Most guides about Webflow answer one question: is it the right builder for you? This one starts after that decision. You have a WordPress site on Bluehost, Hostinger or SiteGround, the new Webflow site is nearly ready, and now you have to move it without breaking anything.
The part that catches people out isn’t the design or the content. It’s everything around the website. Webflow includes hosting, so it’s tempting to cancel the old plan and point the domain at Webflow in one step. That’s how company email stops working, subdomains disappear and years of old URLs start returning 404 errors. Here is what actually changes, what stays where it is, and the order to do it in.
What Webflow Hosting Replaces, and What It Doesn’t
A typical WordPress setup bundles three separate services, often with one company. Webflow takes over only one of them.
Web hosting moves to Webflow. Your pages, CMS content, images and SSL certificate will all be served from Webflow’s infrastructure once the site is live, so the WordPress install, its database and its plugins are no longer needed.
Your domain registration stays where it is. Webflow isn’t a domain registrar, so you can’t transfer a domain to it. Instead, you keep the domain with your current registrar and point it at Webflow using DNS records.
Email also stays where it is. Webflow doesn’t host mailboxes. If your email runs through your hosting plan, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, it keeps running there, as long as its DNS records survive the move.
That last condition is where most problems start. On many shared hosting accounts, the host also manages your DNS. If you cancel the hosting plan before moving DNS somewhere else, the records for email and every subdomain can disappear with it.
Before You Touch DNS
Start by finding out where your DNS is managed. Look up your domain’s nameservers. If they point to your hosting company rather than your registrar, your DNS lives with the host, and you’ll need to recreate those records at the registrar or another DNS provider before switching nameservers.
Next, make an inventory. Export or screenshot every record in the DNS zone: A records, CNAME records, MX records for email, and TXT records for SPF, DKIM, DMARC and domain verification for tools like Google Search Console. Note any subdomains, such as a help center, a status page or a shop, that point somewhere other than the main site.
Finally, lower the TTL on the records you’ll change, ideally a day or two before the move. A short TTL means that when you switch the records, visitors reach the new site within minutes instead of hours.
Planning the Site Move
The DNS change takes minutes. The site move behind it takes much longer, and it decides whether you keep your search traffic.
Content is the first job. Webflow’s CMS imports CSV files, so blog posts are usually exported from WordPress, converted to CSV and mapped to fields in a Webflow collection. Static pages are rebuilt in the Designer. Images need re-uploading, and anything a WordPress plugin handled, such as forms, search or a membership area, needs a Webflow feature or an integration to replace it.
The redirect map is the second job, and the one most often rushed. Every URL that changes needs a 301 redirect to its new address. WordPress sites often use dated permalinks or category paths that won’t match the new structure, so export a full list of URLs from your sitemap or a crawler like Screaming Frog and match each one to a destination.
For a small brochure site, a DIY move is realistic, but sites with hundreds of posts and years of backlinks are where teams start weighing it against a Veza Digital Webflow agency engagement, and the deciding question is usually who builds and tests the redirect map. Either way, the map should be finished and loaded into Webflow before the domain moves.
The Cutover, Step by Step
With the site built, content imported and redirects loaded, the switch itself follows a fixed order.
- Add a paid Site plan to the Webflow site. A custom domain can’t be connected on the free plan.
- Recreate your email and verification records at the registrar or DNS provider, if your DNS currently lives with the old host, then switch the nameservers.
- Add your domain in Webflow under Site settings, then Publishing, then Production, and copy the DNS records Webflow shows for your site.
- At your DNS provider, replace the old A record for the root domain and the CNAME record for www with Webflow’s values. Leave MX and TXT records untouched.
- Publish the site to the custom domain and choose whether the root or the www version is the default.
- Test the homepage, a sample of old URLs, every form and a few blog posts. Then send and receive a test email.
Webflow’s help guide on manually connecting a custom domain covers the exact records and screens. Always copy the values from your own site settings, since Webflow has updated its DNS records before and may do so again.
After Launch: SSL, Email and Your Old Hosting Plan
Webflow provisions the SSL certificate automatically once DNS points to it. If the padlock hasn’t appeared after a few hours, the usual cause is an old A record that was never deleted.
Check email again the next day, including messages from outside your company. Then submit the new sitemap in Google Search Console and watch the coverage and 404 reports for the first few weeks.
Don’t cancel the old hosting plan right away. Keep it for at least a month, take a final full backup of the WordPress files and database, and cancel only when traffic, email and redirects have all been stable for a while. The backup costs nothing to keep, and it’s the only complete copy of the old site you’ll ever have.
Moving to Webflow replaces your web host, not your domain or your email. Map every DNS record before you change anything, finish the redirects before the domain moves, and keep the old plan until the new site has proven itself. Done in that order, visitors and inboxes won’t notice the switch at all.
I’m Rajesh Kumar, a DevOps, SRE, DevSecOps, Cloud, and Platform Engineering expert passionate about sharing practical knowledge, real-world experiences, and industry best practices. I have worked at Cotocus and regularly write about technology, travel, investing, health, product reviews, and digital marketing through my various platforms.
I publish technical articles at DevOps School, travel stories at Holiday Landmark, stock market insights at Stocks Mantra, health and fitness guidance at My Medic Plus, product reviews at TrueReviewNow, and SEO and digital marketing strategies at Wizbrand.
Find Trusted Cardiac Hospitals
Compare heart hospitals by city and services — all in one place.
Explore Hospitals
Moving a WordPress site to Webflow takes more planning than copying pages and design. Checking DNS records, hosting needs, and email settings before the switch can prevent service interruptions. It is also important to set up redirects so old links continue to reach the right pages. Keeping a backup of the original site gives teams a safer way to recover if something goes wrong. Testing forms, email delivery, and key pages after launch helps ensure a smooth move.