Moving your WordPress site to a new domain can feel risky. You don’t want to lose your hard-earned SEO rankings, and you need to make sure visitors who use your old domain are automatically sent to the new one.
In this guide, we will show you how to move WordPress to a new domain without losing your SEO. We have used these exact steps to migrate hundreds of websites, including our own.
Here is a quick overview of everything we will cover in this tutorial. You can click any link below to jump straight to that section:
- What to Know Before You Change Domains
- What You Need to Get Started
- Step 1: Create a Duplicator Backup of Your WordPress Site
- Step 2: Create a Database for Your New Domain Name
- Step 3: Unpack WordPress on Your New Domain Name
- Step 4: Set Up Permanent 301 Redirects
- Step 5: Notify Google About Your New Domain
- Changing Only Your Domain Name (Same Hosting)
- How to Move WordPress to a New Domain Without a Plugin
- Post-Migration SEO Checklist
- Frequently Asked Questions About Moving a WordPress Site
- Video Tutorial
What to Know Before You Change Domains
Not every domain change needs a full migration. Before you start, pick the scenario that matches your situation:
- You are moving your WordPress site to a new domain, including moving the site to a new hosting account or server. Follow the steps in this guide.
- You only want to rename your domain, and the website hosting stays exactly where it is. Skip to changing only your domain name.
- You are keeping your domain but switching hosting companies. This guide is not for you. See our tutorial on moving a WordPress site to a new host instead.
Switching domains will temporarily affect your search rankings and traffic while Google and other search engines adjust to the change. This happens to every website that changes its domain, and it is normal.
However, you can greatly reduce the SEO impact by setting up proper 301 redirects and notifying search engines the right way. That is exactly what the steps below do.
Lastly, if your old website is on WordPress.com, then you need to follow the instructions in our guide on how to move from WordPress.com to WordPress.org instead.
What You Need to Get Started
In this guide, we are assuming that you have your WordPress website set up on oldsite.com, and you are trying to migrate it to newsite.com.
Here is what you need before you start:
- Both domains added to your hosting account, with the new domain’s DNS pointing at the server where the new site will live.
- Access to your web hosting control panel.
- Basic familiarity with using an FTP client like FileZilla, or the File Manager app in your hosting dashboard.
If you still need hosting for your new domain, then Bluehost plans include a free domain name.
Step 1: Create a Duplicator Backup of Your WordPress Site
The first thing you need to do is create a full backup of your WordPress site. You will use this backup to create an exact copy of your website on the new domain.
While there are many WordPress backup plugins available, we will be using the free Duplicator Lite plugin for this tutorial. It does everything this migration needs, and you will not need a paid plan to move your domain.
Over 1,500,000 professionals use Duplicator, and it has worked reliably for us even on very large sites.
Let’s start by installing and activating Duplicator on your old domain. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Once activated, the plugin will add a Duplicator menu item in your WordPress admin. You need to go to the Duplicator » Backups page and then click on the ‘Create New’ button.
Duplicator will now start the backup wizard and automatically assign a name to this backup.
Click on the ‘Next’ button to continue.
Duplicator will now scan your site to see if everything is in order. Items marked ‘Good’ passed the check, and a ‘Notice’ is just informational.
If the plugin finds a real issue, then you will see a warning with instructions on how to fix it.
If the results look good, then click on the ‘Build’ button.
The plugin will now package your website files into a backup. Depending on the size of your site, this may take a few moments.
Once finished, you will see the download options. Click ‘Download Both Files’ to save the installer and the archive to your computer.
The archive file is a complete copy of your WordPress files. It includes your WordPress themes, permalink settings, plugins, uploads, and any other files created by WordPress plugins.
The installer script is a PHP file that will automate and run the WordPress migration by unpacking the archive file.
If you later want scheduled backups, cloud storage, or 1-click recovery, then the paid Duplicator Pro plan adds those features.
Step 2: Create a Database for Your New Domain Name
The two files you just downloaded contain a copy of your old site’s database. Before you unpack your files, create a fresh, empty MySQL database on your new domain.
If you have already created a database, then you can skip this step.
To create a database, you need to visit your hosting account’s cPanel dashboard and find the ‘Databases’ section.
We will show you how to locate it on Bluehost, but the basic instructions are the same and should apply to all hosting providers.
