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Published on Oct 25, 2024

Audit Your Sitecore Setup for a WordPress Migration

The first step in migrating your Sitecore setup to WordPress is auditing it. 

This audit lays the groundwork for a seamless Sitecore to WordPress migration. However, this process is more than just a standard audit.

In addition to assessing your existing Sitecore setup, you also need to see WordPress in parallel. Doing so allows you to understand how the various components of your current Sitecore environment can be effectively recreated, redesigned, and seamlessly migrated to WordPress.

At rtCamp, we begin our migration projects with a “Discovery” stage, and auditing lies at the core of it.

Here’s how to conduct a step-by-step audit of your Sitecore setup.

Audit your overall Sitecore setup

Audit your overall Sitecore setup

There are two ways you could be using Sitecore: either (only) as a CMS or as a complete digital experience platform (DXP). 

So, as the first step toward migrating your Sitecore site to WordPress, you need to audit your existing Sitecore setup and document everything you’re currently using Sitecore’s solutions for.

Here’s a quick list of Sitecore’s solutions for reference:

In addition to these solutions, Sitecore also offers apps to add to its DXP solutions. For example, with Sitecore Send, you can bring email automation to your Sitecore setup.

So factor in any Sitecore apps too that you may be using.

At the end of this step, you should know all the native Sitecore solutions and apps that you use in your existing Sitecore stack. 

Once you list these, you need to find comparable alternatives to use with your new WordPress stack. 

For example, if you’re using Sitecore’s Personalize, you’d need to find a comparable solution that will work with the CMS you’re migrating to—Uberflip, for instance. 

Fill out this table with your current CMS features and functionalities and any solutions you can use on WordPress to recreate them:

Sitecore SolutionIn Use?Explore WordPress Alternatives
CMS☐ Sitecore Experience Manager
☐ Content Hub One
☐ Sitecore XM Cloud
There’s—thankfully—only one WordPress CMS! 
Search☐ Yes / ☐ NoExamples: Algolia, SearchWP, Custom Solutions, etc.
CDP☐ Yes / ☐ NoExamples: Segment, Twilio, Custom Solutions, etc.
Personalize☐ Yes / ☐ NoExamples: Logic Hop, Uberflip, HubSpot, Custom Solutions, etc.
Content Hub (DAM)☐ Yes / ☐ NoExamples: GoDAM, Cloudinary, Custom Solutions, etc.
Connect☐ Yes / ☐ NoExamples: Zapier, Make, Custom Solutions, etc.
Other Apps☐ Yes / ☐ NoPlease list…

Audit your third-party solutions

You might be using a number of third-party solutions too with your Sitecore setup. So after auditing all the native Sitecore solutions used in your setup, audit your setup for any third-party solutions you may be using.

Start by listing all the third-party solutions that you’ve integrated with your Sitecore instance, for example:

Fill out this table with the third-party solutions you’ve identified in your current Sitecore setup. This will help you keep track of all your integrations as you plan your transition to WordPress:

Solution CategoryThird-party ToolWordPress Integration Plan
Salese.g., SalesforceWordPress VIP for Salesforce (we’ve developed this solution! More here)
Marketing Automatione.g, HubSpot
Collaboratione.g., Slack
Analyticse.g., Google Analytics, Clicktale, Parse.ly
Performancee.g, Cloudflare

Note: List any other third-party integrations that you lack in your current setup and need to build on your new WordPress stack.

Audit every Sitecore function/feature you’re using (both built-in and custom)

Most of the key Sitecore CMS features will be available right out-of-the-box in WordPress.

Some, however, may not come built-in with WordPress.

Take Sitecore’s forms, for instance. Sitecore makes forms available as part of many of its solutions. So if you use Sitecore’s forms feature, you’d need to see how to recreate them on WordPress (as WordPress doesn’t ship with a form builder). That said, there are many great plugins to bring forms to your WordPress stack. 

For example, Sitecore comes with a co-editing feature (essentially enabling Google Docs-like collaboration). WordPress will have it soon in upcoming releases, and there are also plugins available for it right now. Anyway, it’s very easy to copy/paste from any doc type on WordPress, while retaining formatting.

Fill out this table with the key Sitecore features you’re currently using. We have noted which ones are available out-of-the-box in WordPress and which may require additional plugins or custom solutions. If you’ve extended Sitecore’s CMS’s functionalities through plugins or custom code, add those too. This will help you assess how to recreate essential functionalities during your migration to WordPress:

FeatureAvailability in WordPressMigration Strategy
Visual Editor (WYSIWYG)✅ Built-in (Gutenberg)Direct mapping with frontend
Forms🧩 Via PluginsPlugins: Gravity Forms, WPForms, or a Custom solution.
Co-editing🧩 Via Plugins / Coming Soon to WPPlugins: Google Docs integration, or a Custom solution.
Other Custom FeaturesResearch their availability

Note: Make a list of other features/functions that you lack in your current setup and need with your new WordPress stack.

