Maybe your site has outgrown its current plan. Maybe the support is slow, the server is slow, or the renewal price quietly doubled. Whatever the reason: moving a WordPress site to a new host sounds scary, but done in the right order it’s a routine operation — and your visitors never notice a thing.
Here’s the order that works, and the mistakes to avoid.
Before you touch anything: make a full backup
This is the step people skip, and it’s the only one that matters when something goes wrong. Copy your entire site — files and database — before starting. A backup plugin like UpdraftPlus can do both with one click and send the copy to Google Drive or similar. Verify you can actually see the backup files before moving on.
Step 1: Set up the new hosting account first
Don’t cancel anything yet. Order the new plan and leave the old site running exactly as it is. Both copies will exist side by side for a few hours — that’s the whole trick: you build the new home before you move out of the old one.
Step 2: Copy your files and database across
You have two options:
- Migration plugin (easiest): free tools like Duplicator or All-in-One WP Migration pack your entire site into a single archive that you upload on the new host. Best for most sites.
- Manual (more control): download your files via FTP or the file manager, export the database from phpMyAdmin, upload both on the new server, and update the database name, user, and password in
wp-config.php.
Many hosts — including AriHosting — will migrate your WordPress site for free. Ask before you spend an evening doing it yourself.
Step 3: Test the copy on the new server
The new host gives you a temporary address (a preview URL or an IP). Open your site through it and click through everything: pages, images, forms, checkout if you have one. Fix anything that looks off while the old site is still safely online.
Step 4: Point the domain to the new host
This is the moment of truth, and it’s just one setting: at your domain registrar, change the nameservers (or the A record) to the values your new host gives you. That’s it.
Heads up on timing: DNS changes take anywhere from a few minutes to 24–48 hours to spread across the internet. During that window some visitors see the old site, some see the new one — that’s normal and harmless. Keep the old account running until propagation is complete.
Step 5: Cancel the old hosting — only after everything works
Wait 48 hours, confirm your email works, confirm the site is fully functional, and check that the new host’s backups are running. Then cancel the old plan. The old copy becomes your instant fallback if anything surprises you.
The three mistakes that cause downtime
- Cancelling the old host first. Once the old site is gone there’s nothing to fall back to. Always cancel last.
- No backup. If the migration tool fails halfway, the backup is your undo button.
- Forgetting email. If your email addresses use the old host’s mail servers, moving the domain can cut off your inbox. Set up email on the new host before switching.
Quick reference
- Order: backup → set up new host → copy → test on preview URL → switch DNS → wait → cancel old.
- Golden rule: the old site stays online until the new one is proven.
- Shortcut: many hosts migrate WordPress for free — it never hurts to ask.
When the move is done, run your site through our speed checklist — a fresh host is the perfect moment to also fix the slow images and missing caching you’ve been putting off. And if you’re choosing where to move to, compare our plans: free migration included on all of them.