3 – Migrate Your WordPress Uploads
The easiest and most practical way to get all of your WordPress uploads onto your new site is to manually transfer them using an FTP client such as FileZilla. Your hosting company will probably also provide a Web-based client, or you can use the File Explorer in Windows 8.
1. Log into the FTP server of your old WordPress site, and navigate to “wp-content/uploads”.
2. Download the entire folder, and copy it over to the corresponding directory of your new WordPress site, overwriting any files as prompted. Alternatively, you’ll need to merge the folders without overwriting any files if you want to preserve any previous uploads on your new site.
4 – Restoring Your Themes and Plugins
Although all of your content and uploads will now be available on the new site, any customization will need to be done again. You can use the paid plugin “BackupBuddy” to do this for you if you prefer.
1. Reinstall and reconfigure your theme. If you have modified any code in the theme, you’ll likely be best off copying over the files manually from the FTP server on your old site. You will find your themes in the “wordpress\wp-content\themes” directory.
2. Reinstall and reconfigure any plugins and widgets that you want. The easiest method is to have both your old and new WordPress sites open beside each other and manually go through the settings one-by-one.
Your new WordPress site should now be looking much like your old one, although there are a few other important considerations. You may need to update any internal links on your new site so that they refer to the new domain, and you can use a plugin such as “Pretty Link” to automate this process. You’ll also need to update any RSS feeds and set up a 301 redirect so that people, as well as the search engine crawlers, will be automatically redirected to your new domain. Finally, don’t forget to submit a new XML sitemap to Google, and be sure to thoroughly test your new WordPress site.