wordpress migration | The Blog Pros

May 30, 2024

The Ultimate WordPress SEO Migration Checklist (For Beginners)

Many of our readers are worried that moving a WordPress website or switching to a different SEO plugin will affect their website search rankings.

Search is the primary traffic source for most websites, so you want to be extremely careful when migrating.

In this tutorial, we will share the ultimate WordPress SEO migration checklist. It will ensure that all your SEO settings are preserved during the migration without hurting any of your search rankings.

A handy checklist to assist you during WordPress SEO migration

Here is a list of topics we will cover in this guide:

What Is SEO Migration?
Preparing Your Website for Migration
Post Migration SEO Checklist
Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress SEO Migration

What Is SEO Migration?

SEO migration is a set of best practices for maintaining search rankings and SEO settings while moving or making major changes to a website.

Search is the #1 source of traffic for most websites. It would be bad to lose some or all of that traffic during a migration.

Here are some common scenarios when you will need SEO migration:

Moving a WordPress website to a new domain name
Moving your website to a new WordPress hosting provider
Switching to a better WordPress SEO plugin

You need to ensure that you take proper precautions to preserve all your website data and SEO.

Following this step-by-step checklist will allow you to do proper WordPress SEO migration without losing rankings and traffic.

Preparing Your Website for Migration

First, you need to prepare your WordPress website for migration. You will do that by setting up proper SEO tracking and making a complete website backup.

Step 1: Track Your SEO Performance

First, you want to make sure that you can properly understand how your website is doing in search before you begin the migration.

This will help you compare your search performance after the migration and determine if the migration had any negative or positive impact on your traffic.

You’ll need two tools to track this data.

1. Set Up Google Analytics

The easiest way to track and monitor your website traffic is by using MonsterInsights. It helps you easily install Google Analytics on your website, which monitors your website traffic and shows you where your users are coming from.

For more details, see our tutorial on how to install Google Analytics in WordPress.

Note: If you haven’t used Google Analytics before, then it will take some time before it starts showing any data.

Once you have set up MonsterInsights, you will be able to see your website traffic performance by visiting the Insights » Reports page.

For more details, see our guide on how to track website visitors in WordPress.

2. Set Up Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free tool that helps website owners track their performance in Google search results.

First, you will need to sign up and add your website to Google Search Console.

After that, you will be asked to verify ownership of your website. You can do that by adding a code snippet to your site’s header.

We recommend using All in One SEO for WordPress to verify your site’s ownership. It makes it easy to add a Google Search Console verification code.

All in One SEO - Google Search Console verification

More importantly, All in One SEO has the most powerful XML sitemaps, which you can then add to your Google Search Console account to improve how Google crawls your website.

Once your website is verified, you will be able to access a treasure trove of data. You can see it in your Google Search Console dashboard under the Performance tab.

It will show you how often your site appears in search results, how many clicks you get, which keywords you are ranking for, and search ranking positions.

For more details, see our tutorial on how to add your WordPress website to Google Search Console.

3. Download XML Sitemaps

An XML sitemap lists all your website content in XML format so search engines like Google can easily discover and index it.

WordPress generates a basic XML sitemap by default. However, this sitemap is quite basic and not customizable.

For better XML sitemaps, we recommend using All in One SEO For WordPress. It generates comprehensive sitemaps that you can customize manually.

For details, see our tutorial on creating an XML sitemap in WordPress.

Once you have created XML sitemaps, you need to download them to your computer.

Simply open an XML sitemap and select ‘Save as’ from the right-click menu.

Repeat the process to download all sitemap XML files.

3. Download URLs Using Screaming Frog SEO Spider (Paid)

Screaming Frog SEO Spider is an app for SEO professionals. It allows you to crawl any website, like search engines, and collect important data for SEO.

It crawls all your website URLs, external links, image URLs, JavaScript and CSS files, and more.

Open the app on your computer, go to File » Settings, and change the ‘Storage Mode’ to ‘Database Storage’.

After that, you need to enter your website URL in the top bar and click on the ‘Start’ button.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider will start crawling your website. Wait for it to finish the crawl, which may take some time, depending on your website’s size.

Perform crawl to collect your website URLs

Once finished, your crawl data will be stored in the app’s database.

After the migration, you can crawl your website again and then compare the data to find missing URLs, broken links, images, and other files.

Note: A free version of Screaming Frog software is available for download. However, it is limited to 500 URLs, and most other features are locked. You will need the paid version to perform a full crawl and unlock all features.

4. Compare with Semrush Site Audit (Paid)

Semrush is one of the best SEO platforms used by marketers and SEO professionals.

You can perform a complete site audit before and after the migration, which will highlight the changes in your SEO performance.

Semrush will also let you catch missing files, broken links, URLs that are not indexable, 404 errors, and other SEO warnings.

Note: Semrush has a free version, but it is limited. For a comprehensive SEO site audit, you’ll need a paid plan.

Step 2: Back Up Your Website

A backup is one of the most important tools in your arsenal for securing all your data.

Generally, you should set up automatic backups on your website so that a complete, fresh copy of your site is always safely stored. This is handy if something bad happens to your website and you need to restore it quickly.

You must also create a complete WordPress backup before initiating major site changes, such as a migration.

There are several WordPress backup plugins that you can use.

We recommend using Duplicator because it is a complete backup and migration plugin for WordPress.

Making a backup using Duplicator is super easy.

First, you need to install and activate the Duplicator plugin. For more details, see our tutorial on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go to the Duplicator » Packages page and click the ‘Create New’ button.

Duplicator will start the new package wizard. Simply follow the on-screen instructions to create the package.

Once you have created a package, you can download it to your computer.

Duplicator download package and installer files

If you are migrating your WordPress website to a new server or domain name, then you can also download the package and installer files to your computer.

Step 3: Migrating Your WordPress Website (Optional)

If you are not migrating your WordPress website to a new host or to a new domain name, then you can skip this step.

Now that you have downloaded Duplicator packages to your computer, you can migrate your WordPress website.

Migrating WordPress to a New Host

If you haven’t already done so, you first need to sign up for a new host.

We recommend using Bluehost. They are one of the largest hosting companies in the world and an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider.

They offer WPBeginner users a generous discount on hosting and a free domain name. You can get started for $1.99 per month.

→ Click Here to Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Offer ←

You are ready to migrate your website once you have set up your new hosting account.

