Migrating your WordPress website is like moving your whole business. One wrong step and everything is at risk of coming down. If you will be migrating to a WordPress site or are experiencing headaches after migrating, stay calm because we are here to help.
WordPress powers over 810 million websites, and millions of site owners deal with the possible migration problems every year. There are these five common WordPress migration issues that can be fixed with a few tweaks. The good news is that most migration issues happen in a predictable pattern, and once you know what to look for, there can be a surprising resolution.
In fact, Potens Digitals has helped hundreds of website owners swim out of these muddy waters with foolproof solutions.
Why WordPress Migration Issues Happen (And Why They’re So Common)
Instead of assessing solutions, it is helpful to understand where the WordPress migration process can go astray. Common errors that will almost certainly break your site and consequently affect your SEO rankings include –Â
- Starting the migration without a full site backup
- Having a set plan prepared, among other things
Consider WordPress migration as a moving process at your physical office. You are not simply moving folders of files (imagery, text files, etc), but you’re moving databases, configurations, theme integrations, plugin settings, and beyond. All of these elements are interrelated.Â
Many website owners discover that their product images do not load after the migration. Or the contact form integrations stopped working. Worse yet, their site is no longer showing in a Google search altogether. This is a prime example of why preparation and knowledge are important and play a key role in complete WordPress migrations.
What Are Common WordPress Migration Issues?
#1. Website goes down during migration
#2. Broken links and missing content
#3. Database connection errors during migration
#4. Theme and plugin compatibility issues
#5. SEO rankings drop after migration
1. How Do You Prevent Website Downtime During WordPress Migration?
There’s nothing that sends a panicked fright into a website owner’s heart than seeing their site completely offline. Downtime during the migration process often happens, but it does not have to be a foregone conclusion.
Why Downtime Happens During Migration
Downtime usually happens when your DNS changes have not propagated yet. Or, it happens when your old hosting environment and new hosting environment were incompatible in some way. Sometimes, downtime happens because the migration process takes longer than expected.
How To Fix Or Minimise, and Plan for Downtime
- Step 1 – Use the Staging environment. You should always migrate to a staging environment first. It allows you to test everything before it goes live.
- Step 2 – Schedule for low traffic hours. You should schedule your migration process for the lowest traffic time on your site. Check your analytics to get the time with the fewest visitors.
- Step 3 – Create a maintenance page. Create a temporary page under maintenance and let visitors know you will be back shortly. Give them an expected time of return and a contact method, if possible.
You may also consider the use of CDN (Content Delivery Network) to push a cached version of your site, improving the perceived or official migration time.
2. How Do You Fix Broken Links and Missing Content After Migration?
A frequent issue in the WordPress migration process is broken links and missing images due to URLs still pointing to the old domain or imagery that has been relocated.Â
This can have catastrophic implications for not only your search engine rankings but also the user experience.Â
Why Links Break in the Migration Process
WordPress stores URLs in several different locations at once, to name a few –Â
- It is stored in the database (including posts, pages, widgets)Â
- Config files
- .htaccess files
- Theme/plugin options/settings.Â
If none of these data points change in updating all banners and links, for example, it will still point to the old domain or image file path.
How To Fix Broken Links And Missing Content
- Step 1 – Use Search and Replace Tools. Tools like “Better Search Replace” or “Velvet Blues Update URLs” can automatically update database references.
- Step 2 – Update wp-config.php Manually update your WordPress configuration file with new database credentials and site URLs:
define(‘WP_HOME’,’https://yournewdomain.com’);
define(‘WP_SITEURL’,’https://yournewdomain.com’);
- Step 3 – Check Media Library to verify that all images and media files have transferred correctly and update any hardcoded image paths.
- Step 4 – Test Internal Links. Use tools like Screaming Frog or Broken Link Checker to identify and fix any remaining broken links.
3. What Causes Database Connection Errors During Migration And How to Fix Them?
The dreaded “Error establishing a database connection” message is one of the most panic-inducing problems you can face after migration.
What Are Database Connection Problems
Most common post-migration issues are caused by configuration issues and mismatches between your old and new hosting environments. Your WordPress files are trying to connect to a database using old credentials or connection settings.
How To Fix Database Connection Errors
- Step 1 – Check wp-config.php Settings. Verify these database connection details in your wp-config.php file:
- Database name
- Username
- Password
- Database host
- Step 2 – Test database connectivity. Create a simple PHP script to test if your server can connect to the database:
<?php
$connection = mysql_connect(‘DB_HOST’, ‘DB_USER’, ‘DB_PASSWORD’);
if (!$connection) {
    die(‘Connection failed – ‘ . mysql_error());
}
echo ‘Connected successfully’;
?>
- Step 3 – Contact Your Host. If credentials are correct but the connection still fails, your hosting provider may need to whitelist your domain or adjust server settings.
How Do You Resolve Theme And Plugin Compatibility Issues After Migration?
Moving to a new server environment can expose compatibility problems that weren’t apparent on your old host.
Why Theme And Plugin Compatibility Issues Arise
Different servers run different versions of PHP, MySQL, and other technologies. Your old host might have been running PHP 7.4, while your new host uses PHP 8.1. Some older themes and plugins can’t handle these differences.
How To Fix Theme And Plugin Compatibility Issues?
- Step 1 – Check PHP Version Compatibility. Log in to your new hosting control panel and check the PHP version. Research whether your theme and plugins support it.
- Step 2 – Deactivate All Plugins. We recommend migrating after deactivating all third-party plugins on the site for anyone with ongoing migration issues. Once the migration is complete, you can re-activate the plugins.
- Step 3 – Switch to a Default Theme. Temporarily switch to a default WordPress theme (like Twenty Twenty-Four) to isolate theme-related issues.
- Step 4 – Reactivate One by One. Slowly reactivate plugins one at a time, testing your site after each activation to identify problematic plugins.
- Step 5 – Update Everything to ensure your WordPress core, themes, and plugins are all updated to their latest versions.
Why Do SEO Rankings Drop After Migration, And How to Recover Them?
Arguably, the most damaging issue to the business is when search engine rankings that are hard-won are lost during a migration project.
Why SEO Rankings Drop
Search engines need time to re-crawl and re-index your site at its new location. During this process, rankings can temporarily drop. However, some drops indicate real problems:
- Redirect chains are not properly set up
- Metadata lost during migration
- Site speed is significantly slower
- Mobile responsiveness issues on the new server
How To Fix Your Dropping SEO Rankings
- Step 1 – Set up proper redirects. Implement 301 redirects from your old URLs to new ones. This tells search engines that pages have permanently moved.
- Step 2 – Update Google Search Console
- Add your new domain to Google Search Console
- Submit an updated sitemap
- Use the “Change of Address” tool if you’ve changed domains
- Step 3 – Check Technical SEO Elements. Verify that these elements transferred correctly:
- Title tags and meta descriptions
- Schema markup
- XML sitemaps
- Robots.txt file
- Step 4 – Monitor Performance Use tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics to monitor your rankings and traffic in the weeks following migration.
Conclusion
WordPress migration doesn’t have to be a nightmare scenario if you have the support of a professional WordPress developer to handle your migrations. Troubleshooting WordPress migration issues ensures your site functions correctly after migration, improving performance and user experience.
The key is understanding that migration challenges are normal and solvable. Every successful WordPress site owner has faced these issues at some point. What separates successful migrations from disasters is preparation, patience, and knowing where to look when things go wrong.
