
Converting HTML to WordPress can seem complicated but it gives your site a major upgrade, from easier content management and search engine visibility to enhanced functionality and scalability. This guide shows you the different methods to convert your static HTML site to WordPress and walks you through the steps. We’ll also cover everything you need to know about what to do before you start converting your HTML files and setting up WordPress Hosting for your WordPress website so you can transfer your content as smoothly as possible.
Table of Contents
Understanding HTML
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the standard markup language for creating web pages. It forms the backbone of most websites and uses tags like <html>, <head>, <body> to define the structure and content of a web page like headings, paragraphs, images, etc.
When a web browser reads an HTML document, it interprets the tags, renders the content, and displays the page. While HTML is fundamental to web development, static HTML sites can have limited functionality and scalability.
They require manual editing for updates, struggle with dynamic content and advanced features, and lack built-in content management and organization tools. They can also be difficult to maintain, optimize for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and adapt for mobile devices.
Why Convert HTML to WordPress?
Converting your site from static HTML to WordPress website offers multiple benefits that greatly enhance functionality and performance while simplifying site management.
WordPress is a powerful Content Management System (CMS) that provides an intuitive interface for creating, editing, and organizing content without coding knowledge. You can create user roles with different levels of access for collaboration.
Each new version released improves on the previous one with new security patches and features, keeping your WordPress website up-to-date and secure.
WordPress can handle almost any website – from small blogs to large online stores with thousands of products. It is much easier to scale as your WordPress website grows to manage more content, and plugins can be easily added to handle complex tasks and increase user traffic.

Improved Site Management & Updates
After installing WordPress, website management becomes much easier thanks to a single, user-friendly dashboard with an integrated Media Library for managing images, videos, and other files. Content updates can be made in real-time, or you can create content in advance and schedule it to be published at a specific date and time.
Themes & Plugins
WordPress offers an extensive ecosystem of premium and free themes and plugins. Themes control your site’s appearance and come with built-in customization options, allowing you to tailor your site’s design without coding.
Also, most WordPress themes are mobile-responsive by default, ensuring your site looks great on all devices.
Plugins add features and functionality. You can add features like contact forms, and integrate e-commerce platforms like WooCommerce, social media widgets, mobile optimization, and more. Like the core software, themes and plugins are regularly updated, ensuring compatibility and security.
Preparing for HTML to WordPress Conversion
You’ll need web hosting for your new site before you switch from HTML to WordPress. WordPress Hosting from Hosted.com gives you an optimized, high-performance server environment with enhanced security, automated backups, and updates.
If you don’t already have a domain name, Hosted.com makes domain registration quick and easy with a FREE domain registration* in selected WordPress Hosting plans.
Once you’ve signed up for hosting and registered a domain, you need the WordPress core software. Installation is simple, with a 1-Click install included in our Customer Portal.
Before the conversion, create a complete backup of your current HTML website. This acts as a safety net if anything goes wrong during the changeover.
Ts & Cs Apply
Free Domain Registration applies to the following domain name extensions: .com, .online, and is only applicable at time of purchase.
Free Domain Registration depends on the selected hosting plan and only applies on 12, 24, and 36 month billing cycles. All listed prices exclude Premium domain names.
Method 1: Manually Convert HTML to WordPress Theme
Manually converting HTML to WordPress offers the most control but can be time-consuming. You will also need coding skills and a good understanding of HTML and the WordPress CMS. You will recreate your site from scratch with the HTML layout using WordPress blocks, or custom code.
When you do this, you’ll need a code editor to work with HTML, CSS, and PHP files. Some popular options include Notepad++, Atom, Sublime Text, and Visual Studio Code.
You’ll create new WordPress posts and pages, adding content with the appropriate text, images, and other media, and use a theme or custom CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to match the appearance of your original website. Here are the steps:
1: Create a New WordPress Theme
Access the wp-content folder in your WordPress installation using the cPanel File Manager in your Hosted.com dashboard and navigate to wp-content/themes/. You can also use an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) if necessary.
Create a new folder for your theme, for example, “my-new-theme” and add the following files:
- style.css: This file contains theme information and the CSS code that styles your website.
- index.php: The main template file that determines your theme’s layout.
- functions.php: Used for custom theme functions and features.
- header.php: A file containing the website header section.
- footer.php: This file contains the footer section.
