The Tool Desk
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What changes during a domain migration
A domain change affects more than the address visitors type. WordPress stores the site URL in its options, content often contains absolute links, themes and plugins may contain hard-coded URLs, and search engines have to transfer signals from every old URL to a corresponding new URL. The safest migration preserves the site’s page structure wherever possible. If an old article was at /guides/example/, its new version should normally use the same path on the new domain.
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Search engines discover the move through the combination of working 301 redirects, updated internal signals, a new sitemap and Search Console’s migration notification. The process is gradual. Google’s community guidance describes site moves as potentially taking months, so judge the migration using a combined traffic baseline rather than expecting the new domain to recover immediately.
Before touching WordPress: build a complete URL inventory
Export URLs from three places
Create a spreadsheet containing every old URL that might receive visitors, links or search impressions. Use all three sources because each reveals URLs the others can miss:
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- XML sitemaps: export every listed post, page, category, tag, attachment and other indexable URL. Include separate image, video or news sitemaps if your site uses them.
- Google Search Console: review the old property’s Page indexing and performance reports. Record indexed URLs, URLs with impressions, and pages that received clicks.
- Analytics: export every URL that received a visit during the last 12 months. Include landing pages from organic, referral, social and direct traffic; a page with few search impressions can still have valuable backlinks or returning visitors.
Normalize the list so equivalent variants are understood: trailing-slash and non-trailing-slash forms, uppercase paths, URL parameters, and both www and non-www hosts. Add columns for the old URL, the intended new URL, redirect status, canonical destination and verification date. Keep this map after launch; it becomes your 404 investigation log.
Back up and freeze changes
Take a tested database backup and a complete copy of the WordPress files before changing the domain. Confirm that you can restore both. Avoid publishing new content, changing permalink structures or installing major plugins during the cutover. Those changes make it difficult to tell a migration problem from an ordinary site change.
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Prepare the new domain before the cutover
- Point DNS and provision hosting. Configure the new domain on the destination server or CDN, and make sure the web server answers for the intended host name.
- Install a valid SSL certificate. The final WordPress URLs should use
https://. Test the certificate on the bare domain and every host variant you plan to support. - Copy the site and test privately. Check representative posts, pages, media, menus, forms, logins and search functionality before making the new domain public. Prevent accidental indexing of a staging copy, but remove that block before launch.
- Verify the new property in Search Console. Add the domain-level property or the relevant URL-prefix properties before the move. You need owner access to both old and new properties in the same Google account for Change of Address.
Keep the old hosting account active. Redirects cannot work after the old server is shut down, and visitors may continue reaching old URLs for months.
Change WordPress Address and Site Address
In a standard single-site installation, open Settings → General. Change both fields:
- WordPress Address (URL): where the WordPress core files are located.
- Site Address (URL): the public address visitors use.
Enter the complete HTTPS address with no trailing slash, for example https://new.example.com. Saving these settings can immediately log you out because WordPress begins generating links for the new host. Sign in again at the new address and test the dashboard and front end.
Use wp-config.php when the dashboard is inaccessible
If the old address causes a redirect loop or the dashboard cannot load, define the values in wp-config.php before the line that says WordPress should stop editing:
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define( 'WP_HOME', 'https://new.example.com' );
define( 'WP_SITEURL', 'https://new.example.com' );These constants override the dashboard fields and lock them while present; they do not update the underlying database values. Remove them later if administrators need to edit the URLs in Settings → General. If you used WordPress’s RELOCATE method during recovery, remove the RELOCATE line as soon as the site works. Leaving it enabled can create an avoidable security and configuration problem.
Multisite needs a different procedure
The Settings → General method applies to a single WordPress installation. WordPress Multisite stores network and site-specific domains in several database tables, so a domain migration requires carefully planned database edits and corresponding server configuration. Take a database backup, document every site and mapped domain, and test the network before redirecting production traffic. Do not assume changing the main site’s two URL fields will migrate the entire network.
Replace absolute URLs without corrupting the database
Changing the settings does not rewrite old URLs embedded in post content, widgets, options or plugin data. Replace the old absolute URL with the new one across the database, then inspect files for URLs that are not stored in the database.
