In this post, we’ll explore how we migrated from WordPress to Astro for better performance and developer experience.
Why We Chose Astro
After years of using WordPress, we decided it was time for a change. We wanted a modern, fast, and flexible solution that would allow us to build a high-performance website without the overhead of a traditional CMS.
Astro offered the perfect balance of features for our needs:
- Excellent performance with its “zero JS by default” approach
- Flexibility to use any UI framework (React, Vue, Svelte, etc.)
- Built-in support for Markdown content
- Simple and intuitive API
- Great developer experience
The Migration Process
Migrating from WordPress to Astro involved several steps:
1. Exporting Content from WordPress
We used the WordPress REST API to export all our posts and pages as JSON. This gave us a clean data source to work with.
2. Setting Up the Astro Project
We created a new Astro project and set up the basic structure, including layouts, components, and styles.
3. Converting Content to Markdown
We converted our WordPress content to Markdown files, which Astro can process natively. This involved parsing the HTML content and transforming it into Markdown syntax.
4. Recreating Templates and Components
We recreated our WordPress templates and components in Astro, taking advantage of Astro’s component-based architecture.
5. Setting Up Deployment
Finally, we set up a deployment pipeline to build and deploy our Astro site to a modern hosting platform.
The Results
The results of our migration have been impressive:
- Page load times decreased by over 70%
- Lighthouse scores improved significantly
- Development workflow is much smoother
- Content management is simpler and more developer-friendly
Conclusion
Moving from WordPress to Astro has been a game-changer for our website. We’ve gained performance, flexibility, and a better development experience. If you’re considering a similar move, we highly recommend giving Astro a try.