Log in to your Bluehost account dashboard and click on the ‘Manage Site’ button under your website.
Under your site settings, click on the cPanel button under the ‘Overview’ tab.
This will open the cPanel dashboard.
Scroll down to the Databases section and click on the ‘Manage My Databases’ option.
Provide a name for your database and then click on the ‘Create Database’ button.
cPanel will now create a new database for you. After that, you need to scroll down to the MySQL Users section.
Next, provide a username and password for your new user and click on the ‘Create User’ button.
The new user you just created still does not have permission to work on the database. Let’s change that.
Scroll down to the ‘Add User to Database’ section. First, select the database user you created from the dropdown menu next to the ‘User’ field. Then select the new database you just created and click on the ‘Add’ button.
Next, cPanel will ask you to choose privileges for the user, which define what users can do with the database.
Select ‘All Privileges’ and click on the ‘Make Changes’ button to continue.
Your database is now ready, and you can use it to move WordPress to the new domain name.
Make sure to note down the database name, username, and password. You’ll need this information in the next step.
Step 3: Unpack WordPress on Your New Domain Name
Now, you need to upload the Duplicator files you downloaded earlier to your new domain name.
The Duplicator backup includes your WordPress installation as well, so you don’t need to install WordPress on your new domain.
First, connect to your domain name using an FTP client or the File Manager app in your hosting account. Once connected, make sure that the root directory of your website is empty.
After that, you can upload the archive and installer files to the root directory. This is usually called public_html.
Once both files have finished uploading, you are now ready to unpack WordPress.
Open a new browser tab and go to the following URL:
https://newsite.com/installer.php
Don’t forget to replace newsite.com with your actual domain name. This will launch the Duplicator installer wizard, and you will see the ‘Step 1 of 2: Deployment’ screen.
Note: If your new domain doesn’t open or takes you to a different page, then you may need to wait for the DNS settings to update. This can take up to 24 hours, but it usually happens much faster.
The installer will look for the archive file and then automatically select options for you on the screen.
Scroll down to the ‘Database Connection’ section under Setup. Here, you need to enter the information for the database you created in the previous step, then click on the ‘Validate’ button.
Duplicator will now attempt to connect to the database using the information you provided.
Upon success, it will show you a Validation Pass. Otherwise, it will show you a warning with details on how to fix it.
Click on the ‘Next’ button to continue.
Duplicator will now extract the archive, import your database, and automatically update the URLs to your new domain name. Once finished, you will see a success message with an Admin Login button.
You can now click on the ‘Admin Login’ button to enter the WordPress admin area of your site on the new domain.
The installer turns on its ‘Auto delete installer files after login’ option by default. That means once you log in, Duplicator removes installer.php and the archive file for you.
Look for the notification confirming that Duplicator deleted these files, since leaving them on the server is a security risk. You can also remove them manually at any time from the Duplicator » Tools page.
Step 4: Set Up Permanent 301 Redirects
Your site is now live on the new domain, but anyone who types your old address still lands on the old site. So the next thing to do is to redirect them to the new domain.
You can do this by setting up 301 redirects. This is the most important step to protect your SEO.
Whenever someone lands on your old domain, a 301 redirect automatically sends them to the same post or page on your new domain instead of showing them a 404 error.
The redirect also tells search engines that the page has permanently moved, so the links and authority pointing at your old URL count for the new one.
At this point you have two websites: the original on your old domain and an identical copy on the new one, and you need to keep that old installation in place so it can keep redirecting visitors.
There are two ways to set up the redirects.
Method 1: Set Up 301 Redirects With .htaccess
With this method, you’ll edit the WordPress .htaccess file on your old domain. It works on Apache and LiteSpeed servers, which are widely used by WordPress hosting providers.
First, you need to connect to your old site using FTP or your host’s file manager.
You will find the .htaccess file in the same directory as your wp-includes and wp-admin folders. Open it and paste the following lines of code at the very top:
#Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^(www.)?oldsite.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.newsite.com/$1 [R=301,L]
Make sure you replace oldsite.com with your old domain and www.newsite.com with your new domain in the above code. If your new site does not use www, then remove the www from the last line.
Once you save the changes, visit a few URLs on your old domain, including a blog post. Each one should automatically redirect you to the matching page on the new domain.
