Understanding the Benefits

Elementor, known for its drag-and-drop interface, has been a favorite among WordPress users for its ease of use and flexibility. However, with the introduction of the WordPress Block Editor, a new era of web design and development has emerged.

The Block Editor offers a more seamless integration with WordPress. It provides a user-friendly interface and a plethora of features that enhance your website’s functionality and design. Below are the benefits of moving from Elementor to the WordPress Block Editor.

The Advantages of WordPress Block Editor

1. Seamless Integration with WordPress

The Block Editor is built into WordPress, ensuring high compatibility and performance. This native integration leads to a smoother workflow and a more stable environment for your website, reducing the chances of plugin conflicts and compatibility issues.

2. Enhanced Performance

Websites built with the Block Editor tend to load faster than those created with Elementor. This performance boost is due to the cleaner code and the absence of the extra layer of abstraction that page builders add. Faster load times provide a better user experience and positively impact your SEO rankings.

3. Flexibility and Customization

With the Block Editor, you can access a wide array of blocks that can be easily customized to fit your website’s design and content needs. The possibilities are endless, from simple text and images to complex galleries and widgets. Moreover, the Block Editor continually updates new features and blocks, expanding your creative palette.

4. Cost Efficiency

Moving to the Block Editor can also be more cost-effective in the long run. Unlike Elementor’s premium version, the Block Editor comes free with WordPress, eliminating the need for additional expenses on page builder plugins.

Making the Switch: A Strategic Move

Transitioning from Elementor to the WordPress Block Editor might seem daunting at first. However, the long-term benefits far outweigh the initial effort required to switch. You will enjoy a more streamlined and efficient web development process and provide visitors with a faster, more engaging website experience.

Recognizing the challenges of transitioning from Elementor to the WordPress Block Editor, our team at WebDevStudios has developed a cutting-edge plugin to facilitate this process. This tool simplifies the transition, ensuring your content is migrated smoothly without losing fidelity.

We highly recommend watching this YouTube video to see this tool in action and get a sense of how easy and effective the transition can be. It provides a practical example of the tool’s capabilities and how it can serve as a cornerstone for your website’s transformation.

WebDevStudios: Your Partner in Transitioning from Elementor to the WordPress Block Editor

At WebDevStudios, we understand that change, while beneficial, can be challenging. That’s why we’re here to help you every step of the way.

Our team of WordPress experts specializes in making the transition from Elementor to Block Editor smooth and stress-free. We focus on ensuring that your website not only retains its aesthetic appeal and functionality but also benefits from the enhanced performance and flexibility offered by the Block Editor.

Our Services Include:

• Thorough Assessment: We begin by evaluating your current website to understand its structure, functionality, and the specific elements built with Elementor.
• Strategic Planning: Based on our assessment, we develop a customized plan to migrate your website to the Block Editor, ensuring minimal disruption to your online presence.
• Professional Implementation: Our experts handle the entire migration process, from setting up the necessary blocks to tweaking the design and functionality to match your original site—or even improve it.
• Training and Support: We don’t just stop at migration. Our team provides comprehensive training on using the Block Editor, empowering you and your team to manage and update your website effortlessly. Plus, we offer ongoing support to address any questions or challenges you might encounter.

Ready to Transform Your Website?

Moving from Elementor to the WordPress Block Editor is a strategic decision that can significantly enhance your website’s performance, user experience, and manageability. By choosing WebDevStudios as your partner in this transition, you’re not just upgrading your website; you’re setting the stage for future growth and success.

Don’t let the fear of change hold you back. Embrace the opportunities that the Block Editor offers and unlock your website’s full potential. Contact WebDevStudios today to start your journey toward a faster, more flexible, and more efficient website.

The post The Benefits of Moving from Elementor to the WordPress Block Editor appeared first on WebDevStudios.

What Is SEO and Why Is It Important?