Audit every workflow running between your Sitecore setup and the rest of your tech stack

Your CMS sits at the intersection of your business processes: sales, marketing, service, etc.

And so naturally, you may be having many workflows that might be running through your Sitecore CMS (and your Sitecore setup, in general).

For example, maybe you could be using Sitecore’s Send solution to power email automation. Perhaps this how your workflow goes this like:

To successfully migrate from Sitecore to WordPress, you need to rebuild these workflows into your new WordPress stack. 

Use this table to list all your existing Sitecore workflows or automations and how you’ll possibly move them over to WordPress:

WorkflowCurrent Process in SitecoreWordPress Migration Plan
Workflow #1: Email Automation1. User fills out a form.
2. Email is sent to Sitecore Send.
3. Automated (personalized) response is sent to the user.
e.g., HubSpot Forms + Marketing Hub, or a Custom solution
Workflow #2
Workflow #3

Note: List any workflows that you lack in your current setup and need to build on your new WordPress stack.

Audit your content

Once you’ve audited your overall Sitecore stack, it’s time to catalog all the content that lives on your Sitecore CMS. These would be:

Items

These are your Sitecore website’s pages, such as your Homepage, About, Contact, and other content pages. Your landing pages also go here. Any personalized pages you may have also belong here.

Custom templates

These are all the posts published on your Sitecore website. 

Media

These are images, videos, audio files, and documents that you might have uploaded to your Sitecore CMS/DAM.

Custom content types

These are any specialized content types created for specific needs (e.g., portfolios, testimonials, events, etc.).

Taxonomies

Under taxonomies, you need to audit your Sitecore setup’s categories and tags that you use to organize your content. 

User data

This is all the information and settings associated with user accounts on your current Sitecore setup.

Comments

This is any user-generated content on your different posts and pages.

Item fields

This is data about data—for example, information like author, publish date, and SEO descriptions for a content asset.

Forms

Your forms (e.g., contact forms, surveys) data too needs to be reviewed. 

Components/renderings

These would be the small content elements placed in various areas of your Sitecore site, often used inside sidebars or footers. These could also be content coming from legal disclaimer widgets and more.

Use the following table to track all the content that lives on your current CMS setup. Also, as you conduct your content audit, flag any obsolete content that won’t need to be transferred to your new WordPress site. To fill this table, refer to your sitemap or use an SEO crawler like Screaming Frog.

Content typeDescriptionCurrent URL/Location
Pages (# of assets)Homepage, About, Contact, Landing pages, Personalized pages, etc.[spreadsheet link]
Posts (# of assets)All published posts on the Sitecore website.[spreadsheet link]
Media (# of assets)Images, videos, audios, and documents uploaded to the Sitecore CMS.[spreadsheet link]
Custom post types (# of assets)Specialized content types (e.g., portfolios, testimonials, events).[spreadsheet link]
Taxonomies (Categories and tags)Categories and tags used to organize content.[spreadsheet link]
User DataInformation and settings associated with user accounts.[spreadsheet link]
CommentsUser-generated feedback on posts and pages.[spreadsheet link]
MetadataInformation about content (e.g., author, publish date, SEO data).[spreadsheet link]
FormsAny forms data you may be collecting from your contact forms, survey forms, etc.[spreadsheet link]
Widgets/BlocksThe ad hoc content elements for various site areas (e.g., sidebars, footers).[spreadsheet link]

Audit your user profiles

Document your existing user roles along with access levels and capabilities in your Sitecore setup and see how they can be mapped to WordPress. The actual user data migration will be handled during the content migration stage.

Sitecore RoleMedia UploadMedia DownloadMedia PublishCMS EditCMS DeleteCMS/DAM ViewContent PublishDistributor PortalWordPress Migration Strategy
AdminMatches the WordPress ‘Administrator’ role, retaining all capabilities.
Content AuthorSimilar to the WP ‘Author’ role, but requires customization to prevent publishing.
ContributorMatches the WP ‘Contributor’ role (can create but not publish). Custom permissions require coding.
Custom RolesCustom WordPress user roles can be created with any capabilities.

Audit your media management

A lot of times when we work on migration projects, we see our clients using a third-party Digital Asset Management (DAM) system for managing their media files. That’s a significant reason why we built GoDAM, a scalable digital asset management solution for WordPress.

A DAM simplifies the entire asset management process—from uploading and organizing files to standardizing their usage and making them easily searchable. All this translates to a much higher productivity.

