Nine out of ten website migrations damage SEO, according to a 2026 analysis by Numen Technology. The average recovery takes 523 days. These numbers apply to every CMS migration, including TYPO3 to WordPress. And TYPO3 migrations have failure modes that are more complex and harder to detect than almost any other platform, specifically because of how TYPO3 stores content.
Why TYPO3 Migrations Fail More Often Than Most
TYPO3 is architecturally more complex than most CMS platforms. Content is not in a single table. It is distributed across a page tree in pages, content elements in tt_content with column assignments, news records in tx_news_domain_model_news, files in the FAL system across sys_file and sys_file_reference, and form submissions in extension-specific tables. A tool or developer who does not know this architecture will miss large portions of the content without realizing it.
There is also a specific problem that does not exist in other CMS migrations: TypoScript and Fluid templates are entirely TYPO3-specific. They cannot be ported. They cannot be converted. A migration that does not include a full custom WordPress theme rebuild delivers a site with no functioning front-end. Most generic migration tools do not know this. Most marketplace freelancers do not either.
What Generic Migration Tools Get Wrong for TYPO3
There is no purpose-built TYPO3 to WordPress migration plugin comparable to the FG Drupal to WordPress plugin. The tools that do exist either scrape rendered HTML pages (missing all structured data) or export content via TYPO3’s built-in export module (which captures some content but ignores extension tables, FAL references, and URL configurations). Here is what each approach misses.
HTML scraping tools
Scraping tools visit each page of the TYPO3 site and capture the rendered HTML output. They completely miss the structured data in the database. Custom content element fields, FAL file metadata, tx_news record data, frontend user accounts, Powermail or EXT:form submission history, and any data stored in extension tables are invisible to a scraping approach. What arrives in WordPress is a flat HTML dump of the visible content, with no database structure, no taxonomy relationships, and no field values beyond what happened to render on screen.
Database export approaches without proper mapping
Some developers export the TYPO3 database tables directly and attempt to import them into WordPress. Without a mapping layer that understands the TYPO3 schema, this approach mixes content from different tables incorrectly, loses the column ordering from tt_content, breaks FAL file references, and creates no WordPress taxonomy structure from TYPO3’s category system. The result looks like content arrived, but the structure is wrong.
What is always missing regardless of the tool
- URL slug preservation. TYPO3 URL segments are stored in the
slugfield of thepagestable or were previously managed by the RealURL extension. Generic tools generate WordPress slugs from page titles without checking the original TYPO3 URL structure. Every inbound link, every indexed search result, and every bookmark returns a 404. This is the primary cause of post-migration ranking losses. - FAL file reference metadata. Alt text and title fields on images in TYPO3 are stored per-reference in
sys_file_reference, not in the content element row. Tools that read onlytt_contentget images without alt text. Tools that do not joinsys_file_referencetosys_filemiss the files entirely. - tx_news extension records. News articles in TYPO3 are stored in
tx_news_domain_model_news, not intt_contentorpages. Generic migration approaches do not know this table exists and do not read it. - Powermail and EXT:form submission data. Form submissions are stored in extension-specific tables. Years of contact form history, enquiries, and registrations stay in the TYPO3 database when generic tools are used.
- TypoScript configuration and Fluid templates. The entire rendering layer of the TYPO3 site must be rebuilt as a custom WordPress PHP theme. No tool can do this. Any migration that does not deliver a custom WordPress theme alongside the content migration has not completed the migration.
tx_news, FAL file references, or URL slugs.Five Problems With Hiring a Freelancer for a TYPO3 Migration
Hiring a freelancer is the instinctive response to a complex migration. The problem is structural. TYPO3 migrations are more technically demanding than most CMS migrations, and the freelancer marketplace does not price in that complexity.
1. TYPO3 expertise outside DACH is genuinely rare
TYPO3’s developer community is concentrated in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Outside those markets, finding a freelancer with current TYPO3 database-level knowledge is a specialized search. Most WordPress developers who advertise TYPO3 migration services have experience with generic CMS migrations but have not specifically mapped tt_content element types, navigated FAL file references, or extracted and migrated tx_news records. The knowledge gap means they will not know what they are missing.
2. The time a proper migration takes is not reflected in typical quotes
A complete TYPO3 to WordPress migration requires auditing every content element type on the site, explicit mapping of every custom field, URL slug preservation from the TYPO3 pages table, SEO metadata extraction from page properties or EXT:seo, FAL file reference rebuilding in the WordPress Media Library, and a complete custom WordPress theme build. A freelancer working at marketplace rates cannot absorb this scope in a competitive quote. The invisible items get cut.
