A WordPress migration should be invisible to your visitors. These five mistakes are the ones that most often cause downtime, broken pages and lost traffic.
1. Not taking a full backup first
Always back up both files and the database before you touch anything, and store the copy somewhere other than the old server.
2. Skipping a staging test
Test the migrated site on a temporary address or by editing your hosts file before changing DNS. Check forms, checkout, logins and key pages.
3. Forgetting redirects and permalinks
If URLs change, add 301 redirects. Keep the permalink structure the same where possible so existing rankings are protected.
4. Leaving old URLs in the database
When the domain changes, URLs stored in the database must be updated with a tool that handles serialized data safely. A plain find and replace can corrupt settings.
5. Rushing the DNS and SSL switch
Lower your DNS TTL ahead of time, confirm the SSL certificate is ready on the new host, and keep the old site available until propagation is complete. Do not forget email records if your mail depends on the domain.
After the move
Re-test performance, submit your sitemap again, and watch Search Console for crawl errors for a few weeks.
Need a safe move? Our WordPress migration service covers all of this.