How to Easily Move WordPress from Local Server to Live Site

As an experienced webmaster, I‘ve helped move dozens of WordPress sites from local environments to live servers over the past 15 years.

Trust me, it can be tricky! But follow this comprehensive guide, and you‘ll be able to smoothly transfer your WordPress site without issues.

The Benefits of Running WordPress Locally First

Before we dive into migration, let‘s discuss why you should develop your WordPress site locally in the first place:

• Speed – A local WordPress site performs much faster than one hosted on a remote shared server. Pages load instantly rather than having network lag.

• Security – You can install plugins, test features, and experiment safely without affecting a live site. No need to worry about breaking things or getting hacked.

• Convenience – Making changes locally is fast and easy. No need to FTP files or log in remotely to edit code or content.

According to tests, a local WordPress site loads pages over 15x faster compared to budget shared hosting on average. For developing sites quickly, it‘s a game changer!

When it‘s Time to Move to Live Hosting

Once your site is ready to launch, it‘s time to move from local to live hosting. Here are some signs you‘re ready:

• You‘ve finished developing the site functionality and content.
• Friends/colleagues have previewed your site and provided feedback.
• You‘ve tested your site works correctly in all browsers and devices.
• You‘ve optimized images, code, etc. for a live environment.
• You‘ve purchased a domain name and reliable web hosting.

Migrating to live hosting provides:

• 24/7 uptime – Your site is always available, not just when your computer is on.
• Worldwide access – Anyone can access your site from anywhere.
• Better security – Web hosts provide firewalls, backups, HTTPS, and more.

But most importantly, going live means the world gets to see your hard work!

Step 1: Choose a Web Host and Domain

The first step is choosing the right web hosting provider and registrar for your domain name.

After managing sites for clients over 15 years, I recommend using Bluehost for your hosting. The features and value simply can‘t be beat.

Some key advantages of Bluehost:

• Officially recommended by WordPress
• 24/7 support
• Free domain, SSL certificate
• Fast servers, 99.9% uptime
• 1-click WordPress installer

Use this exclusive link to get Bluehost discount pricing starting at just $2.75/month.

For your domain, I‘d recommend Namesilo or Google Domains. Both provide cheap registration and free WHOIS privacy.

Step 2: Back Up Your Local WordPress Site

Now, let‘s back up your local WordPress site so we have everything ready to migrate over smoothly:

1. Backup database – Use phpMyAdmin to export a SQL file of your database. This contains all your content and settings.

2. Backup WordPress files – Manually copy all the files related to your local WordPress site (wp-admin, wp-includes, etc). Keep them in a safe place.

3. Backup media files – Don‘t forget to grab a copy of any images, docs, or other media uploads.

4. Grab plugins/themes – Make copies of any custom plugins, themes, or code you added to your local install.

Having a complete backup of your database, files, and media ensures we can safely restore your site if anything goes wrong during the migration.

Better safe than sorry when moving your hard work to a live site!

Step 3: Create Database on Live Hosting

Now we need to create a clean database on your live hosting to move your WordPress data into.

Log into your live hosting cPanel, and navigate to the MySQL Databases section. Click "MySQL Database Wizard".

Then enter a name for your new database, like yourdomain_db. Leave the other settings as default.

Next, create a new database user and password. Give it a username like yourdomain_user and a strong password.

Double check you can log in to phpMyAdmin with these new credentials before moving forward.

Step 4: Use Duplicator Plugin to Migrate Site

In my experience, the easiest way to migrate a WordPress site is using the Duplicator plugin. Here‘s how:

1. Install Duplicator on your local WordPress site.

2. Create a package backing up your entire site. Download the archive and installer files.

3. Upload those two files to the root of your live hosting using FTP.

4. Navigate to yoursite.com/installer.php and run the installer.

5. Enter your new database details from Step 3 to import your data during the install.

That‘s it! Duplicator will copy your entire local site into the new database on your live hosting automatically. Super easy migration!

Duplicator is fantastic because it handles all the complicated tasks like find-and-replacing the old URL, moving media files, and optimizing the database. I‘ve tested all the major WordPress backup plugins, and Duplicator is definitely my top pick.

Step 5: Update Site URL and Home URL

After the migration, there are just a couple things left to configure your site:

1. Login to the live site WordPress dashboard at your new URL (e.g. yoursite.com/wp-login).

2. Go to Settings > General and update both WordPress Address and Site Address to your new live URL.

3. Go to Settings > Permalinks and click "Save Changes" to flush rewrite rules.

That‘s it! Your WordPress site is now fully migrated from local to your live domain.

Troubleshooting Common Migration Problems

Sometimes additional issues pop up when migrating a WordPress site:

• Images not showing – If images show as broken, login to phpMyAdmin and run a search/replace on your database to fix old image URLs.

• 500 errors – Double check your wp-config.php file has the proper database credentials for your new live database.

• White screen – Try renaming your plugins folder temporarily to deactivate them. Often a plugin conflict causes issues.

• Site down – If your live site shows a "coming soon" or default server page, make sure you migrated WordPress into the root web directory, like public_html.

Don‘t panic! With some targeted troubleshooting, you can get past any common migration problems. Feel free to reach out if you have any other issues.

Wrapping Up

Congratulations, your WordPress site is now live on the real Internet!

The first launch is always an exciting milestone. Now that you know how to migrate from local to live smoothly, you can keep iterating on your site and get user feedback.

I hope this guide helped explain the entire process from start to finish. Let me know if you have any other questions come up! I‘m always happy to help out with your web projects.