Search engine optimization is the strategic practice of optimizing a website to enhance its visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). The primary goal of SEO is to improve the website’s organic (non-paid) traffic by making it more relevant and attractive to search engines like Google. This involves various techniques such as optimizing content, utilizing relevant keywords, improving website structure, and enhancing user experience.

The importance of SEO to your website cannot be overstated. In a vast digital landscape where millions of websites compete for attention, SEO is the beacon that guides search engines to recognize and prioritize your content. When your website appears higher in search results, it is more likely to attract organic traffic, increasing visibility, credibility, and potential conversions.

Essentially, SEO is the cornerstone of online success, offering a roadmap for your website to navigate the complex algorithms of search engines and connect with your target audience effectively. It is a fundamental tool that ensures your digital presence is not just a website but a discoverable and influential entity in the vast online ecosystem.

Safeguard Your SEO Efforts or Be Doomed

Safeguarding SEO efforts during the migration to WordPress is paramount due to the potential impact on a website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results. There is a risk of disruption when transitioning to a new platform like WordPress. Here are some common concerns website owners have and issues to watch out for:

• Loss of traffic: Improper redirects, broken links, and URL changes can confuse search engines and users. This can lead to a drop in traffic and visibility.
• Damage to search rankings: Poorly executed migration can negatively impact your search engine ranking, requiring time and effort to recover.
• Duplicate content: Migration processes can sometimes create duplicate content, which is penalized by search engines.
• Website structure: Changes in your website structure and content can affect your keyword rankings and your position in the search engines.
• Broken features and functionality: Not everything might migrate smoothly, leading to broken features, forms, or payment gateways.
• Mobile responsiveness issues: Ensure the new site is optimized for all devices, as mobile usage is increasingly dominant.
• Inconsistent design and user experience: Maintaining a consistent look and feel across the new site is crucial for user trust and navigation.
• Downtime and inaccessibility: Migration can temporarily take your site offline, impacting user experience and potential sales.
• Data loss and security vulnerabilities: Data loss during migration can be disastrous. Ensure proper backups and security measures are in place.
• Performance issues: The new platform or hosting might not handle traffic like the old one, leading to slow loading times.
• Communication and stakeholder management: Keeping everyone informed and involved throughout the process is crucial to avoid surprises and disruptions.
• Unexpected challenges: Unexpected issues can inevitably arise, so flexibility and adaptability are key.

But There’s Hope

By understanding these common concerns and taking proactive steps, website owners can significantly increase their chances of a smooth and successful website migration. Failing to address these intricacies can result in a loss of link authority, diminished keyword relevance, and a decline in organic traffic.

WordPress, as a robust content management system, offers numerous advantages for website management. However, a seamless migration is crucial to preserve and enhance SEO rankings. The transition may introduce broken links and missing pages without careful consideration and strategic implementation. Additionally, inconsistencies could negatively affect the website’s performance in search engine algorithms.

By prioritizing safeguarding SEO efforts during migration, businesses ensure a smooth transition, maintaining their hard-earned search engine visibility and safeguarding the integrity of their online presence. This proactive approach not only protects against potential setbacks but also sets the stage for continued SEO success in the evolving digital landscape.

Keep reading to understand how our WordPress agency successfully protects your SEO during a WordPress migration.

Seamless Redirection Strategy

Setting up permanent 301 redirects in migration is crucial, especially for SEO. Imagine your website as a bustling city with intricate streets and alleys. When it undergoes a revamp, ensuring a smooth transition for both users and search engines becomes paramount. WebDevStudios employs a Seamless Redirection Strategy, using 301 redirects to guide visitors from older URLs to new ones. This maintains your website’s link authority and safeguards its rankings in the digital landscape.

Conserved Content Integrity

As the digital migration journey unfolds, WebDevStudios meticulously upholds the content integrity of your website. Content, URL structures, and internal linking are carefully conserved, ensuring that vital keywords and metadata retain their prominence. This meticulous preservation is not just a process; it’s a commitment to maintaining the SEO integrity that defines your online identity.

