Moving an existing WordPress site to GUDHOST is free with every plan. You can let us do it for you, or move it yourself.
We move it for you (free)
- Buy a plan for the site's domain. Your new site is ready within minutes.
- On your old site, create a temporary WordPress user with the Administrator role for us (Users → Add User), using a strong password.
- Open Support in your GUDHOST account and choose New ticket. Tell us the site's address and where it is hosted now, and say you'd like us to move it. We'll tell you how to share the temporary login safely; never post passwords in a ticket.
We copy the site while it stays online at your old host and let you know when the copy is ready to check on the temporary address shown under Websites. Then you switch your domain (step 4 below), and you can delete the temporary user.
Move it yourself
1. Export from your old host
Log in to the WordPress dashboard of your existing site and install a migration plugin from the WordPress plugin directory. Use it to export the whole site (files and database) into a single backup file, and download that file.
Before exporting, deactivate and delete any caching plugins and other plugins we don't allow (see "What you can run on your GUDHOST WordPress site"). Our built-in cache replaces them.
2. Import into GUDHOST
- Open your GUDHOST account, go to Websites and use the Admin link to log in to your new site.
- Install the same migration plugin and use its import option to upload your backup file.
- When the import finishes, log in again with a username and password from your old site: the import replaces everything on the new site, including its users and settings.
If the file is too large to upload, contact support and we'll raise the upload limit for your site.
3. Check everything before switching
Open the temporary address shown under Websites and click through your pages, forms and shop.
4. Switch your domain
At the company where your domain is registered, set A records for @ and www to the IP address shown under Websites. DNS changes usually take a few hours and can take up to 72 hours, and your free SSL certificate is issued automatically once the domain points to us. Keep your old hosting until the switch is complete.
Seeing an error after the import? Contact support and we'll check your site's error logs for you.