I remember the first time I tried to migrate a WordPress website. No matter where I looked, I struggled to find a simple solution. I now realize my problem was trying to manually export/import databases with cpanel. Turns out, that process is unnecessarily difficult for WordPress sites.
If you’re looking for the easiest way to migrate a WordPress website, look no further than a plugin called All-in-One WP Migration. This tool does all of the backend work for you, so you can migrate a WordPress website in a matter of minutes with a few simple clicks.
While you can find many other trustworthy plugins to migrate a WordPress website (most notably Duplicator), I have found All-in-One WP Migration to be the easiest.
Install All-in-One WP Migration
First things first, you will need to install All-in-One WP Migration on the website you are looking to migrate. If you are unfamiliar with installing plugins, go to your WordPress dashboard and look to the left hand side menu for “plugins.” Hover over that button and select “add new:”
On the “add plugins” page, type “All-in-One WP Migration” in the search bar and look for the All-in-One WP Migration plugin. You will need to click “install now,” then “activate.” The plugin should now be installed and can be found in the left hand side menu of the WordPress dashboard.
Export WordPress Files
You are now ready to export the WordPress files. Go to the All-in-One WP Migration plugin on the left hand side menu of the WordPress dashboard. Click “export,” then “export to file.”
After waiting a few moments for the plugin to copy the files, you will see a big green button to “download.” Download the files to complete the export. I recommend you save this file to your dashboard, as you will need it in a later step.
Purchase New Domain & Install WordPress
This step might seem obvious, but to complete the migration you will need to have another domain purchased with WordPress installed. If there’s any confusion on how to do this, check out this article How to Install WordPress – Complete WordPress Installation Tutorial. You will find WordPress installation instructions for the most popular hosting providers.
Install All-in-One WP Migration On New Domain
Now that you have your new website domain setup with WordPress, it’s time to repeat the first step and install the All-in-One WP Migration plugin. Go to the plugins page in the WordPress dashboard, search for the “All-in-One WP Migration” plugin and install/activate.
The plugin should now be installed on your new website and can be found in the left hand side menu of the WordPress dashboard.
Import WordPress Files
It’s time to import the WordPress files from your old site to your new site. On your new site, go to the All-in-One WP Migration plugin on the left hand side menu of the WordPress dashboard. Click “import,” then “import from file.” You will now be able to select the file that was exported and saved to your dashboard. Select that file and wait for the plugin to check the compatibility.
Once the plugin is done checking for errors, you should see a warning popup. This is just a disclaimer that the import process will overwrite all files. Click “proceed” to move to the next step.
The import process may take a few minutes, but it really depends on the size of your website. Note that the free version of the plugin can import websites up to 512MB. In my experience, that is usually enough to cover the average website. To remove the import limit of 512MB, you will need to upgrade the plugin to the Unlimited Version.
Once the migration is complete, you will see a success popup screen. At this stage, I’d recommend you click the “permalink settings” link to save all of the link structures from your old site. The plugin will ask you to enter the WordPress login details from your old site to apply the permalink structures.
Quick Summary
With this step-by-step article, you should be able to successfully migrate a WordPress website in a matter of minutes. In summary, the steps to complete the migration are:
- 1) Install All-in-One WP Migration on the website you would like to migrate
- 2) Export your WordPress files to your dashboard
- 3) Purchase a new domain & install WordPress
- 4) Install All-in-One WP Migration on your new website
- 5) Import your WordPress files from your dashboard
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