Enhanced Sitemap Submission

Search engines act as explorers in the vast terrain of the internet, seeking out new content to index. Crawlers understand your sitemap’s relationships. It helps bots index your pages better. As such, it is essential for SEO purposes that Google has an updated version of your new domain. WebDevStudios understands the importance of aiding this discovery process. Through the creation and submission of an updated XML sitemap, the experts ensure that search engines efficiently find and index the new pages on your revamped website.

Vigilant Error Monitoring

Even the most well-executed plans can encounter unexpected hiccups. WebDevStudios remains vigilant post-migration, monitoring for broken links, missing pages, and any anomalies that could adversely impact your SEO. This proactive approach ensures swift resolution, preventing potential pitfalls in the journey to maintaining and enhancing your website’s SEO standing.

Rigorous Testing Protocols

A meticulous eye for detail is the hallmark of WebDevStudios’ approach. Comprehensive testing procedures are in place to verify the correct implementation and functionality of essential SEO elements such as title tags, meta descriptions, and structured data. This commitment to quality ensures that every facet of your website aligns with SEO best practices.

Critical Crawl and Index Checks

WebDevStudios recognizes the importance of checkpoints in the SEO journey. Verifying search engine crawl and indexation of the new website pages is critical. Supported by tools like Google Search Console, this ongoing monitoring process keeps a finger on the pulse of your website’s progress in the digital realm.

Backlinks

Next, we recommend that you contact your content partners about updating old links to the new domain. This includes links from guest posts, partnerships, and directories. Doing this will ensure that the valuable backlinks you have acquired over time point to the correct pages on your website.

Transparent Timeline Management

How long should an SEO migration take? It depends on how big your website is, how much content you’re moving, and how many audits you need to do pre- and post-migration. In general, a 100-page website will take a lot less time than a 1,000-page website, which will take a lot less time than a 50,000-page website. It’s key to give yourself enough time to plan, develop a staging site, QA and audit, and then implement. At WebDevStudios, we encourage transparency and open communication about the timeline of your project so everyone is on the same page and has the same expectations.

Performance Boost and Speed Optimization

In the fast-paced world of the internet, speed is of the essence. WebDevStudios goes beyond the surface to enhance website performance on the new platform. By optimizing speed, the user experience is elevated, indirectly contributing to improved SEO rankings. Our experts leverage tools like Core Web Vitals to ensure this task is executed precisely.

More Than a Migration

A content migration isn’t just a content migration. It’s more than that, and our WordPress agency knows this. A content migration should be viewed as an opportunity for improvements and optimization, such as:

• Format and accessibility overhaul: Content can be migrated into more accessible formats and optimized for different devices. Also, the content can be restructured for improved clarity and user experience.
• Taxonomy and metadata upgrade: A migration can be an opportunity to create a more robust and efficient taxonomy and enrich content with meaningful metadata for better discoverability and organization.
• Workflow and collaboration improvements: A migration can be used to streamline content workflows. This is also a chance to integrate workflows with other systems. In the end, this could improve collaboration between content creators and editors.
• Compliance and security enhancement: New systems can offer tighter control over access, permissions, and content management. This improves security and compliance.
• Data-driven insights and optimization: New platforms can provide richer data analytics for understanding user behavior and optimizing content performance for continuous improvement.

Contact WebDevStudios to Safeguard Your SEO Efforts

In the intricate dance of website migration and SEO maintenance, WebDevStudios emerges as the guiding partner. Our team ensures that every step taken in your website content migration leads to an enhanced online presence. From seamless redirections and content integrity to vigilant monitoring and performance optimization, our commitment to safeguarding your SEO rankings is unwavering.

Trust WebDevStudios to navigate the complexities and elevate your website’s visibility in the digital landscape. Contact us to talk about your upcoming WordPress migration. We’ll use our expertise to protect your SEO during your WordPress migration.