If nothing redirects, then your old site is likely on an NGINX server, which does not use .htaccess files.
In that case, you can use the redirect tool in your hosting control panel, since most hosts have one. Your hosting support can also add the redirect for you, or you can use Method 2 below, which works on any server because it runs through WordPress.
Method 2: Set Up a Full Site Redirect With All in One SEO (Pro)
If you would rather not edit server files, then the All in One SEO (AIOSEO) Pro plan can set up the full site redirect from a settings page. Most popular SEO plugins include a similar redirect feature, and we use AIOSEO on our own sites, so that is what we will show here.
First, you need to switch back to the WordPress dashboard of your old website. Then, install and activate the AIOSEO plugin there.
Upon activation on your old domain, you need to visit the All in One SEO » Redirects page and click on the ‘Activate Redirects’ button.
Next, you need to switch to the ‘Full Site Redirect’ tab and turn on the ‘Relocate Site’ toggle.
After that, you need to enter your new domain name and click the ‘Save Changes’ button.
Step 5: Notify Google About Your New Domain
Next, you need to tell Google about your change of address so that it can find your new domain quickly and start showing it in search results.
First, you need to add both your new and old domains to Google Search Console as two different properties. See step 1 in our Google Search Console guide for instructions.
Next, you need to select the old domain name as the active property in your Google Search Console account dashboard.
After that, click on the Settings menu from the left column.
Now, you can click on the ‘Change of address’ tool.
Now, you need to select your new domain from the Update Google section.
Then, you should click on the ‘Validate & Update’ button. Google will now validate that your old domain is redirecting to the new domain and save your changes.
On the next screen, Google Search Console will show you a step-by-step wizard to submit your change of address request.
Before you leave Search Console, open the property for your new domain and submit your XML sitemap under the Sitemaps menu. This helps Google crawl your new URLs faster.
If you get search traffic from Bing, then you should also tell Bing about the move using the Site Move tool in Bing Webmaster Tools.
Changing Only Your Domain Name (Same Hosting)
Sometimes you only want your existing site to use a new domain name, and nothing else changes. If the site stays on the same hosting account, then you do not need a migration plugin at all.
You only need to point the new domain at your site and update the URLs.
First, add the new domain in your hosting dashboard and assign it to your existing website. Most hosts call this setting the ‘primary domain’ or ‘assigned domain’ for the site.
Your hosting documentation will show where to find this setting, and hosting support can also change it for you.
Next, log in to your WordPress admin area and go to the Settings » General page. Here, you need to replace the old domain with the new one in both the ‘WordPress Address (URL)’ and ‘Site Address (URL)’ fields.
After you click ‘Save Changes’, WordPress will log you out. Log back in at the new domain to continue.
Note: If you cannot access the admin area, you can set the same values in your wp-config.php file instead by adding define( 'WP_HOME', 'https://newdomain.com' ); and define( 'WP_SITEURL', 'https://newdomain.com' );.
Your database still contains the old domain in post content, image URLs, and settings. The easiest way to fix all of them is with the free Search & Replace Everything plugin.
Install and activate it, then go to the Tools » WP Search & Replace page. Enter your old domain in the ‘Search for’ field and your new domain in the ‘Replace with’ field, and select all your tables.
The plugin will find all instances of your old domain name in the database. You can then click on the Replace All button to replace them.
Or, if you are comfortable with the command line, then WP-CLI does the same job in one line:
wp search-replace 'https://oldsite.com' 'https://newsite.com' --all-tables
WordPress stores some settings in a special text format called serialized data, and editing it with plain SQL queries can corrupt it. Both tools above handle serialized data safely, which is why we recommend them over direct database edits.
Finally, your old domain still needs to redirect, and Google still needs to hear about the change.
Follow Steps 4 and 5 above, which work exactly the same for an in-place domain change.
How to Move WordPress to a New Domain Without a Plugin
You can move WordPress to a new domain manually, without any plugin. However, it has more steps, and a small mistake can break your website, causing downtime until you fix it.
So, keep your backup files until you confirm the new site works. Here is the short version of the process:
- Export your database. Open phpMyAdmin from your hosting control panel, select your site’s database, and use the Export tab. The Quick method with SQL format is fine.