Follow the instructions in our step-by-step tutorial on how to move WordPress to a new host.

Migrating WordPress to a New Domain

This section is for users migrating WordPress to a new domain name.

Please keep the following points in mind before migrating a website to a new domain name.

Switching to a new domain may temporarily impact your search rankings as Google and other search engines adjust to the changes.
Switching to a new domain may also temporarily reduce your search traffic. This is normal when switching domain names.

However, you can reduce the impact and quickly recover by properly switching the domain name and following this SEO migration guide.

Continue with our step-by-step tutorial on moving WordPress to a new domain name.

Once you are done, return to this guide and follow the remaining steps.

Post Migration SEO Checklist

After moving your WordPress website (either to a new host or a new domain), it is time to perform the post-migration SEO checks.

These steps will prevent any negative SEO impact of the migration and fix potential issues before they become a problem.

Step 4. Setting Up Redirects

If you have migrated your WordPress site to a new domain name, you must redirect users from the old domain name to the new one.

This step is crucial for a successful SEO migration.

These redirects properly send users from your old domain to the new one, and they also let search engines know that your website has moved to this new location.

There are two easy ways to do this in WordPress. We’ll show you both.

Method 1. Set Up Full Site Redirect Using All in One SEO for WordPress

For this method, you’ll need the All in One SEO for WordPress. It is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market and allows you to optimize your WordPress website for SEO.

First, you need to install and activate the All in One SEO for WordPress plugin on your old domain. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Note: You’ll need at least the Pro version of the plugin to access the redirect manager addon.

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 next to the ‘Relocate to domain’ option.

Don’t forget to click the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.

Method 2. Set up Redirects Using Redirection

You can use this method if you are not using All in One SEO for WordPress.

First, install and activate the Redirection plugin on your old domain name. For more details, see our tutorial on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go to the Tools » Redirection page and switch to the Site tab.

Under the Relocate Site section, add your new domain name and click the Update button to save your settings.

The Redirection plugin will now redirect users and search engines to your domain name.

Step 5. Compare URLS

Next, you need to perform a comprehensive website crawl to compare all URLs on the new website with the old data.

This is the data you collected in the first step to benchmark your SEO performance before the migration.

1. Compare URLs Using XML Sitemaps

Set up XML sitemaps on your new website using All in One SEO. After that, download the XML Sitemaps to your computer.

Simply compare the new sitemap URLs with the old sitemaps you downloaded earlier.

2. Compare URLs Using Screaming Frog SEO Spider

If you have a paid subscription to Screaming Frog SEO Spider, then you can compare the two crawls.

Open the App and perform a full crawl of your new website. After that, switch to the Mode » Compare tab and select the current and previous crawl.

You can also perform more comprehensive analyses by examining both crawls in different Modes, such as List and Spider mode.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider website has a detailed tutorial on comparing crawls.

3. Compare URLs Using Semrush

Another easy way to compare URLs is with Semrush using the Site Audit tool.

If you have set up Semrush before migration using a paid subscription plan, then you can compare it with the new craw post-migration.

Semrush will automatically report any issues it finds under the Issues tab.

You can also compare before and after crawls automatically.

All you have to do is switch to the ‘Compare Crawls’ tab to compare a past crawl with the latest crawl.

Step 6. Fixing Crawl Issues and URLs

When comparing URLs, you may come across some issues. The most common problems are:

Missing URLs – A post or page on your old site is unavailable on your new site. To fix this, you may need to create a new post or page or create a redirect (see Step 4 for redirect tools).
Missing Media – An image, audio, or video file failed to import. To fix this, try to manually import the missing media file or set up a redirect.

Go through any issues you find and fix them manually if needed.

Step 7. Migrating WordPress SEO Data

WordPress SEO plugins save important SEO data in your WordPress database. This includes plugin settings, SEO metadata, redirects, focus keyphrases, and more.

However, since you backed up your entire WordPress website during the migration, your SEO plugin and all its SEO data should start working out of the box.

This step is for users who want to switch their WordPress SEO plugin and want to migrate SEO data from one plugin to another.

For example, a while ago, we switched from Yoast to All in One SEO, and preserving all our SEO data was crucial during the switch.

Luckily, all good WordPress SEO plugins come with built-in SEO data importers.

For instance, All in One SEO will automatically detect other WordPress SEO plugins and will give you an option to import SEO during the setup wizard.

All in One SEO prompting to import SEO data from Yoast SEO

You can also manually import SEO data in the plugin settings.

Simply head over to the All in One SEO » Tools page and switch to the ‘Import / Export’ tab.

Under the ‘Import Settings From Other Plugins’ section, choose your older SEO plugin and then check ‘All Settings’.

Click ‘Import’ to continue, and All in One SEO will import all your SEO data from your previous SEO plugin.

Other WordPress SEO plugins like Rank Math and Yoast SEO also have built-in SEO data importers and exporters that you can use.

Step 8. Monitor SEO Performance Post Migration

Now that you have completely migrated WordPress while preserving SEO, you need to ensure that you are tracking important marketing data, including analytics and Google Search Console.

If you didn’t change your domain name, then your older Google Analytics and Google Search Console integrations will continue working.

Keep an eye on those reports to monitor your website for any post-migration traffic loss or drop in search rankings.

On the other hand, if you migrated WordPress to a new domain name, you will need to reconfigure Google Analytics and Google Search Console.

Reconfigure Google Analytics

Those using MonsterInsights can go to the Insights » Settings page and scroll down to the Google Authentication section.

MonsterInsights reconnect Google Analytics

Click the downward arrow to expand the Website Profile section, and then click the ‘Reconnect MonsterInsights’ button.

MonsterInsights will then reauthenticate your website to Google Analytics and automatically add a new data stream configured with your new domain name.

Users who have manually installed Google Analytics in WordPress will need to add their new Domain Name as a Data Stream in Google Analytics.

Next, go to the Data collection and modifications » Data streams and then click on the ‘Add stream’ button.

Select Web as your stream type, and then add your new domain and website title.

Click the ‘Create stream’ button to save your settings.

Google Analytics will now start tracking data from your new domain name.

Reconfigure Google Search Console

Next, you need to reconfigure Google Search Console and inform Google about the change of address.

Note: This step is important because otherwise, Google may consider your new site a mirror or duplicate, which will make it much longer to rank for your new domain name.