The post How WebDevStudios Safeguards Your SEO Efforts During a WordPress Migration appeared first on WebDevStudios.

What Is WordPress?

According to W3Techs, WordPress powers over 43% of all websites. That includes complex, large-scale websites such as NBA, Monster, Time, and Campbells. Heck, even NASA and the White House depend on WordPress. If you’re under the impression that WordPress can’t do what Sitecore can, you would be wrong.

Flexible, Free, and Open-Source CMS

Known for its flexibility and ease of use, WordPress is a free and open-source CMS built on the PHP and MySQL platforms. Because of its open-source nature, WordPress is a highly cost-effective website solution because there is no demand for investing in expensive licenses just for using the software. Plus, add-ons come with additional fees, too.

Affordable Add-Ons

Additionally, WordPress has a vast library of free and premium plugins and themes that allow for extensive customization without complex coding. While some add-ons mean an additional cost, they are generally a third of the price of premium extensions available for other platforms.

Hosting Flexibility

Companies can use WordPress freely, as it is open-source and not tethered to any specific hosting provider. If a website grows and evolves, it’s easy to transfer it to a new host. Any business, regardless of size, can choose the features and functions that suit their needs and that of their preferred web host, giving them the flexibility and freedom they require.

Ease-of-Use

Moreover, its user-friendly interface means that businesses can easily manage their content, reducing the reliance on professional web developers and further cutting down operational expenses.

These factors combined make WordPress an affordable and scalable choice for businesses of all sizes.

Differences Between Sitecore and WordPress

Here is a table that summarizes the key differences between Sitecore and WordPress:

Why WordPress Is Better Than Sitecore

There are several reasons why WordPress is a better choice than Sitecore for many businesses. Here are a few of the most important reasons:

• Cost: WordPress is a free and open-source CMS, while Sitecore is a commercial CMS with a high price tag. This can save businesses a significant amount of money over the long term.
• Flexibility: WordPress is a flexible CMS that can create any website, from simple brochureware sites to complex e-commerce platforms. Sitecore is a more specialized CMS better suited for certain types of websites.
• Easy to switch hosts: Companies relying on Sitecore are limited to Sitecore hosting. With WordPress, any web hosting company that offers managed WordPress hosting can be relied upon to power a WordPress website without being locked into a specific host vendor. Switching hosts is easy.
• Scalability: WordPress is a very scalable CMS that can easily be scaled up or down to meet the needs of a growing or shrinking business. Sitecore is not as scalable and may be unable to keep up with the demands of a large enterprise.
• Security: WordPress is a very secure CMS regularly updated with security patches. Sitecore has had some security vulnerabilities and may not be as secure as WordPress.
• User-friendliness: WordPress is a very user-friendly CMS that is easy to use, even for non-technical content managers. Sitecore is a more complex CMS that may require technical expertise and/or training.

If you run an enterprise-grade business looking for a CMS that is cost-effective, flexible, scalable, secure, and user-friendly, then WordPress is a better choice than Sitecore.

Client Example: Intertape Polymer Group (IPG) WordPress Migration

IPG is a leader in the development, manufacturing, and sale of a variety of paper and film-based tapes and protective packaging for industrial and retail use. IPG manages 13 websites in different languages, and at one point, 10 of them were on Sitecore. This made the product management process across all websites cumbersome.

IPG’s team required flexibility to adjust branding and colors while maintaining a templated design to provide consistency. That’s when WebDevStudios suggested WordPress Multisite.

First, our team analyzed IPG’s relevant data to develop a data mapping plan. From there, we developed a custom script to map the application and product categories from the existing Sitecore platform to the new WordPress installation.

Normally, WP All Import and WPML, a WordPress translation plugin, can be used in conjunction to migrate data in multiple languages from one site to another; however, the structure of Sitecore’s content required an additional step.