2: Set Up style.css
Add the below code at the top of the style.css file to define the appearance of your WordPress theme:
/*
Theme Name: My New Theme
Theme URI: https://example.com/themes/my-new-theme
Description: A custom WordPress theme for a new website
Author: Your Name
Author URI: https://example.com/
Version: 1.0
*/
Here is a brief description of each of the above fields:
- Theme Name: The name of your theme that appears in the WordPress theme selector.
- Theme URI: Your theme’s website address.
- Description: A brief description of your theme.
- Author: Name of the theme’s author.
- Author URI: URL of the author’s website.
- Version: The version number of your theme e.g.: 1.0.
You can add more fields to the style.css file, such as “Template” or “Tags”, but these are optional.
3: Convert HTML Structure
WordPress uses PHP to generate web pages by fetching information from its database, so you need to divide your existing HTML into logical sections so they can be converted. While it sounds complicated, all you do is copy and paste parts of your HTML document into different PHP files.
- Header: The top of your website, usually with your logo and menus.
- Sidebar: Area on the left or right side of the page, used for navigation, widgets, etc.
- Content: Your WordPress website’s main content area.
- Footer: A site’s bottom section; it usually contains your copyright contact information and social media links.
Open your index.html file, your HTML site’s main file. Divide the HTML into sections (Header, Sidebar, Main Content, and Footer) so you can copy and paste them into the corresponding theme files you created earlier.
- header.php: Copy and paste the HTML code for the header section into this file.
- sidebar.php: Create a new file called sidebar.php and copy and paste the HTML code for the sidebar section into it.
- index.php: Place the HTML structure for the main content area in this file and use PHP functions like get_header(), get_sidebar(), and get_footer() to include the corresponding template files.
- footer.php: You copy and paste the HTML code for the footer section into this file.
Here is a basic example of what it looks like:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title><?php wp_title(); ?></title>
<?php wp_head(); ?>
</head>
<body>
<?php get_header(); ?>
<div class="container">
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-8">
<?php the_content(); ?>
</div>
<div class="col-md-4">
<?php get_sidebar(); ?>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<?php get_footer(); ?>
</body>
</html>
Once you’ve moved the HTML sections, you can close the index.html file. Save the changes you’ve made to the WordPress template files. Close all files except for header.php and index.php, which need more modifications.

4: Modify Header.php & Index.php
For the header.php file, find the existing stylesheet link <link rel=”stylesheet” href=”style.css”> tag within the <head> section and replace it with this HTML code:
<link rel="stylesheet" href="<?php echo get_template_directory_uri(); ?>/style.css" type="text/css" media="all" />
This code uses the get_template_directory_uri() function to dynamically retrieve the URL of your theme’s directory so the stylesheet loads correctly.
Next, you need to add Template Calls to the index.php file by copying and pasting the following lines of code:
<?php get_header(); ?>
<?php get_sidebar(); ?>
<?php get_footer(); ?>
These call the corresponding template files (Header, Sidebar, and Footer) to include them in your site’s layout.
Next, you need to add “The Loop”, a core WordPress PHP code used to display posts and dynamically generate content on your website. To add The Loop, insert the following code between the get_header() and get_sidebar() functions:
<?php if ( have_posts() ) : ?>
<?php while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>
<h2><?php the_title(); ?></h2>
<?php the_content(); ?>
<?php endwhile; ?>
<?php endif; ?>
Save and close the header.php and index.php files to complete the basic theme conversion.
5: Upload the Theme
You can now upload your newly created theme to your WordPress site. First, check your theme folder (e.g., “my-new-theme”) contains all the necessary files (style.css, index.php, header.php, footer.php, etc.) and that the style.css file has the correct theme information.
- Log in to your File Manager via your hosting account and access the files.
- Navigate to the wp-content/themes/ directory mentioned earlier.
- Upload the entire theme folder to the themes/ directory.
To activate the theme, log in to your WordPress dashboard. Go to the “Appearance” section and click “Themes”. You should see your new theme in the list. Now click “Activate”.
From there you will be able to create new posts or pages that match your existing site’s content structure. Use the WordPress Gutenberg Editor to add text, images, and other media content.
You can also use the WordPress Customizer to add theme options for colors, fonts, etc. to change your site without altering the theme code.