- Download all your WordPress files from the old domain over FTP, including the wp-content folder and the hidden .htaccess file.
- Upload the files to the new domain’s root folder, usually public_html.
- Create a new database and user on the new domain’s hosting. Step 2 above shows exactly how.
- Import your .sql file into the new database using phpMyAdmin’s Import tab.
- Edit wp-config.php on the new domain and update the DB_NAME, DB_USER, and DB_PASSWORD values to match the database you just created.
- Update the URLs. The database still points at your old domain, so run a search and replace from the old domain to the new one. You can use the free Search & Replace Everything plugin or the WP-CLI command shown in the section above.
- Test the new site, then set up your 301 redirects and notify Google (Steps 4 and 5 above).
This is the same process Duplicator automates in Steps 1-3. But if you are comfortable with FTP and phpMyAdmin, the manual method works just as well.
Post-Migration SEO Checklist
The move is not finished when the new site loads. Work through this checklist over the first few days to protect your rankings:
- Test your redirects. Open several old URLs, including posts, pages, and a few images. Confirm each one lands on the matching new URL and not the homepage.
- Check your canonical tags. These tags tell Google which URL is the official version of a page. View the source of a few pages and make sure they point to the new domain, which your SEO plugin normally handles automatically.
- Update your Google Analytics property. In GA4, edit your data stream’s URL to the new domain so your traffic reporting continues without a gap.
- Update the links you control. Change the URL on your social media profiles, Google Business Profile, directory listings, and email signatures.
- Announce the move to your readers. Publish a short blog post and share it with your email newsletter and push notification subscribers. Ask readers to report anything broken, since they will often catch things you missed.
- Keep the old domain registered and redirecting for at least 12 months, or longer if you can afford it. If the old domain expires, every redirect breaks, and you lose any remaining SEO value.
Frequently Asked Questions About Moving a WordPress Site
Here are the answers to the questions we hear most often about moving a WordPress site to a new domain.
1. Will changing my domain name permanently hurt my SEO?
No. A temporary dip in rankings is normal while search engines process the change.
However, the 301 redirects and Search Console notification in this guide tell Google exactly where you have moved, so it can transfer your existing authority to the new domain.
You may also want to see our guide on how to verify your SEO is intact after WordPress domain migration.
2. How long does the entire domain migration process take?
You can typically complete the technical steps in this guide, from backing up your site to setting up redirects, in a few hours.
However, it will take longer for search engines like Google to fully crawl and index your new domain. While notifying Google speeds this up, it can take several weeks for your rankings to fully stabilize after the move.
3. Can I move my WordPress site without using a plugin like Duplicator?
Yes, you can transfer your files over FTP, export and import your database with phpMyAdmin, and then update the URLs. We cover the exact steps in the manual migration section of this guide.
A plugin like Duplicator simply automates the most error-prone parts, such as URL updates and database packaging, which is why most beginners find it faster and safer.
4. What is the main difference between moving to a new domain vs. a new host?
Moving to a new domain is like changing your business’s street address. Moving to a new host is like changing the company that owns the building, but your address stays the same.
This guide is for changing your domain, which has its own SEO requirements like 301 redirects.
5. How do I change the primary domain in WordPress?
If your site is staying on the same hosting account, point the new domain at your existing site from your hosting dashboard, and then update the ‘WordPress Address (URL)’ and ‘Site Address (URL)’ fields under Settings » General.
After that, run a search and replace for the old URLs and set up 301 redirects. The changing only your domain name section above walks through each step.
Video Tutorial
We hope this tutorial helped you move your WordPress site to a new domain name. You may also want to see our ultimate WordPress migration guide or our comprehensive guide on WordPress SEO.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Greta Anderson
Wow This worked great! Thanks!
Elliott Bailey
This was exactly what I was after! Thanks ED
Vikram
The installer.PHP Setup is giving 503 Internal Error Or Mis configuration on clicking on next after giving database details in installer.PHP
Jon Wilson
Thanks, it worked perfectly, and my new site is up and running!
The UIs have changed a bit so the screen shots could be updated, but it’s easy enough to figure out. The deleting the database thing is a little scary and confusing. I created a new database and installed it there, which worked well. Otherwise it might have deleted my existing (now old) database and re-written it. I wanted to leave the whole old site intact until the new site was up and then do the 303 redirect. Google’s Search Console UI has also been updated, but that’s easy enough to figure out through a quick google search.
