Website migration happens when you make substantial changes to a website. Some examples include changing the domain name, switching to a new platform, changing the URL site structure, or migrating to another web hosting provider.
This article is a website migration guide for WordPress users who want to move to another host. While many hosting providers offer free migration, some users might prefer to go the DIY route.
What to Do Before Website Migration
Before you proceed with a website migration, make sure to consider the following points during the planning stage. Otherwise, the migration might fail and cause serious damage to your business:
To ensure the success of your website, purchase a quality web hosting plan that provides sufficient resources. Choose a provider with a good performance track record and a plan that can handle your website’s data and traffic. We recommend the following hosting providers for WordPress users:
Inform your team and visitors about the site migration in advance, so that everyone is on the same page. It’s also a good idea to keep everyone posted on any issues that may arise following the migration.
Review your site’s traffic and other metrics. Compare the site’s performance in the search results before and after the migration to identify any issues.
Consider creating a staging environment—a copy of your live site—to test changes before you make them on your real site.
1. Install a Website Migration Plugin
There are many website migration plugins available for WordPress. Here are some of my recommendations:
All-In-One WP Migration. A freemium plugin that lets you migrate an entire site to any hosting provider with just a few clicks. While the main migration feature is entirely free, paid extensions are available, costing $99/extension.
Duplicator. In addition to being a backup solution, the Duplicator plugin also lets you quickly migrate a website to another host. The premium version, Duplicator, starts at $69/year.
Migrate Guru. A completely free plugin that offers easy migration across any web host. It specializes in moving large websites with up to 200 GB of data. All you have to do is install the plugin and enter the credentials of the new host.
WPvivid Backup and Migration. This freemium plugin is both a backup and migration tool. The premium version starts from $49/year, and it offers additional features such as database encryption and staging site creation.
In this tutorial, let’s use the plugin All-In-One WP Migration to do the job. Follow these steps to install it:
Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard.
Go to Plugins -> Add New.
Search for All-In-One WP Migration.
Select Install, then Activate.
Go to the fresh WordPress installation on the new host and follow the same steps to install and activate the plugin there, as well.
2. Export Files
Now that All-In-One WP Migration is installed and activated, let’s export the website files from the current web host. Follow these steps:
On the WordPress admin dashboard of your existing site, access All-In-One WP Migration -> Export from the sidebar menu.
Choose export to File.
Now that you have downloaded all the files from your website to your computer, it’s time to import them to the new website on the target host.
But before I show you how to do that, you might have to change the maximum upload file size of WordPress. The default limit is only 128 MB, which won’t be enough for most websites – especially ones with lots of content.
To change this limit, I recommend contacting your new web host and asking them to increase the maximum upload size limit for you. If you’d like to go the DIY way, you’ll have to edit your .htaccess file:
Access to your new hosting account control panel.
Go to Files -> File Manager.
Locate the .htaccess file in the root folder and open it.
Make sure that the value for “post_max_size” is always larger for “upload_max_filesize” to avoid errors. For example, Set the values as 300M and 301M, respectively.
Save the changes.
Now that the maximum upload file size has increased, let’s proceed to import WordPress to the new host:
Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard of your new host.
Navigate to All-In-One WP Migration -> Import.
Upload the .wpress file that you have previously downloaded.
Wait until the import process is complete.
A warning message will appear. Since you’re migrating to a fresh WordPress installation on the new host, there’s no need to perform a backup in advance. Select Proceed.
Wait until the file restoration process is complete.
Once you receive a message that the import was successful, click Finish
4. Re-Save Permalink Structure
If you’re experiencing broken links upon migration, reset the permalink or URL structure:
Open the WordPress admin dashboard.
Go to Settings -> Permalinks.
Switch to an alternate permalink structure and save the changes.
Choose your preferred permalink structure and save the changes again.
What to Do After Site Migration
Congratulations! You have successfully migrated your WordPress site to a new web hosting provider. Here are some tips you should follow to ensure that your site is running smoothly after the transfer:
Monitor traffic after your site migration by using Google Search Console or a traffic tracker of your choice. As soon as a new site launches, traffic typically drops temporarily, but it usually increases steadily after that.
Install essential plugins. You should migrate your existing plugins with your transfer. However, if you need to install additional ones, do so now. Don’t install too many plugins, doing so can slow down your site.
Redesign the site if needed. We recommend that you use the same theme on the new host as was used on the old one. If you feel like the site needs a web design refresh, feel free to customize the current theme or change it to a new one. Just make sure that the theme stays light and mobile-responsive so that you won’t lose traffic.
Promote your website. Take the time to research digital marketing methods and improve your site’s search engine rankings. For example, you can plan and execute an SEO content marketing campaign to attract more organic traffic to your site.
Cancel the old hosting account. Once you have fully completed the migration, feel free to cancel the old hosting account.
Please note that this guide and this checklist apply only to website migrations that do not include URL changes. If you change your old domain to a new one, there are additional steps you’ll have to take into account.
These steps include URL mapping to the new domain, setting up 301 redirects to fix content issues between the old and new site, checking broken internal links, fixing duplicate content, and updating the robots.txt file.
For more information, check out this helpful website migration guide by Google.
Conclusion
Site migrations involve making significant changes to a website, such as moving to a new host.
This guide walks you through the process of migrating a WordPress site to a new host using a plugin. We also offer a post-migration checklist for the next steps you should take.
We hope that this article has helped you perform your WordPress site migration project. If you have further questions or would like to share a tip or two, feel free to share in the comments section.
