How to Bluehost Transfer Wordpress Site

The way this is done is, Bluehost currently offers a self-service WordPress migration tool designed to transfer an existing WordPress site to Bluehost. For most standard WordPress websites, that's the first method worth trying. Bluehost+1

And in this guide, I'm going to make the whole thing stupid simple.

You'll learn:

• How to transfer your WordPress site to Bluehost
• The easiest Bluehost migration method
• What you need before you start
• How to transfer your files and database if you need to migrate manually
• How to point your domain to Bluehost
• How to avoid downtime
• How to protect your Google rankings
• What to check after the transfer

Let's do it.

The Short Answer: How to Transfer a WordPress Site to Bluehost

If you're looking for the fastest answer, here's the basic process:

1. Back up your existing WordPress website.
2. Set up your Bluehost hosting account.
3. Log in to Bluehost.
4. Go to Websites and choose Add Website.
5. Choose Transfer WordPress Website.
6. Start the transfer and connect your existing WordPress site.
7. Let Bluehost migrate the website.
8. Test the new site.
9. Point your domain/DNS to Bluehost.
10. Test everything again before canceling your old hosting.

That's the simple version.

Bluehost's current migration workflow includes a self-service transfer option that can move your WordPress files, database, and content without requiring you to manually perform every migration step. Bluehost+1

Now let's walk through it.

Step 1: Back Up Your WordPress Site

Do this first.

Seriously.

Before moving your website anywhere, create a complete backup.

Your WordPress site isn't just the pages you see when you visit it.

It can include:

• WordPress files
• Images
• Themes
• Plugins
• Posts
• Pages
• Users
• Settings
• Database information
• Forms
• Customizations

If something goes wrong, your backup gives you a way back.

Bluehost also recommends backing up your website before beginning a migration. Bluehost+1

Your stupid-simple rule:

Don't move the site until you know you can restore it.

Step 2: Get Your Bluehost Account Ready

Next, you need somewhere for your WordPress website to go.

Set up your Bluehost hosting account and make sure you can log in to the Bluehost Portal.

If you're already a Bluehost customer, you're ahead of the game.

The important thing is that your new Bluehost hosting environment is ready before you start moving the site.

Step 3: Choose the Easy Bluehost WordPress Transfer Method

This is where things get much easier.

Instead of manually downloading files, creating databases, importing SQL files, and editing configuration files, Bluehost provides a self-service migration workflow for WordPress sites.

In the Bluehost Portal, the current workflow is:

Websites → Add Website → Transfer WordPress Website

Then Bluehost walks you through starting the transfer and connecting your existing WordPress website. Bluehost+1

For most ordinary WordPress sites, this is the method I'd try first.

Why?

Because manual WordPress migration gets technical very quickly.

Step 4: Start the WordPress Transfer

Once you select Transfer WordPress Website, Bluehost prepares the transfer environment.

Then you'll start the transfer process.

You'll generally provide the URL of the WordPress website you're moving.

For example:

https://yourwebsite.com

The migration workflow then connects to your existing WordPress installation and transfers the site.

Bluehost's current migration documentation says its self-service migration tool is designed to transfer WordPress files, database, and content through a guided workflow. Bluehost

Do You Need Your Old Hosting Login?

Not necessarily.

This is one of the nice things about the newer Bluehost migration workflow.

The transfer can be authorized through your WordPress installation rather than requiring you to manually dig through your old hosting control panel. Bluehost

That means less technical stuff for you to worry about.

And that's the whole point.

Step 5: Let Bluehost Move Your Website

Now comes the part where you let the migration do its job.

Don't start deleting things.

Don't cancel your old hosting.

Don't change a bunch of settings while the transfer is running.

Just let the migration finish.

Your old website can remain available while you prepare the Bluehost version.

That's important because you want a working backup while you're testing the new installation.

Step 6: Test Your New WordPress Site

This is the step people skip.

Don't.

Before sending your visitors to the Bluehost version, test it.

Open the new website and check:

• Homepage
• About page
• Contact page
• Blog posts
• Images
• Navigation menus
• Contact forms
• Buttons
• Videos
• WooCommerce, if applicable
• Plugins
• Theme functionality
• Mobile display
• WordPress login
• SSL/HTTPS
• Important landing pages

Click things.

Submit forms.

Open pages on your phone.

Check your most important URLs.

Here's the rule:

If you haven't tested it, you haven't finished the migration.

Step 7: Point Your Domain to Bluehost

Once you're happy with the migrated website, it's time to direct your domain to Bluehost.

