gets a 301 redirect. Most ranking losses after a migration come from missing redirects.
Can my users keep their passwords?
Yes, in most cases. Joomla 3.2+ bcrypt hashes are accepted by WordPress 6.8 and later. Only very old md5:salt hashes need a reset.
Is there a free Joomla to WordPress converter?
The free version of FG Joomla to WordPress imports articles, categories and images. Users, menus, tags and SEO data need the Premium version or manual work.
Can I move a VirtueMart store to WooCommerce?
Yes. Products, categories, customers and orders can be migrated with dedicated add-ons or scripts. Plan this as its own project; see WooCommerce development.
Do I need to upgrade to Joomla 5 first?
No. Importers read the Joomla database directly, and the FG plugin is tested from Joomla 1.5 up to 6.0.
Should I keep the same design?
You can recreate it, but most owners use the move to rebuild a faster, mobile-first design. See performance optimization.