This Is How You Can Switch Website Theme Without Losing Content

How You Can Switch Website Theme Without Losing Content? Will You Lose Content If You Change WordPress Theme? Here’s The Truth You Need To Know And The Correct Way To Change the Blog Themes.

Negative, you will not lose any of your website content if you modify your website theme.

If you change your theme doesn’t affect your media, post, pages, and comments. The only thing it changes is the website presentation or appearance.

But that doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want. Changing theme affect your website SEO and it is one of the most important points that you should remember.

Choosing an incorrect WordPress theme can break your content formatting and that may result in your visitor’s difficulty navigating and understanding your blog content.

WordPress theme selection is very crucial as it is directly related to the user experience. And user experience is one of the biggest Google ranking factors. Bad user experience boosts bounce rate and decreases time-on-page.

Best Recommended Multipurpose Themes

So, in this article, we will walk you through the full guide on “How You Can Change Website Theme Without Losing Content”.

And some of the crucial factors that you have to perform before, after, and during the process of changing the WordPress theme.

Factors That Won’t Be Affected By Switching Your WordPress Theme

WordPress theme has their own widgets, and those widgets can be different for different themes to change the overall look of your website.

Not just widgets, but many WordPress themes use multiple plugins to convert the look and add customization options to your WordPress website.

When you switch your website’s WordPress theme, there are a lot of things that take in the background process.

For example, if the X theme is using any plugin to optimize your website, the Y theme might not require that same Plugin.

But will it affect your website? I have put down below a list of things that won’t have an effect on changing the WordPress theme of your website:

• Your posts, pages, comments, and media files won’t have the effect of theme change.
• The website’s description and title will have no difference.
• WordPress will have the exact settings as before.
• All Plugins will continue to function regularly, apart from WordPress theme plugins.
• The WordPress dashboard will appear the same.

Factors That Will Be Affected By Switching Your WordPress Theme

However, there are many things going on in the background which will create a little or major effect on them.

• The appearance of your website comprises the logo, favicon, color settings, background, header, footer, and more. Most of these elements get changed when you switch to a new theme for your WordPress website.
• Most WordPress themes are based on Widgets that allow you to have different components on your websites, such as a sidebar, a menu, and more. So, the widgets will surely have the impact of a changed theme. A new WordPress theme will likely have its own widgets, which might bother your website.
• Menu settings are most likely to be affected by a new WordPress theme.
• If you have shortcodes in your WordPress blog, they can also get affected by a new theme.
• If you are using sliders or galleries to show pictures on your website. It will be affected as well.
• Theme-based plugins will stop functioning after changing to a new theme.

How You Can Switch Website Theme Without Losing Content

Follow these guidelines to switch the website theme of your WordPress site and you will never be required to ask the question again “How You Can Switch Website Theme Without Losing Content”.

Things You Must do Before Switching WordPress Theme

WordPress is an excellent platform for crafting websites, but it isn’t always enough. You could be thinking of changing themes if your site’s present theme is evolving outdated. But, before you go any farther, there are a few things we suggest you do first.

Changing your WordPress theme is an effective step toward enhancing your website’s appearance.

Your website may earn more visitors as a result of the change, or it may mourn a drop in search engine rankings as an upshot of the change. You have no thought about what’s going to happen with it.

Regardless, if you keep track of specific details, they will have no effect on your website’s ranking.

Before you modify the WordPress theme on your website, there are a few things you ought to do because you can always go back to the prior version if something drives wrong with your website.

Backup Your Files – Plugin and Without Plugin

Before you create any modifications to your existing website, it is essential that you maintain a backup of all the WordPress files, including plugins, posts, pages, and so on.

There are different ways to safely back up your files. For instance, you can take backup utilizing Plugin, and you can also backup files manually.

Backup with Plugin

You can utilize plugins such as BackupBuddy and Updraft Plus to make a full backup of your site. Apart from these plugins, there are some complimentary and paid plugins you can use.

• BackWPup
• VaultPress
• WP-DB-Backup
• Duplicator
• Updraft Plus
• Blog Vault
• BoldGrid Backup

Manual Backup

• Head over to the cPanel of your website and log in to the FTP accounts.
• Copy the files you would like to back up and go back to cPanel home.
• Now, find out the phpMyAdmin option and then choose the database.
• If you only have one WordPress website, you can instantly export the database.
• Once it is accomplished, you will have a manual backup of your WordPress website.

Copy Existing WordPress Tracking Codes

You have to confirm you copy all the existing WordPress tracking codes that you place into your website for tracking, advertising, and more.

Because most people paste these codes directly into their theme files, you must disregard and replicate them when changing your WordPress theme.

You’ll require a few plugins to achieve this. You can, for example, install MonsterInsights. With this Plugin, you can confirm that your analytics data is not interrupted.

Make a notation of Current Theme Sidebars and Widget Areas

Widgets and sidebars enrich the formation of your website. Most websites have sidebars with links to their email newsletter, social media accounts, forms, and other details.

Because most themes incorporate separate sections for sidebars and widgets, they may be disrupted while you switch themes.

As an outcome, it’s necessary that you keep track of all the sidebars and widgets on your present website.

If you’re created sidebars and widgets with shortcodes, make a copy of the scripts and paste them into your new theme when you install it.

Get Current WordPress Theme Performance Metrics

Before driving any changes to the website, make a note of the current loading speed, so you understand when to retreat to the old theme.

Because the quickness with which your website loads impacts its rating and ranking, it is important that your website load quickly.

To test the speed of your website, try tools like GT Metrix, Google Website Speed Test, Pingdom, and others.

