Why migrate a website to a new domain? We covered a prime reason in the introduction but there are a few other motives for migrating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rebranding the business<\/strong> \u2013 If you\u2019re rebranding your business, your website needs to reflect your new identity. Migrating domains enables you to do that without having to rebuild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Better domain name<\/strong> \u2013 Let\u2019s be honest, all the good domain names have gone. If you have managed to buy the perfect name from an auction or expired domain reseller, that\u2019s another good reason to migrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Move your hosting to your domain name provider <\/strong>\u2013 Operationally, it makes very little difference if you have your domain name registered somewhere different to your web host. However, having the two together does make managing them easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re sure you can think of other reasons why you might want to migrate your WordPress website to another domain, but you get the idea!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, this guide is about migrating to a new domain, not a new web host. That\u2019s a whole other guide!<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a couple of things you should be aware of when changing a domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You will need to create a database for it to work. We will walk you through the whole process but it\u2019s important to know beforehand that you\u2019ll need to follow the process carefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You will also need to edit your .htaccess file. Again, we\u2019ll walk you through everything but it\u2019s important you know what\u2019s coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You will lose a little SEO during the process. Even though we minimize losses with permanent redirects, you will see an initial dip in visitors and ranking. This will recover in time but it\u2019s something you need to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we get to the actual migration process, you have to decide what method you\u2019re going to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are two main types of migration:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plugin migration<\/strong> \u2013 Plugin, or automatic, migration requires much less work as the plugin does all the work for you. It provides less control over the process as a result though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Manual migration<\/strong> \u2013 Requires more work from you but provides complete control over what is migrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As this is a complete guide, we\u2019ll show you both. However, on balance, we would recommend the plugin migration method to all but the most experienced WordPress users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n As we recommend this method for the majority of users, let\u2019s cover the plugin method first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We will:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You will need the cPanel or dashboard login for your web host or an FTP client like FileZilla<\/a> to make this work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s get started!<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n First thing\u2019s first. Let\u2019s take a full backup of your website so if anything happens, you\u2019re covered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Duplicator plugin is pretty good at what it does and shouldn\u2019t lose any files but it\u2019s better safe than sorry!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once complete, you will have a full copy of your website including theme files, plugins, uploads, permalinks and all the other files you need to rebuild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Creating the database is the most involved part of the process, but if you follow our instructions carefully, you\u2019ll be fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You will need the login details for your web host for this part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Make sure to keep a record of the database name, the user and the password as we\u2019ll need it later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now it\u2019s time to migrate your WordPress website to your new domain name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This depends on you having already linked the domain with your hosting. As different web hosts handle this in different ways, we cannot help you with that here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If in doubt, check with your hosting company and follow their instructions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You should end up with a folder with the same name as your new domain on your web host.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We use cPanel here but you can use FTP if you prefer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everything should be set up and you should see the familiar WordPress dashboard with all your plugins, pages and posts, just like it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Adding permanent redirects to your old domain tells search engines you have moved rather than gone offline. It also tells search engines to send users to your new domain name and begin building back your SEO under your new name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we mentioned up top, you will lose a little visibility and a few places in the search engine results page (SERPS), but that loss should be temporary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s how to add permanent (301) redirects to minimize any SEO losses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The code tells search engines to redirect visitors from your old domain to your new one and do the same for SEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, you need to tell Google you changed your domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This ensures Google begins crawling and indexing your website at your new domain and doesn\u2019t think you have disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As moving domains is a relatively common occurrence, Google has a specific change of address tool within the Search Console.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Google will perform a few checks to ensure the new domain is legitimate and works properly and will then show you a simple wizard to complete the final steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Almost there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s just one final step to take and that\u2019s checking for broken links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The backup and migrate function should have kept all links intact and the 301 redirect we added to .htaccess should ensure all your links work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But we don\u2019t want to leave it to chance. So, your final step is to check for any broken links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s good housekeeping anyway so now is as good a time as any.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The web app will check your website for any broken links and will highlight them underneath the button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You now need to visit each page or post listed and check and change the suspected broken link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now you\u2019re really done!