Cutover plan · Intermediate · 1–2 hours, or a free ticket to us
How to migrate a WordPress site — Build in Parallel, Then Switch Once
The site has to keep answering while you move it, and you need to know the new server is right before a single visitor is routed at it.
The short answer
A migration is downtime-free when the new copy is finished and verified before DNS points anywhere near it: build in parallel, preview it through your own hosts file, lower the record TTL a day ahead, then switch once and watch. Nothing in that sequence depends on timing or luck — the old site keeps serving until the new one is proven.
Or hand us the whole job. Raise a ticket with your current host's login details and we move files, database and mailboxes free, normally within a day, verified before anything is switched. The steps below are the self-service route for anyone who would rather drive.
By the HostingFast team · Reviewed 24 August 2026
Intermediate
Depth assumed
5
Checkpoints end to end
Free
Cost of asking us
Proven
Verified where you'll run it
This is written for someone comfortable with phpMyAdmin, a shell and a hosts file. The whole approach rests on one idea: at no point should the live domain resolve to a server you have not already tested.
Before you start, note the current time to first byte on a cached page. It is the one figure that tells you afterwards whether the move was worth doing, and it takes ten seconds to capture with curl.
The two artefacts move separately
Pull wp-content down and export the database through phpMyAdmin. Keeping them apart is deliberate: uploads are large and boring, the database is small and dangerous, and they want different handling. A migration plugin will bundle both into one archive if you would rather trade control for convenience.
On the new server, upload the files, create a fresh database and user, import the SQL, then update wp-config.php with the new database name, user and password. Nothing has been pointed at the domain yet, and nothing needs to be.
Preview through your own hosts file
Add a line to your machine's hosts file mapping the real domain to the new server's IP. Now your browser alone resolves the live domain to the new build while the rest of the world still reaches the old one. This is how you click a checkout, load an admin page and test a form on the finished site with no exposure at all.
Verify with curl while you are there: `curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{time_starttransfer}' https://yourdomain` five times, and compare against the reading you took on the old host. That comparison is the only evidence the move achieved anything.
The clock you control: TTL
A day before the cutover, drop the TTL on the records you are changing to five minutes. Resolvers cache for as long as the TTL tells them to, so a 24-hour TTL means some visitors keep hitting the old server for a full day after you switch — and a five-minute TTL means the switch, or the rollback, lands almost immediately.
Raise it again once the move has settled. A permanently low TTL means more lookups than the zone needs; a temporarily low one is the difference between a controlled cutover and a day of not knowing which server anybody is on.
Switch once, then watch three things
Repoint the records, keep the old host paid up for a few days as insurance, and confirm the certificate has issued at the new address before you call it finished. Free SSL issues automatically here once the domain resolves to us, so the padlock generally arrives without being asked.
Then watch the error log, the mail flow and your TTFB reading. The three things that break on a DIY migration are URLs wrecked by a careless search-and-replace, file permissions that no longer line up, and mailboxes nobody thought to recreate — which is precisely why our managed migration exists and costs nothing.
Where the receiving end was measured
Every runbook here was exercised on the platform we actually operate — cPanel, LiteSpeed, NVMe storage, one-click installs — so the panel screens and the import limits match yours rather than a generic host's.
NVMe storage and LiteSpeed caching power every tier, from the smallest plan up — speed is the baseline here, not an upsell.
- Your existing site moved over by our engineers, free of charge
- NVMe SSD storage on every tier, not just the expensive ones
- Free SSL issued automatically once the domain resolves here
- Human support on duty every hour of every day
Why HostingFast
Standard on every plan
Parallel, never sequential
The old site serves traffic until the new one is verified, so there is no window where neither is answering.
A preview nobody else sees
The hosts-file step lets you test the finished build on the real domain with zero public exposure.
The TTL explained, not assumed
Lower it a day ahead and the cutover — or the rollback — lands in minutes rather than over a day.
