How to Easily Move WordPress to a New Domain Without Losing Seo?
If you have used a free domain when creating the website on WordPress or the old domain is not yet performing enough in the SEO results, there are several reasons why you might need a new domain. It is the part of the URL after www. That is unique from one website to another. For instance, if the website has the URL of www.abc.com, here, abc.com is the entire domain name.
It is usually divided into two parts. The textual portion, ABC, is the website name, while .com is the extension of the website. Even if the textual portion is the same, the extensions need to be different to identify them. Combined, the domain set helps Google to differentiate one website from another. Also, it helps customers to identify between different websites, which is why it is crucial for every single page owner to maintain the performance of the domain name.
You might need a new domain name for your website for several reasons. Before you start the migration process, knowing the root causes will be way more beneficial. Therefore, we have listed some of the reasons why WordPress website migration is important.
1. When the domain used at the time of development was free, it might not be able to perform in the same manner. With time, you won’t be able to drive maximum business toward the website. So, it would be best if you migrate your current WordPress website to a new domain name that is purchased and is perfectly aligned with your business.
2. Sometimes, WordPress sites fail to perform appropriately. In this case, WordPress website migration is necessary. Until and unless you do so, there is no way the website can perform expectedly.
3. If any other website has the same textual name, there can be different consequences, like copyright issues, legal problems, and many more. This is why you should transfer the WordPress website’s existing domain to a new one so you won’t have to face any such problem again.
How to Migrate WordPress to a New Domain?
Before you start the process, knowing the steps in-depth will become much easier. This is why we have discussed how exactly the process is carried out. With this guide, you can hire a WordPress developer and begin the process.
Create a Duplicate Package of Your WordPress Site
The first step is to create a backup of your entire website that is correct there on the server live. And unless you are creating a duplicate package having the previous codes, data packages, source requirements, and several other such components, setting up the redirects from your old to the new website domains won’t be easy. You will find many plugins with which creating a backup of your current website will become easier, but duplicator is the best one to go with. Not only is it a free backup plugin, but it is also quite efficient and will keep all the datasets secured.
First, you must install and activate the duplicator plugin on your old website. After this, a new duplicator item will be created in the WordPress admin dashboard. Click on this menu item and then go to create a new one. As soon as you create a new folder, you can add a new package with the name of your old WordPress website domain.
Click on the next button to move further and activate the duplicator plugin, which will now execute the duplicator wizard on your old website. Initially, the visit will run some tests to check whether there is any current problem with the website in the life condition. All the errors will be displayed on the console with a warning message. If every single section of the website gets marked good, click on the build option. This will initiate the duplication work of your WordPress website, where every component will get stored in this new package you have created.
After this, there will be two folder options, installer and archive package. Click on one click download, which will start downloading both files simultaneously. The installer will be a PHP file, and the archive folder will have a copy of the WordPress files from the old website.
Create a Database for Your New Domain Name
The next step is to create a database where the new domain name will be stored. You must visit the hosting account and the cPanel dashboard to do so. Scroll down to the option for Databases and click on MySQL Databases icon. You can give a name similar to your WordPress website’s new domain name and click on create a database.
cPanel will help create the database, after which you can move to the MySQL User section. Here, it would help if you had a username and a password. After this, Scroll down to the section saying Add User To Database to give the user permission to work on the new database you have created. Here, you must select the database user you created from the dropdown menu and then the concerned database. Now click on the add button.
Once done, your database will be ready where you can work once the WordPress domain is moved to the new name.
Unpack WordPress on the new domain
In the third step of WordPress development and migration of the old website to the new domain name, you must upload the duplicated files. For this, connect the domain name using the FTP client and ensure the root directory of your new website is empty.
After this, upload the archive package you downloaded during the duplicator plugin action and the installer file directly to the root directory. After both files are uploaded, unpack the new WordPress domain. Open a new browser tab and write the URL as: http://www.[domain_name]/installer.php.
Here, you have to write the domain name of your new website and then open the URL. This is done to launch the duplicator migration wizard. The installer package will ask for configuring your website database, where you need to add the host as localhost and then enter all the database details like username and password.
After this, click on continue, and the duplicator will unpack the WordPress database backup of your old website from the archive into the new database, which is empty. Also, it will ask you to update the website’s URL. You do not have to do anything because the URL is detected automatically, and the Update is done from the back end. Once the migration is completed, click on Admin Login to access your WordPress admin dashboard with the new domain name.
Setup Permanent 301 Redirects
Three hundred-one redirects is a step through which you point your old users whose new domain has been created, and they should visit the new website. Since you will not be changing the SEO or any other work is already done on the older website, setting up the permanent 301 redirects is crucial. It won’t show any 404 error on the screen once the user opens your website with the older URL.
You can either set up the redirects manually or use the All-In-One SEO software. It is also a WordPress SEO plugin you need to install and activate on the older domain. After the activation, you have to visit the Plugin screen and then move to the Redirects option. Click the Activate Redirects button and then switch to the Full Site Redirect tab. Enter the new domain and then click on Relocate to domain option.
Notify Google About the Change
Last but not least, you must notify Google about your website’s URL change. This way, you will be signifying to the crawler that your older website has been changed to a new destination. For this, ensure both the new and the old URLs are added to the Google Search Console as two different entities.
Now, you should select the old domain name for the active property from this dashboard. Click on the settings menu and the Change Of Address button. Now select the new domain, which will be present under the section for Update Google, and then click on Validate & Update.
Watch this Video to Migrate WordPress to a New Domain
Video Resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vR0oD_Nux0
Conclusion
In this article, we walk you through all the important steps to complete WordPress website migration without any hassle. You need two different plugins, one for duplicating all the initial content on the older website and another to set up the 301 redirects. Other than that, setting up the website’s new URL and domain name won’t be much of a difficult task.