{"id":778743,"date":"2015-12-31T00:20:33","date_gmt":"2015-12-31T00:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpml.org\/?p=778743"},"modified":"2016-01-04T09:29:29","modified_gmt":"2016-01-04T09:29:29","slug":"checklist-change-web-hosts-domain-names-seo-wordpress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpml.org\/de\/announcements\/2015\/12\/checklist-change-web-hosts-domain-names-seo-wordpress\/","title":{"rendered":"Checklist: Change Web Hosts, Domain Names and SEO in WordPress"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The WordPress Codex is a great resource of information but can be a bit overwhelming for some\u00a0users looking to migrate to a new hosting provider or change domain names.<\/p>\n<p>We created a printable checklist to help with migration. We also covered the issue of SEO and what to do in case things go wrong.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"download-button\" href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/0BzYEP333SOa6d29XMm5sTk5aZkU\/view?usp=sharing\" target=\"_blank\">Get the Checklist<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Before You Begin<\/h2>\n<p>Please remember to retain an original backup saved in a safe place separate from the actual files you will be working with. Name your file something like: <strong>yourfiles_backup.zip. <\/strong>Include site files and database. This should remain untouched and only used if restore methods fail.\u00a0We will explain\u00a0back up methods later.<\/p>\n<p>Do not turn off the account for the old hosting provider yet. Leave it active for at least a week in order to give DNS time to resolve and for you to verify files and database.<\/p>\n<p>You should have already prepped other items such as moving email accounts and setting up an account at the new hosting provider and\/or decisions about the new domain name with\u00a0nameserver settings, if applicable. Note: some back up methods explained in this article will also back up your email accounts.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Moving the Files &amp; Database<\/h2>\n<p>These options can be mixed and matched to fit your needs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ask Your New Host<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>First, ask your new web host if they provide services to move from your old host. Most provide this service at no cost\u00a0depending on the server set up.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Using a Plugin: Duplicator<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/duplicator\/\" target=\"_blank\">Duplicator<\/a> allows you to backup and reinstall the database\u00a0and WordPress files either for safe keeping or to a new hosting provider.\u00a0It&#8217;s a free plugin with the ability to upgrade to pro for larger websites.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\"><iframe width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yZ7pHmR9JC8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>The Easy Way: CPanel<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Cpanel has built in features for backing up databases and files. It&#8217;s even easier if migrating from Cpanel host to another Cpanel host.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Option 1: Cpanel to Another Control Panel<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Login to Cpanel and locate\u00a0&#8222;Backup Wizard&#8220;.<\/li>\n<li>Select the backup option.<\/li>\n<li>From there you can select &#8222;Home Directory&#8220; and &#8222;MySQL Databases&#8220;.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\"><iframe width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eS-tCkc-gm0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>Option 2: Cpanel + File Manager + PHPMyAdmin<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Locate &#8222;File Manager&#8220; and click the &#8222;Document Root&#8220; option.<\/li>\n<li>Right click on the public_html or www folder and press &#8222;Compress&#8220;. Note the file name.<\/li>\n<li>When complete, browse to yourwebsite.com\/filename.zip<\/li>\n<li>Go back to the main Cpanel. Find &amp; click &#8222;PHPMyAdmin&#8220;.<\/li>\n<li>Click on the main database name.<\/li>\n<li>Click the &#8222;Export&#8220; tab.<\/li>\n<li>Scroll down and click the &#8222;Save as File&#8220; option and choose the &#8218;zipped&#8216; compression.<\/li>\n<li>Click &#8222;Go&#8220;.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\"><iframe width=\"525\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Da6qrTNZ1Ho?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>Option 3: Cpanel to Cpanel<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>For this option you will need to have Web Host Manager (WHM) part of your account. This is normally for resellers or dedicated servers. Login to WHM.<\/li>\n<li>Select &#8222;Copy multiple accounts\/packages from another server&#8220;. This option will copy your database, email and all files.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\"><iframe width=\"525\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C6ro9h0qowU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>The Manual Way: FTP<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>File transfer through FTP is the slowest but sometimes the above options don&#8217;t work out. Two popular FTP programs are\u00a0FileZilla and CuteFTP <a href=\"http:\/\/truelogic.org\/wordpress\/2011\/06\/07\/10-most-popular-ftp-clients\/\" target=\"_blank\">among others<\/a>. You will only need to worry about files within the \/www\/ \u00a0or \/public_html\/ folder.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\"><iframe width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_nDQz1JQfYA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Changing the Domain Name<\/h2>\n<p>Follow this option when changing URLs or moving from a sub-directory to the root or vice versa. \u00a0The permalinks will need to be resaved.