Are you ready for a migration of your WordPress website to a different host or server? It doesn’t have to be stressful to move your website to an other host. If you follow our guide, you will be able to migrate your WordPress website successfully.
Most people have had enough of their current host and are ready to switch. Migrating to a reliable host can be delayed for many reasons, including fear of damaging your website(s).
People may pay a high fee to have a professional move their website for them. You can also search for a host that provides a migration package as part of their hosting service. The third option is for those who read this article to do it themselves.
Migrating your website is not a problem if you prepare it yourself. If approached correctly, it can be an easy project that can be easily reversed if any issues arise.
We’ll walk you through the steps to migrate your WordPress site to a different host. But before we do, keep in mind that some of the top WordPress hosting providers will move your website for free. So, if you just bought a hosting plan and you want to move your WordPress site, check to see if your new provider offers a free migration.
Table of Contents
You can bookmark any link below or quickly scroll to any section to make it easy to return if you need to take a short break.
- Backup your website files
- Export the WordPress Database
- Create the WordPress database on your new host server
- Edit wpconfig.php
- Import your database
- Upload the WordPress files to your new host
- Search/Replace old domain
- Final touches
Step 1: Back up your website files
Before migrating, the first thing you should do is back up your entire site. It is a good idea to do this as part of your WordPress security and before making any major changes. It is also required when migrating a WordPress installation, as there are so many data files being transferred.
How do you back up your website? You can use a variety of plugins to back up WordPress. You can use a backup plugin to control which files are backed up and how often.
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If you’re looking for a good plugin to use, WPvivid is a great choice. This plugin has a lot of powerful options, including scheduling, restoring points, and limiting files. It also allows you to split backups and backup plugins.
You can also take a manual approach. For a quick overview, manual backups will require you to use a file-transfer tool (FTP) to access your website’s files. FileZilla for PC and Transmit for Mac are two popular FTP applications. You’ll need SFTP credentials (from your web hosting account) after installing to connect to the server of your website. After clicking, select and download the files in your website directory. The .htaccess is also hidden. If you cannot see the file, consult your FTP’s help file.
This could take a while, depending on how many media files you have uploaded to your website. We can start step 2 while this download is running. This will be a copy of the database.
Step 2: Export your WordPress database
It is easy to export your database. You only need to follow a few simple steps. Login to your Cpanel account and then open the PHPMyAdmin program. Choose the database containing your WordPress installation in the list of databases on the left-hand sidebar. Click on the export tab from the navigation menu.
We can use the default settings for an SQL export or a Quick. The database export will start when you click the Go button. A file will then be downloaded to your computer.
You can move on to the next step once the FTP and database transfer are complete.
Step 3: Create a WordPress database on your new host server
We need to prepare the environment before we begin the migration. It would help if you first created a database into which you can import the SQL data.
Connect to the cPanel program using the credentials provided by your new web host. In this guide, we will use the MySQL Databases app. You will need to contact your web host’s support team if you don’t see that application installed.
It is easy to create a simple database:
- Open MySQL Database, and create a database with a name that is appropriate for your website.
- Create a MySQL user with a secure password.
- Add this user to the database and give it all privileges.
Note down the name of the database, the username for MySQL, and the password. Soon you will need these details.
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