Hire Site Migration Developers

WordPress site migration is the process of moving a WordPress installation from its current location to a new one. The most common migration scenarios are: moving from one hosting provider to another, moving from a local development or staging environment to production, migrating from a subdomain or temporary URL to the final domain, and migrating from a different CMS (Wix, Squarespace, Drupal) to WordPress.

A migration involves moving the WordPress database, all uploaded files (the wp-content directory), and the WordPress code. It also involves updating database records that store the old URL, configuring the new hosting environment to match the requirements of the site, updating DNS records, and verifying the site works correctly after the move.

What looks like a straightforward process has significant failure modes: broken internal links from URL mismatches, missing email configuration on the new host, SSL certificate issues, caching problems showing old content, and plugin or theme compatibility issues with a different PHP version on the new host. A migration specialist knows these failure modes and checks for them systematically rather than declaring success as soon as the site loads.

Migration projects on Codeable cover:

Host-to-host migration. Moving from shared hosting to managed WordPress hosting (Kinsta, WP Engine, Cloudways) for better performance or support. The new host may have different PHP requirements, caching layers, and configuration options that need to be set up correctly for the migrated site.

Staging to production deployment. A site built on a staging environment needs to move to the live domain. This requires URL replacement in the database, DNS configuration, SSL setup, and cache clearing — all while minimizing downtime.

CMS to WordPress migration. Moving content from Wix, Squarespace, Drupal, Joomla, or another platform to WordPress. These migrations require content export from the source platform, import into WordPress (often using WP All Import), URL redirect setup to preserve SEO value from the old URLs, and often manual cleanup of migrated content formatting.

Multisite migration. Moving a WordPress Multisite network or converting a single site to Multisite has additional complexity around database table prefixes, domain mapping, and plugin compatibility.

Migration quality is measured by what does not break, not just by what works. Key things to assess:

Their pre-migration checklist. A developer who describes specific checks before migration (PHP version compatibility between source and destination, database size, plugin compatibility with new hosting, SSL status, DNS TTL) has a systematic approach. A developer who says they will copy the files and database and test if it works does not.

Their approach to minimizing downtime. Best practice for migrations involves: staging the migration first to verify it works, reducing DNS TTL before the migration window to speed up propagation, doing the live migration during low-traffic hours, and having a clear rollback plan if the migration fails. A developer who describes these steps is planning correctly.

Post-migration verification checklist. After migration, a thorough check covers: all page types render correctly, forms submit and deliver notifications, WooCommerce checkout processes correctly, email functions correctly on the new host, SSL is working and all resources load over HTTPS, and the old site is confirmed offline before DNS fully propagates.

Common migration problems:

Broken internal links after migration — URLs stored in the database still reference the old domain or the old URL structure. Fix using a database search and replace with a tool like Better Search Replace, replacing the old URL with the new one. Run on all tables and include serialized data handling.

White screen or PHP errors after migration — the new hosting environment runs a different PHP version or has different PHP extensions enabled than the source host. Check the PHP error log on the new host, identify the incompatible code, and either update the code or adjust the PHP version on the new host to match.

WordPress emails not sending after migration — the new host may have different email configuration requirements. Install an SMTP plugin (FluentSMTP, WP Mail SMTP) and configure it for the new host or a transactional email service.

SSL certificate not covering all URLs — after migration to a new host, the SSL certificate needs to be issued and configured for the correct domain. Missing or misconfigured SSL produces browser security warnings that break visitor trust and can block form submissions.

Post-migration maintenance covers the period immediately after a migration goes live:

Monitor for 404 errors in Google Search Console for the 30 days following a migration. Any indexed URLs that are now returning 404 need redirects added. Missing redirects lose accumulated SEO value from the old URLs.

Verify that Google Search Console is updated for the new domain if the domain changed during the migration. Use Search Console’s Change of Address tool for domain migrations to inform Google of the change and preserve search equity.

Monitor Core Web Vitals in the weeks following a migration to a new host. Different hosting infrastructure can affect server response time and caching behavior, which shows up in performance metrics. A performance regression after migration indicates something needs adjustment on the new host.

When posting a site migration on Codeable, describe the source (current host, URL, WordPress version), the destination (new host, new URL if changing, any new requirements), and any specific concerns you have (SEO preservation, minimal downtime, CMS conversion). Also mention the site’s size and complexity — number of pages, whether WooCommerce is involved, whether there are custom plugins or themes.

Ask explicitly about the developer’s plan for DNS management and downtime. A developer who describes a specific migration window, a specific DNS TTL strategy, and a specific rollback plan has a professional approach. A developer who is vague about downtime management is a higher risk for a site with traffic.

For CMS-to-WordPress migrations, ask specifically about their experience with the source platform. Migrating from Wix is different from migrating from Drupal — the content export formats, URL structures, and migration tools are different for each platform.