First, add your new domain name as a new property in Google Search Console. Simply follow the instructions in our guide on how to add your site to Google Search Console.

Important: Ensure you use the same Google account you used for your old domain name.

After adding your new domain to Google Search Console, switch to your old domain name profile in Google Search Console.

Google Search Console Change of Address tool

On the next screen, you will be asked to set up 301 redirects from your old domain to your new site address. You have already done that earlier, so you can move on to the next step. If you missed that step, we suggest going back and doing it now.

Below that, select your new domain name from the drop-down menu and click on the ‘Validate & Update’ button.

Adding new domain to Google Search Console

That’s all. You have now informed Google about the change of address.

This may take a while, but gradually, your new domain will start appearing in search results instead of your old domain name. During this time, you won’t lose any traffic due to the 301 redirects you set up.

Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress SEO Migration

Following are some of the most commonly asked questions about SEO migration for WordPress websites.

1. How do you do an SEO migration?

First, back up your website and track performance with Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Then, move your website data, including SEO data.

If you are migrating to a new domain name, ensure that you set up 301 redirects. Finally, use the Change of Address tool in Google Search Console to notify Google about the new URL.

2. How can I migrate my website without losing SEO?

By setting up proper redirects and using the Google search console, you can migrate your website easily without losing SEO.

3. Will domain migration increase SEO traffic?

Depending on the domain you use for migration, it may cause an increase in SEO traffic. For instance, if your new domain is more relevant to your website topics or you are using a country domain to reach a more targeted audience.

We hope this WordPress SEO migration checklist is helpful in migrating your websites. You may also want to take a look at our complete WordPress SEO guide for a more detailed SEO walkthrough and our expert picks of the best domain name registrars if you are looking to switch to a new domain name.

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.

The post The Ultimate WordPress SEO Migration Checklist (For Beginners) first appeared on WPBeginner.

April 8, 2024

8 Best WordPress Migration Services (Compared)

Are you looking for the best WordPress migration service for your website?

Whether you are moving your site from a different CMS or to a new web host, choosing the right migration platform is important. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the best WordPress migration plugins, tools, and services to help you with your decision.

In this article, we will show you the best WordPress migration services for various use cases.

What Is the Easiest Way to Migrate a WordPress Site?

The easiest way to migrate a WordPress website is with a migration service. With this, you don’t need any technical knowledge to move your site manually using FTP and worry about accidentally breaking your site.

WordPress migration services come in two types: a migration tool or a third-party service (like a WordPress agency or a developer) that handles the migration for you.

A WordPress migration tool or plugin can be a great choice if you are confident in migrating the site yourself and you are running a website that doesn’t have a ton of complex or custom features. In most cases, you will only need to download your site into a zip file and then upload it to your new WordPress account.

On the other hand, choosing a third-party service means letting a professional handle the site migration process. Even though they usually come with a higher cost, they can also make sure that your new host is well set up and there are no errors on your new site.

With that in mind, let’s look at the best WordPress migration services.

1. Duplicator (Do-It-Yourself Plugin for Migration)

Is Duplicator the right backup and migration plugin for you?

Duplicator is one of the most popular WordPress migration plugins on the market, and for a good reason. It makes migrating between WordPress accounts fast and easy, even for beginners.

Duplicator comes in a free version called Lite and a premium version called Pro. With Lite, you can save your website database, media files, plugins, and themes in a zip package and then restore that file in your new location.

Duplicator Pro comes with even more features to smoothen the migration process. For example, you can use the Import Link feature to import a website from a server or a cloud storage using a URL.

This way, you won’t need to export a package file from your desktop first.

Importing a WordPress website using a URL in Duplicator Pro

If any error occurs when you are setting up your new site, then you can use the Recovery Point feature to restore your site to a previous, error-free version of the site.

Pros of Duplicator:

Unlimited migrations and scheduled automatic backups are available in all plans.
Easy, self-explanatory step-by-step migration wizard to move your WordPress website.
Support for migrating WordPress multisite networks and destinations where the database is shared with another website.

Integrations with cloud storage providers like Dropbox, Google Drive, and Amazon S3.
Support for managed hosting providers like WP Engine and GoDaddy.
If you are a WordPress developer and work with clients, then you can use the Installer Branding feature to rebrand the plugin’s pages.

Cons of Duplicator:

No support for migrations from other website builders.

Why we chose Duplicator: Duplicator tops our rankings as the best overall WordPress migration service. The Lite version is great for moving simple sites, while the Pro plan offers more power and can be suitable for developers working with multiple clients.

2. Seahawk Media (Site Builders to WordPress)

Do you want to move your site from another website builder to WordPress? If so, then Seahawk Media is your best solution.

The tricky thing with migrating sites between different website builders is that each platform has its own configurations. Therefore, making your site look and feel the same way as it was before it was migrated can be difficult.

Thankfully, Seahawk has plenty of experience in migrating an existing site to WordPress, no matter where it was built. They have experience in moving sites from Shopify, Squarespace, Drupal, Prestashop, and more.

Seahawk Media's WordPress migration services

All you need to do is book a free consultation, and the Seahawk team will come up with a game plan to make sure the migration is safe and seamless.

Then, they will migrate your website, polish it to your needs, and provide support in case anything happens.

Pros of Seahawk Media:

Free initial consultation, so there’s no risk in contacting them about your migration needs.
Support migrating sites from various website builders, like Wix, Magento, and Hubspot CMS. They are also open to assisting you even if the origin platform is not very popular.
They make sure your live site is not affected and there is zero downtime so your online business can still run.
They offer 24/7 post-launch support to make sure that your new site is operating well.
Over 1000+ companies trust their WordPress services, including top brands like DreamHost, GoDaddy, and Alibaba Cloud.

Cons of Seahawk Media:

The pricing is based on the project size, so you will need to consult with their team first to get a quote.
The service may not be suitable if you need an instant website migration.

Why we chose Seahawk Media: If you have a custom project and are not confident in doing your own migration, then Seahawk Media is an excellent migration service. Besides moving your content, they can make sure your site is running with no issues.

Editor’s Note: At WPBeginner, we are investors in Seahawk Media. We made this investment because we believe Seahawk offers great WordPress services at fair prices.