Aditya
It Means That We Should have a New Host For The New SIte to which we are moving ..can we do it with The same hosting on which the old site is
WPBeginner Support
You can change domain names on existing host by simply changing DNS and pointing the new domain to your existing WordPress install. However, you will still need to update URLs in WordPress, setup redirects, and inform search engines about the address change.
Admin
Aditya
My Duplicator Plugin Is Not Generating Installer.php and archive file , It shows some error .
what to do
Aditya
I Am On A Godaddy Economy Linux Hosting With Cpanel
Adick
Thanks for this post, it was very helpful!
Karan Bhagat
Ooops, I am sorry I forgot to ask something in my previous comment, do I need to add newsite.com to my webmaster and analytics separately or will it track the old one ?
Karan Bhagat
Now this is what I call as perfection, did it in less than 15 minutes, no issues, working properly yet and hope no problem arrives even in future as well.
A big thanks to WPBeginner team.
Katie Steckly
so did you have to set up analytics separately? I’m wondering about that as well
Brooke Browne
This is great, thank you! I’m happy to see the plugin you recommend is still alive and kicking, so many years after posting this.
One question I have is if I need to do anything different given my scenario. I have the live old domain, and I have a live dev site that is just simply not indexed. The dev site is the one I want to push to the new domain, so I figured I could skip updating the old domain altogether. It’s fine to just do this process with devwww.olddomain.com > newdomain.com, right?
I’m just the web designer and recently lost my developer, so this is all new to me, and scary. Thanks!
WPBeginner Support
Yes.
Admin
Jasmine
Hi, I want to transfer my blog post from 2 old different niche sites to 1 new authority site. The 2 old niche websites have always been in maintenance mode but register with GWMT.
With that being said, after I transfer my 20+ post total to the new site,
Do I have to still do 301 directs and notify Google of change of address even though it hasn’t been indexed?
Sugianto
Nice post. help me a lot. but now i got new problem after do redirect. i move my old site to new sub-domain name. Now i want to install new fresh wordpress to my old domain name but after instalation when i want to access wp login area, there still login to my new sub-domain site. how to fix that? please help
umukub
If i have oldsite as deindex search engine, then I make redirect to new site. Whats the new site will have impact deindex like old site ?
WPBeginner Support
If your old site was penalized by search engines, and your new site has the same content. Sooner or later your new site will be penalized and deindexed as well.
Admin
Badger
I’ve spent the past year as managing editor of a reasonably popular academic blog. I’m thinking of using duplicator to create a copy of the blog to be stored secretly on a subdomain of my own personal website. That way, I can show prospective employers a record of my editorial work. Do you anticipate this causing any problems for the actual blog as long as I tell search engines not to index the duplicate and don’t set up 301 redirects or notify google?
WPBeginner Support
You can do that but search engines may still crawl your website. To be extra cautious we would recommend you to password protect the entire subdomain with .htaccess. This way search engines will not be able to crawl it and you can send a link along with username and password to anyone.
Admin
Karan Bhagat
Hey,
I have a confusion. Suppose I own a site oldsite and I have migrated it to newsite by redirecting it and the oldsite domain name is about to expire, do I need to renew it every year along with the newsite.com ?
WPBeginner Support
You should keep old domain for at least six months.
Admin
Carmia
Thanks so much for this helpful tutorial! I have successfully moved my site to a new domain with your help.
Prince
Don’t use duplicator it’s not copying fonts. changing with times new roman
Andy
quick question do you know what happens to Facebook likes to individual posts if I change domains and make the 301 redirect for the old one.
Do they carry over as it is a 301 redirect or will the like count drop to zero?
WPBeginner Staff
Please see: How to update URLs when moving your WordPress site
Carol Faughnan
Hi i transferred a subdomain to the main domain and the home page is without the subdomain prefix but the rest of the pages still have the prefix in place. How do I remove it? And do I still need to redirect the URLs in webmaster?
WPBeginner Staff
6-12 months just to be on the safe side.
Mathieu
Thanks. Another question: you say that the search engine rankings will be temporary affected. How great is the loss in organic visits and how long does it last?
