How to move your WordPress site to a new host without downtime

Moving a WordPress site to a new host sounds risky, but it doesn’t have to be. The trick is simple: build a working copy on the new host first, check it properly, and only then point your domain at it. Until that last step, your visitors keep seeing the old site, so nothing goes offline.

Here is the order we follow when we move a WordPress site for a customer.

1. Don’t cancel your old hosting yet

This is the most common mistake. If you cancel first, your website and email can disappear before the new copy is ready. Leave the old account running until the move is finished and you’ve used the new site for a few days. Then cancel.

2. Take a full backup

Before you touch anything, download a complete backup: every file in your WordPress folder and an export of the database. Most hosts let you do this from their control panel. Keep the backup on your own computer, not only on the old server.

3. Write down your settings

Make a short list of the things that live outside WordPress, so nothing gets forgotten:

• Every email address on your domain, and any forwarders.
• Your DNS records, especially MX records (email), TXT records (email security and verification) and any subdomains.
• Where your domain is registered, and how to log in there.
• Any scheduled jobs, redirects or special server settings your developer set up.

4. Copy your WordPress site to the new host

Upload your files to the new hosting account, create a new database and import your export into it. Then update the database details in wp-config.php so WordPress can find its new database. A migration plugin can do these steps for you on smaller sites; bigger sites are usually quicker to move by hand. WordPress also has its own guide to moving a WordPress site.

5. Test the new WordPress site before you switch

Look at the new copy before the public does. Most hosts give you a temporary address for this, or you can point only your own computer at the new server by editing its hosts file. Click through your important pages, send a test enquiry through every form, check your shop’s basket and log in to the dashboard.

6. Move your email

Create the same mailboxes on the new host. If you want to keep old messages, copy them across with an IMAP migration tool, or let your host do it. Email is the part people notice first if something goes wrong, so check you can send and receive on every address straight after the switch.

7. Point your domain at the new host

Now update your domain. Either change its nameservers to the new host’s, or change the A record and MX records to the new addresses. Most visitors reach the new site within a few hours. Some networks take up to 48 hours to catch up, which is why the old site stays live during this time: anyone still reaching it sees a working website.

8. Check the SSL certificate

Once the domain points to the new host, make sure your WordPress site loads with the padlock on https://. Most hosts issue a free certificate automatically after the switch. If you see a security warning, ask your host to reissue it.

9. Keep an eye on it for a week

Watch your forms, orders and email for a few days. When everything has worked for a week, download one last backup from the old host and cancel it.

Rather not do it yourself?

Every HostDingo plan includes a free migration. A person moves your website, email and database by hand, within 48 hours of getting access, and your site stays live the whole time. Book a free migration.

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