Import Your Local Website to WordPress for SEO
Have you ever wanted to have a local website but didn’t have the time to build one? Or, maybe you have a very unique brand or style that doesn’t match the rest of the websites in your area? Or, perhaps you just want to have a quick and easy way to share information about your local community?
Whether you have a brick and mortar business or you’re an online entrepreneur with a blog, having a local website is a great way to grow your business, connect with your community, and showcase your expertise.
It’s easy to import a local website to WordPress; all you need is a laptop or desktop computer and an Internet connection.
In this tutorial, we’ll show you step-by-step how to import your local website to WordPress so you can start using your new website right away to take advantage of the opportunities that a local online presence provides.
Find The Perfect Domain Name And Setup A Hosting Plan
The first thing you’ll need to do to import your local website to WordPress is find the perfect domain name for your website. You don’t want to go with just any old.COM or.NET domain name because chances are, they’re already taken. You’ll also need to setup a hosting plan so you can install WordPress to create your online presence.
To find the perfect domain name, you’ll need to navigate to the website extension section of your favorite search engine (i.e. Google, Bing, or Yahoo). Type in the name of your town (or city) and the word “.com” or “.net” without the quotation marks, and then press the enter key.
You’ll see a list of websites that match your search query, along with the domain name and extension that each site is registered under. Check out this example from Google:
- For example, if you search for “Boston tourism,” you’ll see a list of websites like visitboston.com, bostontourism.org, and so on.
- If you click on the domain name, you’ll be taken to the site’s landing page.
- You can then click the “install WordPress” button to have the site’s content imported to WordPress so you can start building your online business.
Create Your Local Website In WordPress
Once you have your perfect domain name and hosting plan set up, you can start the process of importing the site’s content to WordPress. To do this, visit your site’s dashboard in your favorite web browser. You’ll see a screen like this:
- If you’re at the WordPress 4.2+ dashboard, click on the plus sign next to “Add New.”
- You’ll see this screen:
- A button labeled “Import Local Website…”
- A form to start the process of importing your site’s content
On the form, you’ll need to enter the URL of your site. This is the address of your website, like “http://yoursite.com” or “https://yourwebsite.com” (if your site is secure).
Then, beneath the URL, you’ll see a placeholder for the name of the local business or organization that owns the website. This is typically found near the top of the page somewhere.
Finally, you’ll need to select the area that you’d like to import the content from. You can select either the entire website or just a certain part of it. For example, if you’re a real estate agent and you’ve uploaded a current list of properties for sale to your site, you might want to import just that part of the website. Otherwise, you’ll end up with hundreds of properties that you don’t need.
Click on the blue “Start Import” button to begin the process. You’ll see a popup message letting you know that this process can take some time.
Customize Your Website (Optional)
Now that the content from your local website is imported to WordPress, you can start customizing it. You don’t need to do this step but it’s a great opportunity for you to make your website look and feel like you.
If you’re not comfortable working with HTML and WordPress’ Visual Editor, you can hire a designer to do this for you. Alternatively, you can use a tool like Canva to quickly and easily create beautiful banners, icons, headers, and more for your website.
Once you’ve imported your local website to WordPress, you can start using the platform to do what you need to do. If you have a brick and mortar business, you can use the site to showcase your products and services. Or, if you’re an online entrepreneur, you can use the site to establish yourself as an expert in your industry. And last but not least, you can use the site to connect with your local community through events and happenings that they might want to know about.