Move WordPress without the week of broken pages.
Host moves, domain changes, merging two sites into one. All routine, all easy to get wrong in ways you only notice when traffic drops a fortnight later.
- Fixed-price quote in 1 business day
- Built on WordPress
- US business hours
This is the migration nobody plans for properly because it sounds simple. You are staying on WordPress. The content is not changing. You are just moving hosts, or changing domain, or pushing a rebuild live.
Then the search-and-replace misses serialised data and half the widgets break. Or the domain changes and nobody maps the URLs. Or DNS propagates while orders are coming in and two days of data lands on the old server.
None of it is difficult. All of it needs doing in the right order, which is what you are actually paying for.
Where WordPress moves
go wrong.
Serialised data broken by search and replace
A plain find-and-replace on the database corrupts serialised strings, and the damage shows up as missing widgets and broken theme settings rather than an obvious error.
Domain changes without redirects
A new domain means every URL changes. Without a redirect map you restart your search authority from zero.
Split-brain during propagation
DNS takes time. Without a freeze, orders and form submissions land on both servers and some are lost for good.
Media library left behind
Uploads folder half-copied, or image URLs still pointing at the old host, so images vanish weeks later when the old account lapses.
How we handle
the move.
Safe database migration
Serialisation-aware search and replace, so widget settings, theme options and page-builder data survive intact.
Complete media transfer
Full uploads folder moved and every URL rewritten, verified by crawling the new site for broken images.
Redirect map for domain changes
Every old URL mapped to its new equivalent, live at cutover, with Search Console change of address submitted.
Zero-downtime cutover
New environment built and tested in parallel, content freeze agreed, DNS TTL lowered ahead of the switch.
Environment parity
PHP version, extensions, memory limits and cron checked against the old host before you move, not after something breaks.
Post-move verification
Full crawl for broken links and images, form and checkout testing, then Search Console monitoring.
Every migration includes this.
- Full site and database migration to the new environment
- Serialisation-safe URL replacement
- Media library transferred and verified
- Redirect map where the domain or structure changes
- PHP and environment parity check before cutover
- Content freeze plan and lowered DNS TTL
- Post-migration crawl for broken links, images and forms
- Two weeks of monitoring after the switch
Why we'd build this on WordPress
Staying on WordPress means the data model does not change, so a migration is a logistics problem rather than a rebuild. That makes it cheap and low risk when sequenced properly.
- Content, plugins and settings move intact, nothing is remodelled
- Serialisation-aware replacement so page-builder data survives
- Environment checked for parity before cutover, not after
How the migration runs.
- 01
Audit both environments
What is on the current host, what the new one provides, and where they differ. PHP version and extension mismatches are the most common cause of a broken move.
- 02
Build in parallel
Full copy stood up on the new environment and tested while your live site keeps running untouched.
- 03
Verify
Crawl the staged copy for broken links and images, test forms and checkout, compare against the live site page by page.
- 04
Cut over
Content freeze, final database sync, DNS switch with TTL already lowered. No window where writes go to two servers.
- 05
Monitor
Crawl again on the live domain, watch Search Console, and keep the old environment available for two weeks as a fallback.
What moves the price on
a migration.
We quote fixed prices per project rather than by the hour, so scope is what determines cost. These are the four things that move it most.
Domain change or host change only
A host move with the same domain needs no redirects. A domain change needs a full URL map and is meaningfully more work.
Site size
A 20-page site moves in hours. A large site with a big media library and years of posts takes longer to transfer and verify.
E-commerce
A store needs a proper content freeze, order reconciliation and payment gateway reconfiguration. Downtime costs real money, so the sequencing matters more.
Environment differences
Moving to a host with a much newer PHP version can surface plugin incompatibilities that need resolving before you can cut over.
Every project is quoted individually. Tell us what you need and we'll come back within one business day with scope, timeline and a fixed price.
Get your fixed-price quoteA WordPress-to-WordPress move is the cheapest migration there is and the one most likely to be done casually, because it sounds like copying files.
The order of operations is the whole job. Get that right and nobody notices anything happened, which is the point.
Get a fixed-price quote Back within 1 business day
Questions site owners
ask us most.
Will the site go down during the move?+
No. The new environment is built and tested in parallel while your live site keeps running. The cutover is a DNS change with the TTL already lowered, so the switch happens in minutes. For stores we agree a short content freeze so no orders land on the old server.
Can't I just use a migration plugin?+
Often yes, for a simple site, and plenty of moves go fine that way. Where they fail is serialised data, large media libraries that time out, and environment differences the plugin cannot see. If the site is small and simple, we will tell you a plugin is enough rather than quoting for it.
We're changing domain too. What happens to our rankings?+
That needs a full redirect map, every old URL pointing to its new equivalent, live at cutover, plus a change of address in Search Console. Done properly you keep the large majority of your authority through a short adjustment period. Done without redirects you start again.
How long does it take?+
One to two weeks for most sites, and much of that is testing rather than transferring. Large stores and domain changes sit at the longer end.
Can you move us from a host we've lost access to?+
Usually, if you control the domain. There are ways to recover a site without host access, though it is more work. Tell us the situation on the quote form and we will be honest about what is recoverable.
Will you set up the new hosting?+
Yes, and we will recommend based on what the site actually needs rather than an affiliate commission. A WooCommerce store and a brochure site need very different infrastructure.
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Get a quote for your migration.
Tell us what you need in two minutes. We'll come back with scope, timeline and a fixed price, no sales call required first.
Start your free quote