Depending on your setup, this may involve changing your domain's:

• Nameservers
• A records
• CNAME records

The exact change depends on where your domain is registered and how your DNS is configured.

This is also where you need to be careful with email.

If your email is connected to your existing hosting account, don't blindly change DNS records without checking your email configuration first.

A website migration and an email migration are not necessarily the same thing.

Step 8: Wait for DNS Changes to Take Effect

After changing DNS, you may not immediately see the same website everywhere.

That's normal.

DNS changes can take time to propagate.

During this period, some visitors may still reach the old server while others reach the new Bluehost server.

This is one reason you should keep your old hosting active temporarily rather than immediately canceling it. Bluehost likewise recommends keeping the old hosting available while the new site is tested and DNS changes complete. Bluehost

Step 9: Check Your SEO

This is the part website owners often forget.

Moving hosts doesn't automatically mean you should lose your Google rankings.

But a migration can create SEO problems if URLs change, pages disappear, redirects are missing, or important settings get altered.

Keep Your URLs the Same

If you're only changing hosting companies, there's usually no reason to change your URLs.

For example:

yourwebsite.com/blog/wordpress-tips/

should ideally remain:

yourwebsite.com/blog/wordpress-tips/

You don't want to change the URL structure just because you changed hosts.

Keeping the same URLs makes the migration much simpler.

Check Your Permalinks

Log into WordPress and check:

Settings → Permalinks

Make sure your permalink structure is what you expect.

Then test several old URLs.

If they work, that's a good sign.

Check Your SEO Plugin

If you use an SEO plugin, open it and check that your important settings came across correctly.

Look at things such as:

• SEO titles
• Meta descriptions
• Canonical URLs
• XML sitemap
• Robots settings
• Noindex settings
• Social metadata

You don't want to discover three weeks later that your migrated site accidentally told Google not to index it.

Check Google Search Console

After migration, keep an eye on Google Search Console.

Look for:

• 404 errors
• Indexing problems
• Crawl issues
• Unexpected URL changes
• Security issues

If your domain and URL structure remain unchanged, the hosting move itself doesn't require you to reinvent your SEO strategy.

What If Your WordPress Site Won't Transfer Automatically?

Don't panic.

Sometimes a website isn't a good candidate for an automated migration.

You might have:

• A very large website
• A highly customized WordPress installation
• A complicated database
• Custom server configurations
• A staging environment
• Unusual plugins
• A complex WooCommerce installation
• Special server requirements

In those situations, you may need a manual migration or additional help.

Bluehost provides a manual migration process involving website files, the WordPress database, a new database, database import, configuration updates, and permalink checks. Bluehost

And yes...

This is the more technical option.

How to Manually Transfer a WordPress Site to Bluehost

If the automated migration isn't appropriate, here's the basic manual process.

1. Download Your WordPress Files

Connect to your existing hosting account using FTP, SFTP, or your host's file manager.

Download your WordPress files.

Pay particular attention to:

wp-content

That's where you'll find important parts of your site, including themes, plugins, and uploaded media.

Bluehost's manual migration documentation recommends transferring the existing WordPress files to the new server. Bluehost

2. Export Your WordPress Database

Next, export your WordPress database from your old hosting account.

A common method is phpMyAdmin.

The database contains important information such as:

• Posts
• Pages
• Users
• Comments
• Settings
• Plugin data
• Other WordPress content

Save the database export somewhere safe.

3. Create a New Database on Bluehost

Create the new database and database user in Bluehost.

Keep track of the:

• Database name
• Username
• Password
• Database host

You'll need this information when connecting WordPress to the new database.

4. Upload Your WordPress Files

Upload your WordPress files to the correct Bluehost website directory.

The exact directory depends on your Bluehost setup.

Don't assume every website uses exactly the same folder structure.

5. Import Your Database

Open phpMyAdmin or the appropriate Bluehost database tool.

Select the new database and import the SQL database backup.

Bluehost's current manual migration instructions use phpMyAdmin for importing the database. Bluehost

6. Update wp-config.php

Your WordPress installation needs to know how to connect to the new database.

That information is stored in:

wp-config.php

Update the database information so it matches the new Bluehost database.

If those credentials are wrong, WordPress may display an error establishing a database connection.

7. Check Your Permalinks

Once the website is working, check your WordPress permalink settings.

Then click through your pages and posts.

Look for broken links, missing images, and strange redirects.