Our team created a customized solution that allowed us to add code to the migration and translation plugins, allowing customized functions for a successful migration with accurate translations. These customized functions then allowed us to process the Sitecore backup information and transform it into several files that the WordPress Core import tool and WP All Import could use.

Additionally, other customizations were later added to various IPG websites that included WooCommerce, global site elements, Gutenberg blocks, and custom post types post templates. Today, IPG remains a WebDevStudios client, retaining our ongoing website development and support services.

Let’s Chat About Your Sitecore to WordPress Migration

In conclusion, Sitecore and WordPress are two very different CMS platforms. Sitecore is a commercial CMS known for the additional costs of having enterprise-level features and functionality. WordPress is a free and open-source, known for its flexibility, ease of use, and nominal costs.

If you are a business that is looking for a CMS that is cost-effective, flexible, scalable, secure, and user-friendly, then WordPress is a better choice than Sitecore. Contact WebDevStudios for more information on your migration.

The post Exploring the Sitecore to WordPress Migration Journey appeared first on WebDevStudios.

This type of migration is applicable when you are adding new features to your subsite and want to migrate only the content. For example, moving classic editor content to the block editor or sending data to a headless content management system (CMS).

Let’s take a look at how you can export and import content by adding your own WP CLI commands. Define the goals and objectives to be achieved with the migration.

Here are some examples of goals

• Retain the post IDs
• Retain the taxonomies
• Rename certain post meta fields
• Add new post meta fields
• Rename some old custom post types to new ones
• Replace site domain or URLs

Sometimes the clients may have unrealistic expectations about how to migrate subsite content to a multisite network. There are also times when requirements cannot be fulfilled technically.

So, it is important to discuss the requirements and the possible solutions with the engineering team and the clients. Submit the proposal on what could be done and how long it will take and get approval from the client. Then, start working on the solution.

Leverage the WP CLI

WP CLI makes it easy to export and import data of any size. Extend the WP CLI class and create your own commands.

Here is an overview of the whole migration process.

Replicate the live environment locally to write and test the CLI commands. Add separate commands for export and import.

Make sure the site URL is passed every time you run the commands to avoid running commands on the default blog.

wp migrate import –url=http://mywebsite.com/blog2

Add a command to rerun export or import content by passing an array of post IDs, terms, or meta. This allows you to fix the errors during migration without running the whole process.

View the code on Gist.

Pro tip: Use the progress bar utility to display the status of the export and import process.

Prerequisites

Migration requires a lot of planning and preparation. Discuss with the client and discover the data that needs to be migrated.

Content Freeze

There should be a content freeze for keeping the data intact. Whether it is backend content entry or the frontend contact forms, user registration, etc, to be stopped during the migration. Make the site read-only.

Exporting Content

You can export data as SQL, XML, or JSON files. This example exports content as JSON files in batches. This way you don’t have to worry about MySQL timeout and you can include any data you want to export.

Include terms, metadata, and any associated data to each post item. Store the exported files in their respective folders inside the main migration folder.

The path could be something like /migration/{post-type}/1.json, where the post type refers to post type slug, and numeric 1 refers to the first batch of the exported content.

Data Mapping

Map the corresponding post meta fields of each post type carefully. In some cases, you may want to rename the meta keys.

The best advice here is to keep the old meta keys and add new ones. This way you can review the new keys and values after migration.

For example, if you want to rename customer_ip_address to customer_ip, keep old ones and add new ones.

Importing Content

Take a full backup of the site including files and database before running your migration commands on production. Get the exported data, do the mapping, validate it and then proceed with the import.

Import each type of data separately, like terms, post types, post meta and menus, and so on. Whether you are overwriting data or creating new records, add a log to keep track of the status. Test the commands on the local environment and make sure they work without errors.

Logs

Catch the errors during the migration process and log them. Log error messages to a separate file, this helps to isolate and check the migration-related errors.

