How-to · Intermediate · 1–2 hours (or a free ticket to us)
How to Migrate a WordPress Site
Shift a WordPress site to a new host without a single visitor seeing a gap — a practical, jargon-free walkthrough with the classic mistake flagged before you make it.
Straight answer first
In a line: shift a WordPress site to a new host without a single visitor seeing a gap — a intermediate-level task that takes 1–2 hours (or a free ticket to us).
The walkthrough below covers every step, the mistake most people make, and the shortcut worth keeping. On Hosting Seller plans several of these steps are already done for you, and we say where.
Written by the Hosting Seller staff · Checked 1 August 2026
Intermediate
Difficulty level
Quick
Time to allow
5
Stages
24/7
Help at any hour
This guide assumes no expertise at all — just a hosting account, a browser and 1–2 hours (or a free ticket to us) of attention. Every instruction works on our platform exactly as written, and carries over to any standard cPanel host.
One promise before you start: nothing in this guide is irreversible. Where a step could bite, we say so and give you the undo.
The overview before the detail
From start to finish, you will let us do the lot, if you'd rather, take the files and export the database, rebuild it at the new host, preview it before you switch and move dns and keep watch.
No stage needs code or a terminal unless the guide says so outright, and where it does, the exact commands are printed. The full step-by-step sits below; the sections around it give the context that makes it stick.
Where this goes wrong, and how not to
Bringing the files across and leaving the database behind, or the reverse. WordPress needs both halves; restore only one and what you get is an empty install wearing your theme like a costume.
Forewarned really is forearmed here. This one mistake accounts for most of the frustration the subject produces, and it is entirely avoidable once somebody names it.
The trick worth borrowing
URLs inside the database sit in serialized data, so a plain find-and-replace corrupts settings as it goes. Use WP-CLI's search-replace or a migration plugin that understands serialization — never a text editor on the SQL file.
Small habits like this are the real difference between people who find hosting easy and people who find it stressful. The tools are identical; the working method is not.
What runs by itself here
We have automated the steps that do not deserve your time: certificates issue and reissue themselves, the installer handles application setup, the daily backup covers the what-if, and per-site settings live in a panel instead of a config file. The guide above covers what remains — the part that is actually about your site.
Stuck halfway through at an odd hour? That is exactly what round-the-clock human support is for — tell us where you are in this guide and we will pick it up from there.
Why the job is simpler on our plans
Tutorials age badly when they are written against imaginary hosting. These are written against ours: the same panel, the same installer and the same defaults you will meet.
Bring an existing site and we shift it across at no charge — usually inside 24 hours, with nothing going dark while we work.
- Step by step, tested exactly as printed
- The snag flagged before you reach it
- The dull steps are already automated
- People on hand at any hour if you stall
Why Hosting Seller
On every plan, as standard
Scoped honestly
Shift a WordPress site to a new host without a single visitor seeing a gap is a intermediate-level task — this guide budgets 1–2 hours (or a free ticket to us) and says which steps the platform absorbs.
Works exactly as written
Every step tested on the platform we run — no 'your host may differ' hand-waving anywhere.
Automation where it belongs
SSL, backups and installs run themselves here, so the guide covers only what is genuinely yours to do.
The snag, named early
The classic mistake for this exact job is flagged before step one, so 1–2 hours (or a free ticket to us) stays 1–2 hours (or a free ticket to us).
The undo is always named
Where a step could bite, the guide says so and tells you how to put it back again.
Written from real tickets
Our guides come off the support desk, so the snags flagged here are the ones people genuinely hit.
First Steps
From choosing to live
- 1
Let us do the lot, if you'd rather
Open a ticket with the login details for your old host and we move the lot — files, database, mailboxes — usually inside a day, checked over before anything switches. Everything below is the do-it-yourself route.
- 2
Take the files and export the database
Download wp-content and export the database through phpMyAdmin. A migration plugin will wrap both into a single archive for you if you would rather not handle them separately.
- 3
Rebuild it at the new host
Upload the files, create a fresh database, import the SQL dump, then edit wp-config.php so it points at the new database name, user and password.
- 4
Preview it before you switch
Add an entry to your own computer's hosts file so your machine alone sees the new server on the real domain. That is how you test the finished job before anybody else is affected.
- 5
Move DNS and keep watch
Repoint the domain, leave the old host running for a few days as a safety net, and confirm the certificate has issued at the new address before you relax.
In the Box
Packed with every plan
- The Softaculous installer for one-click application setup
- Spam and virus filtering fitted to every mailbox
- Real people on the counter, every hour of every day
- WordPress Toolkit, with updates applied for you
- A free SSL certificate on every plan, reissued before it lapses
- A 99.9% uptime commitment, watched by monitoring day and night
- WebP image optimisation built in and costing nothing
- Webmail in the browser plus IMAP, POP and SMTP for your own client
- A backup taken daily, with restores you run yourself
- PHP versions picked per site from the panel
Across the Counter
The questions we get asked most
Can a migration honestly be done with no downtime?
Yes, provided you keep the order right. The new copy runs alongside the old one while the old one still serves traffic, and DNS only moves once you have checked the new one works. Both ends stay live through propagation, so nobody meets a closed door.
What goes wrong most often on a self-managed move?
Three things, over and over: URLs mangled by a careless search-and-replace, file permissions that no longer match, and mailboxes nobody remembered to recreate. The free handled migration exists because those three swallow amateur weekends whole.
Does the price climb when the term is up?
No. What you pay to order is what you pay to renew, year after year. We do not run teaser rates, so there is no year-two ambush waiting in the calendar, and your bookkeeping can treat the hosting line as a fixed number.
Are backups included, and can I put one back myself?
A backup is taken daily on every plan, and the restore is yours to run from the panel in minutes — files, databases or both, at three in the morning without waiting on a ticket. Keeping your own copy offsite as well is never a bad habit, and nothing here stops you.
Can I bring a domain I already own?
Yes, and transfers in are routine. Unlock the name at your present registrar, collect the auth code, then start the transfer from your client area. Whatever registration time is left comes across with it, and DNS keeps answering the whole way through.
Can I set the PHP version myself?
Yes — PHP versions are chosen per site from the control panel, so an old application and a current one can sit side by side on the same account. Extensions and per-site settings live in the same screen, and none of it needs a support ticket.
What happens to my files if I leave?
The site and the files stay yours. Pull a full backup from the panel whenever you like, before or during cancellation. Domains remain registered in your name for the term you paid for and can move to any registrar once the standard 60-day window has passed.
Read next
How to Send Email From WordPress Reliably
Make form notifications and order confirmations actually reach the inbox — beginner level, about 20 minutes.
How to Move a Website to a New Domain
Change the name over the door without losing the rankings or the regulars — intermediate level, about an afternoon plus monitoring.
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Packing up and moving host? Take our checklist.
A plain running order for a move nobody notices: what to copy first, how to carry email across without dropping a single message, when to point DNS, and the two slips behind nearly every hour of downtime we get called about.
Your site is worth better hosting.
Free SSL, a free move in, renewals charged at the order price, and human support around the clock. That is the whole offer.
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