How to Migrate a WordPress Site to IONOS (Duplicator Method)
How to move a WordPress site to IONOS yourself with the Duplicator plugin, why IONOS support does not do the migration for you, and what to decide about your domain.
- ionos
- migration
Unlike many hosts, IONOS does not include a migration service with Hosting for WordPress: its scope of support lists manual migration of your website as not included. You move the site yourself, and IONOS recommends a migration plugin if you are not comfortable with databases.
No account yet? See how to sign up for IONOS.
Before you start
- Back up the old site: Make a complete backup of the files and database at your current host first.
- Same domain or new domain? Moving to IONOS with the same domain is a server migration. If the domain is changing too, set up redirects from the old domain so you keep visitors and search rankings.
- Domain transfer: You can also transfer the domain itself to IONOS, but allow for the time a domain transfer takes.
Migrate with the Duplicator plugin
IONOS names Duplicator, All-in-One WP Migration, and UpdraftPlus as options. With Duplicator:
- Install and activate Duplicator on your current WordPress site.
- Use it to create a backup of your website.
- Create a WordPress project in your IONOS account.
- Install Duplicator in your new IONOS WordPress site.
- Upload the backup file to the root directory of your IONOS web space over FTP (use FTPS or SFTP).
- Use Duplicator on the IONOS site to import the backup.
Experienced users can migrate manually instead, moving the files and the MySQL or MariaDB database themselves.
After the move
Check the site on IONOS, then point your domain to it (or finish the domain transfer). Cancel your old hosting once everything works.
See what IONOS costs over five years on the IONOS renewal price page.
Sources: Migrating a WordPress installation to IONOS and Scope of support for WordPress (IONOS Help).
