How to Migrate a WordPress Website to Next.js — A Complete Step-by-Step Guide

If you're running a WordPress website and want to upgrade to a modern, lightning-fast frontend with Next.js, you're in the right place. In this guide, I'll walk you through the entire process — from exporting your WordPress site as static HTML to converting it into a fully functional Next.js application.

Why Migrate from WordPress to Next.js?

Before diving in, let's understand why this migration makes sense:

- **Performance** — Next.js generates static or server-rendered pages that load significantly faster than WordPress - **Security** — No PHP, no database vulnerabilities, no plugin exploits - **Developer Experience** — React components, hot reload, TypeScript support, and modern tooling - **Scalability** — Deploy on Vercel, Netlify, or any CDN with zero server management - **SEO** — Built-in SSR/SSG means search engines see fully rendered HTML

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have:

- Access to your WordPress admin dashboard - Node.js (v18+) installed on your machine - Basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React - A code editor (VS Code recommended)

Step 1: Install the Simply Static Plugin on WordPress

The first step is to export your entire WordPress site as static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files. The Simply Static plugin does this perfectly.

**How to install:**

1. Log in to your WordPress Admin Dashboard 2. Go to Plugins → Add New 3. Search for "Simply Static" 4. Click Install Now, then Activate

**Configure Simply Static:**

1. Navigate to Simply Static → Settings 2. Under Delivery Method, select "ZIP Archive" — this will bundle everything into a downloadable ZIP file 3. Under URLs, make sure the Origin URL matches your live WordPress URL 4. Click Save Changes

**Generate the static export:**

1. Go to Simply Static → Generate 2. Click "Generate Static Files" 3. Wait for the process to complete — it will crawl every page, post, image, and asset 4. Once done, download the ZIP file

**Tip:** For large sites with hundreds of pages, the export may take several minutes. Don't close the browser tab during this process.

Step 2: Extract and Analyze the Static Files

Unzip the downloaded file. You'll see a folder structure like this:

``` wordpress-static/ ├── index.html ├── about/ │ └── index.html ├── blog/ │ ├── index.html │ ├── post-one/ │ │ └── index.html │ └── post-two/ │ └── index.html ├── contact/ │ └── index.html ├── wp-content/ │ ├── themes/ │ │ └── your-theme/ │ │ ├── style.css │ │ └── assets/ │ ├── uploads/ │ │ └── 2024/ │ │ ├── image1.jpg │ │ └── image2.png │ └── plugins/ └── wp-includes/ ├── css/ └── js/ ```

**What to look for:**

- **HTML files** — These are your page templates. Each folder represents a route - **wp-content/themes/your-theme/style.css** — Your main stylesheet - **wp-content/uploads/** — All your media files (images, PDFs, etc.) - **wp-includes/** — WordPress core CSS/JS (mostly not needed in Next.js)

**Clean up what you don't need:**

- Delete the `wp-includes/` folder — Next.js doesn't need WordPress core scripts - Delete any plugin-specific files from `wp-content/plugins/` unless they contain custom CSS you want to keep - Keep `wp-content/uploads/` — you'll move these images to Next.js later

Step 3: Set Up a New Next.js Project

Open your terminal and create a fresh Next.js project:

```bash npx create-next-app@latest my-website ```

When prompted, choose these options:

- Would you like to use TypeScript? → No (or Yes if you prefer) - Would you like to use ESLint? → Yes - Would you like to use Tailwind CSS? → Yes (recommended) - Would you like to use `src/` directory? → Yes - Would you like to use App Router? → Yes - Would you like to customize the import alias? → No

Your project structure will look like this:

``` my-website/ ├── src/ │ └── app/ │ ├── layout.js │ ├── page.js │ └── globals.css ├── public/ ├── package.json └── next.config.js ```

Step 4: Convert HTML to JSX Components

This is the core of the migration. You'll take your WordPress HTML and convert it into React/JSX components.

**4.1 Identify Reusable Components**

Open your WordPress `index.html` and identify the common sections: Header, Footer, Sidebar, Hero/Banner section, and Content area.

**4.2 HTML → JSX Conversion Rules**

Here are the key differences between HTML and JSX:

- `class` → `className` - `for` → `htmlFor` - `style="color: red"` → `style={{ color: 'red' }}` - `<img src="...">` → `<img src="..." />` (self-closing) - `onclick="..."` → `onClick={...}` - `<!-- comment -->` → `{/* comment */}` - `tabindex="0"` → `tabIndex={0}`

**4.3 Create the Header Component**

Create `src/components/Header.jsx`:

```jsx import Link from 'next/link';

export default function Header() { return ( <header className="bg-white shadow-sm"> <nav className="container mx-auto flex items-center justify-between py-4 px-6"> <Link href="/" className="text-2xl font-bold"> Your Brand </Link> <ul className="flex gap-6"> <li><Link href="/">Home</Link></li> <li><Link href="/about">About</Link></li> <li><Link href="/blog">Blog</Link></li> <li><Link href="/contact">Contact</Link></li> </ul> </nav> </header> ); } ```

**Key change:** WordPress uses `<a href="...">` for links. In Next.js, always use `<Link href="...">` from `next/link` for internal navigation — it enables client-side routing and prefetching.