Mathieu
Thanks you for such a comprehensive and easy guide. One question: how long do you advise keeping the old domain/site after switching to the new domain?
Tauseef
I have a wordpress.org blog. Now I changed from .com to .org, I was getting anywhere from 4,000 to 400 traffic per day. After the change over I’m lucky to get 160 max and When I went from .com to .org the domain is the exact same one.
why would this be? My domain is still .com, I just changed from wordpress.com to wordpress.org
Alex Sol
Okay, I know this is an old article but I hope I can still get a reply
1. I am thinking of moving blog.old-domain,com to newdomain.com… So is duplicator going to change all links properly? For instance, if the old site had an article: blog.old-domain.com/this-is-article, will it be now created as newdomain.com/this-is-article ?
2. Once I redirect using 301, should I do anything with the content on the old site? Should I leave it or delete it? If I do leave it, I guess I have to keep renewing the old domain as well?
Thanks!
stew7645
Thanks, I found this guide extremely useful and well explained. Managed to move my site from one domain to another in about an hour
WPBeginner Staff
Yes, it is a good idea to submit your sitemap to Bing as well.
Christian Locke
great tutorial, major time saver. I notified Google of the changes through the webmaster tools and it was a breeze. Just want to ask, do you recommend also doing the same thing in Bing webmaster tools? I don’t really put much emphasis on Bing in general but if it would help somehow, I would do it. The process is more complicated and if it can be avoided that’s really what I want to hear but if it’s a good idea, I will take the time to do it. Thanks for offering us this tutorial and taking the time to reply to our questions!
Joe
This article was definitely not written for a beginner. I got stuck around here: “Make sure that the root directory, or the directory where you want to copy your website is completely empty. ” What is the root directory? Then I don’t know what credentials to use to log in anyway.
markyh2904
Sorry I’m late to the party but I’ve only just come across this post when looking how to move one of my WP sites
I have been penalised by G (penguin 3) on one of my music sites as I stupidly bought too many bad link packages from fiverr a few years ago and my domain is just considered spammy now.
Will this work if I want to swap my site content to a new domain BUT not 301 my old site to the new site? And if so,should I de-index my old site immediately after the transfer or before?
Thank you in advance
Hicham Alaoui
Hello,
I displaced my website “http://www.mywebsite.com” to “http://www.mywebsite.com/blog” and after a few months, I displaced posts as before and I deleted all content from /blog.
The problem is that Google still reference the same article as duplicate content, I do the redirection links manually, but there are more than 9000 links deemed not found, I will not finish!
I tried to solve this problem with the tool of Yoast “https://yoast.com/wp-content/permalink-helper.php,” but either it doesn’t work for me, or that I haven’t understand how.
Do you have a solution please?
Thank you.
Tom Durkin
I’ve not thought about looking for a plugin to handle this, will have to take a look!
John R. Meese
Glad to do it!
WPBeginner Staff
If your temporarily URL was public and you didn’t block search engines, then there is a chance that search engines may have crawled the URL. Sometimes a URL may not appear in search index but is still out there and can appear at any time. So you should setup a 301 redirect just to be safe.
On the other hand, if you are pretty sure that it was not crawled or indexed by search engines then you don’t need to set up 301 redirect.
As for step 2. please see our guide on how to use FTP to upload or edit WordPress files.
Chad
If I am just moving from a temporary URL to my permanent URL, should I still do a 301 redirect? Also, if I didnt submit the site to GWT’s yet, I assume I don’t have to change address in GWT’s, just submit to GWT’s after the domain transfer is done, correct? Lastly, in the middle of step 2 above, “Next you need to open your FTP and connect to your new site”….what dose this mean exactly? Open FTP and connect to what? Thanks anyone, pretty newbie here.
WPBeginner Staff
Did you take a look at our free blog setup service.
WPBeginner Staff
Beth, we have a tutorial on how to move a WordPress.com site to Self Hosted WordPress.org
As for your concern about Google Indexing a site that you don’t want to be indexed. You can add a robots.txt file to the root directory of that domain and instruct Google and all other bots not to crawl or index that site.
Beth Terry, CSP
Thank you! You guys are great! I’m a little ahead of the game and did some things out of order. I moved all content to a newly redesigned blog site at a subdomain Then I switched around the theme, etc on the WP.com blog.