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now you can safely tell customers, friends, family and the wider world of your domain name change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The manual migration process takes a little more time and requires more effort but gives you much better control over what happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We will:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we\u2019re messing around with your website, it makes sense to take a full backup of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we have already outlined the process above, use those instructions to take a backup with the Duplicator plugin or your backup app of choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n As you\u2019re just moving domain and not web hosting, you don\u2019t need to export your database. However, it might be useful to have a full copy of your database so treat this as an optional step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can use your favorite FTP program or cPanel File Manager for the next step, it\u2019s entirely up to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ll use cPanel\u2019s File Manager as it\u2019s easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n File Manager should extract all the files and your new domain folder should look identical to your old domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, we need to change a couple of entries in your WordPress database in order for it to recognize your new domain name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s it. As long as you enter your URLs correctly, the database should now work with your new domain name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also use the following in SQL to change the setting automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = replace(option_value, ‘oldurl.com’, ‘newurl.com’) WHERE option_name = ‘home’ OR option_name = ‘siteurl’;UPDATE wp_posts SET guid = replace(guid, ‘oldurl.com’,’newurl.com’);UPDATE wp_posts SET post_content = replace(post_content, ‘oldurl.com’, ‘newurl.com’);<\/p>\n\n\n\n UPDATE wp_postmeta SET meta_value = replace(meta_value,’oldurl.com’,’newurl.com’);<\/p>\n\n\n\n Change every instance of \u2018oldurl\u2019 with your old domain and \u2018newurl\u2019 with your new domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, we need to configure your WordPress wp-config file to reflect your new name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now WordPress matches the database and both should reflect your new domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Follow the procedure outlined earlier to add a permanent redirect to your .htaccess file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This will ensure all future visitors are redirected to your new address and Google knows you have moved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 301 redirects will tell Google your website has moved but it\u2019s also good practice to update the change in Google Search Console.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Follow the steps from earlier to update everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, we recommend following the same steps to check for broken links and update them all to ensure your site visitors enjoy a faultless experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Follow the process from earlier to check all internal and external links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n While it may seem like a lot of work, the process of migrating to a new domain is relatively straightforward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As long as you\u2019re careful and methodical, and you follow this guide, you should be able to complete the process in less than an hour and have a fully operational website at the end of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It doesn\u2019t matter what method you use as you end up in the same place but we consider using a WordPress plugin to be the simplest route to a new domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you migrated WordPress domains recently? Have any tips to share? Tell us about your experience in the comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Changing your domain name is a big deal and something not to be done lightly. Yet it\u2019s an essential part of any rebrand or business…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[305,239,275],"class_list":["post-9180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tutorials","tag-migrate-wordpress","tag-wordpress-guides","tag-wordpress-tutorials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9180"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33492,"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9180\/revisions\/33492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Before you migrate your WordPress website<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How to migrate your WordPress website to another domain<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Manual or automatic migration?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/image4-1024x564.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow to migrate your WordPress website to another domain using a plugin<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/image2.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCreate a backup of your WordPress website<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/image9-1024x701.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCreate the WordPress database for your new domain name<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/image3.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/image14.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/image10-1024x486.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nMigrate to your new domain name<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/image11.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAdding permanent redirects for SEO<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/image12-1024x569.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nTell Google you have moved domain<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/image5-1024x462.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCheck your website for broken links<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/image13.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow to migrate your WordPress website to another domain manually<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Take a full backup of your WordPress website<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/image6-1-1024x423.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nExport your WordPress database<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/image8-1024x461.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCopy your files to your new domain folder<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/image7-1024x236.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nConfigure your WordPress database with the new name<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stylemixthemes.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/image1-1024x549.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nConfigure WordPress with the new name<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Set up 301 redirects to your new domain<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Tell Google you have moved<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Check your website for broken links<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Migrating a WordPress website to a new domain<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
FURTHER READING<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n