WordPress Migration
WordPress Migration
Move WordPress websites between hosts or domains, with careful handling of files, database, and URLs.
Moving a live WordPress site is one of the few situations where a mistake can affect the whole site at once, which is why it's worth planning rather than copying files across and hoping URLs sort themselves out.
We plan each migration around your specific hosts, domain setup, and site size, then transfer files and database with careful handling of URL references and serialized data — the parts that most commonly break in a rushed migration.
Serialized data is the part that catches most manual migrations out — WordPress stores certain settings and widget/plugin configuration as PHP-serialized strings that include exact character counts, so a simple find-and-replace on the old domain name silently corrupts them without throwing any visible error. The site often looks fine immediately after migration and then shows odd, hard-to-explain glitches in specific plugins days later, which is why this needs deliberate handling rather than a generic text replacement.
For ongoing care after the move, WordPress Maintenance & Care covers what comes next.
Is This You?
For website owners moving to new hosting, changing domains, or promoting a staging site to production.
- Uncertainty about moving a live site without losing content
- Broken links or images after a previous migration attempt
- Database and URL references not updating correctly between environments
- SSL/HTTPS not working correctly after a move
- Serialized data breaking after a manual migration
- Staging site needing to be promoted to production safely
- Multilingual (WPML) content needing careful handling during migration
- WooCommerce orders and product data needing to transfer correctly
- Consolidating multiple sites or environments into one
- Uncertainty about what to check before considering a migration complete
What We Can Help With
- Plan the migration around your specific hosts, domains, and site size
- Transfer files and database with careful handling of serialized data
- Update URL references correctly across the database
- Verify SSL/HTTPS configuration after the move
- Check DNS considerations relevant to the migration
- Test key functionality — forms, WooCommerce checkout, WPML languages where applicable — after migration
- Promote a staging site to production carefully
- Provide a post-migration check of the live site before considering it complete
- Consolidate multiple environments into a single destination site
- Provide a clear checklist of what was verified after migration
How We Approach This Work
- Understand the symptoms you're describing
- Inspect the actual cause, not just where the problem appears
- Avoid unnecessary changes to what's already working
- Implement the fix that addresses the real issue
- Verify the result before considering it resolved
Relevant Technologies
- WordPress
- MySQL
- DNS
- SSL
- WooCommerce
- WPML
What Happens Next
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Share Migration Details
Tell us the current host, destination, and any specific concerns.
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We Plan the Migration
We review your site and plan the migration to minimize disruption.
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We Migrate Files and Database
Files, database, and URLs are transferred and carefully checked.
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We Test the Live Site
We verify key functionality after migration and confirm everything is working.
Why Trust WP Expertz
Every engagement starts with a clear diagnosis before any changes are made.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you migrate my site without downtime?
We plan migrations carefully to minimize disruption, though brief downtime during the switch-over is often unavoidable depending on the setup.
Will I lose any content during migration?
Migrations are carefully planned and checked, with files, database, URLs, SSL, and key functionality verified after the move.
Can you migrate a multilingual WPML site?
Yes — multilingual content needs particular care during migration, and we account for that in the plan.
Do you handle DNS changes?
We can guide you through the relevant DNS considerations, though final propagation timing is outside our control.
Can you migrate a WooCommerce store?
Yes, including checking that products and orders transfer correctly.
What if a previous migration attempt already went wrong?
We can review what state the site is currently in and work from there — a partially-migrated or broken-links state is recoverable, it just needs its own investigation first.
Do you handle the actual hosting account setup at the new host?
That depends on scope — we focus on the WordPress migration itself; hosting account provisioning is typically something you or your host handles, though we can advise on requirements.
Need Help With WordPress Migration?
You don't need to know the technical terminology. Just tell us what's happening and we'll take it from there.