Add preview links to the migration summary on the terminal, this helps you to quickly navigate different content types and check the content.

Pro tip: A table of results can be helpful to view the total number of migrated items.

Migration Runbook

List out the action items for each team with instructions and commands in hierarchical order. Discuss the process with the engineering team, DevOps, and content team. This allows everyone to be on the same page.

Divide the runbook into pre-migration, migration, and post-migration. Then, add the respective steps.

Pro tip: Do a dry run on a staging environment that mimics the production environment; this helps you to find any errors and tweak the migration script.

Run migration

Prepare the production environment for the migration process. Follow the runbook that you created, then test the output.

Testing

Review the imported content, and look for any missing or incorrect data. Check if all the items are imported to their corresponding taxonomy terms.

You could find more clues in the migration logs. If there are any errors and warnings, follow that trail and confirm that data has been imported.

Rerun the commands if needed and repeat the testing process. Once you feel confident that the content migrated correctly, do the clean-up, like removing any temporary database tables, files, etc.

Finish the items on the post-migration checklist and launch the site.

Conclusion

Each site is different, which means the process to migrate subsite content to multisite could be different as well. We hope that this article sheds some light on the migration process to make it easier.

What are the challenges that you encountered during the migration and how did you overcome them? Let us know in the comments below.

Looking for help? Let WebDevStudios handle the migration, contact us now!

Further reading: WP CLI commands cookbook .

The post How to Migrate Subsite Content to a Multisite Network appeared first on WebDevStudios.

“After having been a part of their website project over eight years ago, it was a treat and a compliment to have them return to us for a new redesign,” says Brad Williams, WDS CEO and Co-Founder. The project itself was a heavy one that included a multi-network data migration, global elements, content modules, and a new, modernized look.

“We did a bit of CSS magic,” reports JC Palmes, WDS Frontend Engineer. “The design called for layering images as a part of the background, as well as intricate details, such as texture and transparent imagery.”

Founded in 1921, Rockbrook Camp provides a supportive community of kindness, respect, and care. It is a place for girls to explore nature, develop their confidence, forge friendships, and learn new skills.

“We love our new site,” Jeff Carter, Rockbrook Camp Owner and Director, states. “We’re now proud of its design, and very happy with the flawless technical transition. The site loads fast, generates zero errors, and looks fantastic.”

Data Migration

While every data migration is important and complex, the migration for Rockbrook Camp was especially heavy because it included the migration of a multisite network to a single site installation. Previously, there were three websites as a part of the camp’s WordPress Multisite (WPMU) network: main, staff, alumni.

Our WordPress agency created a custom script to migrate all necessary data from the existing WPMU install into the new WordPress single-site install. This included:

• 1626 blog posts
• 150 pages
• 767 tags, 33 categories
• 13 plugins
• 23 users
• Media
• Post types

Website Redesign

The objective of the website redesign for Rockbrook Camp was to balance a new, modern design with sprinkles of fun and tradition to appeal to both kids and adults. We relied on content modules and global elements to create a system that would be simple for Rockbrook Camp to sustain.

Content Modules

The new Rockbrook Camp website features content modules, which can easily be populated dynamically, with little or no user input required, or manually managed by the site administrators, allowing for content flexibility and ease. These modules included:

• Hero
• Title and text
• Video
• Image and text
• Testimonial
• Category
• “From the Blog”
• Single post
• Newsletter signup
• Related posts
• Image gallery
• Camp sessions
• And more!

The “From the Blog” module was particularly interesting to build because it is a WDS-custom Gutenberg block that gives the admin the power to customize subtitle (displayed as “Latest”), title (displayed as “From the Blog”), and the last three blog posts (ordered from newest to oldest).

Global Elements

The most beneficial aspect of global elements is they can be reused across the website. So, when you edit a global element, those changes are made site-wide at very point where that global element is being used. Basically, global elements allow for the power of efficiency.

