Seeking Advice: Switching from iWeb to Wordpress

[Susieiz]

I have an iWeb created site hosted on Dreamhost: http://www.hauntedwaterspress.com/

I want to switch to Wordpress with a One-Click install.

I have a dreamhosters subdomain set up with One-Click install, but the idea of creating the Wordpress site here and then swapping the URLs seems daunting no matter how many times I’ve read the instructions. (I will be using a purchased WP theme and then I also have Envato to deal with in switching my single site license to the main domain after having it on the subdomain.)

What are the pitfalls and how would I accomplish simply deleting the existing files, doing a One-Click install on the main domain and then quickly putting up some sort of temporary “under construction” page up while I rebuild the site in Wordpress? Or would that be a bad idea?

Also, for pages that I plan to retire, is there a way to redirect traffic that might still link to those locations?

I’ve been contemplating this for months and I just want to bite the bullet and get moving. Thanks in advance!

[smaffulli]

would that be a bad idea?

The main drawback is that search engines will notice that your website is missing and will lower your ranking. If you have traffic coming into your site from search results now, that traffic will be drastically reduced.

If you don’t mind about that, then I’d say make things easier for you .

[Susieiz]

Thank you! I think the downtime would be short. I’m hoping to do a quick single page theme install and then slowly copy and post blog entries over a weekend. (Or transfer them if I can figure that out.)

[Susieiz]

Would this be another possible path to take:

1. Build Wordpress site on subdomain while leaving existing site up.
2. Export the new WP site.
3. Install Wordpress on main domain (deleting or overwriting existing site).
4. Import new WP site to main domain.

Thank you!