Migrating a WordPress website to another hosting provider can be done through various methods, including manual migration, use of WordPress migration plugins, or through the services provided by some hosting companies. Here’s a general guide on how to manually migrate your WordPress website:
- Backup Your Website: You should always backup your website before making any changes to it. This is a good general practice, and especially important when migrating your website. You should back up both your website files and your database.
- Export Your Database: You can do this via your website’s control panel (cPanel, Plesk, etc.). Find the “phpMyAdmin” tool and then select the database that your WordPress website is using. Then click on the “Export” button to download a .sql file of your database.
- Copy Your WordPress Files: You need to download your WordPress files from your current host. You can do this via an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client. Connect to your host, then navigate to the folder where your WordPress website is located (often this is the public_html folder), and download the files to your local computer.
- Create a Database on Your New Host: You will need to create a new database on your new hosting account. This can usually be done via your hosting control panel. Make note of the database name, the username, and the password as you will need this information later.
- Import Your Database to Your New Host: Using phpMyAdmin on your new host, you can import your database. Just click on your new database name in phpMyAdmin, then click on the “Import” button to upload the .sql file that you exported from your old host.
- Upload Your WordPress Files to Your New Host: You can upload your WordPress files to your new host using an FTP client. Connect to your new host, navigate to the directory where you want your website to be located, and upload the WordPress files.
- Update Your wp-config.php File: You will need to update the wp-config.php file with your new database information. This file is located in the main directory of your WordPress installation. Open the file, find the lines that specify DB_NAME, DB_USER, and DB_PASSWORD, and replace the existing values with the ones for your new database.
- Update Your DNS Records: You will need to update your domain name system (DNS) records so that your domain name points to your new host. The specifics of how to do this will vary depending on who your domain registrar is. Generally, you will need to replace your old host’s nameservers with the ones provided by your new host.
- Wait for Propagation: DNS propagation can take up to 24-48 hours, although it often happens more quickly. During this time, some visitors might be directed to your old host, while others might see your website on the new host.
- Test Your Website: Once DNS propagation is complete, you should visit your website and make sure everything works as expected.
Remember, these are general steps. The specific process might be slightly different depending on your hosts and your specific website configuration.
If you feel uncomfortable doing this manually, you can also use a WordPress Managed Hosting service, like ourselves, that will help you migrate your site to our hosting service. Depending on your existing setup to what is the best way to migrate a site.