Rockbrook Camp required easy configuration of global elements. Specifically, the client needed the following:

• Site header and site header logo
• Top navigation menu
• Search form
• Primary navigation menu
• Global footer and global footer logo
• Global footer countdown
• Fallback hero image
• People post form submission
• And others

The global footer countdown was an interesting global element to implement because its purpose serves as a literal countdown to the first day of camp. With this element, the website admin can easily enter that upcoming, important date in the customizer and the countdown element will be displayed in the bottom right corner of the footer.

Additionally, the people post form submission was another standout feature because it involves user-submitted content. With this global element, users submit a form via Gravity Forms containing fields for post content and post meta. Upon submission, the post will immediately be published to the “people” custom post type created specifically for Rockbrook Camp. There is no moderation process, however, site admin has been given the ability to edit or delete posts in order to keep the content up-to-date and accurate.

Ongoing Maintenance

After launch, Rockbrook Camp transitioned over to Maintainn for ongoing maintenance under the company’s Standard Maintenance Plan. Maintainn is the WordPress support and maintenance arm of WebDevStudios; so should Rockbrook Camp find themselves in need of small development projects here and there, they will have access to the WebDevStudios team, as our partnership continues to grow and flourish.

Success!

“Our experience throughout this project was outstanding,” Jeff says, describing what it was like to have WebDevStudios work on Rockbrook Camp’s website redesign and data migration. “Our every expectation was met or exceeded, with the tricky technical issues handled with assurance and the design work pleasing everyone on our team. We appreciated the attention to detail at each step in the process and were happy to see timely progress unfold according to the estimated schedule.”

Contact the Website Redesign and Data Migration Experts

WebDevStudios treats each website project as its own unique experience. No two clients are alike, and our WordPress agency respects and understands that by customizing every single website design and development project to specifically meet the needs of each individual brand.

Do you require a full website redesign and data migration? Contact the experts. Reach out to WebDevStudios and let’s talk about it.

The post Website Redesign and Data Migration:<br>A Client Success Story appeared first on WebDevStudios.

[0] => Survey Your Requirements

When migrating your WordPress website and choosing your next host, some things worth considering are:

• How many users you have or expect to have
• What level of support you require via email, live chat, or phone
• Where you are hosting your email

Traffic

Be cautious with budget hosts (typically, $8 per month) that advertise UNLIMITED bandwidth or traffic. While cheap vendors might be sufficient for small blogs, often several thousands of websites are being hosted on the same server, fighting over the same system resources, which can result in slower speeds for more complex websites.

If your website is critical to your business success, it’s best to go with a company that allocates service by visitor count and typically starts with pricing around $29 per month. Often, when choosing a host based on metered traffic, your website is hosted on faster servers with a minimum guarantee of system resources.

Support

While a 99.99% uptime guarantee is typical of most modern-day hosts, in reality, things go wrong that can’t be expected. When choosing a vendor, always look for what ways you can reach out to support. While paying more for your hosting may not be fun, having phone or live chat support in the middle of a crisis can save you countless hours, rather than waiting for a reply by email.

Email

While this does not directly impact the performance of your website, often when purchasing hosting from budget hosting providers like GoDaddy or Host Gator, you also receive email hosting as part of your hosting price. When migrating to a specialized WordPress host, often they do not provide email services at all. In that case, consider budgeting $6 per month per email address for hosting your email with Google App for business.

[1] => Backup, Backup, Backup

Now that you know where you are migrating your WordPress website to, it is time to make a backup of your website. Depending on your size and budget, there are a lot of great choices on the market with some detailed below, in no particular order. When backing up your website, it is vitally important that you back up not only your website files but also a copy of your database.