Note: While manual HTML to WordPress conversion gives you more control, it’s generally better for smaller websites or those with complex structures that automated tools may struggle with. If you have a larger complex site, the following method is easier.
Method 2: Using a WordPress Plugin or Page Builder
If you prefer a more user-friendly approach or don’t have the coding skills to convert HTML to WordPress manually, plugins and page builders offer an excellent alternative. These tools can significantly simplify the process, though they may offer less fine control than manual conversion.
WordPress Plugins
HTML import plugins like HTML Import 2 and Import HTML Pages automate converting HTML content into WordPress posts or pages. This can save time and effort, especially for large amounts of content. They typically work in the following way:
You upload your HTML files to the plugin’s interface, which parses the HTML code, extracts the content, structure, and formatting, and creates new WordPress posts or pages based on the parsed HTML information.
The plugin maps HTML elements to corresponding WordPress content types (e.g., headings, paragraphs, images, links) and attempts to preserve the original HTML content’s original format and style, such as fonts, colors, and layout.
Page Builders
While Page Builders aren’t specifically designed to convert HTML, they can be used to recreate your HTML website’s layout and design.
The steps may vary depending on the builder you choose, but the general process is as follows.
In this example, we use Elementor.
- Install Elementor from the WordPress plugin library and activate it via your dashboard.
- From your WordPress admin menu, add new pages and posts that replicate the ones on your HTML website.
- Open the new pages in the WordPress editor and click “Edit with Elementor” to open the page builder interface.
- Use the drag-and-drop editor to recreate your page layout and design and add text, images, buttons, and other elements as required.
- Customize the content to match your HTML site’s original design by adjusting colors, fonts, spacing, etc.
- Create a navigation menu in WordPress for your header and assign pages to it. You can do the same for the footer.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
- HTML is a markup language used to create web pages; it does have several limitations.
- Converting to WordPress offers numerous benefits that can enhance your website’s functionality, design, and SEO.
- WordPress themes and customization options allow you to maintain your site’s unique design while gaining new functionality.
- Proper preparation and having the right tools ensure a smooth and risk-free conversion process.
- To convert HTML to a WordPress theme, you need to manually break down your HTML structure and use WordPress-specific code to recreate your existing site. However, the process is time-consuming and requires coding knowledge.
- Systematically transferring your content preserves your site’s structure and improves its organization.
- WordPress plugins can streamline the HTML conversion process by automating tasks and providing additional features. Page builders offer a user-friendly way to recreate your HTML design in WordPress.
- When you use plugins or page builders, you can speed up HTML to WordPress conversion, making it accessible even to those without advanced technical skills.
FAQs
Do I need to know coding to convert my HTML to WordPress?
Being able to code is helpful for manual conversion. However, you can use plugins or page builders to make the process easier without coding knowledge.
Will I lose my website’s design when converting HTML to WordPress?
No, you can keep your site’s design, but you may need to recreate it using WordPress themes or page builders.
How long does it take to convert an HTML to WordPress?
The time varies depending on site complexity and the method used. Simple sites might take a few hours, while complex ones may take longer.
Can I keep my domain name when switching from HTML to WordPress?
Yes. You can keep your domain name when moving to WordPress and WordPress hosting.
Do I need to re-upload all my images and files?
Yes, you’ll need to upload your media files to the WordPress Media Library when you convert from HTML to WordPress, but many conversion tools can automate this process.
What’s the best method to convert my HTML to WordPress?
The best method depends on your skills and site complexity. Manual conversion offers the most control, while plugins and page builders are easier for beginners.
Other Blogs Of Interest
– Why Use WordPress? Benefits of Using WordPress for Your Website
– Easily Start a Blog or Content Focused Website
– A Beginner’s Guide to WordPress Hosting – Part 1
– Web Hosting for WordPress Website – 6 Helpful Tips
– How to Duplicate a Page in WordPress: 3 Simple Ways
- About the Author
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Rhett isn’t just a writer at Hosted.com – he’s our resident WordPress content guru. With over 6 years of experience as a content writer, with a background in copywriting, journalism, research, and SEO, and a passion for websites.
Rhett authors informative blogs, articles, and Knowledgebase guides that simplify the complexities of WordPress, website builders, domains, and cPanel hosting. Rhett’s clear explanations and practical tips provide valuable resources for anyone wanting to own and build a website. Just don’t ask him about coding before he’s had coffee.