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Using a Plugin:\u00a0Go Live Update URLs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/go-live-update-urls\/\" target=\"_blank\">Go Live Update URLs<\/a> is a simple find\/replace plugin to change the URL in the database.<\/p>\n<p>Find and replace the\u00a0full URL with http and without the ending foward slash &#8222;\/&#8220;:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">http:\/\/example.com<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Easy\u00a0Way:\u00a0wp-config.php<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Note: this option won&#8217;t work for mulitsites.<\/p>\n<p>Go to Settings &gt; General and change the URL in\u00a0WordPress Address (URL) and\u00a0Site Address (URL). Save changes.<\/p>\n<p>In wp-config.php, add the following lines at the top:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">define(&#8218;WP_HOME&#8216;,&#8217;http:\/\/example.com&#8216;);<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">define(&#8218;WP_SITEURL&#8216;,&#8217;http:\/\/example.com&#8216;);<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Manual Way:\u00a0Database<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If all else fails, you can make the replacement in the database.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Go to &#8222;wp_options&#8220;.<\/li>\n<li>Find and change the option_value for\u00a0option_name:\u00a0siteurl<\/li>\n<li>Find and change\u00a0the option_value for\u00a0option_name:\u00a0home<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>It should be the full URL with http and without the ending foward slash &#8222;\/&#8220;.<\/p>\n<p>Another way is to update functions.php with:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">update_option(&#8217;siteurl&#8216;,&#8217;http:\/\/example.com&#8216;);<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">update_option(&#8218;home&#8216;,&#8217;http:\/\/example.com&#8216;);<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>If Something Goes Wrong<\/h2>\n<p>Here are some typical scenarios\u00a0that may surface while transitioning files or domain\u00a0names:<\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u00a0accidentally\u00a0changed the nameservers\u00a0on my domain before files were\u00a0downloaded.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Connect to the server&#8217;s IP address or temporarily change the nameservers back. The IP address can be located in the email the hosting company initially sent or you can send an email to tech\u00a0support. You can either connect via FTP to the IP address or if using Cpanel, visit http:\/\/[IP-HERE]\/cpanel. So for instance, if I was connecting to IP\u00a0127.0.0.1 then the URL to get to Cpanel would be\u00a0http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/cpanel. From there just login with the same credentials.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pages return a 404.<\/strong><br \/>\nCheck the\u00a0URL was successfully\u00a0replaced in the database. Resave permalinks in WordPress backend.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Homepage menu link returns a 404.<\/strong><br \/>\nGo to Appearance &gt; Menus and see if the home link needs to be changed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Can&#8217;t write or add images to the uploads folder.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Change permissions to the wp-content\/uploads\u00a0folder to 755. If that doesn&#8217;t work, try 777. And if those permissions don&#8217;t work contact your new hosting provider.<\/p>\n<p><strong>If all else fails.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Make a copy of the yourfiles_backup.zip backup and unzip the files. Restore the files &amp; database\u00a0and re-follow steps above. Pay special attention to the URL change and make sure all files and database information have successfully imported.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Addressing SEO Issues<\/h2>\n<p>Now that you&#8217;ve successfully changed hosting providers and domain names it&#8217;s time to address any potential SEO issues.\u00a0You only need to take these steps if you changed domain names or moved from a sub-directory. You should make sure DNS has resolved first and the new site is up and running.<\/p>\n<p><strong>301 Redirects<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While\u00a0your old domain is still active, you can forward the old domain to the new domain by setting up a 301 permanent redirect to the new URL. Add the following to .htaccess for the old domain. Replace newwebsite.com with your new URL:<\/p>\n<p>Redirect 301 \/ http:\/\/www.newwebsite.com\/<\/p>\n<p>If moving from a sub-directory it would be:<\/p>\n<p>Redirect 301 \/subdirectory\/ http:\/\/www.newwebsite.com\/<\/p>\n<p>You can test if these changes took place by visiting the domain name in a new browser after saving .htaccess.<\/p>\n<p>Further reading:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mediatemple.net\/community\/products\/grid\/204643080\/how-do-i-redirect-my-site-using-a-htaccess-file\" target=\"_blank\">How do I redirect my site using a .htaccess file?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Notify Google &amp; Bing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Next, notify <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/83106\" target=\"_blank\">Google<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bing.com\/webmaster\/help\/how-to-use-the-site-move-tool-bb8f5112\" target=\"_blank\">Bing<\/a> Webmaster Tools of the domain name\u00a0change.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Resubmit Sitemaps<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Notify <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/sites\/answer\/100283?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\">Google<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bing.com\/webmaster\/help\/how-to-submit-sitemaps-82a15bd4\" target=\"_blank\">Bing <\/a>of sitemap changes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Notify Users<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Alert site users via a newsletter and social media of the new domain\u00a0name.