Initially, WordPress users plan to choose the best hosting service that has limited features while creating their websites.
However, the traffic and the site grow gradually, and a blogger feels the urge to choose an alternative hosting solution to resolve the issue.
It is important to migrate your WordPress website from the local server, which is used to develop the website, to a live one to make your website online.
As a website developer, you will create the websites on your local server for the clients.
Once the website is completed, it is required for WordPress migration to the appropriate client’s local or shared host server.
You can also follow the manual process of WordPress migration. If you are not sure about the basic core network configurations, you may experience various troubles.
Important Tips to migrate WordPress website Safely
You can follow the below-provided tips to execute a smooth WordPress migration:
- After completing the migration, it is mandatory to update the DNS. By doing so, your downtime can be reduced during the migration process.
- Moreover, you can leave the main website in a live state and migrate the website to a new server by modifying the IP address of your new server in the host’s file.
- After the migration is complete, you can also perform various additional checks to confirm that it is working fine and then proceed with the DNS update.
- It is always advisable to keep the existing WordPress host file in a live state, and in case you experience any issues, you can use your backup site to keep it up and running.
- Before starting the migration process, you can check the backup file to confirm that the host’s file is not corrupted.
Why do you need to transfer your website or blog?
Sometimes, it is the most important and vital to process WordPress migration. I do it all the time, as I develop clients’ websites on the local server and make them live later.
You can find multiple reasons for migrating your website and moving your site to the new server depending upon the requirements:
- If your web hosting service is not properly configured and required to modify or update their host. In this case, you can move the service with the help of a Managed Hosting provider.
- Make use of the Local staging development server to move the live site and launch on your own.
- The client project can be moved to the local development website.
It is always advisable and safe to move your existing website from one server to another.
You can also experience various issues such as abnormal link working, frequent downtime, data loss, etc.
Hence, you need to use the trusted WordPress plugins while moving your WordPress site. You can use the below-provided best WordPress Migration Plugins to migrate your website successfully in a fast and effective way.
Basic Steps to be taken While moving Your website to Another Host
You can follow the WordPress migration procedure to move your website with the help of WordPress plugins:
- You can backup your entire website files from the website directory with the help of WordPress plugins to your local HDD (Hard disk drive – computer).
- Access the database which includes the WordPress installation and export the database through phpMyAdmin or cPanel and press the Export button to copy the database to your local hard drive.
- The database can be created on your new host’s server.
- You can access the backup process file by identifying the wp.config.php on your local hard drive. Access the file and change the database username, name, and corresponding account password. Apply the changes and close the backup file.
- With the help of the Admin panel, the database can be imported into the new server, and press the Import button on your phpMyAdmin console. After the import completion, you will receive a notification.
- Import your entire files directly to your new database and modify the website URL to avoid the site re-direction.
- The domain’s DNS settings can be reconfigured and directed to the new host server.
Let us discuss more detail about the WordPress Migration plugins for your reference.
10 Best WordPress Migration Plugins
Here is the list of best WordPress migration plugins so far,
| S.No | Website Migration Plugin Name |
|---|---|
| 1. | All in One WP Migration |
| 2. | Duplicator: WordPress Migration Plugin |
| 3. | Backup Buddy |
| 4. | UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin |
| 5. | WordPress Staging: DB, File Duplicator and Migration |
| 6. | Migrate Guru |
| 7. | Super Backup & Clone: Migrate for WordPress |
| 8. | WP Migrate DB |
| 9. | WP Clone by WP Academy |
| 10 | JetPack VaultPress |
All-in-One WP Migration
All-in-One WordPress Migration with Premium Extensions is a free migration plugin that focuses on migrating your entire site to a new domain name or server.
With regards to the entire migration, it handles moving both files and your database. This migration plug-in has some nifty tricks that are used to work and execute on entire hosting providers.
Initially, within a 3-second time, it can import or export the data or files that can bypass any sort of restrictions raised by the host.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=BpWxCeUWBOk%3Ffeature%3Doembed
Some of the migration plugins are upload size restricted however, the all-in-one WordPress migration plugin can still able to manage the larger file size for your site migration.
It is possible to modify or update the domain name and also allows replacing the various operations within the database and can resolve any important serialization issues.
The plugin offers a free trial version and supports 512 MB of storage space for site migration.