3. Codeable (Custom WordPress Migration)

Codeable is a WordPress freelancer platform where you can hire a developer to migrate your website. Like Seahawk, we recommend this option if you are not confident with doing the migration yourself.

What makes Codeable different is that it can match you with a WordPress expert in under one day. Simply sign up on the platform for free, describe your needs, and they’ll find you some potential developers that best suit the project.

Codeable's process for matching a client with a WordPress developer

When you receive your list of matches, you can evaluate them based on their years of experience, number of clients, and typical projects.

Additionally, Codeable has some project estimates that you can use to predict how much the migration project will cost. This way, you can see if Codeable’s rates will suit your budget.

Pros of Codeable:

Large talent pool of WordPress experts specializing in site migrations.
No need to pay anything or hire anyone until you find an expert that you like and agree on the project estimate.
The average time it takes to match users with an expert is 3-5 hours, which is much faster than working with an agency.
Money-back policy in case the developer doesn’t deliver based on the agreement.
Rigorous vetting process to filter the WordPress developers that apply.

Cons of Codeable:

You have to pay a 17.5% fixed service fee on top of the project costs.

Why we chose Codeable: If you just want to work with just one developer to move your site, then Codeable is one of the best migration services. The matching process is quick and only the best WordPress developers get hired by the platform.

4. BlogVault (Multisite/Large Website Migration)

BlogVault's WordPress migration service landing page

BlogVault is a premium WordPress backup and migration service. While they can migrate any type of website, their main benefit is the ability to move websites as large as 100 GB. That’s why they are trusted by top brands like eBay and Intel.

To use BlogVault, you will need to purchase a plan, where prices start at $149 per year for one site. That being said, you can sign up for a 7-day free trial, so you can try out the service with no risk.

BlogVault supports one-click migrations to new web hosts or new domain names. You can just log in to your BlogVault dashboard, choose a backup version to migrate, and enter the new website details. BlogVault will then automatically move the site for you.

BlogVault also powers the free Migrate Guru plugin, but it doesn’t support localhost migrations.

Pros of BlogVault:

Can migrate large websites (up to 100 GB size limit) and multisite networks.
Selective migration feature to move certain site files and databases only.
Staging site feature to turn a backup version of your site into a testing environment.
Automatic search and replace feature to simplify the process of updating links, images, and content in your new site.
No credit card required to sign up for the 7-day free trial.

Cons of BlogVault:

The pricing can be expensive for small businesses, especially if you are just migrating one website.
The user interface is not the most beginner-friendly.

Why we chose BlogVault: If your website has lots of files and you are worried that a plugin won’t support the migration, then BlogVault could be the best WordPress migration service for you.

5. All-in-One WP Migration (Basic WordPress Migration Plugin)

If you are looking for a simple WordPress migration service with no frills, then you should consider All-in-One WP Migration.

This free plugin only has three basic features, but it does them well. It can export all of your website files into one neat package, import it into your new website, and create backup versions of your site.

All-in-One WP Migration's plugin settings page

The All-in-One WP Migration plugin also has a search and replace feature to update URLs, file paths, or other texts within your WordPress database during the export. This way, the migrated website functions smoothly without any broken links.

Additionally, you can enable the advanced options to protect the exported package with a password and/or exclude certain files from being exported. These files include spam comments, post revisions, themes, plugins, and so on.

Pros of All-in-One WP Migration:

Support for older WordPress versions of up to 3.3 and all versions of MySQL and MariaDB.
Despite being free, it has advanced tools like selective migration and search and replace to optimize the migration.
There are various paid add-ons you can install to extend the plugin’s functionality, such as integration with cloud storage services.
Supports 50+ languages.

Cons of All-in-One WP Migration:

There are no built-in features for scheduling backups or email notifications for when the backup is successful or has failed. You will need add-ons for these.
It has a maximum upload size limit of 256 MB, so you will need an add-on to upload files bigger than that.

Why we chose All-in-One WP Migration: Sometimes, you just need a simple tool to move your website, and that’s what All-in-One WP Migration is for. Even without the add-ons, this plugin is a great basic migration service.

6. WP Migrate (Localhost WordPress Migration)

Many migration plugins now allow exporting your live site files into a staging environment for testing. WP Migrate is no different, but its push-and-pull migration makes it a favorite among many WordPress developers.

In a normal migration, you need to export your database, media files, themes, and plugins into a file and then import that into a new host. With WP Migrate, you can pull data from a live site to a localhost site directly just with a remote connection.

Similarly, you can push that data from the local site to the live site when the new changes are ready to be implemented. This feature makes the migration much faster.

The push-and-pull migration feature of WP Migrate

Developers will also enjoy WP Migrate’s WP-CLI integration, which lets you run migrations from the command line and make the migration process even more efficient.

Pros of WP Migrate:

The push-and-pull migration feature can make WordPress migration much faster.
There is serialized data detection to ensure no database is corrupted.
It automatically backs up your databases in case anything goes wrong during the migration.
The premium versions come with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
It comes in a free version, but it doesn’t have the push-and-pull feature.

Cons of WP Migrate:

If you want to push and pull media files and/or theme and plugin files, you need at least the Plus plan, which costs $189.

Why we chose WP Migrate: All in all, WP Migrate is one of the fastest WordPress migration services on the list, making it great for developers who do a lot of staging and testing.

7. Import Shopify To WP (Free Shopify Migration)

Do you want to migrate your Shopify store to WooCommerce? If so, then check out Import Shopify To WP. Made by the experts at WPBeginner, this plugin lets you move your Shopify store data to WooCommerce free of charge.

All you need to do is go to shopifytowp.com and enter your Shopify site URL and email. Then, you need to install the AMTools Shop Exporter app in Shopify, which will export the data of your products, product categories, customers, and orders.

After that, you can go to your WordPress dashboard and install the Import Shopify To WP plugin to import the newly exported data. Then, simply review your data to make sure everything is correct.

The Shopify to WooCommerce importer tool

If you want to see this plugin in action, you can read our article on how to properly move from Shopify to WooCommerce.

Pros of Import Shopify To WP:

The plugin and the website are completely free to use.
The migration is quick and easy, with no complex configuration needed.
You can export your current orders, products, and users so that you can continue your operation where you left off before the migration.
The plugin or website doesn’t delete any data from your existing Shopify store, so you can go back to see if anything is missing from the imported data.

Cons of Import Shopify To WP:

It cannot export the Shopify store design to WooCommerce, so you will have to set it up from scratch.

