How to Migrate a WordPress Site to Liquid Web (Free Migration Plugin)

Liquid Web's managed WordPress plans include a self-serve migration tool: the free Migrate to Liquid Web & Nexcess plugin, which you run from your old site. Both Pro and Elite plans also list migration by a human if you would rather hand it off.

Before you start

• Create the destination site in your Liquid Web plan. It gets a temporary domain you will use for testing. New to Liquid Web? See how to sign up for Liquid Web.
• In the client portal, open the dashboard for that site and note its SFTP or FTPS host, username, and password. Click Generate New Password to get the password.

Step 1: Install the plugin on your old site

From the WordPress dashboard at your old host, install and activate Migrate to Liquid Web & Nexcess. A link to it appears in the admin menu.

Step 2: Enter the migration details

Open the plugin and fill in:

• Your Email Address: for status updates and the completion notice
• Destination Site URL: the temporary domain of your new site, with https://
• Host/Server Address: the new site's IP address or temporary domain
• FTP type: FTPS or SFTP
• FTP Username and FTP Password

Agree to the terms (the plugin is built with BlogVault) and click Migrate. If the site is password-protected or has non-standard folders, the plugin asks for those details too.

Step 3: Wait for the transfer

Migrations take from a few minutes to a few hours depending on size; on average about an hour. You can stop it with Cancel Migration, and you get an email when it finishes.

Step 4: Test, then go live

Test the site on the temporary domain. When it looks right, point your domain to Liquid Web by updating DNS. Liquid Web's docs say that using the plugin together with the client portal's built-in tools takes care of the WordPress database and configuration updates that a manual move would leave to you.

Other ways to migrate

• Assisted migration: request it from the client portal and the migration team moves the site for you.
• Manual: export your files and database and upload them over SFTP/FTPS or SSH, then search and replace URLs.

See what Liquid Web costs over five years on the Liquid Web renewal price page.

Sources: Introducing the easy-to-use Nexcess WordPress migration plugin (Liquid Web/Nexcess Documentation) and Liquid Web managed WordPress hosting.