How long until Google shows my new site after I move off WordPress?

Usually days to a few weeks. Google has to re-crawl your pages and process the move, and that timing depends on how often it already crawls you. You speed it up by submitting a fresh sitemap in Search Console, making sure your redirects work, and fixing anything that shows up under the Pages/Coverage report. Rankings can wobble briefly during processing, then settle, provided each old URL points to a genuinely equivalent new page.

How to Tell Google You're Moving Off WordPress (Without Losing Rankings)

Q: Do I need to tell Google if I move off WordPress but keep the same domain?

Mostly no, and that's the good news. If your domain and your URLs stay the same, Google keeps treating your site as the same site; it just re-crawls and notices the new, faster pages over time. You don't use the Change of Address tool for a platform switch on the same domain. What you should still do is keep every URL identical where you can, set a 301 redirect for any URL that does change, and resubmit your sitemap in Google Search Console so the recrawl happens sooner.

Q: How do I use Google's Change of Address tool?

The Change of Address tool is only for moving to a different domain, not for changing platform on the same domain. Verify both the old and the new domain in Google Search Console, set up 301 redirects from every old URL to its match on the new domain, then in the old property open Settings and use Change of Address to point Google at the new site. Google then transfers the move signal and starts showing the new domain in results over the following weeks.

Q: Will I lose my Google rankings when I move off WordPress?

Not if the move is done cleanly. Rankings are lost when information goes missing during a migration, not because you left WordPress: broken or absent 301 redirects, changed URLs with no mapping, or dropped page titles and metadata. Keep the URLs, carry the metadata across, redirect anything that changes, and resubmit the sitemap, and rankings hold or improve. ShiftPress rebuilds your site as clean code and sets up the redirects automatically, so the signals Google needs are in place.

"How do I tell Google I'm moving off WordPress?" is the right question to ask, because a migration that ignores Google is exactly how sites lose years of built-up rankings. The reassuring part: Google doesn't need a formal announcement that you left WordPress. It doesn't care what you were built on. It cares about two things, addresses and content, and your job is to keep those signals intact so it can follow you across.

Everything below splits on a single fork: are you keeping your domain, or changing it? Most people moving off WordPress keep their domain and just change the platform underneath, which is the easy case. We'll cover that first, then the domain-change case, then how to check it worked.

First, the fork: same domain or new domain?

Same domain (most common). You're leaving WordPress for a static site or another platform, but yourdomain.com stays yourdomain.com. Google treats this as the same site getting an upgrade. You do not use the Change of Address tool.
New domain. You're moving to a different address entirely (a rebrand, or dropping an old domain). Here you do tell Google explicitly, with 301 redirects plus the Change of Address tool.

The steps overlap a lot; the domain change just adds two on top. Let's take the common case first.

Same domain: how to tell Google (and mostly, let it notice)

When the domain doesn't change, "telling Google" is really about not confusing it. Four steps:

Keep your URLs identical wherever you can. A page that keeps its exact address needs no redirect and carries zero risk. This is the single biggest thing you control. A faithful migration preserves your URL structure on purpose.
Set a 301 redirect for any URL that changes. If a page's address does move, a permanent 301 redirect tells Google the page moved for good and passes its ranking authority to the new address. Map page-to-page, never everything to the homepage.
Resubmit your sitemap in Google Search Console. This is the closest thing to actively "telling" Google: a fresh sitemap nudges it to re-crawl and re-index your pages at their new speed sooner rather than later.
Carry your titles, meta descriptions and structured data across. If those go missing in the move, Google sees weaker signals even though the URL is the same. Keep them.

That's it. You don't submit a "we left WordPress" form anywhere, because none exists. Google re-crawls, sees the same addresses serving the same (now faster) content, and keeps your rankings where they were. We walk through the whole rankings-protection checklist in moving off WordPress without losing rankings.

New domain: use 301 redirects plus the Change of Address tool

If your address itself is changing, Google needs an explicit heads-up so it moves your rankings to the new domain instead of treating it as an unrelated new site. Three steps on top of the ones above:

Verify both domains in Search Console. Add and verify both the old and the new domain as properties, so Google trusts that you control both ends of the move.
301-redirect every old URL to its match on the new domain. Page to page. This is what actually carries the rankings; the tool below is the announcement, the redirects are the substance.
Use the Change of Address tool. In the old domain's Search Console property, open Settings and run Change of Address. It tells Google to transfer the move signal to the new domain and start swapping it into results.

Keep the old domain and its redirects live for at least a year; other sites, emails and bookmarks keep sending people to the old URLs long after you've moved.

How to check Google got the message

After the move, watch a few things in Search Console rather than guessing:

The Pages (Coverage) report. Look for a rise in indexed pages at the new addresses and that old URLs are reported as redirected, not as errors.
Spot-check your redirects. Open a handful of important old URLs and confirm they land on the right new pages.
Watch positions, not just clicks. A brief wobble while Google processes the move is normal; a sustained drop weeks later means a redirect or a piece of metadata is missing.

The honest shortcut

Everything above is doable by hand, and the redirects are the part where a careless move burns rankings. This is exactly the step ShiftPress takes off your plate: it reads your existing WordPress site, rebuilds it as clean, fast code on your same domain, keeps your URLs, sets up the 301 redirects for anything that changes, and generates a fresh sitemap to submit. So the answer to "how do I tell Google I moved off WordPress?" becomes "it's already handled" for the same-domain case, and a short, guided checklist for a domain change.

Move off WordPress with your rankings intact

ShiftPress rebuilds your WordPress site as clean code you own, keeps your URLs, sets up the redirects and sitemap so Google follows you across, and lets you edit the site yourself by chat or by clicking the page. Start free now.

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Frequently asked questions

Do I need to tell Google if I move off WordPress but keep the same domain?

Mostly no. If your domain and URLs stay the same, Google keeps treating you as the same site and just re-crawls the new, faster pages. You don't use the Change of Address tool for a platform switch on the same domain. Still keep every URL identical where you can, set a 301 redirect for any that change, and resubmit your sitemap in Search Console so the re-crawl happens sooner.

How do I use Google's Change of Address tool?

It's only for moving to a different domain, not a platform switch on the same domain. Verify both the old and new domain in Search Console, set up 301 redirects from every old URL to its match, then in the old property open Settings and run Change of Address to point Google at the new site. It then transfers the move signal and starts showing the new domain over the following weeks.

How long until Google shows my new site?

Usually days to a few weeks, depending on how often Google already crawls you. Speed it up by submitting a fresh sitemap, confirming your redirects work, and clearing anything flagged under the Pages/Coverage report. Rankings can wobble briefly during processing, then settle, as long as each old URL points to a genuinely equivalent new page.

Will I lose my Google rankings when I move off WordPress?

Not if it's done cleanly. Rankings are lost when information goes missing in a migration, not because you left WordPress: missing 301 redirects, changed URLs with no mapping, or dropped titles and metadata. Keep the URLs, carry the metadata, redirect anything that changes, and resubmit the sitemap. ShiftPress rebuilds your site as clean code and sets up the redirects automatically, so the signals Google needs are in place.

The bottom line

You don't announce to Google that you left WordPress; you keep the signals it already trusts. On the same domain, that's identical URLs, 301s for anything that changes, and a fresh sitemap, and Google simply notices a faster site at the same addresses. On a new domain, you add verified properties, page-to-page redirects and the Change of Address tool. Either way, the redirects are the load-bearing part, and getting them right is the difference between a move that keeps your rankings and one that quietly loses them. If you'd rather not hand-wire any of it, that's the part a guided migration handles for you.