Why we chose Import Shopify To WP: While the paid services we’ve listed so far are great, we also know how important it is for you to keep costs low. This plugin is one of the easiest, free Shopify to WordPress migration services for small business owners.

8. Medium to WordPress (Free Medium Migration)

If you want to move your Medium site to WordPress, then we also have a free Medium to WordPress migration service you can use.

Medium has grown in popularity over the years thanks to its user-friendly blogging platform and large built-in community. However, many users find the site pretty limiting, as they have a lot of rules about monetizing your content.

To use this free migration service, you need to download your Medium site zip file to your computer. Then, go to mediumtowp.com, enter your Medium website URL, name, and email address, and upload the zip file there.

The tool will then make adjustments to the export file so that it’s more compatible with the built-in WordPress importer tool.

You can learn more about this tool in our guide on how to properly move from Medium to WordPress.

Pros of Medium to WordPress:

The tool is completely free of charge.
No need to install a plugin to import the file in WordPress.
Besides importing the Medium blog posts, you can also import the images you use in those posts.
If you use a custom domain on your Medium site, you can set up redirects to point users to the new WordPress site.

Cons of Medium to WordPress:

Some images may not get successfully transferred, so you may have to import them again.
Setting up redirects is not possible if you use a medium.com URL.

Why we chose Medium to WordPress: If you want an easy WordPress migration service to move your Medium site, then look no further than this tool. It’s free, and you won’t have to manually copy-paste your published blog posts to WordPress.

Special Offer: Get a Free WordPress Migration From WPBeginner

Do you want to move your site from Blogger, Medium, or another website builder to WordPress but don’t want to do it yourself? Let our team of experts do it for you completely free.

All you need to do is:

Go to our free WordPress blog setup page.
Sign up for a new WordPress hosting service using one of our links.
Submit your application form on the blog setup page.

Note that we can only move blogs that have less than 1,000 posts. If you have more than that, then the service will no longer be free.

Just go to our free WordPress blog setup page now and get your new site up and running with zero risk!

WPBeginner's Free WordPress Blog Setup service

What Is the Best WordPress Migration Service?

Overall, the best WordPress migration plugin is Duplicator.

The Lite version is easy to use for migrating simple websites. Meanwhile, the Pro version offers many advanced features for developers and business owners, like multisite support, custom branding, and cloud storage integration.

Alternatively, if you previously used a different website builder and don’t want to use a do-it-yourself tool to migrate to WordPress, then Seahawk Media is an excellent WordPress migration service.

Their WordPress service has a great track record in the industry, and their team of experts can provide support before, during, and after the migration.

Of course, every WordPress user looks for different things in a migration service. To help you figure out the best service for your needs, we’ve created a table that highlights our top picks from this list:

Category	Name	Reason(s)
Best WordPress migration plugin	Duplicator	Great ease of use and comprehensive migration features for various users
Best migration service for non-WordPress sites	Seahawk Media	Team of experts with years of experience in migrating sites from various website builders
Best WordPress migration tool for large websites	BlogVault	Offers free trial and can support up to 100 GB of site files
Best WordPress migration plugin for staging sites	WP Migrate	Push-and-pull migration makes it easy for staging and production

Bonus: Choose a Hosting Provider With Migration Services

These days, many WordPress hosting companies offer an easy migration service to move your website to your new server. It’s a convenient alternative to transfer your site without using a plugin or hiring a team of experts.

For example, if you use Hostinger, then you can get your website migrated to their hosting free of charge.

You can choose whether to move your site from another WordPress account, cPanel, or another control panel. Then, submit a migration request form, and their team will start the transfer. For WordPress sites, they can do the migration within two hours.

Hostinger's free migration request feature

Other web hosts that offer website migrations include:

Bluehost (with the Bluehost Migrator plugin)
SiteGround (with the SiteGround Migrator plugin)
WP Engine (with the free WP Engine Automated Migration plugin)
DreamHost (with the DreamHost Automated Migration plugin)
GreenGeeks (free website migration service upon request)
HostGator (free migration for VPS and dedicated hosting plans within 30 days of signup; beyond that, it will cost $149.99 for one site)
GoDaddy (with the free automatic migration tool)

WordPress Migration Service FAQs

Now that we’ve listed the best WordPress migration services, let’s answer some frequently asked questions about migrating WordPress sites.

How much does WordPress migration cost?

The cost of WordPress migration ranges from free to hundreds of dollars. The price depends on the service or platform you use.

If you use a free plugin like Duplicator Lite, then the WordPress migration is completely free of charge.

On the other hand, hiring a team of experts from Seahawk Media or using a premium service like BlogVault can cost you tens to hundreds of dollars, depending on your project size.

How do I migrate my WordPress site for free?

You can migrate your WordPress site for free using a free plugin like Duplicator Lite, All-in-One WP Migration, Migrate Guru, or WP Migrate Lite. All of these plugins don’t cost anything and are pretty easy to use for beginners.

Which WordPress migration service offers the most seamless transition with minimal downtime?

The downtime and transition of a WordPress migration service depends on your project size and the service itself. If you want to minimize the chances of downtime and errors, then hiring a team of WordPress migration experts like Seahawk Media is your best option.

On the other hand, if you use a plugin with a file size limit and your site exceeds that size, then most likely, the migration process won’t be as smooth as you might hope.

Best WordPress Website Migration Guides

We hope this article helped you discover the best WordPress migration services. You may also want to check out our ultimate list of the best WordPress backup plugins and the must-have WordPress plugins to grow your site.

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.

The post 8 Best WordPress Migration Services (Compared) first appeared on WPBeginner.

January 5, 2024

Ultimate Website Migration Checklist: 16 Steps You Need to Do

Do you want to migrate your WordPress site but are not sure if everything is ready?

Website migration can be complicated as there are many things to look after. Having a checklist can help ensure that you’ve followed all the steps. This also prevents multiple errors.

In this article, we will share the ultimate website migration checklist and show the steps you need to do.

