A Step-by-Step Guide to Moving Your Pakistani Business to Managed WordPress

Migrating a live WordPress website is one of the most anxiety-inducing technical tasks a non-technical Pakistani business owner can face. The fear of losing data, breaking the site, or having days of downtime is entirely understandable — and entirely preventable if you follow a structured process.

This guide walks you through the complete migration from any hosting environment (shared hosting, GoDaddy, Hostinger, local host) to a managed WordPress environment in Pakistan. Zero data loss. Maximum zero downtime. No surprises.

Before You Start: What "Managed WordPress" Actually Means

Managed WordPress hosting is not just a marketing term. It is a hosting configuration purpose-built for WordPress:

| Feature | Standard Shared Hosting | Managed WordPress | |---------|------------------------|-------------------| | Server stack | Generic LAMP | Nginx + PHP-FPM + Redis tuned for WP | | WordPress updates | Manual | Auto-managed (with testing) | | Backups | Sometimes | Daily automated + 30-day retention | | Security | Generic | WordPress-specific WAF, malware scanning | | Support | Generic hosting | WordPress-fluent support team | | Staging environment | Rarely available | Included | | PHP version | Often outdated | PHP 8.2+ with WP-specific OPcache |

For Pakistani businesses where the website is a serious commercial asset — e-commerce, lead generation, booking system — managed WordPress hosting pays for itself in reduced developer time and incident costs within 3–6 months.

Phase 1: Pre-Migration Preparation (Day 1–2)

Step 1: Complete Site Audit

Before touching anything, document your current setup:

# What to document before migrating:
✔ WordPress version: WP Admin → Dashboard → At a Glance
✔ PHP version: WP Admin → Tools → Site Health → Server
✔ Active plugins list: WP Admin → Plugins → Active
✔ Active theme name and version
✔ Database size: phpMyAdmin → Select database → Size column
✔ Total files size: cPanel → File Manager → public_html folder size
✔ Current hosting: note the PHP.ini limits (memory_limit, max_upload, max_execution_time)
✔ Email accounts configured on the domain (if any)
✔ Custom DNS records (especially if using Google Workspace, Zoho, or third-party mail)
✔ SSL certificate provider and expiry date

Step 2: Fix Problems Before Migrating

Migrating a broken site migrates the brokenness. Before moving:

Update WordPress, all plugins, and theme on the current host on a Tuesday or Wednesday (not Friday)
Fix all PHP warnings/errors visible in the Site Health dashboard
Remove unused plugins — each orphaned plugin is a security risk
Verify your backup includes both files AND the database
Test the site on mobile and document any existing layout issues (so you can distinguish pre-migration from post-migration problems)

Step 3: Create a Full Backup

# Method 1: UpdraftPlus (WordPress plugin, easiest)
# WP Admin → Settings → UpdraftPlus → Backup Now
# Download both "Database" and "Files" backup archives

# Method 2: cPanel backup (if you have cPanel access)
# cPanel → Backup → Download Full Account Backup

# Method 3: WP-CLI (most reliable for large sites)
wp db export /home/user/backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql
tar -czf /home/user/files-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz public_html/

Golden rule: Never start a migration without a backup you have personally verified by checking the file size is non-zero and the downloaded archive is not corrupted.

Phase 2: Setting Up the Destination (Day 2–3)

Step 4: Configure the New Managed Hosting Account

On your new managed WordPress hosting:

Create the hosting account for your domain
Do NOT point DNS yet — use the temporary URL / server IP to test
Create a matching database: note the DB name, username, and password
Verify PHP version matches your source (or is one version higher — PHP 8.2 is safe for most modern WordPress sites)
Confirm the following limits (ask support if unsure):
- memory_limit ≥ 256MB
- max_execution_time ≥ 300
- upload_max_filesize ≥ 64MB
- post_max_size ≥ 64MB

Step 5: Transfer Files

# From your local machine (after downloading from old host):
# Upload via SFTP to new host
# Tools: FileZilla (free), WinSCP (Windows), Cyberduck (Mac)

# Recommended structure:
new-host:/public_html/
  ├── wp-admin/
  ├── wp-content/         ← Your themes, plugins, uploads are here
  ├── wp-includes/
  └── wp-config.php       ← Must update DB credentials!

# Or use rsync if you have SSH access to both servers:
rsync -avz -e "ssh" user@oldserver:/public_html/ user@newserver:/public_html/

Step 6: Import the Database

# Via phpMyAdmin on new host:
# 1. Create empty database
# 2. phpMyAdmin → Import → Select your .sql file
# 3. Execute

# Via WP-CLI (faster for large databases > 100MB):
wp db import backup-2026-02-19.sql

# Via MySQL command line:
mysql -u new_db_user -p new_db_name < backup-2026-02-19.sql

Step 7: Update wp-config.php

// Open wp-config.php on the NEW server and update:
define('DB_NAME',      'new_database_name');      // Update
define('DB_USER',      'new_database_user');      // Update
define('DB_PASSWORD',  'new_database_password'); // Update
define('DB_HOST',      'localhost');              // Usually stays 'localhost'

// Do NOT change the table prefix (wp_) unless you changed it on the old server
// Do NOT change WP_HOME or WP_SITEURL here — these may be in the database

Phase 3: Testing on the New Server (Day 3–5)

Step 8: Test Using Hosts File Override

Before changing DNS, test the migrated site by temporarily pointing your local machine's browser to the new server. This is the single most important step Pakistani business owners skip.