Prefer WP-CLI’s serialization-aware search-replace
Run a dry run first, then execute the replacement from the WordPress directory. A typical sequence is:
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wp search-replace 'https://old.example.com' 'https://new.example.com' --all-tables --skip-columns=guid --dry-run
wp search-replace 'https://old.example.com' 'https://new.example.com' --all-tables --skip-columns=guidReview the dry-run counts and database tables before committing. WP-CLI’s command understands serialized PHP data, which is common in WordPress options and page-builder settings. A blind raw SQL text replacement can change string lengths without updating serialization metadata and corrupt those values; vendor migration guidance warns against that approach.
The guid column is intentionally excluded. WordPress uses GUIDs as permanent post identifiers; changing them does not fix links and can make feeds and aggregators treat existing posts as new items.
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Inspect places search-replace may not cover
- Theme files containing hard-coded
http, old-domain or protocol-relative links. - Custom JavaScript, CSS, XML feeds and static HTML files outside the database.
.htaccess, Nginx, CDN and load-balancer rules.- Upload paths and media settings that still point to the old host.
- Plugin options, API callbacks, webhooks and license or integration settings.
Theme templates that use WordPress’s bloginfo() and related URL functions normally read the current site settings automatically, so they usually need no manual edit. Hard-coded values do.
Redirect every old URL with a page-to-page 301
A 301 redirect tells browsers and search engines that a URL has moved permanently. Map each old URL to its closest equivalent new URL. Do not send every page to the new homepage: Google’s site-move guidance and vendor migration guidance both warn that blanket homepage redirects provide a poor destination and can waste the old page’s signals.
Cover every old host and protocol
At minimum, account for the old bare domain, www host, HTTP and HTTPS. Whether these variants are handled in one server configuration or separate virtual hosts, each must return a direct 301 to the final HTTPS URL on the new domain. Avoid chains such as HTTP old → HTTPS old → HTTP new → HTTPS new. A single redirect from the requested old URL to the final new URL is faster and easier to troubleshoot.
Choose where redirects run
| Method | Best use | Important considerations |
|---|---|---|
| Web server rules | Large sites and migrations with engineering access | Fast and independent of WordPress; test syntax carefully and preserve the path and query-string behavior you need. |
| CDN or edge rules | Sites already routing traffic through an edge provider | Can redirect before the origin is reached; configure every old host and keep the rule set documented. |
| Redirect plugin | Smaller sites without server access | Convenient for individual mappings and 404 logs, but WordPress must load before the redirect, so server rules are preferable at scale. |
| Meta refresh or JavaScript | Not recommended for a domain migration | These are not equivalent to a server-side 301 and can delay or weaken discovery of the destination. |
Preserve paths with a server rule
For a simple site whose paths remain unchanged, a server rule can pass the requested path to the new host. The exact syntax depends on your server and hosting setup, so test it in a staging configuration first. Conceptually, the old host should issue a 301 for every request to the same path on the new HTTPS host. For pages whose slugs changed, add explicit one-to-one mappings instead of relying on a catch-all rule.
After publishing the rules, test a sample that includes the homepage, a deep article, a category, an image, an old HTTP URL, a www URL and a URL with a query string. Confirm the response is 301 and that the final destination returns 200 without another redirect.
Run Google Search Console’s Change of Address
Use Change of Address only for a move between domains or subdomains. It is not needed for an HTTP-to-HTTPS change, a www-to-non-www change on the same domain, or moving pages within one site.
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- Verify ownership of the old and new properties in the same Google account.
- Leave the 301 redirects live and complete the pre-checks on the old property.
- Open the old property in Search Console and start the Change of Address workflow.
- Select the new property and submit the move after confirming that the redirect and verification checks pass.
- Repeat the process for each relevant subdomain variant. The tool operates at domain level, so do not assume a move submitted for one host covers every separately verified host.
Google says the move notification remains available in Search Console for 180 days when critical pre-checks pass. You must keep redirects for at least those 180 days, and Google’s broader site-move guidance recommends keeping them for at least a year. Keep them longer if Search continues sending users to old URLs or your server logs show ongoing requests.