If your website is much larger in size then it is recommended to choose the unlimited version to terminate the size limit.
This WordPress plugin also includes extensions that assist the users in migrating their website to cloud-based storage providers like Google Drive or Dropbox.
Duplicator: WordPress Migration Plugin
WordPress Duplicator is the best WordPress migration plugin due to its versatility and flexibility.
Use it to backup your site
With regards to your current WP (WordPress) website, you can also create a Package. This package includes an installer file that can be used to move all the available information or data from the old location to its new one as well as your existing website’s every element.
If you have decided to backup your existing site then it is required to switch over all the required files to a safer location.
In case if you would like to migrate your existing site then you can upload both files directly to the new server and follow the basic and simple installation steps. WordPress Duplicator Migration plugin will automatically set up everything that is required on your new server.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=oc73jtvHWYQ%3Ffeature%3Doembed
Features
- This plugin will not just work to handle the standard migrations, but also be very helpful in backing up your website, protecting from data loss, defining your website staging versions, and cloning your website with a new domain name.
- The Duplicator plugin can easily update all the existing web URLs and even change or update your existing domain name.
- Especially for medium or small-sized sites, you can utilize the free trial version of the WordPress Duplicator plugin.
In case your site has a massive size then it is mandatory to purchase the Premium (Pro) version which can easily handle larger sites.
The Premium (Pro) version has various value-added advantages such as automatic backups. However, it is required to have some technical knowledge before working on the WordPress Duplicator migration plugin. You can use this user-friendly plugin to migrate your site.
Backup Buddy
Backup Buddy is one of the premium WordPress Migration plugins that have easy navigation to use.
This is a commonly used plugin for most of the WordPress sites. This plugin is mainly used as a WordPress backup service and also used for site migration.
The built-in functionality allows the user to change the URL automatically, modify your domain, and update your servers or hosts during the new domain migration.
Here is a small example, of how easy the process is with Backupbuddy,
Install – Run – Download Backup
Features
- Enhanced Security features.
- Database rollback.
- You can even restore the individual file.
- It has a cloud-based real-time backup with a storage space of 1GB along with Stage storage Backup Buddy.
- You can easily backup with the restore option and moreover, it executes on scheduled backups.
- 1-year basic license for support and updates comes around $80 and a lifetime license and updates for unlimited websites at $199.
It also consists of additional features such as development & staging features, WordPress clones, and built-in functionality for WordPress migration that are used to modify the existing websites under the Staging environment.
You can opt for a premium subscription to receive extra guidance and support with regard to the plugin.
In case if you are using the free trial version of the plugin then you need to search or browse the error message you received to sort it out.
You can receive extreme assistance from the development and support team to walk through your issues.
UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin
UpdraftPlus is one of the most and best popular backup solutions for your website migration.
The free trial version offered by this plugin does not have the in-built migration feature and needs to use the premium version ($30) of the Migrator add-on which enables easy cloning or migration.
This plugin helps you resolve any sort of important database-based serialization issues and can modify the web URLs.
You can make use of the WordPress dashboard to perform all the actions directly. The free trial version can be used to migrate the website by using the same web URLs and also do normal backup and restore directly to the new server.
You can use the premium Migrator add-on to modify the web URLs or move the same to your local environment for site migration.
WordPress Staging – DB & File Duplicator & Migration
WordPress Staging Plugin uses its platform to test the theme customization and updates before applying the changes to the production live website.
It is advisable to have the staging platform located on the same server to utilize the product live website’s software and hardware environment.
In this way, it helps to use the test website to identify any errors and resolve them during the testing phase.
Before updating or installing any plugin on a new host server, you can check the modifications on the production website’s clone.
If you are not receiving any errors or exceptions with the modifications on your production site during the loading process then it is referred to as WordPress Blank page error.
Most of the developers will not follow the plugin testing phase before installing the same in the live environment.
Since the existing staging platform will require more time to consume and is too complex to create the live website’s updated copy.
It helps to create your website clone copy under the main subfolder of WordPress installation that includes the database’s entire copy.
In the background, the entire database and files including the URL replacements are copied that initiating the plugin to replace all the existing web links.
Features
- New – WordPress Staging is compatible with WP Firewall, Security, and WordFence.
- Even Safer – You can view the existing task on your staging site with the help of an admin bar which also provides extensive log files for failed or duplicate migration processes.
