Do you want to migrate your existing WordPress site to a different host or server? There can be many reasons for migrating your site to a new host. In this article we are going to show how you can migrate your WordPress site to a different host.
Why you might need to migrate your existing WordPress site
There can be many reasons why you might need to migrate your website. The most common being for changing the host. Usually when someone starts a website they are on a tight budget and are looking to quickly get started.
In this process they ignore doing a background research on the hosting company. As the website grows the server starts getting loaded and you start noticing issues with the server such as down time issues, slow server, etc. The only solution then is to either upgrade to a better server or change the hosting company.
Migrating your WordPress site to a different host
To migrate the WordPress website we will be using the Duplicator plugin. While the website can be migrated without using a plugin it is not recommended for everyone and requires technical knowledge.
Duplicator
With over a million active installations and a 5 star rating on the WordPress plugins store you should get an idea of the popularity of this plugin for migration of a website. This plugin allows you to migrate, copy and clone a website easily from one location to another. Some of its features include:
- Manually backup a website before migrating it to another host.
- Ability to migrate the website with Zero downtime.
- No need to handle import and export sql scripts for data migration.
Steps to migrate your site to a different host using the Duplicator plugin
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Now visit Duplicator -> Packages from your admin dashboard.
Click on the Create New button at the top on the right hand side.
Click the Next button now and wait for the scans to complete. If all the results are in green and say Good then click on the Build button.
It can take a few minutes for the process to end. After which you will see a Package Completed status and option to download two files – Installer and Archive.
Click on the One-Click Download button to download both the files.
Now you will need to access your new hosting server using FTP. Once connected upload the archive and installer file to the root directory of the server. The folder location should usually be
/username/public_html/
You will now have to point your domain name to the new host. It can take a few hours before the domain starts pointing to the new host.
You will also have to create a database for the WordPress website. Create a database and save the credentials.
Once both the tasks are done and your domain is pointing to the new host, visit
https://website.com/installer.php
Replace website.com with your domain name.
On loading, the installer file will run a few things and show a Pass next to the Archive and Validation. Tick the terms and conditions box and click on the Next button.
Now the Install Database window will be shown where you have to input the database credentials that we saved earlier. Click on the Test Database button to verify if the credentials are correct. Click on the Next button after successful testing.
In the next steps Duplicator will import the old database to the new database and ask you if you want to change the site url. Click on the Next button.
If everything is successful you will see a Site Login and Show Report button on the final step. Your WordPress website is now migrated successfully. You can now login to the website on the new host.