3. Database credentials with no formal disposal process
A TYPO3 database contains the personal data of every registered frontend user, every form submission from Powermail or EXT:form, and potentially sensitive business data from custom extension tables. Handing those database credentials to a freelancer means they sit in a notes file or email thread indefinitely. According to Bitsight, 45% of data breaches in 2024 involved third-party vendors or contractors with legitimate access. There is no encryption requirement, no deletion deadline, and no contractual obligation to destroy the backup after the project ends.
4. No Data Processing Agreement means a GDPR violation before you start
GDPR Article 28 requires a binding Data Processing Agreement before any third party processes personal data on your behalf. A TYPO3 database almost certainly contains personal data subject to GDPR. A freelancer without a signed DPA is a GDPR violation in progress. And if they experience a breach while holding your database backup, they have no contractual obligation to notify you, which means your 72-hour breach reporting window under GDPR Article 33 may expire before you even learn a breach occurred.
5. No professional liability means no recourse
If a freelancer loses your tx_news history, misses your URL slug structure, breaks your FAL file references, or handles your user data in a way that triggers regulatory attention, what is your remedy? Most freelancers carry no professional liability insurance. The cost of emergency SEO remediation, the cost of a supervisory authority investigation, and the cost of rebuilding lost content all fall back on your organization.
Real SEO Cases Behind These Numbers
The SEO consequences of a migration where URL slugs were not preserved, redirects were not implemented, and metadata was not transferred are documented across multiple real incidents. A major e-commerce retailer relaunched in late 2024 with over 15,000 URLs mis-redirected. Within two months, daily organic clicks dropped from 40-70 to near zero. An e-commerce company that believed it had implemented correct redirects still lost 50% of its organic traffic. A non-profit history website lost over 50% of its traffic the week after a domain migration. These cases are documented by Totally Digital (June 2025) and Numen Technology (2026). The average recovery window across damaging migrations is 523 days.
What a Complete TYPO3 Migration Covers
A complete TYPO3 to WordPress migration by gConverter reads the source database directly at every layer. Every page from the pages tree is migrated with the parent-child hierarchy intact. Every tt_content content element is mapped to the correct Gutenberg block type in the correct order and column. Every tx_news record is migrated to a WordPress post with author attribution, category assignment, and attached images from the FAL system. Every FAL file is imported to the WordPress Media Library with alt text and title preserved. Every TYPO3 URL slug is used as the WordPress post slug, with 301 redirects for any that must change. Every SEO title and meta description from page properties or EXT:seo is written to Yoast SEO. Every frontend user account is imported with role mapping. The TYPO3 theme is rebuilt as a custom WordPress PHP theme that replicates the visual output exactly.
How gConverter Handles Your Data
DPA signed before credentials are shared. No database access, no credentials, and no file transfers happen until you have reviewed and signed a Data Processing Agreement specifying exactly what data will be accessed, the lawful basis, retention limits, and our liability in the event of a breach.
AES-256 encrypted credential vault. Your database credentials and server access details are transmitted over an encrypted channel and stored immediately in an AES-256 encrypted vault. Deleted within 24 hours of project completion with written confirmation.
Isolated processing environment. Your data is processed on the assigned engineer’s encrypted machine or, for GC-ExtraSecurity clients, on a dedicated EU server. Never on shared hosting, never alongside another client’s data.
30-day deletion with written confirmation. All client data is permanently deleted within 30 days of delivery using secure overwrite. You receive written confirmation.
72-hour breach notification under GDPR Article 33. We notify you within 72 hours of any breach so you can meet your own reporting obligations.
Read the complete GDPR and data protection documentation →
What Clients Say
Went FAR above and beyond to help us work through this project. We are thrilled with the final result and they were professional, great to work with, and responsive every step of the way. Would highly recommend.
Anna P., Wilmington NC – Customer Lobby, January 2026
Extremely professional and efficient, we had very good contact, the work was done in due time.
Timoti F., Berlin DC – Customer Lobby, February 2024
The Bottom Line
TYPO3 is the most technically complex CMS to migrate from. The content is distributed across more tables than almost any other platform. The rendering layer (TypoScript and Fluid templates) cannot be ported and must be rebuilt. The developer expertise required is concentrated in a narrow specialist pool. Generic tools do not understand the schema. And the consequences of getting it wrong are the same as for any migration: 523 days of average recovery time, up to 80% organic traffic loss, and a GDPR incident if your database was not handled under a formal data protection agreement.
For the full picture of what every TYPO3 content structure maps to in WordPress: Why Businesses Are Moving From TYPO3 to WordPress →