WebzstoreBefore anything is copied, we list every content type in the source and decide where each field lands. The hard part is rarely the text. It is the links: an article pointing to its author, a product pointing to its categories, a page made of reusable blocks.
Headless CMS Migration
Headless CMS Migration
We move an existing site into a headless setup, or from one headless CMS to another. That can mean keeping your current CMS and replacing the website in front of it, or replacing the CMS itself. Webzstore assesses which one you need before any content moves.
01Choose
Choose what you want to change
Tick one part, several parts or the whole move. You will see a tailored outline to bring to the call, which is not a quote.
Where this startsOur site or editing tool is holding us back, and I am not sure whether we need a new website, a new CMS or both.
In plain terms
- Decoupling
- Keeping your CMS for editing while a separate new website shows its content.
- CMS
- A content management system, the tool your editors use to write and publish.
- Frontend
- The part of the website that visitors see and use.
- Redirect
- An instruction that sends visitors from an old address to the new one.
02Decide
Keep the CMS, or replace it?
Many teams say "migration" when they only need a new frontend (the website visitors see). Decoupling means your editors stay in the system they know while a new site reads its content. Replacing means the content and the editing screens both move. Compare the three paths.
Decouple the current CMS
Fits when
Editors are happy, the website is the problem
What changes
New frontend reads content through the CMS interface
Replace the CMS, keep the website design
Fits when
The editing tool is the problem
What changes
Content, fields and workflows move to the new product
Replace both
Fits when
Neither part is working
What changes
Content, editing and website are rebuilt together
03Map
Map fields, links between items and files
With WordPress as the source, we check how each type is exposed to the outside. Custom content types only appear in the WordPress REST API or in WPGraphQL (the two ways WordPress shares content with other software) when they are set up to, and the data created by plugins needs checking one plugin at a time. We also record where images and documents live, so links do not break when files move.
04Validate
Check a sample before the final transfer
We validate with a sample that includes the awkward records, not only the tidy ones.
- Move a small set of items of each content type
- Open the same items in the old and new systems and compare fields side by side
- Follow each link between items in both directions
- Check that images load with their descriptive text
- Ask an editor to edit, preview and publish one item
Anything that fails changes the mapping before the full run, not after it.
05Cutover
Plan the cutover and the way back
Content keeps changing while a migration is built.
- We agree when editing pauses, run a final update of the changes made since the sample, then switch.
- Each old address gets a permanent redirect (an instruction sending visitors and search engines to the new address) to its new page, and we avoid chains of redirects.
- We keep the old setup intact until your team approves the new one, so there is a clear route back if something breaks.
- User accounts, passwords and payments are not copied across automatically.
- They need their own plan.
- We monitor search performance after launch and make no promise that it will stay the same.
Questions about moving a headless CMS
Do I have to leave WordPress to go headless?
No. WordPress can stay as the CMS while Astro or Next.js shows the content. Our Headless CMS Development page covers that build.
Will my custom fields be available to the new site?
Not automatically. They must be exposed deliberately, and some plugin data needs separate work. We confirm this for each field in the audit.
Can you move content between two headless CMS products?
Yes, if the source lets us export or read the content. We map the fields, test a sample and then run the full transfer.
Can we switch back if the launch goes wrong?
Yes, if we agree it in advance. We keep the old setup intact until you approve the new one.
Move for a reason you can name
Tell us which part is failing: the editing tool, the website or both. We will assess whether to decouple or replace, and list what needs rebuilding. For a wider platform change, start with Website Migration Services.
Explore the next step
- Website Migration ServicesExplore website migration services with Webzstore. Plan your content, features and launch, then discuss the project on a free 30-minute call.
- Headless CMS DevelopmentExplore headless cms development with Webzstore. Plan your existing content, features and launch, then discuss the project on a free 30-minute call.
- WordPress Migration ServicesExplore wordpress migration services with Webzstore. Plan your content, features and launch, then discuss the project on a free 30-minute call.