Would you like to move your WordPress website to a new domain? Changing your site’s domain name can have a major impact on your SEO rankings, and it is a method that needs to be completed quite carefully.
Although you can’t prevent temporary SEO variations while moving your site to a new domain, you can certainly reduce the effect and quickly recover your search traffic and rankings.
This article will explain some steps to move WordPress to a new domain without losing SEO.
Before we dive into we want to focus on some things:
- The method of moving to a new domain will temporarily impact your search rankings like Google, and other search engines adapt the changes.
- Yes, it will also impact your search traffic temporarily. Please remember that it is common, and it happens to all sites which move to a new domain.
- Although, you can significantly reduce the impact of SEO by following this guide. We will explain the perfect way to move your WordPress site to a new domain name, set up correct 301 redirects, and alert search engines.
Some Steps to Move WordPress to a New Domain
Here are several steps to move WordPress to a new domain, which we include:
1. Duplicate your website
The first thing you have to do is to make a complete backup of your WordPress website. Although there are many WordPress backup plugins available, the one we will demonstrate in this step is backup and migration.
It’s a duplicator plugin, and it’s a free and convenient plugin.
Let’s start by activating and triggering the Duplicator plugin on your old domain name. After activated, the plugin can add a Duplicator menu item in your WordPress admin dashboard. You have to click the Duplicator menu and then click the Create button to build a new package.
Afterward, you will be asked to press the Next button to proceed.
Now, Duplicator will operate the duplicator wizard on the site. First, many tests will execute to see if it’s all in order. If all of the things are marked ‘Good,’ then press the ‘Create’ button.
The plugin will now begin to develop a duplicator package for your WordPress website. Depending on the size of your website, this method can take a few minutes.
After completed, you can see the download options for the Installer and Archive package. You have to click the ‘Click Download’ link to download both files to your device.
The archive file is a full copy of your site, which will enable you to move WordPress to another domain name. The installer script will automate and operate the migration process by unpacking the archive file.
2. Create a database for a new domain name
You will need a database to unpack WordPress on your new domain name before you can switch.
If you’ve already built a database, you can skip this step.
To construct a database, you have to visit the cPanel dashboard of your hosting account, scroll down to the ‘Databases’ segment, and then press the ‘MySQL Databases’ button.
You will see a field on the next screen to construct a new database. Enter a name for your database and press the ‘Construct Database’ button.
Now, CPanel will create a new database for you. You have to scroll down to the MySQL Users section afterward.
Next, give a username and password for your new user and press the ‘Create User’ button.
A new user you have just created is still not allowed to work on the database. Let’s change that.
Scroll down to the section ‘Add User to Database.’ Choose the database user you generated from the drop-down menu next to the ‘User’ field, choose the database, and click the Add button.
Your database has become prepared to be used to move WordPress to a new domain name. Please keep in mind the name, username, and password of the database. You will need this data in the next step.
3. Unpack WordPress on new domain
Now you have to upload the Duplicator files that you downloaded earlier to your new domain name.
Firstly, connect to your domain name by using an FTP client. Once it’s connected, ensure the root directory of your site is blank.
Afterward, you can upload the archive and install files to the root directory.
When all files are uploaded, you’re able to unpack WordPress.
The installer will search for the archive file. You have to test the Terms and Conditions checkbox and press the next button to proceed.
The installer will now ask you to insert your WordPress database details.
Your host is probably to be local host. Afterward, in the previous step, you will enter the database you built for your new domain name.
Once completed, press the next button to proceed.
Duplicator will now unpack the backup of your WordPress database from the archive in your new database.
Next, you’ll be asked to update the URL of the site or Path. It would help if you didn’t have to switch anything because it automatically scans the URL of your new domain name and its path.
If it doesn’t, you can update the URL to your new domain name. Afterward, click the next button to proceed.
Some Key Takeaways
Trying to switch WordPress to a new domain or host can be a daunting process, not only for beginners but even if you’re a pretty experienced WordPress user. Here we have explained several steps to move a WordPress website to a new domain without losing SEO, which will help you.
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