# How I Migrated from WordPress to Astro.js (and Why It Was the Best Move for Makeinfo) **Summary:** After three years of battling slow load times, expensive hosting, and endless plugin maintenance with WordPress, we migrated Makeinfo to Astro.js. This shift gave us speed, security, simplicity—and a framework better aligned with our goals of building SEO-optimized, fast-loading marketing websites for small business owners and freelancers. --- ## **Decisions To Be Made** Migrating from WordPress isn’t a small decision. It wasn’t just about changing tech—it was about rethinking our entire philosophy on content delivery, performance, and long-term maintainability. We asked: * Are we building a fast and secure site? * Are we simplifying or complicating our workflow? * Are we future-proofing our content? The answer led us away from WordPress and toward [Astro.js](https://astro.build/). --- ### **Speed** Let’s face it: WordPress is heavy. Even with caching, CDNs, and optimization plugins, we constantly ran into performance issues. Slow load times directly impacted our SEO and user experience. We were using [Bricks Builder](https://bricksbuilder.io/), which is lightweight weight simple. Google’s Core Web Vitals weren’t happy. **Astro.js**, by contrast, is designed for performance from the ground up. It ships **zero JavaScript by default**, and that alone cuts our initial page load time in half. ![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1754412164555/9570a254-ccd0-4ed6-96c6-763c690d8605.png align="center") --- ### **Goals** Our mission at [Makeinfo](https://www.makeinfo.co) is to help small business owners and freelancers get their message out—fast. We didn’t want to waste hours configuring plugins just to add a newsletter form or optimize images. We wanted: * **No database maintenance** * **Out-of-the-box SEO (Programmatic SEO)** * Using AI tools to build pages * **A site we could fully own and scale** Astro checked all these boxes. ![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1754424068107/3e20d527-fb80-44f8-9723-274b4f5b843d.png align="center") --- ### **Looks** WordPress themes often look bloated or generic. Customizing them requires either hacking PHP or buying premium plugins (Bricks Builder, WP Form, Bricks Design Set and so on). With Astro, we use lightweight components using **React** and **Tailwind CSS**, giving us complete design control and minimal code overhead. --- ### **Structure** WordPress locks you into a database-driven CMS. Our content was trapped behind plugins. Astro gave us freedom: **Markdown + Git** became our CMS. That means: * Version control by default * Easy to edit locally * Fast build times with no backend dependencies --- ## **The Migration** So, how did we migrate from WordPress to Astro? Here’s the step-by-step breakdown. --- ### **Exporting from WordPress** We started with the **WordPress Export tool** to download our posts and media. This gave us an XML file of all content. We also had to rebuilt some pages from scratch based on the content from our Wordpress website. However, it wasn’t enough—we needed a clean, portable format that didn’t rely on a database. --- ### **Copying the Files and Massaging the Data** Once converted, we organized files by year/month and cleaned image references. We uploaded images to **Cloudinary**, integrated them with Astro’s image component, and reduced our asset weight by ~60%. --- ## **Level Up Coding** Using Astro has been a joy for our development team. We can use: * React for dynamic components * Markdown for blog content * Tailwind for styling * Zero-JS for static marketing pages It’s modern web development done right. --- ## **A Better Option for Developers to Write Content** Now, instead of logging into an admin panel, we write content like this: ```plaintext markdownCopyEdit--- title: "Why We Switched from WordPress" date: 2025-08-03 author: "Makeinfo" --- We switched from WordPress to Astro because... ``` That’s it. No distractions, no plugin conflicts. --- ## **When WordPress Becomes a Burden** Let’s summarize what made WordPress unbearable for Makeinfo: * **High maintenance**: Plugin updates, PHP upgrades, caching issues. * **Security risks**: We were constantly patching vulnerabilities. * **Poor performance**: Even with optimization, speed lagged. * **Too many plugins**: Simple things like SEO required multiple add-ons. * **Cost**: Hosting + premium plugins = bloated monthly bills. ![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1754424179990/ba823d94-02e2-42a7-ab0a-247b449f2de0.png align="center") --- ## **A Ray of Hope** Discovering Astro felt like a breakthrough. Suddenly, our website wasn’t a slow, insecure CMS—it was a blazing-fast, developer-friendly static site. --- ## **Building a New Tech Stack** Here’s what we chose: * **Framework**: Astro.js * **Media**: Cloudinary * **Styling**: Tailwind CSS * **Content**: Markdown + Git * **Interactivity**: React (when needed) --- ## **Markdown** Markdown simplifies content management. You write once, version forever. Plus, it integrates seamlessly with tools like **Obsidian**, making your blog and notes part of the same system. --- ## **Rendering and Running the Application** Astro renders HTML at build time. That means no dynamic calls on load—just pure, fast pages served instantly via Cloudflare's edge network. --- ## **Flexibility Without Compromise** Need a form? Use a [Tally](https://tally.so/) form. Need analytics? Drop in JS code. No need to rely on massive plugins. --- ## **Excellent Content Support** Astro supports: * MDX for rich content (Markdown + JSX) * Code syntax highlighting * Automatic RSS generation * SEO schema and meta tag generation --- ## **SEO Benefits** Makeinfo is all about **AI-friendly, human-readable SEO**. Astro helps with: * Clean URLs * Fast page loads * Optimized metadata * No bloated JS And yes, it performs great on **mobile**—no AMP needed. --- ## **Multilingual Support** We’re now building international landing pages. Astro’s file-based routing and i18n plugins make it simple. --- ## **esting** Our content pipeline includes: * Markdown linting * Link validation * Lighthouse CI * GitHub Actions for deploy previews --- ## **Lessons Learned from the Migration** ### 1\. **Lightning-Fast Performance** Static HTML = unbeatable speed. ### 2\. **Markdown Simplicity** Write. Commit. Done. ### 3\. **Cost Reduction** No paid plugins. No complex hosting. ### 4\. **Unexpected Benefits** * Fewer bugs * Better dev experience * Cleaner content structure ![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1754424365584/5ad3800a-5046-4a4b-be07-997f96672e7e.png align="center") --- ## **Challenges** * Migration took time, especially cleaning up images and post formatting. * Non-technical contributors had to learn Markdown. * Setting up initial SEO required custom config. * Missing Rankmath SEO plugin But the long-term gains outweighed these issues. --- ## **Conclusion** Moving Makeinfo from WordPress to Astro.js wasn’t just a technical decision—it was a strategic one. We now have a faster, more secure, and more scalable site that aligns with our mission: empowering freelancers and small businesses with clean, effective websites that convert. --- ## **FAQ** **Q: Is Astro.js good for SEO?** Yes. Fast-loading static pages, clean metadata, and Core Web Vitals optimization make Astro.js extremely SEO-friendly. **Q: Do I need to know React to use Astro?** No. Astro supports multiple UI frameworks—or none at all. You can use plain HTML/Markdown or React only when needed. **Q: Is Astro free to use?** Yes. Astro is open-source and works great with free hosting options like Cloudflare Pages or Vercel. **Q: Can non-devs manage content?** Yes, if they’re comfortable with Markdown. Otherwise, pair Astro with a headless CMS like Netlify CMS or TinaCMS. --- ## **Internal Links** * [Makeinfo Homepage](https://www.makeinfo.co) * [Get in Touch](https://www.makeinfo.co/contacts)