I already own the name of my active blog and have been using that for 7 years at the dot com site. So I do have some readers and a ton of content and I have it linked to Twitter and LinkedIn.
I would think that pointing CactusWrangler to my new subdomain blog should bring my indexing and followers with it, but maybe not. All the content and media is on the new site. I did it all with Jetpack plug in… So am I just ready to tell GoDaddy my new DNS information? Unfortunately, Jetpack’s WP support is out till Sept 24!
Yikes ! My goal is to make my website and blog look similar so the linking back and forth is smooth and congruent. Once I get this done, I need to switch the themes on the main website which is an active site since 1998.
I dont’ know how you do this for a living! My eyes are bleary and my brain is mush! ;-D
Beth Terry, CSP
Does this also apply to moving from WP.com to WP.org? I created a subdomain on my website for my blog so I could create a new design. I have had a blog on WP.com and moved the content to the new design. Now I have two identical sites and I need to shut down the .com one before google marks my new one as fake. I’m trying to figure out the next steps. I haven’t technically gone “live” with the subdomain yet, so my URL for the blog still points to the .com site. The comment below about subdomains concerns me. Is there something I need to watch out for?
I know I’m about 3 steps away from solving this, just not sure how to proceed. Thanks for an informative article!!
David
I was dreading moving my wife’s large site to a new URL. Your instructions are the clearest I could find and the process was not so bad after all. Thanks so much. Best of all, it all works. Still have a few page titles, and SEO settings to manually change. Now I don’t have quite the depth of gratitude in the bank with my wife as I had hoped for, but that’s all for the best, I suppose.
Jenny
This was amazing. An absolute lifesaver. Great article!!
Keshav
Hi, I want to move my wordpress blog from blog.yoursite.com to news.yoursite.com Also, I want to change the URL structure from /postname to /post_id/postname
How shall we proceed with this for URL redirection?
Alberto
Hi!
I have a multisite install. I want to move just one website from that installation.
I already have the new website up and running and just need to make the 301 redirects.
The website I’m moving is oldsite.com/the-site and I’m moving it to newsite.com
How can I do this without redirecting all the websites in the multisite installation?
WPBeginner Staff
No, if your users can still access your site and posts at the same URLs as they did before then you need to set up 301 redirection. But if they can’t then this means search engines cant do that either. That way you will be losing a lot of traffic and your search rankings as well.
Susan Finch
Well, since the old domain will simply be a redirect to the new one, this can be problematic since results are all absolute in search engines. Guess I have some 301s to create. Thank you for the quick reply.
Susan Finch
We are simply changing our WP URL – not moving. Are 301 redirects still needed if we follow permalink and notify users steps?
Simon Somlai
The url currently looks like this http://www.oldsite.com/newsite.com how do I change this to a regulat newsite.com?
John Meese
You’ll need to add “http://” before newsite.com for it to work correctly.
Simon Somlai
Alright John! I got it working
Thanks for your help man
Vishal Kumar
Simple yet effective… Thanks WPBegginner team.
I have one more query.. It has been 20 days i have moved my site to the new domain successfully by following the above steps. Now given that the old domain is still live and redirects users to new domain, should i consider deleting the old domain data to avoid duplication penalties. Kindly suggest…
Tim Ludy
Great resource thanks! Is there a way to only redirect the blog articles and not the entire site? We’re creating a whole new website for one area of a business so only some of the old websites pages are switching to the new site and the rest are staying on the old site.
Om Livin'
Quick question about Pinterest…would I need to go and change all my pinned links??
Hieu Nguyen
Excellent! Just what I’m searching.
But if I don’t want to move the WP site, is it possible to just change the URL only?
WPBeginner Staff
you can exclude subdomains from your .htaccess file by adding this line just before the RewriteRule line :
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^subdomain.example.com$ [NC]
Shah Jahan
Hi, Thanks for the reply, i have added the code,
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^subdomain.olddomain.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.newdomain.com/$1 [R=301,L]
now when i try to access subdomain.olddomain.com it redirects to newdomain.com/subdomain.olddomain.com
Shah Jahan Labar
I have some sub domains, when i tries to apply the redirect rule my subdomains also got redirected .
Kasa
What about redirecting subdomain to new different domain?
Is process the same, as you cant change address for subdomain in webasters tools.