Here is a quick overview of what we will cover in this guide. You can click the links below to jump ahead to any section:

What is Website Migration?
How Does Migration Impact WordPress SEO?
Plan Your Migration and Inform Your Users
Put Your WordPress Site in Maintenance Mode
Create a Backup of Your WordPress Website
Perform a Website SEO Audit
Disable Caching, Firewall, and Redirect Plugins
Prevent Search Engines from Indexing Your New Site
Ensure Your Domain is Pointing to the New Host
Make Sure WordPress is Installed on Your Site
Set Up and Test Redirects
Make Sure the New Site is Indexable and Crawlable
Test the Overall Functionality of Your Site
Check for 404 Errors
Perform a Speed Test to See the Performance
Run an SEO Audit Again to Check for Errors
Track Keyword Positions, Traffic, and Conversions
Ensure Your Old Hosting is Closed

What is Website Migration?

You can migrate many different things on a WordPress site, including upgrading to new technology, website redesign, restructuring content, or moving to a new server or location.

There are many reasons for WordPress migration. You might want to move to a new content management system (CMS) for better performance and security. Or you’d like to switch hosting servers to scale your site and business.

For example, you’d like to migrate your site from Blogger, Shopify, Squarespace, Joomla, Gumroad, and other platforms to WordPress.

See our ultimate WordPress migration guide to learn more about moving your site from different blogging platforms.

Migration can also take place when your site is going through a redesign for a better user experience. Or you’re updating the site structure and navigation. Moving your site from HTTP to HTTPS also requires careful WordPress migration.

Another reason for migrating your WordPress site is changing your domain name. Let’s say you’re rebranding and going to use another website name. Then, you’ll need to migrate your site.

That said, let’s see how migration can affect your site’s rankings in search engine page results.

How Does Migration Impact WordPress SEO?

WordPress migration is a major change that happens on your website, and it can impact your site’s SEO (search engine optimization).

If done correctly, migration can have a positive impact. For example, switching to a faster hosting service can improve WordPress performance and help boost keyword rankings.

However, the slightest mistake can lead to multiple SEO-related errors like broken links, lost rankings, and missing content.

This is where the website migration checklist comes in handy. You can go through it step by step to ensure everything is working properly.

Let’s look at each step in the website migration checklist.

Tip: Website migration has many moving parts and it can be tricky for beginners. If you don’t want to worry about migrating a website yourself, then you can hire Seahawk. They offer a wide range of WordPress services, including website migration. Seahawk helps transfer any website to WordPress bug-free and ensure smooth functionality.

Website Migration Checklist: Preparing Your Site for Migration

Before you can start website migration, there are several factors to take into account.

Here are a few checklist items you should look into prior to moving your WordPress site.

1. Plan Your Migration and Inform Your Users

When you decide to migrate your WordPress website, it is important to plan things in advance and decide on a time to move your site.

To start, you can set objectives. For example, simply ask why you’re moving your website and if everything is ready.

Next, you’ll need to decide on a particular time to move website assets. Ideally, it should be done when the traffic is low. There will be a small outage when you migrate the site, so there is bound to be a drop in traffic.

That’s why it is best practice to avoid website migration during peak traffic times. You can use a plugin like MonsterInsights to monitor website traffic to find the best time to perform the migration.

Once you’ve settled on migration time, it is also best to inform your users. This way, your audience will know beforehand about your site being unavailable. It will help build trust and credibility.

To inform users about the migration, you can send an email, show a popup notice on the website, or send push notifications.

2. Put Your WordPress Site in Maintenance Mode

Before you start the migration, it is important to put the website in maintenance mode. This will inform visitors that your site is down temporarily and will be restored shortly.

An example maintenance mode, created using SeedProd

There are several ways to put your site in maintenance mode.

You can use SeedProd to create a custom maintenance mode page and enable it on your site when you’re ready for migration.

SeedProd is the best WordPress theme and landing page builder. It offers pre-built templates and comes with a drag-and-drop builder. Plus, there are several customization options to edit the maintenance mode.

An example WordPress site in maintenance mode

To learn more, please see our guide on how to put your WordPress site in maintenance mode.

3. Create a Backup of Your WordPress Website

Another important website migration checklist item is making a fresh backup of your site. This way, if anything goes wrong during the migration process, you’ll have an updated copy of your website.

WordPress backups will protect your critical data and help restore the site in case there is a failure during migration.

There are several ways to create a backup of your site. The easiest way is by using a plugin like Duplicator. It is the best WordPress backup plugin and is very easy to use. Simply create a new package, select the storage location, and choose files to backup.

You can also create backups manually by using the cPanel in your WordPress hosting, backup databases, or using an FTP client to access site files.

Please follow our guide on how to backup your WordPress site to learn all the ways.

4. Perform a Website SEO Audit

Next, you should check the website’s SEO health before migration. This will help reveal any issues that may arise during the migration process.

For example, an audit can reveal issues like your pages are missing SEO titles or if there are images without alt attributes. These errors can hurt your SEO when the website is migrated.

You can perform an SEO audit inside your WordPress dashboard by using the All in One SEO (AIOSEO) plugin. It is the best WordPress SEO plugin that helps conduct a complete SEO audit and shows critical issues that need to be resolved.

As an alternative, you can also use the WPBeginner SEO Analyzer tool. It is 100% free to use and helps find critical errors on your site.

You may also want to see our guide on the WordPress SEO audit checklist to boost rankings.

5. Disable Caching, Firewall, and Redirect Plugins

Another important step in the migration checklist is to disable any caching, firewall, and redirection plugins. These plugins and tools can cause issues during the migration process.

For instance, you may see 403 Forbidden errors or 500 Internal Server errors if these tools are not disabled. Similarly, a firewall plugin can cause errors by blocking requests made during the migration process for site files.

In WordPress, you can head to Plugins » Installed Plugins and then simply click the ‘Deactivate’ option under these plugins.

To learn more, please see our guide on how to easily deactivate WordPress plugins.

6. Prevent Search Engines from Indexing Your New Site

If you are moving your site to a new domain or a new content management system (like WordPress), then you should ensure that search engines don’t index the new site before the migration.

This way, Google and other search engines won’t show both versions on the search results.

In WordPress, you can go to Settings » Reading and then uncheck the ‘Search Engine Visibility’ checkbox.

Search Engine Visibility Setting in WordPress

Besides that, you can also stop search engines from indexing specific pages and posts by using an SEO plugin like AIOSEO.

It offers Robots.txt settings for each content, where you can enable the ‘No Index’ option.

Asking Search Engines Not to Index a Single Page

You can find all the details in our guide on how to stop search engines from crawling a WordPress site.