When migrating a website to WordPress, especially a Sitecore website to WordPress that may be using Sitecore’s native DAM solution (Content Hub), it’s important to see what WordPress’s default media library is capable of.

In general, with custom coding and enhancements, you can effectively turn your WordPress media library into a powerful DAM system that meets your organization’s unique media management needs—all without relying on third-party DAM solutions. From enforcing a certain kind of file names to setting rules for auto-resizing and enhancing search, a lot is possible with the default WordPress media library. 

That said, you can always integrate your WordPress stack with a third-party DAM of your choice.

Use this table to document your current DAM usage and if the WordPress media library, with custom enhancements, can meet your needs:

FeaturesWordPress DefaultPotential Enhancements
Advanced organization✅ Categories & TagsCustom taxonomies, metadata fields
Custom metadata❌ Not supportedCustom fields for copyright, usage rights, etc.
Enhanced search✅ BasicCustom search filters using metadata, faceted search
Automated workflows❌ NoneAuto-resizing, format conversion, etc.
User permissions✅ BasicGranular control over files and actions
Version Control✅ BasicEnhanced versioning with history
Bulk Actions✅ BasicAdvanced bulk editing and downloads
Analytics & reporting❌ NoneCustom analytics and reporting tools
Access control✅ Tied to user rolesPermission controls by asset or category
Asset previews & thumbnails✅ BasicEnhanced preview options for various file types

Audit for SEO

Finally, as the last step of your auditing process, audit your existing SEO scape. There are quite a few parts to this and to transfer your existing SEO equity to your new WordPress site (and even improve it).

Document your site structure

Create a sitemap if you don’t have one already. Depending on your Sitecore setup, there may be a Sitecore module that already provides a sitemap for your instance. Alternatively, you can generate one using Sitecore PowerShell (more on this in the content migration section). You could also use a third-party tool to create it.

Additionally, document your current content hierarchy, as this will need to be reflected on your new WordPress site. A visual representation of the site structure, highlighting key pages, categories, and navigation paths, can be helpful. If you’re planning a redesign, consider how you can improve the hierarchy for better SEO.

Also, document your navigation menus and breadcrumb trails—or redesign them to optimize user experience and search performance.

Inventory all URLs

Use tools like Sitecore PowerShell scripts (or others mentioned later in the migration section) to audit and document your website’s existing links. Additionally, perform a backlink analysis.

Page Title / AssetCurrent Sitecore URLNew WordPress URL (Planned)Redirect needed?
Homepage//❌ No
About Us/about-us/about✅ Yes
Contact Page/contact-us/contact✅ Yes
Privacy Policy/privacy-policy/privacy-policy❌ No
Blog posts/content/blog/article-title/blog/article-title✅ Yes
Service pages/content/service/abc/service/abc✅ Yes

Note: Maintain a spreadsheet to track all your pages and posts, including their backlink data.

Do a thorough content audit

Use your Analytics tools for reporting on how your content is currently doing.

Audit for performance

Run a few performance tests to establish benchmarks for post-migration comparisons.

Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or Pingdom to measure loading times. You’d need to maintain or improve these with your new WordPress stack.

Check for mobile friendliness.

Monitor server response times to identify potential bottlenecks.

Simulate traffic spikes to evaluate how your site performs under stress—this data can be useful for benchmarking load handling post migration.

If you’ve conducted any user testing on your website, document your findings on your overall Sitecore website usability. See how your findings can be implemented on WordPress. Also, monitor bounce rates and time on site to identify areas for improvement—usually these are indicators about usability.

Also, use tools like Screaming Frog or Google Search Console to check for crawl errors, broken links, and redirects.

Our WebAuditor performance audit tool does all of the above, giving you actionable insights after performing the audit.

Review your SEO metadata

These are your meta titles, meta descriptions, alt texts, etc. Search engines use metadata to understand what a content asset (page or post) is about. They also use this data when they display your results. To move over your SEO equity to your WordPress site, it’s important to move all your SEO metadata too.

Audit your SEO schema data

Your schema data is any structured data that you’ve implemented on your Sitecore website. 

Search engines use structured data to understand your content asset’s specifics—for example, if it’s a product, to fetch its pricing. Search engines also use your schema implementation to display rich snippets and rich results, which can, in turn, influence search clicks. 

Technically, your schema markup/structured data is part of SEO metadata, and a single plugin can take care of importing both on WordPress.

A thorough site audit is critical. If you need an expert hand, rtCamp specializes in complex Sitecore to WordPress migrations. Let us handle the audit for you.


Credits

Authored by Disha Disha Disha Sharma Content Writer