**4.4 Create the Footer Component**

Create `src/components/Footer.jsx`:

```jsx export default function Footer() { return ( <footer className="bg-gray-900 text-white py-8"> <div className="container mx-auto text-center"> <p>&copy; {new Date().getFullYear()} Your Brand. All rights reserved.</p> </div> </footer> ); } ```

**4.5 Set Up the Root Layout**

Update `src/app/layout.js` to include your Header and Footer:

```jsx import Header from '@/components/Header'; import Footer from '@/components/Footer'; import './globals.css';

export const metadata = { title: 'Your Website', description: 'Your website description for SEO', };

export default function RootLayout({ children }) { return ( <html lang="en"> <body> <Header /> <main>{children}</main> <Footer /> </body> </html> ); } ```

Step 5: Migrate Your Styles

You have three options for handling WordPress CSS in Next.js:

**Option A: Use the Existing CSS (Quick)** — Copy the relevant styles from your WordPress `style.css` into `src/app/globals.css`. Remove WordPress-specific classes you don't need.

**Option B: Use Tailwind CSS (Recommended)** — Convert your CSS to Tailwind utility classes directly in your JSX.

**Option C: CSS Modules (Scoped)** — Create `Header.module.css` alongside your component for scoped styles.

Step 6: Convert WordPress Pages to Next.js Routes

Next.js App Router uses folder-based routing. Each folder in `src/app/` becomes a URL route.

| WordPress URL | Next.js File | |---|---| | `/` (Home) | `src/app/page.js` | | `/about/` | `src/app/about/page.js` | | `/contact/` | `src/app/contact/page.js` | | `/blog/` | `src/app/blog/page.js` | | `/blog/my-first-post/` | `src/app/blog/[slug]/page.js` |

**SEO Tip:** The `metadata` export in Next.js automatically generates `<title>` and `<meta name="description">` tags — much cleaner than WordPress SEO plugins like Yoast.

Step 7: Handle Images and Assets

Move all files from `wp-content/uploads/` to your Next.js `public/images/` folder, then update all image paths in your components.

Replace standard `<img>` tags with the Next.js `<Image>` component for automatic optimization:

```jsx import Image from 'next/image';

<Image src="/images/hero-banner.jpg" alt="Hero Banner" width={1200} height={600} priority /> ```

Benefits of `next/image`: automatic WebP/AVIF conversion, lazy loading by default, responsive srcset generation, and prevents Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).

Step 8: Handle Blog Posts

If your WordPress site has blog posts, you have two approaches:

**Approach A: Static Markdown Files** — Convert each blog post to a `.md` or `.mdx` file with frontmatter. Use a library like `gray-matter` to parse frontmatter and `react-markdown` to render content.

**Approach B: WordPress as Headless CMS** — Keep WordPress running as a backend API and fetch posts via the WordPress REST API. This lets content editors keep using WordPress while the frontend is Next.js.

Step 9: Add Dynamic Features Back

WordPress plugins handle forms, search, and other dynamic features. Here's how to replace them in Next.js:

- **Contact Forms** — Use Formspree, EmailJS, or build a custom API route - **Search** — Implement client-side search with `useState` and `filter()`, or use Algolia for advanced search - **Comments** — Use Disqus, Giscus (GitHub-based), or build your own with a database

Step 10: Deploy on Vercel

Vercel is the company behind Next.js and offers the best deployment experience:

1. Push your code to GitHub 2. Go to vercel.com and sign in with GitHub 3. Click "New Project" and import your repository 4. Vercel auto-detects Next.js — just click "Deploy" 5. Your site is live with a `.vercel.app` URL

Add your custom domain in Project Settings → Domains. SSL is automatic and free.

Migration Checklist

Before going live, verify everything:

- All pages are converted and accessible - Navigation links work correctly (no broken links) - Images load properly and are optimized - Forms and interactive features work - SEO metadata is set for every page (title, description, OG tags) - Set up 301 redirects for any changed URLs - Test on mobile devices - Run Lighthouse audit (aim for 90+ scores) - Set up Google Search Console and submit your new sitemap - Monitor 404 errors for the first few weeks

Conclusion

Migrating from WordPress to Next.js might seem like a big undertaking, but by using the Simply Static plugin to export your content and systematically converting HTML to JSX, you can complete the migration smoothly. The result is a faster, more secure, and more maintainable website that you have full control over.

The key steps are: export WordPress as static HTML, set up a new Next.js project, convert HTML templates to React/JSX components, migrate styles to Tailwind CSS or CSS Modules, create Next.js routes matching your WordPress URL structure, optimize images with `next/image`, and deploy on Vercel.

If you have any questions about the migration process, feel free to reach out — I've helped multiple clients make this exact transition successfully.