WordPress Migration Checklist: Move Hosts With Zero Downtime

Botched migrations cause more emergency calls than hacks do. Mixed-content warnings, broken images, lost emails, SEO ranking drops — all preventable with the right checklist.

Before you start

• Lower DNS TTL to 300 seconds 24 hours in advance
• Take a full backup (files + database) and store it off both servers
• Document current PHP version, MySQL version, and any server-level configs
• Make a list of every third-party service that uses your domain (email, Stripe webhooks, etc.)

The migration steps

• Copy files via SSH/rsync (don't trust FTP for 50,000+ small files)
• Export and import database with mysqldump or WP-CLI
• Run a serialized search-and-replace for URLs (use wp search-replace, never plain SQL)
• Update wp-config.php with new DB credentials
• Test on the new IP via hosts file before flipping DNS

After DNS flips

• Force SSL and check for mixed content with Why No Padlock
• Verify email delivery — SPF/DKIM/DMARC must match the new sending IP
• Re-verify Search Console property if domain changed
• Set up 301 redirects for any URL slug changes

What goes wrong if you skip this

We get 2-3 cleanup jobs a month from botched migrations. Common symptoms: site loads but admin doesn't, images broken because URLs still reference the old domain, customers not receiving order emails, payment webhooks silently failing. All of it preventable.