- Safe – The staging website can be accessed only by the Administrators.
- Fast – Depending on the server’s I/O power and the website’s file size, the migration process time may vary.
- Easy – It is not required to work on any configurations and is a simple task for everyone.
It is also compatible with all the main web servers like Microsoft IIS, Nginx, and Apache.
It is much easier to copy the entire modifications to your production site from the staging website.
The user access roles can be specified to access the WordPress staging site. Your live website can clone into your subdomain as well.
For cloning, you can customize the separate database and also WordPress multiple sites using the Cloning and WordPress migration process.
Migrate Guru
Migrate Guru is the latest WordPress Migration plugin developed by the BlogVault Team. This is the best and fastest migration plugin that completes the migration process with 80% faster.
It is a free plugin that does not have any paid or premium subscription that is suitable for every WordPress site with a 200GB size space.
Migrate Guru has the simplest interface and is much easier for users to utilize by just pressing the Migrate button after inputting the details without using the import or export process.
They also contain multiple built-in migrations for your websites that are hosted on Flywheel, WPEngine, GoDaddy, Hostgator, Siteground, and Bluehost that are used to migrate other hosts by using FTP or cPanel.
Features
- Real-time email alerts and progress reports.
- No limitation for storage space.
- Migration process based on BlogVault servers. There won’t be any risk or timeout while processing the larger or live sites.
- Multisite support.
- Compatible or supported by any host.
- One-click migration.
Migrate Guru WordPress Migration Plugin can be downloaded by the user through an official WordPress repository and migrated to more than 4 lakh sites.
You can use the easiest and simplest plugin to migrate your website without any hassle.
WP Migrate DB
WordPress Migrate DB is not very similar to self-contained migration plugins such as Backup Buddy and WordPress Duplicator.
From the name, you can easily understand that its main focus is on your WP database.
If you had manually tried to migrate the WP website then the entire database is the toughest part. The other files can be treated as just copying and pasting the information. You can easily move the database from one site to another site.
WP Migrate DB plug-in can ease the migration process by replacing the web URLs and the file paths, which is more essential to migrate for a new URL.
In case your production site is migrated to your localhost for the testing process then it is mandatory to update and match the entire web URL oaths on the localhost.
You can use the WP Migrate DB plugin to avoid the manual file-copying process. This plugin offers the best features for users to migrate their websites without any hassle.
WP Clone by WP Academy
WordPress Clone is the best nifty migration plugin that allows the user to make use of the FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program to handle the website migration process.
However, it is required to create a new and fresh WordPress installation at the exact location to which you prefer to clone the WP website.
Import things to know before Installing
- Within the fresh installation, you need to install the WordPress Clone Migration plugin to handle the migration process.
- The developers informed that only within 20% of the WordPress install fails during the migration process and this could be one of the reasons for users not to choose the WP Clone plugin.
- This plugin could be the easiest and simplest way to migrate your website if it has a small gamble. Before starting the process, ensure that the full backup file is in handy.
- If your website is larger in size then you need to prefer for choosing an alternative WordPress migration plugin. With the WordPress Clone plugin, you can successfully migrate sites that are less than 250 MB in size.
The failure rate may not be much higher however, you need to think about it. This plugin is not updated for a longer time and it is advisable to choose another WordPress plugin to migrate your site.
JetPack VaultPress
ValutPress is one of the popular WordPress Migration plugins that comes with the automatic process from WordPress. And it is developed by Automattic Company.
The major advantage of using the ValutPress WordPress Migration plug-in is that it is much more familiar to process with WordPress rather than the average developer. Your WordPress website can be secured and backed up properly by using the ValutPress.
If you have a backup in handy then you can easily clone the site to a preferred new location by using the VaultPress’s Restore with the different site tools.
ValutPress can allow the user to input both domain name and as well as FTP details and the other tasks will be handled automatically.
The disadvantage of the ValutPress plugin is to utilize the paid subscription. This subscription will allow you to access the entire premium Jetpack features for free.
If not then you need to choose the free solution or one-time payment option to proceed with the site migration. You can also seek assistance from the support team to resolve any sort of issue.
Make the Safer Migration
It’s always intended to do the migration safely which moving to another host or moving files to another website. This is when most of the folks go wrong, and lose some of the files and most importantly SEO.
Which WP migration plugin do you like the most?