Perform These Tasks During the Changing Process

When altering the theme of your WordPress website, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

These factors will display to the search engine that your website is under maintenance, ensuring that your website is not blacklisted or penalized as a result of its downtime.

Put Your WordPress Site Into Maintenance Mode

Your website may go down many times when creating changes to your WordPress theme. Furthermore, there may be some pages that the search engine indexes that you do not desire to be indexed.

As a result, your website should be placed in maintenance mode. This will help let your users know that the website is currently under construction.

Plugins like SeedProd, Elementor Maintenance Mode, and Under Construction can help you maintain your website in maintenance mode.

These plugins will allow you to create a page for your website that says “under construction.”

Test All Functionality and Installed WordPress Plugins

After you’ve triggered the new WordPress theme, double-check that all of your website’s elements and settings are operational. Also, double-check that the previous plugins and themes are agreeing with the new theme.

Now you’ve double-checked your website’s features and settings, paste the shortcodes you copied from your old theme.

Make sure the Analytics and Advertisement codes are pasted into your new theme. Make undoubtedly sure you spend some time troubleshooting the weaknesses in your new theme.

Check New WordPress Theme Across Browsers and Devices

After you’ve tested your website’s functionality, settings, and features, you should try it across a combination of browsers.

Further, ensure that your website works on a variety of screen sizes and operating systems. You can employ a number of internet tools to test your website on various screen sizes.

Not only that but make sure to experiment with your website on mobile and tablet devices as well.

If your new website does not seem fair in a given screen size or browser, it will have an influence on its ranking.

Check Loading Speeds for Your New WordPress Theme

After you’ve started the new WordPress theme and your website is live, you should conduct a website speed test to see if it’s performing better or if it’s carrying longer to load.

You may use the same mechanism we published before to assess your website speed and see if you’re getting the same, better, or worse results.

If your new theme is taking a long time to load, make certain you try it several times before making a decision. Also, make it foolproof that caching or firewall settings aren’t the source of the slowness.

Perform These Tasks After Changing WordPress Theme

There is some waste left behind after changing the WordPress theme, and you just sweep it up. Not only should your website be cleaned, but it should also be observed to ensure that it is functioning properly after the new theme has been installed.

Delete WordPress Plugins You No Longer Need

There are some plugins on your WordPress website that you should be deactivated to assure that your website loads faster and that it does not contain anything that could cause the lag.

When you establish a new theme, many of them come with their own plugins. So, when you’ve uninstalled the old theme, make certain you uninstall any plugins you don’t use anymore.

Observing Your WordPress Website Bounce Rate

Observing your website is the most important step to achieve after activating a new theme. You need to review your website’s bounce rate, and if something goes wrong, you can fix it.

The Bounce rate is the moderate percentage of the visitor who visits your website and leaves without checking out another page. The more inferior your website’s bounce rate, the better it is meant to perform among your targetted visitors.

If your bounce rate skyrockets after swapping themes, you’ll need to tackle the issue. Internal links, navigation menus, posts, and pages can all be enhanced to reduce the bounce rate.

Check Ads And Update Them If Required

If you drive Ads on your blog then it is crucial to very your Ad placement after changing the theme. Every theme is not the same, different themes have various styles and appearances.

So, it is the best approach to check the Ad placement and verify if they are displaying properly. And make some changes if required.

Check Your Content Formating

Content format is straightly related to user experience. Do not fail to check your content format after you change your WordPress site theme.

Make sure your content H1, H2, H3, and H4 headings are correct and have them in a recurring order.

Vital Factors That Affect SEO On Changing WordPress Theme

Switching themes affects some content elements which are also vital elements for SEO. 5 crucial elements that affect SEO on changing WordPress themes are:

• Website loading time
• Text and pictures
• Headings
• Structured data
• How the pages are interlinked

When you modify the WordPress theme it impacts the processing of search engines which results in inferior visibility of the site in organic search results.

You can study our detailed article on How Changing Theme Affects SEO where I have explained 5 significant factors to consider.

Tips On Selecting A WordPress Theme

Altering a theme is not a major deal you can pick any theme and with a few clicks, you can alter your WordPress site theme. But choosing a theme is an important task for your blogging carrier.

Important Tip: Go for a single-purpose theme

It is always my first choice to use a multipurpose lightweight theme like THE GEM THEME (trusted by 64,434 users).

The good of using a multipurpose theme is that you can use it for any purpose whether it can be your personal blog site or maybe an attractive personal finance blog site.

Multipurpose themes come with advanced features to fulfill a variety of requirements and they required user skills and time investment. Many multipurpose themes are heavy coded and take a long loading time.

But if you are working on a single niche then it is best to use the single-purpose theme for your niche site.

Whereas a single-purpose blog theme like Typology (trusted by 4,522 users) is a simple lightweight theme with low coding that is better for particular niche-based sites. But yes you will get less functionality compared to a multi-purpose theme.

Whereas single-purpose themes are easy to use, customize, and easy to navigate for your site users.

To understand more about the niche and multipurpose themes you can check the breakdown here.

• Pick a theme that is lightweight and does not take much time to load.
• Pick a theme that provides you with a good customization option.
• Pick a theme that has a decent appearance that your visitors will love and stay long on your site.
• Pick a theme that is updated by its author regularly.
• Pick a theme after having proper research and reading reviews.
• Always try to go for a premium WordPress theme and not the free ones. As it is a one-time buy. Free themes are not codded nicely like premium themes. So, they carry much time to load and have rarer customization options.

Conclusion

Here we conclude our article on how you can switch website themes without losing content. And it is clear that you will not lose any content if you change your website theme.

But you must follow the right way to change the theme as directed above. Changing theme is easy and simple but you have to be very sharp as it can impact your Google search ranking.