Need a helping hand with how to migrate your WordPress site to SiteGround hosting?
In July 2018, SiteGround released this awesome new SiteGround Migrator tool that makes it super simple to migrate any WordPress site to your SiteGround hosting
While SiteGround always offered free migrations for new users, it used to only work when you first signed up to SiteGround
Now, you can migrate unlimited WordPress sites to SiteGround
**at any time**
In this post, IâÃÂÃÂll show you exactly how you can migrate any WordPress site to SiteGround using the new SiteGround Migrator tool. This tool works with all of SiteGroundâÃÂÃÂs plans, but SiteGround GrowBig users and above will get the most benefit because those plans allow unlimited websites
HereâÃÂÃÂs your step-by-step migration guideâÃÂæ
== Step 1: Install The Free SiteGround Migrator Plugin On The Site You Want To Migrate ==
To get started, go to the WordPress dashboard
*for the site that you want to migrate to SiteGround*
Then, install the free SiteGround Migrator plugin. This plugin is listed at WordPress.org, so you can install it straight from your WordPress dashboard:
- Go to
Plugins âÃÂàAdd New
- Search for âÃÂÃÂSiteGround MigratorâÃÂÃÂ
- Click
Install Now
- After a few seconds, the
Install Nowbutton will change to Activate. Click that button again to activate the SiteGround Migrator plugin
== Step 2: Generate A Migration Token From SiteGround cPanel ==
Next, youâÃÂÃÂll need to generate something called a
**Migration Token You can do this from your SiteGround cPanel dashboard. HereâÃÂÃÂs how to get itâÃÂæ
To get started, youâÃÂÃÂll need to log in to your regular SiteGround hosting dashboard. If you arenâÃÂÃÂt already a SiteGround customer, youâÃÂÃÂll need to sign up and pay for hosting first. I recommend the GrowBig plan
Once youâÃÂÃÂre a SiteGround customer, click the
**Login** button to access your account:
Log in to your account using your email and password
Once youâÃÂÃÂre logged in, click on the
**My Accounts** tab:
Then, click on the red
**Go to cPanel** button to access your cPanel dashboard:
Once youâÃÂÃÂre in cPanel, scroll down to the
**WordPress Tools** section and look for the **WordPress Migrator** option:
When you click
**WordPress Migrator it will take you to a new page where you can generate your token
First, select the domain you want to migrate your site to from the
**Select Domain **drop-down
This drop-down will list all of the domains that youâÃÂÃÂve added to your SiteGround account. If you donâÃÂÃÂt see your domain name, youâÃÂÃÂll need to add it as an Addon Domain first, which you can also do from cPanel (this tutorial shows you how)
Once youâÃÂÃÂve selected your domain name, click the big
**Generate **button:
Then, youâÃÂÃÂll see a popup with a weird looking string of characters. Copy this string of characters or otherwise keep it handy because youâÃÂÃÂll need it in the next step
*Also, make sure you donâÃÂÃÂt share this token with strangersâÃÂæthough IâÃÂÃÂm not sure why youâÃÂÃÂd want to!*
== Step 3: Add Migration Token To The Plugin ==
Now, go back to the WordPress dashboard for the site you want to migrate and click on the
**SG Migrator** option in your WordPress dashboard sidebar
Then, paste the migration token from the previous step into the
**Migration Token** box
If you want to receive an email when the migration is finished, you can also add your email
Then, go ahead and click the
**Initiate Transfer **button:
Now, you just need to wait for SiteGround to work its magicâÃÂæ
And once it finishes, you should see a success message:
SiteGround will create a temporary URL where you can test your site by clicking on the
**Go To Site** button
== Step 4: Update Your DNS Records ==
At this point, all of your siteâÃÂÃÂs files have been successfully migrated to SiteGround. Now, all you need to do is change your domain nameâÃÂÃÂs nameservers so that they point towards SiteGround hosting instead of wherever you previously hosted your site
This process varies depending on where you purchased your domain name, so I unfortunately canâÃÂÃÂt give you detailed instructions
You can see the nameservers that you need to point to in the
**Update Your DNS** section of the SiteGround Migrator success screen. And you can consult your domain registrarâÃÂÃÂs support documentation for how to change nameservers. Here are some links to help articles for popular domain registrars to get you started:
== Enjoy Easy SiteGround WordPress Site Migrations ==
All in all, IâÃÂÃÂm really excited about this new tool from SiteGround. It makes it simple to migrate a WordPress site to SiteGround at any time, which comes in especially handy if youâÃÂÃÂre like me and are always working on different WordPress sites
In the end, itâÃÂÃÂs just one more reason IâÃÂÃÂm a happy SiteGround customer!
Do you have any other questions about migrating your WordPress site with the new SiteGround Migrator plugin? Leave a comment and IâÃÂÃÂll try to help out!
Colin Newcomer is a freelance writer for hire with a background in SEO and affiliate marketing. He helps clientstheir web visibility by writing primarily about digital marketing, WordPress, and B2B topics.