8. Point Your Domain to Bluehost

Finally, update your DNS so your domain points to Bluehost.

Then test the website again.

How Long Does It Take to Transfer WordPress to Bluehost?

There's no single answer.

A small, straightforward WordPress website can be relatively quick to migrate.

A larger website with thousands of images, a large database, ecommerce functionality, or custom configurations can take considerably longer.

Don't judge the migration by the clock.

Judge it by whether the new website works correctly.

A 20-minute migration that breaks your checkout isn't faster than a careful two-hour migration that works.

Will My Website Go Down When I Transfer It to Bluehost?

It doesn't have to.

The safest approach is to keep your existing website running while the Bluehost version is prepared and tested.

Then change your DNS only after you're satisfied with the new version.

Bluehost specifically recommends keeping the old hosting active temporarily during the migration and DNS transition. Bluehost

That's a much safer approach than:

Move everything → immediately cancel old hosting → discover something is broken.

Don't do that.

Will Transferring My WordPress Site to Bluehost Hurt My Google Rankings?

It shouldn't automatically hurt your rankings simply because you changed hosts.

The bigger risk is changing things you didn't need to change.

For example:

• Changing URLs
• Losing pages
• Breaking internal links
• Removing images
• Forgetting redirects
• Accidentally blocking search engines
• Changing canonical URLs
• Losing SEO metadata

If you're simply moving the same WordPress website to a new server and keeping the same domain and URL structure, the migration is much cleaner.

Still, monitor Google Search Console after the move.

What About 301 Redirects?

If your URLs change, you'll generally want appropriate 301 redirects from the old URLs to the new ones.

For example:

oldsite.com/old-page/

could redirect to:

newsite.com/new-page/

But if you're only changing hosting and keeping the same domain and URL structure, you shouldn't need to create redirects for every page simply because you moved hosts.

That's another reason to keep your URLs unchanged when possible.

What About WordPress.com?

Here's an important distinction.

WordPress.com and a self-hosted WordPress website are not necessarily the same migration situation.

If your site is hosted on WordPress.com, Bluehost has a separate process involving exporting your WordPress.com content and importing it into the WordPress installation on Bluehost. Bluehost

So if you're asking:

"How do I transfer my WordPress.com site to Bluehost?"

use the WordPress.com-specific process rather than assuming the normal host-to-host migration process applies.

Bluehost Transfer WordPress Site Checklist

Before you call the migration finished, run through this list.

Before the transfer

• Back up the entire website
• Back up the database
• Confirm you can log into WordPress
• Confirm you can access Bluehost
• Check where your domain is registered
• Check your email/DNS setup
• Make a list of important pages
• Note your current URL structure

During the transfer

• Start the Bluehost WordPress migration
• Don't cancel your old hosting
• Don't delete the original website
• Wait for the transfer to finish

After the transfer

• Test the homepage
• Test important pages
• Test blog posts
• Check images
• Check forms
• Check menus
• Check plugins
• Check mobile layout
• Check HTTPS
• Check WordPress admin
• Check permalinks
• Check SEO settings
• Check Google Search Console
• Point DNS to Bluehost
• Keep the old hosting active temporarily

Forget all the technical jargon for a minute.

Think of your website like moving houses.

Your WordPress files, database, images, themes, and plugins are your stuff.

Your domain is your address.

Your old host is your old house.

Bluehost is your new house.

You don't throw all your stuff into the trash before moving.

You don't change your address before you have a new house.

And you definitely don't burn down the old house before you've checked that everything arrived.

That's essentially what you're doing with a WordPress migration.

Copy the website → test the website → point the domain → verify everything → then shut down the old hosting.

Simple.

If you came here searching for how to Bluehost transfer WordPress site, here's the answer I'd remember:

Back up your site, use Bluehost's self-service WordPress transfer tool when appropriate, test the migrated website, then point your domain to Bluehost.

Don't make the migration harder than it needs to be.

For a normal WordPress website, start with Bluehost's migration tool.

If your website is unusually large or complicated, use the manual migration process or get help rather than experimenting on a live business website.

And most importantly:

Don't cancel your old hosting until the new Bluehost website is working properly.

That one decision can save you a giant headache.

Ready to Move Your WordPress Site?

If Bluehost is where you're moving your website, start with its current WordPress migration documentation and use the migration workflow available in your Bluehost account. Bluehost+1

The goal isn't to become an expert in FTP, MySQL, DNS, or WordPress databases.

The goal is much simpler:

Rev

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