Website Migration Checklist: Starting the Migration Process

Now that you’ve prepared your website for migration, the next step is to start the migration process.

Here are checklist steps to follow during the migration stage.

7. Ensure Your Domain is Pointing to the New Web Host

If you are moving your website to a new web hosting service, then you’ll need to point the domain to the new host.

To do that, you will need to edit the DNS or Domain Name System records. These records help connect your domain name to the new servers that will be hosting your site.

Now, the steps for updating the DNS settings will depend on the hosting provider or domain registrar you are using.

For more details, please see our guide on how to easily change domain nameservers.

8. Make Sure WordPress is Installed on Your Site

Many WordPress hosting services will have WordPress pre-installed when you migrate a website.

However, if your hosting plan doesn’t come with WordPress, then you can easily add it.

Do note that the steps to install WordPress will depend on the hosting services you are using. You can also use auto-installers or manually install it through cPanel or an FTP client.

Please see our guide on how to install WordPress the right way for more details.

9. Set Up and Test Redirects when Migrating to New Domain

Next, you’ll need to set up redirection if you’ve switched to a new domain.

This way, when a user enters the old website URL, they’ll be redirected to the new one automatically.

A simple way of setting up 301 redirects in WordPress is by using All in One SEO (AIOSEO). It offers a powerful redirection manager that you can use to set up redirects and also perform full site redirects.

You may also want to see our guide on creating 301 redirects in WordPress.

10. Make Sure the New Site is Indexable and Crawlable

As the migration process nears an end, you should remove any blockades that can stop users and search engine crawlers from accessing your new website.

For instance, if you enabled noindex or any other option to prevent search engines from finding your new domain, then you should remove it. This way, search engines can crawl and index your site in the search results.

One way of checking if your site is being crawled is by using Google Search Console.

It offers a Crawl Stats report that shows crawl requests from your site. If you see a drop, then check your site’s settings that might be stopping your pages from being crawled.

Website Migration Checklist: Monitor and Test Migration

Once the website migration process is complete, you will need to monitor the changes and see their impact.

Here are some website migration checklist items to keep a lookout for after moving your website.

11. Test the Overall Functionality of Your Site

After the migration process is complete, you should ensure that everything is working properly on your site.

For instance, if you redesigned your site, then you should see if all the buttons, links, navigation menus, and other elements are functioning properly.

Besides that, you can also fill out different WordPress forms to see if all the fields are working. Similarly, try leaving a comment under blog posts to check its functionality.

If you have an online store, then try adding products to your cart, go through the checkout process, view each product page, and click the links to check everything.

12. Check for 404 Errors

One of the most common errors you will notice is the 404 error after migrating a website.

404 error occurs when a user is unable to reach a web page because it doesn’t exist. This happens when you migrate a site to a new CMS or hosting service, and the old domain no longer works.

A simple way to track 404 errors is by using the AIOSEO plugin. Its redirection manager lets you track 404 errors and quickly fix them by setting up redirection.

To learn more, please follow our guide on how to track 404 pages and redirect them in WordPress.

13. Perform a Speed Test to See the Performance

Next website migration checklist item to see the performance of your WordPress site. This is particularly useful if you moved to a new hosting service for faster loading sites.

For example, you should see an improvement in the speed if you’ve upgraded to the fastest hosting provider.

There are different website speed test tools you can use to get started. For instance, Google offers a free PageSpeed Insights tool to test your site’s speed.

You may also want to see our ultimate guide to WordPress performance to learn more tips on speeding up your site.

14. Run an SEO Audit Again to Check for Errors

Once you’ve completed the migration process, it is a best practice to run an SEO audit of your website again.

This way, you will catch any issues that might have been raised during the migration.

For example, if there are any broken links that need fixing, your content is missing SEO titles, or there are other technical issues to look into.

15. Track Keyword Positions, Traffic, and Conversions

After moving a site to a new CMS or web hosting platform, you should check the keyword rankings, traffic, and conversions of the new site.

Tracking keyword positions will help you see whether there is a boost in rankings or a drop.

There are many SEO rank tracker tools in the market. For example, you can use Semrush to monitor keyword rankings. The SEO tool shows changes in position along with other important metrics.

16. Ensure Your Old Hosting is Closed

Now that the migration is complete, one final checklist item to cross off is to close the old domain hosting account. This way, Google and other search engines will know that this is the new site to index.

However, make sure to set up 301 redirects and ensure they are working before closing the old hosting account. If any redirect is not functioning properly, then you can quickly fix it.

Once you’re happy with everything, go ahead and close the old hosting account.

Your site will now be migrated, and all the content will be visible and available for users.

We hope this article helped you learn about the website migration checklist and the steps you need to do. You may also want to see our ultimate WordPress migration guide for beginners and when do you really need managed WordPress hosting.

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.

The post Ultimate Website Migration Checklist: 16 Steps You Need to Do first appeared on WPBeginner.

May 27, 2021October 6, 2023

How to Move a Site from WordPress Multisite to Single Install

Do you want to move a site from a WordPress multisite to a single install?

If you run a WordPress multisite network, sometimes, you may need to move one of the websites to its own separate WordPress install.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily move a site from WordPress multisite to its own single install while preserving SEO rankings and all your content.

Moving a child site from WordPress multisite

Step 1: Getting Started

To move a website from a WordPress multisite network, you’ll need a domain name.

If you already have a domain name where you want to install the single site, then you are good to go.

If you don’t have a separate domain name, you’ll need to register and add a new domain name to your hosting account.

We recommend using Domain.com. They are one of the best domain name registrars in the world and offer beginner-friendly domain management experience.

For more details, see our article on how to register a domain name.

Alternatively, you can buy a separate hosting account and domain name for your fresh WordPress install.

We recommend using Bluehost. They are offering a free domain name with a generous discount on hosting.

Basically, you can get started for $2.75 per month.

→ Click Here to Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Offer ←

After getting your domain name and hosting, the next step is to install WordPress.

See our step-by-step WordPress installation tutorial if you need help.

Important: Since you are going to make some serious changes to your WordPress multisite, it is necessary to create a complete WordPress backup before you do anything else.

Now that everything is set up, let’s move a site from WordPress multisite network to its single install.

Step 2: Exporting a Single Site in WordPress Multisite Network

The built-in WordPress import/export functionality works the same way in multisite as it does on a single site install. We will use the default tools to export the data from a site on a WordPress multisite network.

