A Comprehensive WordPress Migration Checklist (From One Host to Another)

Moving a WordPress site from one host to another can be tricky. Whether you’re upgrading or switching due to performance problems, the process often introduces unexpected issues such as broken links, lost data, downtime, and plugin conflicts. If done wrong, it can harm your site’s function and SEO.

To avoid problems, follow a clear WordPress migration checklist. This guide will cover everything from backing up files to setting up your new host. Proper preparation helps ensure a smooth move with little risk of errors or downtime.

What Is WordPress Website Migration?

A WordPress website migration is the process of moving a website from one domain or server to another without changing its elements. Here are a few other types of website migrations:

• Shifting the website from a local PC to an online server.
• Shifting the whole website from one host to another without changing the domain name.
• Changing the domain name.
• Changing the host and domain name.
• Shifting the website from a subdomain to a primary domain.

We have created a comprehensive WordPress migration checklist to guide you through the migration process (and the steps before and after) to prevent mistakes and failures.

What is the Process Before And During the WordPress Migration?

Here are the steps to follow before and during WordPress website migration:

Step 1: Choose a Suitable Time

When planning a website migration (it doesn’t matter what kind of migration), make sure the date and time are suitable for your business operations, and that there are no upcoming events, such as a public sale or offers. Also, analyze your website and choose the date and time when the user traffic tends to be at its lowest.

If your website is popular in the international markets, consider the time zones as well. For example, if you are an Indian company but your users are predominantly Northern Americans from the USA or Canada, make sure you migrate your website when most of your users are asleep, so web traffic is at its lowest.

Step 2: Notify the Customers

This step may not be necessary for an informative website. But if your website is an eCommerce site, you may want to notify your customers about the migration in advance. Also, mention a specific schedule or timeline for the home page itself. WordPress includes several plugins that help websites notify customers (or subscribers) of scheduled maintenance in advance to avoid inconvenience.

Step 3: Setup a New Hosting Account

It would be better to create a new hosting account a few weeks before the migration to ensure there are no issues with it (or, if there are, to resolve them beforehand). That way, you’ll also have time to get updated with the features and functions of your new hosting account. But if you didn’t do it in advance, create your hosting account now.

Make sure you get acclimated with the new host’s tools and settings, and clear any queries you may have. Also, proceed with the WordPress installation with your new host. If you’re looking into specialized hosting solutions, consider AWS Development Services for robust scalability and performance capabilities.

Step 4: Back up the Website

It’s very important to back up the website before migration. Several hosts offer automatic backups. Even after enabling daily automatic backups, make sure to secure the latest backup taken just before the process. Jetpack is an excellent WordPress plugin that offers features such as advanced security, real-time backups, one-click restores, priority support, and more.

Step 5: Turn on the Maintenance Mode On your Website

To start the migration process, first, turn on the maintenance mode on your website. Several plugins in the WordPress Plugins Library can help you effortlessly enable maintenance mode on your website. LightStart is the most common plugin used to start maintenance mode.

Step 6: Start the Migration Process

After backing up all your files and database and turning on the maintenance mode, you can finally start the migration process. For manual migration, first, open the file manager on your hosting panel and upload the website file. The industry practice is to create a zip file of your website and unzip it only after completing the upload process.

After it’s done, create and upload the database, which will take a while, depending on its size. So, ensure every table has been migrated successfully. Afterward, you can cross-check the database with the old host to ensure you haven’t missed anything. Then, edit the website’s wp-config.php file (you can find it in your website’s root folder) to ensure it directs the users to the new database. Open the file and find these lines:

define(‘DB_NAME, ‘db_name’); define(‘DB_USER, ‘db_user’); define(‘DB_PASSWORD, ‘db_pass’);

Next, fill in the fields for your username, database name, and password with the same information you provided when setting up the new database. To ensure the best practices, you can use the staging environments offered by the hosting providers. First, complete the process on the staging server, then click live to ensure no details have gone amiss.

Use a WordPress plugin to migrate your WordPress website. If you encounter any issues with manual migration, you can use a WordPress migration plugin to export your website’s code and database. Then, on the new host, set up a fresh WordPress installation, install the same migration plugin, and import the file exported from the old host. Here are our recommendations for popular WordPress migration plugins:

1. Migration Tool By InstaWP
2. All-in-One WP Migration
3. Duplicator
4. WP Migrate Lite

All the above-respected migration and backup plugins already have step-by-step guides that will help you understand the WordPress website migration process. In the same way, you can use backup plugins to take a backup of the whole website and import it to the new host.

Step 7: Pointing Domain DNS

First, connect your domain name to the new hosting provider. Most specifically, the migration steps you need to follow depend on your chosen hosting provider, which will provide you with a detailed guide through the process. Moreover, you can reach out to the hosting provider’s support team for any queries. DNS propagation, or the process of updating the connection around the world, may take a few hours to a few days. You can also use a DNS checker to verify whether the domain name is fully resolved.

Note: If your new host is in a staging environment, migrate to a staging URL and ensure the backup has been restored successfully before pointing your domain name to avoid any downtime during migration.