Measured before and after
A cached TTFB reading on each host is what turns 'it feels quicker' into a number you can point at.
The three real failure modes
Broken URLs, wrong permissions, forgotten mailboxes. Named up front, because they are what eats the weekend.
Or skip it entirely
Our engineers migrate the site free, normally within a day, and verify it before anything is switched.
Quick Start
From order to online
- 1
Baseline the old host, then decide who drives
Take a cached TTFB reading with curl so you can compare later. Then choose: raise a ticket with your old host's login details and we do the whole move free, normally within a day — or follow the rest of this list.
- 2
Pull the files, dump the database
Download wp-content and export the database via phpMyAdmin. Keep them separate: uploads are bulky and inert, the database is small and easy to corrupt, and they want different handling.
- 3
Rebuild on the new server
Upload the files, create a fresh database and user, import the SQL, then update wp-config.php with the new credentials. Nothing points at the domain yet, so nothing is at risk.
- 4
Preview it through your hosts file, then drop the TTL
Map the real domain to the new IP on your own machine and test the finished site properly. A day before the switch, lower the record TTL to five minutes so the change — or the rollback — propagates fast.
- 5
Switch, then watch the log, the mail and the number
Repoint DNS, leave the old host running a few days as insurance, confirm the certificate has issued, and re-run your TTFB reading. Check mail flow explicitly: mailboxes are the thing DIY migrations forget.
Built In
Loaded onto every plan
- Your existing site moved over by our engineers, free of charge
- NVMe SSD storage on every tier, not just the expensive ones
- LiteSpeed caching built into the server rather than patched in by plugin
- Free SSL on every plan, renewed automatically before it can expire
- Email addresses that run on your own domain name
- SSH, Git and Composer on the developer-focused plans
- Staging environments for testing changes before they ship
- Daily backups, with self-service restores you run from the panel
- In-place account upgrades — no migration when you change plan
- A renewal price identical to the price you signed up at
Frequently Asked
What people ask us most often
What actually makes a migration zero-downtime?
Ordering, and nothing else. The new copy is complete and verified before any resolver is told about it, and the old copy keeps answering the whole time. Both ends stay live right through propagation, so whichever server a visitor's resolver still believes in, they get a working site. Downtime only appears when DNS moves before the destination is ready.
How do I test the new server on the real domain before switching?
Your machine's hosts file. Map the domain to the new server's IP locally and your browser resolves it there while everyone else keeps hitting the old host. You can click the checkout, load wp-admin and run curl against the live hostname with no public exposure at all. Remove the line once DNS has moved.
Will the renewal cost more than the first term?
No. The rate you order at is the rate you renew at, every year. There is no introductory teaser pricing here, so there is no year-two jump waiting — the hosting line stays a fixed number your accounts can plan around.
Are backups something I can restore myself?
Yes. Every plan takes a daily backup and the restore runs from your panel in minutes — files, databases or both, at three in the morning, with no queue in front of you. Keeping an extra copy off the platform is still a sound habit, and nothing here stops you.
Keep reading
How to Secure WordPress
Close the entry points attackers genuinely use, in the order they use them — intermediate, roughly an hour of setup.
How to Force HTTPS on Your Site
Route every arrival onto the encrypted address in a single hop, with no stragglers left on http — beginner, about 10 minutes.
WordPress (Glossary)
One term, defined precisely, with the detail that matters when you are debugging rather than browsing.
Business Hosting
Shared hosting with the full developer toolbelt: SSH, Node.js, Python and PostgreSQL.
Domain Names
Search, register and transfer names — year one free when you order annual hosting.
Changing hosts? Run through our checklist first.
A straightforward sequence for a switch your visitors never feel: which files move first, how to shift email across without losing a single message, the right moment to repoint DNS, and the two mistakes behind almost all the downtime we get asked to rescue.
Let us do the cutover for you.
Free managed migration, normally within a day, onto NVMe behind LiteSpeed — with free SSL, daily backups and engineers on shift at any hour.
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