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Monitor\u00a0Dead Links &amp; 404 Errors<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Keep an eye on any dead links via a <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/search.php?q=404+errors\" target=\"_blank\">404 plugin<\/a>. For single pages, you can use\u00a0a <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/search.php?type=term&amp;q=301+redirect\" target=\"_blank\">301 redirect<\/a> plugin\u00a0and you can create a <a href=\"https:\/\/codex.wordpress.org\/Creating_an_Error_404_Page\" target=\"_blank\">custom 404 page<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"download-button\" href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/0BzYEP333SOa6d29XMm5sTk5aZkU\/view?usp=sharing\" target=\"_blank\">Get the Checklist<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Documentation &amp; Resources<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/duplicator\/\" target=\"_blank\">Duplicator<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yZ7pHmR9JC8\" target=\"_blank\">Duplicator For WordPress Quick Overview<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eS-tCkc-gm0\" target=\"_blank\">How to use the backup wizard in Cpanel<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Da6qrTNZ1Ho\" target=\"_blank\">cPanel &#8211; Site Backup Using phpMyAdmin &amp; cPanel File Manager<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/truelogic.org\/wordpress\/2011\/06\/07\/10-most-popular-ftp-clients\/\" target=\"_blank\">Popular FTP Programs<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/go-live-update-urls\/\" target=\"_blank\">Go Live Update URLS<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mediatemple.net\/community\/products\/grid\/204643080\/how-do-i-redirect-my-site-using-a-htaccess-file\" target=\"_blank\">How do I redirect my site using a .htaccess file?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/83106\" target=\"_blank\">Google:\u00a0Use the change of address tool<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bing.com\/webmaster\/help\/how-to-use-the-site-move-tool-bb8f5112\" target=\"_blank\">Bing:\u00a0Site Move<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/sites\/answer\/100283?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\">Google:\u00a0Submit a sitemap to Google Search Console<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bing.com\/webmaster\/help\/how-to-submit-sitemaps-82a15bd4\" target=\"_blank\">Bing:\u00a0Sitemaps<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/search.php?q=404+errors\" target=\"_blank\">404 plugins in WordPress Plugin Directory<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/search.php?type=term&amp;q=301+redirect\" target=\"_blank\">301 Redirect plugins\u00a0in WordPress Plugin Directory<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/codex.wordpress.org\/Creating_an_Error_404_Page\" target=\"_blank\">Creating an Error 404 Page in WordPress<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Stay in Touch<\/h2>\n<p>You can get blog updates in 3 ways:<\/p>\n<p>Follow WPML on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wpml\">Twitter<\/a>, like on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WPMLcms\">Facebook<\/a> or get updates via <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/wpml\">RSS<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If you have feedback about this article or\u00a0have ideas for future topics\u00a0contact\u00a0me via <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WPtiawood\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or leave your thoughts &amp; feedback in the comments below.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>About the Author<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tia is a blogger for WPML and Toolset with a background in WordPress and PHP development. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/wpml.org\/de\/announcements\/2015\/11\/wordpress-is-as-much-about-building-community-as-it-is-about-building-websites\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read More<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. You can connect with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WPtiawood\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">her on Twitter<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The WordPress Codex is a great resource of information but can be a bit overwhelming for some\u00a0users looking to migrate to a new hosting provider or change domain names. We created a printable checklist to help with migration. We also covered the issue of SEO and what to do in case things go wrong. Get [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76577,"featured_media":778779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10558,10559,10555,10554,10556,10557],"class_list":["post-778743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements","tag-change-domain-names","tag-change-hosts","tag-cpanel-backup","tag-duplicator","tag-go-live-update-urls","tag-wordpress-backup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpml.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpml.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpml.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpml.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76577"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpml.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778743"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/wpml.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":779931,"href":"https:\/\/wpml.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778743\/revisions\/779931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpml.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpml.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpml.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpml.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}