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Moving a standard HTML site from one web host to another used to be as simple as copying and pasting your files. Easy, right? But when it comes to WordPress, things can feel a bit more complicated.
That’s because WordPress isn’t just a bunch of files. It’s a script that stores your website’s content (like pages and posts) in a database. So when you move your WordPress site, you’re not just moving files – you’re also moving the database. And here’s the kicker: even after moving both, your site still won’t work until you connect the script to the database correctly.
Moving a standard HTML site from one web host to another used to be as simple as copying and pasting your files. Easy, right? But when it comes to WordPress, things can feel a bit more complicated.
That’s because WordPress isn’t just a bunch of files. It’s a script that stores your website’s content (like pages and posts) in a database. So when you move your WordPress site, you’re not just moving files – you’re also moving the database. And here’s the kicker: even after moving both, your site still won’t work until you connect the script to the database correctly.
Sound daunting? Don’t worry – I’ve got you covered.
In this course, I’ll walk you through the entire process, step by step. Whether you prefer a hands-on manual method or an automated way to make it all a little easier, I’ll show you both. You’ll get to look over my shoulder as I move real sites that I own. You can follow along and repeat the steps on your own site – it’s like having a personal guide by your side.
And the best part? Apart from your hosting and WordPress site, everything else you need is completely free.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
Why you might need to move your WordPress site (and how to know when it’s necessary).
A simple breakdown of the steps involved, plus detailed video tutorials to guide you through the entire process.
How to move your WordPress files and database from one domain or host to another.
How to edit your WordPress configuration file to make sure the script and database communicate properly.
How to create redirects so your old site points visitors to your new one seamlessly.
How to check and make sure your move was a success.
A few plugins that make the whole process faster and easier.
Whether you’re upgrading your hosting, changing your domain, or just tidying things up, this course will give you the confidence to move your WordPress site without stress.
Let’s make your site move smooth, simple, and stress-free. I’ll be right here to guide you through it.
Ready to get started? Let’s move that site.
Please watch this video before you begin the course. It has important information relating to Udemy courses in general. Specifically, how to adjust sound, video resolution and find course resources.
Before we start the course, let me briefly introduce myself, and the course material.
This course has two main sections. Each section addresses a slightly different need, so read this document to make sure you are following the correct section for your needs.
This lecture explores the reasons why you might want to move a website.
This lecture provides an overview of the steps involved in moving a website from one domain to another (or just form one webhost to another).
We need to install Wordpress on the new domain before we begin the move. This gives us a working Wordpress and database file that we can import the site into.
We need to grab the Wordpress script files, plus theme, plugins etc from the original website. We'll use those to build the same Wordpress on the new domain.
Next up, we need to download the original Wordpress database. This contains user information, website content etc. We'll import these into Wordpress installation on the new domain.
Time to upload the original Wordpress site files onto the new domain.
Now we can import the database file into the new installation.
To get the Wordpress script talking to the database, we need to edit the wp-config.php file.
Finally, we need to cut off the old website. However, if you want to, you can setup redirects from the site to the new. This will mean that if anyone clicks on a link to the old site, they are redirected to the appropriate page on the new site. Also, any backlinks you may have to the site will also be redirected, so rankings should be maintained. However, if your site was penalized by Google, any penalty can also be redirected.
Checking the new site is important. We need to make sure images are loading properly (and they are loading from the new domain, not the old), and all internal pages are correctly loading.
If you want to notify Google that your domain has moved, you can do so inside Google's Search Console.
This lecture shows the overview of using the Google's Move of Address feature, allowing me to inform Google that my site has moved domains.
This lecture introduces the idea of moving a site from one web host to another, but keeping the same domain name.
First step is to register the domain name with the new host.
We now need to grab the original Wordpress files so we can upload them to the new host.
Wordpress stores content and other data in a database. We need to export the original database.
To import the old site into the new, we need a working Wordpress site. The easiest way to achieve this is to install Wordpress on the new hosting.
Now we can upload the original site's Wordpress files.
Using PHPMyAdmin, we can easily import the original database into the new Wordpress install.
To get the Wordpress files talking to the Wordpress Database, we need to edit the WP-Config file.
Finally we can modify the DNS, so that our registrar now points to the new web hosting.
It's always a good idea to check the domain after the move is complete. This is how I check a domain.
A little information before you start.
This lecture shows how you can move a WordPress site using the Duplicator plugin.
This lecture shows how you can move a WordPress site using Migrate Guru.
Resources you may find useful.
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