Do not try to chain migrations immediately, such as old domain A to B and then B to C. Complete the first move and allow it to settle before undertaking another domain change.
Update the new site’s signals
Submit a fresh sitemap
Generate a sitemap containing only canonical URLs on the new domain. Submit it in the new Search Console property. Remove old-domain URLs from the sitemap; redirects belong in server responses, not in the destination sitemap.
Correct canonicals and internal links
Every indexable page should declare a self-referencing canonical on its final new URL unless there is a deliberate canonical relationship to another page. Update navigation, breadcrumbs, related-post links, feeds, structured-data URLs, Open Graph tags and hreflang references. Internal links should point directly to the new domain rather than passing through a redirect.
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Make sure the new site is not blocked by robots.txt, a password gate, a noindex directive or a staging firewall. Confirm that mixed-content warnings are resolved after switching from HTTP resources to HTTPS.
Monitor the migration instead of guessing
Use combined traffic as the baseline
For the first weeks and months, compare organic sessions, clicks and impressions from the old and new properties combined with the pre-migration baseline. Looking only at the new domain makes a normal transfer look like a total loss while Google is still crawling old URLs and processing redirects.
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Inspect logs and reports weekly
- Review old-domain server logs for 404 responses and requests to URLs missing from your redirect map.
- Check the new property’s Page indexing report for excluded, blocked or redirected URLs.
- Inspect representative URLs with Search Console’s URL inspection tools.
- Watch crawl errors, redirect loops, certificate errors and sudden drops for important landing pages.
- Compare rankings and clicks for individual URL pairs, not only sitewide totals.
Add a redirect whenever a legitimate old URL produces a 404, then retest the final destination. Keep the spreadsheet status current so future editors know which mappings are intentional.
Common failure modes and fixes
The dashboard redirects endlessly or will not load
Check that both URL settings use HTTPS, that the new host resolves to the correct server, and that no plugin or CDN rule conflicts with WordPress. Temporarily define WP_HOME and WP_SITEURL in wp-config.php, clear caches, and remove the constants once normal dashboard editing is restored.
Only the homepage works
This usually means the old domain has a single homepage redirect rather than path-preserving or page-specific rules, or the new server is not passing permalinks to WordPress. Restore the old-to-new URL map, add one-to-one redirects, and verify that the new server’s rewrite configuration supports the site’s permalink structure.
Images, CSS or scripts still load from the old domain
Run the serialization-safe search-replace, then search theme files and plugin settings for the old host. Inspect browser developer tools for mixed-content or blocked-resource errors. Do not “fix” the issue by changing GUIDs.
Search traffic drops sharply
First confirm that the decline is not measurement-related: compare both domains, check analytics tracking, and inspect a sample of high-traffic old URLs. Then verify that each returns a 301 to the matching new page, that the destination is indexable and canonical, and that the new sitemap has been submitted. A temporary dip can occur during Google’s gradual processing, but persistent 404s, redirect chains or irrelevant homepage destinations require immediate correction.
Launch-day checklist
- URL inventory exported from sitemaps, Search Console and 12 months of analytics.
- Backups restored successfully in a test or documented recovery process.
- New hosting, DNS, HTTPS and Search Console verification working.
- Both WordPress URL fields updated, or temporary constants configured correctly.
- Absolute URLs replaced with WP-CLI; GUIDs left unchanged.
- Theme, plugin, upload, feed and server configuration references checked.
- Every old host and protocol returning a direct 301 to its matching new URL.
- New canonicals, internal links, structured data and sitemap using the new domain.
- Change of Address submitted from the old property after redirects are live.
- Combined traffic, logs, indexing and 404s scheduled for regular review.
How long should the old domain stay active?
Keep the old domain, DNS, certificate and redirect rules working for at least 180 days because that is the minimum period stated in Search Console’s Change of Address guidance. Retaining them for at least one year follows Google’s broader site-move recommendation, and a longer period is sensible when old links, bookmarks or search results continue to generate requests. Do not cancel the old domain merely because the new site appears stable for a few weeks; the long tail of links and crawls is part of the migration.
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