Backup Solutions

• ManageWP is an affordable tool to backup and manage multiple websites at once. You can request backups manually or set up a timed interval to backup monthly, weekly, daily, or hourly.
• UpdraftPlus offers a robust free option as well as options to backup on a timed interval. One major plus to this plugin is the ability to backup to Google Drive, Dropbox, and Amazon S3.
• BackupBuddy  offers the ability to backup your entire website to remote locations on a timed interval, just like the previously mentioned options. However, one thing that is unique to this plugin is its ability to restore and optimize your database.

[2] => Set Up Your New Host

At this point, you should have a list of host requirements and your website backed up. Now, it’s time to buy your new hosting service. When selecting your host, it’s worth checking to see if they offer migration services during checkout. Often, migrating a WordPress website is included free with annual plans or made available for a one-time setup fee.

Having your host migrate your website might be a good option to consider if you are not comfortable with the technical aspects of setting up your new hosting environment. If you are still undecided on who to choose for hosting, consider using our WordPress maintenance, support, and hosting company, Maintainn. Maintainn’s hosting includes migrating your WordPress website, along with top-notch support, blazing fast hosting, and affordable pricing.

Note: If your new host is providing your migration services, feel free to skip to step 05 Setup Backups.

[3] =>  Upload Your Backup

Note: For demonstration purposes, we will be showing how to set up your hosting in a DreamHost shared account; however, your chosen host’s interface may be different. If you have any questions on any steps, reaching out to your host’s QA and support will be your best first step.

Set Up Your Domain

In order to upload our website backup, we must first create a domain record for it. Under manage domains, click Add Hosting to a Domain / Sub-Domain.

Next, enter your site’s domain. In our case, the website’s URL is holyfaithpsl.showing.work. You can choose to have “www” added to your website, but for our example, we won’t. After you are happy with your domain settings, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Fully host this domain button.

Next, since we are not going to have Dreamhost manage our DNS, we need to get the IP address for the server on which our site is now provisioned. Back under the Manage Domains page of your account, click on DNS under the domain name we just created. Scroll to the bottom of the page and record the IP address for the A record next to the domain name; in our case, we were assigned 67.205.10.79. Record this for later.

Import Database

Now it’s time to create a database for our site. Click on MySQL Database under the More header and use the following steps to define your new database. Ensure you record the database name, user, and password you defined for later.

1. Enter desired database name.
2. Select Create a new hostname now…
3. Select your domain and use mysql as the subdomain.
4. Under user, select Create a new user now…
5. Enter desired username.
6. Enter desired password.
7. Confirm password.
8. Finally, click Add new database now!

With our database created on the MySQL Databases page, click on phpMyAdmin next to the database we just created above.

Once you log in to phpMyAdmin, click on Import. In the importer upload the .sql file exported from your backup and click Go. That’s it for our database!

Upload Files

Now it’s time to upload the site files themselves. Under FTP & SSH Users > Manage Users, find the domain you registered and click Manage Files.

Now that you are in the WebFTP view, simply upload your website backup files (not your database).

Lastly, it’s time to update our wp-config.php with the database we created earlier. Right click on wp-config.php and click Edit. With the wp-config.php open, scroll down to your ‘DB_NAME’, ‘DB_USER’, ‘DB_PASSWORD’, and ‘DB_HOST” section and update with the information we recorded earlier.

Note: Most hosts require the DB_HOST be set to localhost; Dream Host, however, requires this be the specific subdomain we made earlier.

[4] => Update Your DNS

The last step to bringing our website online is updating our domain to point to our new hosting provider. From the IP address we recorded earlier, log into your domain DNS control panel and create an A record to point to the IP address we recorded in the step before.

Congratulations! Your website is now migrated to your new hosting server.

[5] => Set Up Backups

Although your hosting provider may provide incremental backups for your website, it is always recommended to set up at least one other third-party backup solution for your website. In the event your host experiences any downtimes or data loss, you can never have too many backups. One of the easiest ways is to use ManageWP, which will back up your website to their third-party servers starting at only $2 per month.

 

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