Unraveling the Mysteries of Migrating Your WordPress Site to a New Domain

Undertaking a WordPress site migration from one domain to another might leave you perplexed, but with careful planning and execution, it can be a burst of energy to your online presence. There could be several reasons to move your WordPress site — maybe you’re rebranding, changing hosting providers, or consolidating multiple domains into one. Whatever the reason, this article aims to guide you through a comprehensive step-by-step process of how to migrate your WordPress site from one domain to another.

Step 1: Backup Your WordPress Site

First things first – back up your WordPress site to ensure that you can revert if anything goes sideways during the migration process. You can choose from several backup plugins; favorites include UpdraftPlus, BackupBuddy, and VaultPress. Once you have your plugin, follow the instructions to create an adequate backup of your site.

Step 2: Create a New WordPress Site on the New Domain

The next step is to create a new WordPress site on the new domain. You can do this in several ways, ranging from using one-click installers provided by your hosting provider to manually downloading WordPress’ files from the website and uploading them to your hosting account.

Step 3: Export Your WordPress Site Content

Now, it’s time to transfer your content from your old site to the new one. Start by exporting your content from the old site using WordPress’ built-in export tool. Head to the ‘Tools’ tab in your WordPress dashboard, click ‘Export,’ then ‘All Content.’ Download and save the file to your computer.

Step 4: Import Your WordPress Site Content

The next step is to import your content into your new site. Head to ‘Tools’ in your WordPress dashboard and select ‘Import.’ Choose ‘WordPress’ and install the importer if it’s not already installed. Proceed to upload the export file you saved earlier and click ‘Upload File and Import.’ Follow the instructions carefully to import your content into the new site.

Step 5: Update URLs in Your WordPress Site

Importing your content means the URLs in your WordPress site still point to the old domain. To change them to the new domain, use a search and replace plugin such as Better Search Replace. Install the plugin and replace the old domain in your database with the new domain.

Step 6: Set Up Redirects from Your Old Site to Your New Site

Once the content transfer is complete, it’s essential to set up redirects from the old site to the new one to ensure that visitors are redirected to the new domain. Creating 301 redirects in your hosting account can achieve this. On cPanel, click ‘Redirects’ and go through the process of setting up the redirects.

Step 7: Test Your New Site

Before you go live with your new site, it’s crucial to test it thoroughly to ensure it’s error-free. Test all links, pages and functionality to ensure everything is working as expected. You can also use tools such as Screaming Frog to crawl your site and find any broken links or missing content.

Step 8: Change Your Domain Name Servers

Once you’re satisfied with your new site, it’s time to change the domain name servers, updating the DNS records with your domain registrar and pointing them towards the new hosting account. DNS propagation can take up to 24 hours, so be patient and wait for the changes to take effect.

Conclusion

Although migrating your WordPress site can appear daunting and complex, following the above steps can enable you to move your site without downtime or loss of data. Backup your site before starting, test your new site thoroughly, and everything should go smoothly. With careful planning and execution, your WordPress site migration will be a burst of energy to your online presence.