Move Wordpress Site to New URL and Web Host

Moving a website and changing your domain name or URLs (i.e. from http://example.com/site to http://example.com, or http://example.com to http://example.net) requires the following steps - in sequence.

• Download your existing site files.
• Export your database - go in to MySQL and export the database.
• Move the backed up files and database into a new folder - somewhere safe - this is your site backup.
• Log in to the site you want to move and go to Settings -> General, then change the URLs. (ie from http://example.com/ to http://example.net ) - save the settings and expect to see a 404 page.
• Download your site files again.
• Export the database again.
• Edit wp-config.php with the new server's MySQL database name, user and password.
• Upload the files.
• Import the database on the new server.

When your domain name or URLs change there are additional concerns. The files and database can be moved, however references to the old domain name or location will remain in the database, and that can cause issues with links or theme display.

Download the "Velvet Blues Updates URL's" plugin and do a search and replace for the new domain.