# Windows: Open Notepad as Administrator, edit:
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

# Add this line (replace with your actual server IP and domain):
203.0.113.45   www.yourbusiness.com  yourbusiness.com

# Mac/Linux:
sudo nano /etc/hosts
# Add the same line

# Now browse to www.yourbusiness.com in your browser
# Your browser will load the NEW server while the live site stays on OLD server
# Clean up: remove the hosts file line when done testing

Step 9: Verify These Points on New Server

✔ Homepage loads correctly
✔ All internal links work
✔ Images display (check /wp-content/uploads/ was fully transferred)
✔ Contact form submits and receives emails
✔ WordPress admin (/wp-admin) accessible
✔ All plugins activated and functioning
✔ WooCommerce: test product add-to-cart and checkout flow
✔ Search functionality works
✔ SSL certificate can be issued (Let's Encrypt via hosting panel)
✔ Site speed test: run both old and new through PageSpeed Insights
✔ No broken links: run through Broken Link Checker plugin

Step 10: Fix URL References (If Domain Changes)

If you are migrating to the same domain (most common case), skip this. If you are changing domains:

# WP-CLI search-replace handles all database URL references safely
wp search-replace 'https://old-domain.com' 'https://new-domain.com' --all-tables
# Followed by:
wp cache flush

Phase 4: DNS Cutover (Day 5–6)

Step 11: Request Lower DNS TTL in Advance

48 hours before your planned cutover, lower your domain's DNS TTL to 300 seconds (5 minutes) at your registrar. This means that when you change the A record to point to the new server, global DNS propagation completes in 5–15 minutes instead of 24–48 hours.

DNS Records to Update at Cutover:
──────────────────────────────────────────────
Type  Name    Value                  TTL
A     @               300
A     www             300

# Mail records: update ONLY if moving email hosting
# If using Google Workspace or Zoho: leave MX records unchanged!
MX    @          --

# Restore TTL to 3600 (1 hour) after 24 hours of stable operation

Step 12: Monitor the First 24 Hours

During the 24-hour window after DNS cutover:

Keep the old server hosting account active but not the primary — DNS propagation is not instant for all Pakistani ISPs
Monitor both UptimeRobot (new server) and check old server access logs for residual traffic
Watch for email delivery issues — if you accidentally updated MX records, fix immediately
Cache-related issues: if caching is enabled, purge it immediately after DNS points to new server

Phase 5: Post-Migration Hardening (Day 6–7)

Step 13: Security Hardening

# WordPress file permissions (critical on Linux servers)
find /public_html -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
find /public_html -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
chmod 600 wp-config.php

# Disable XML-RPC if not using JetPack or WP mobile app
# Add to .htaccess:
<Files xmlrpc.php>
Require all denied
</Files>

# Block wp-login.php to your IP only (strongest WordPress protection)
<Files wp-login.php>
Require ip 111.111.111.111  # Your office IP
</Files>

Step 14: Configure Automated Backups on New Host

Verify that your managed WordPress hosting daily backup is running and accessible. Download a test backup and restore it to a staging environment within the first week. Many Pakistani businesses discover their “automated backup” is configured but never actually runs — finding this out during a real incident is catastrophic.

Step 15: Decommission the Old Hosting Account

Do not cancel the old plan immediately. Keep it active for:

30 days for standard sites (confirm zero residual traffic)
90 days if you have Google Search Console that might still reference old sitemap URLs
Until manual archive is confirmed for SECP-regulated entities with email archiving requirements

Migration Timeline Summary

| Day | Task | |-----|------| | 1–2 | Audit, fix issues, full backup | | 2–3 | Set up new managed hosting, transfer files, import DB | | 3–5 | Test on new server using hosts file override | | 5 | Lower DNS TTL to 300s | | 6 | DNS cutover (A record update) | | 6–7 | Monitor, fix issues, security hardening | | 7–14 | Verify backups running, post-migration performance review | | 30 | Cancel old hosting account |

When to Use a Migration Plugin Instead

For simple sites (under 1GB, no WooCommerce, same domain), plugins like All-in-One WP Migration or Duplicator Pro can handle the entire process in 30 minutes. Limitations:

All-in-One WP Migration free version has a 512MB import limit (inadequate for most commercial sites)
These plugins do not update DNS, configure SSL, or handle email records — manual steps are still required
Recommended only for: personal blogs, small brochure sites, development migrations

For any site with active e-commerce, substantial traffic, or custom server configuration, follow the manual process in this guide.

Conclusion

Migrating to managed WordPress hosting is a 5–7 day process when done correctly. The anxiety comes from not having a process — the guide above eliminates the uncertainty at each step. Done properly, your clients, customers, and search engine rankings will not notice the migration happened. They will notice that the site is faster, more reliable, and never goes down for mysterious reasons.

For Pakistani businesses running commercial WordPress sites on infrastructure that was never built for them, this migration is one of the highest-ROI technical decisions available.

Move to managed WordPress hosting built for Pakistani businesses: (/managed-wordpress-hosting) — includes free migration assistance, staging environment, and daily backups with 30-day retention.