Step 8: Set up 301 Redirect

In this step of the website migration, you will need to set up 301 redirects. This step is critical for SEO. It notifies the search engine of the new URL for your website (if old URLs are no longer accessible). It also lets the recurring and existing customers visit your web pages even with the older links, so the migration doesn’t hinder your web traffic, and your website doesn’t lose its rankings on the SERPs.

Several plugins, such as Redirection, are available in the WordPress plugin library and can help you complete this step. This step concludes the migration of your WordPress website from one domain or server to another. However, there is a checklist to consider after the WordPress migration. Make sure you follow it precisely to ensure the migration’s success.

Checklist to Keep in Mind After the Migration

You need to consider the following steps after the completion of your WordPress website migration, which will save you money and time:

1. Inspect your Website’s Functionality

After the migration is complete, perform quality assurance on the entire website. Check every front-end and back-end feature and function of the website. Ensure the user interface is the same as before the migration. One of the primary things to ensure is that none of the website’s URLs are broken, and all of them work as intended. Moreover, several tools are available to generate a comprehensive report of the broken URLs.

2. SSL Verification

After successfully completing the website migration, verify that your SSL certificate is working properly by opening the website in an incognito window. If you see a lock icon next to the URL on the home page and other pages, and there are no security warnings, the SSL certificate is functioning correctly. If not, double-check the SSL certificate with your hosting provider and contact their support team if you have any questions.

3. Examine the Website’s Speed and Performance

Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTMetrix can help you check the website’s loading speed. Check the hosting plans if the speed is slower than before the migration. If the website seems slower, check your hosting plan; see if your host includes a CDN (and whether it included a CDN before).

If it had a CDN before but no longer does, implement Jetpack CDN to boost WordPress website performance. You can also check if any more resources were included before that aren’t on the website anymore. If there are too many issues, contact your hosting provider.

4. Terminate the Old Hosting Account

After the migration is successful and your website works well on the new hosting provider, terminate and remove the old hosting account. However, be careful: if the hosting provider offers other services, such as domain names, email accounts, etc., make sure you first transfer them to a new host. This WordPress migration checklist will help you make sure the transition process goes smoothly and that the website works well after migrating from one hosting provider to another.

SEO Tips to Consider After WordPress Website Migration

Suppose you migrate the website to another hosting provider and don’t consider SEO afterward. Then the website may not work properly, and you may lose search engine traffic. Here are a few SEO tips to consider after the SEO migration:

1. Technical Audit

The first step in SEO is a comprehensive technical audit after the WordPress website migration is complete. It will help you understand the SEO parameters related to your website to ensure it has migrated all its SEO specifications intact.

2. On-Page Optimization

You need to make sure that all on-page SEO elements, such as title, meta description, image alt tags, internal links, and external links, work without issues. You can also take help from an experienced SEO who helps you during and after the WordPress website migration process.

3. Link Building

One of the most important parts of SEO is backlinks, also known as anchor text. Make sure your hyperlinks to different pages and contents are all intact after the migration.

4. Website Contents

After the migration, ensure all contents, including blogs, articles, audio files, and videos, are intact and pushed as intended. It’s crucial for you to consider these SEO elements after the WordPress website migration; otherwise, the pages on your website may lose their positions on the SERPs, resulting in lower web traffic, sales, and revenue.

Most Common Issues in WordPress Migration

Migrating a WordPress site can be complex, and several common issues can arise during the process. Here are the key reasons that may cause problems:

1. Incomplete Backup – Failing to back up all website files, databases, and configurations can lead to data loss during migration.
2. Incorrect File Transfers – Transferring files improperly via FTP or missing critical files like .htaccess can break the site.
3. Database Import Errors – Issues such as incorrect database credentials, version mismatches, or large file size restrictions can cause database failures.
4. URL Structure Mismatches – Changing domains or incorrect database URLs can lead to broken links and missing assets.
5. Permissions & Ownership Issues – Incorrect file permissions can cause errors in accessing or executing essential scripts.
6. PHP & MySQL Version Conflicts – Mismatched server versions may result in plugin/theme incompatibilities or site crashes.
7. DNS Propagation Delays – Switching hosts requires DNS updates, which can take time to propagate, causing downtime.
8. Plugin & Theme Incompatibilities – Certain plugins or themes may not function properly on the new host due to differences in the server environment.
9. SSL & Security Certificate Issues – Failing to migrate SSL settings can trigger security warnings and block user access.
10. Caching & CDN Conflicts – Cached data from old hosting may cause display errors or prevent new changes from reflecting.

To prevent these issues, follow a structured migration process, double-check configurations, and test everything before finalizing the move.

Conclusion

Website migration can help you in several ways, including improving page load speed, performance, security, and user experience, and reducing costs. But make sure you think carefully before taking this decision, as the process may be a bit challenging. If you have decided to go through with it, follow all the steps above and make sure to contact the hosting provider’s support team if you encounter any issues. If you’re still concerned about the WordPress website migration process, several WordPress development companies are available on the internet, where you can get the necessary services from expert WordPress developers with relevant skills and experience.

You should also check our blog on Improve Core Web Vitals for the WordPress website.