First, you need to log in to the dashboard of the single site you want to move, and then click on Tools » Export.

Next, you want to ensure all content is checked and click on the Download Export File button.

Export single site in a WordPress multisite

WordPress will now create an XML file containing all your data and send it to your browser for download.

Be sure to save the file on your computer because you will need it later.

Step 3: Importing Child Site to New Domain

Login to the WordPress admin area on the new location where you want to move your child site and then go to Tools » Import. On the import screen, WordPress will show you a number of import options.

Install WordPress importer on the new single site

You need to click on the ‘Install Now’ link below ‘WordPress.’

Wait for the importer to be installed and then click on the ‘Run Importer’ link.

On the next screen, you will be asked to upload the WordPress export file you downloaded earlier from the WordPress multisite.

Click on the Choose file button to select the file from your computer and then click on the ‘Upload file and import’ button.

On the next screen, WordPress will ask if you would also like to import users. If you do nothing, then WordPress will import all users. This is recommended if you do not want to change authors.

You will also see the Import Attachments option, and you want to make sure it is checked so that WordPress can download images from your posts and pages.

Don’t worry if it misses out on some or most of your images. You can import them separately afterward.

Click on the ‘Submit’ button to continue.

WordPress will now start importing your content. This will take a few minutes depending on how much content you have. Once it is done, you will see a notification that says ‘All done. Have fun!’

That’s all. You have successfully imported data from a multisite network child site to an individual WordPress install. There are still a few things left to do.

Step 4: Setting up Redirection

If you were using WordPress multisite with custom domains, then you don’t have to set up any redirection.

However, if you were using subdomains or directory structures in your WordPress multisite, you need to set up redirection so that users coming to your old URLs are redirected to your new site.

There are two ways to do this. You can set up a redirect using a WordPress plugin (recommended), or you can add some code to your WordPress .htaccess file.

We’ll show you both methods, and you can choose the one that best suits you.

Note: Make sure that your old site on the multisite network and the site on the new domain are both using the same permalink structure.

Method 1. Setting Redirects Using All in One SEO for WordPress

This method is easier and recommended for all users. We’ll be using All in One SEO for WordPress, which is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market.

It allows you to easily optimize your WordPress site for search engines and comes with powerful features like SEO analysis, custom XML sitemaps, Schema.org support, and a redirects manager.

First, install and activate the All in One SEO for WordPress plugin on your WordPress multisite and then Network Activate it for the child site. For more details, see our guide on network activating plugins on WordPress Multisite.

Note: You’ll need at least the Pro plan to access the Redirection Manager feature.

Next, you need to install and network activate the Redirection Manager addon. You can find it under ‘Downloads’ from your account page on the All in One SEO website.

Download redirection addon for All in One SEO

Once you have network-activated both plugins, you need to switch to the dashboard of the child site.

From here, go to the All in One SEO » Redirects page and switch to the ‘Full Site Redirect’ tab.

First, turn on the Relocate Site option by toggling the switch next to it.

Then, enter your new site’s domain name next to ‘Relocate to domain’ option.

Now click on the Save Changes button to store your settings.

All in One SEO for WordPress will now redirect users to your new domain name.

Method 2. Setting up Redirects using the Redirection Plugin

First, you need to install the Redirection plugin on your WordPress Multisite.

You can Network Activate a plugin, or you can log in as Super Admin on your child site and activate the Redirection plugin for that particular site alone.

After that, you need to visit the admin dashboard of the child site for which you want to set up the redirect.

Redirecting from Subdomain to New Domain

The Redirection plugin makes it super easy to point a domain name to a different one.

Simply go to the Tools » Redirection page and switch to the ‘Site’ tab.

Simply enter your new domain name and then click on the ‘Update’ button to save your settings.

The plugin will redirect all your site users to your new domain name with the correct permalink structure.

The advantage of this method is that you can still log in to the admin area of your old subdomain.

Redirecting from Directory to New Domain

If your multisite uses a directory-based URL structure, then the Redirection plugin makes it easy to redirect it properly to your new domain.

Simply go to the Tools » Redirection page on your sub-site, and then click on the Add New button at the top.

This will take you to Redirection’s setup form. Here is how you need to fill in that form:

Source URL: ^childsite/(.*)$
Target URL: https://example.com/$1

Be sure to replace childsite and example.com with the name of your subsite and its new location.

Don’t forget to change select ‘Regex’ from the dropdown to the right, and then just click on the Add Redirect button to save your settings.

You can now visit your sub-site to see the redirects in action.

Method 2. Setting up Redirects Using .htaccess file

For this method, you need to add redirect rules to the .htaccess file in your WordPress hosting account for your multisite network.

Subdomain to New Domain Redirect

For subdomain installs, you need to use this code in the .htaccess file of your WordPress multisite.

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^subdomain.example.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.example.net/$1 [L,R=301]

This code redirects visitors coming to any page on subdomain.example.com to http://www.example.net. The $1 sign at the end of the destination URL ensures that your users land on the same page they requested.

Redirecting From Directory to New Domain

For directory-based multisite installs, you’ll need to paste the following code in the .htaccess file of your WordPress multisite.

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^childsite/(.*)$ http://example.net/$1 [R=301,L]

This code simply redirects any users coming on http://www.example.com/childsite/ to http://example.net. The $1 makes sure that your users land on exactly the same page or post they requested.

Don’t forget to replace childsite and example.net with the name of your subsite and its new location.

Step 5: Troubleshooting the Migration

Moving a site is not a routine task, so it is likely that you may come across some issues.

1. Export File Too Large – If your WordPress export file is too large, you may fail to import it properly. To fix this, you may need to split large XML file into smaller pieces.

2. Images Not Imported – Another common issue is that images may not import correctly to your new site. To fix this, you can try importing them as external images.

3. Redirects Not Working – If users are not being redirected correctly to your new site, then you need to carefully review your redirect settings. Make sure that your single install and the child site are both using the same Permalinks structure.

For other issues, see other common WordPress errors and how to fix them.

We hope this article helped you move a site from a WordPress multisite to a single install. You may also want to review our WordPress SEO checklist for your new install or try these essential WordPress plugins on your fresh site.

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.

The post How to Move a Site from WordPress Multisite to Single Install first appeared on WPBeginner.