How To Change The WordPress URL

Your website’s URL is more than just a web address, it’s a big part of your online identity. However, there may be times when you need to change it, for example migrating to a new WordPress Hosting provider. While it may seem complicated, taking the right steps and precautions allows you to easily have a new web address without disrupting your site or losing traffic and search engine rankings. This guide will walk you through the ways to change the WordPress URL. We’ll also tell you what you should do before and after the change for a smooth transition for your website and visitors.

What Is A WordPress URL?

A WordPress URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the web address visitors use to access and navigate to your WordPress website. A URL has two main parts:

1. The first part is the domain name, such as “examplesite.com”. This is the unique identifier for your website on the internet and the address visitors type into their browser.

2. The second part is the path or permalink. These are subdirectories, which come after the domain name. For example, in the URL “examplesite.com/blog”, the path is “/blog”. This part can be used to access specific sections or pages within your WordPress site.

The permalink structure can be customized to suit your preferences. WordPress uses a structure that includes the post name by default, but you can change it to include categories, dates, or custom structures

Apart from allowing users to find your site, URLs play a role in several other aspects. Firstly, descriptive URLs can make it easier for visitors to understand and navigate your website’s content, improving user experience. They also make it easier for them to share and bookmark your content.

Search engines use URLs as a signal for understanding the content and relevance of a web page. While not a ranking factor, they can potentially improve your website’s visibility in search results.

Reasons To Change Your URL.

While your website’s URL may seem permanent, there are several reasons why you might need to change it. Here are a few common scenarios where changing it becomes necessary:

If you want to rebrand your site and business, you may want to update your domain name to align with your new brand identity.

Similarly, if you want to switch to a more memorable or descriptive domain name that better represents your business or website’s purpose. Changing your URL can help improve brand recognition and memorability.

Another reason to change URLs is website migration. Specifically, if you’re moving your site from a free hosting service where their domain name is part of your website’s address e.g., examplesite.oldhost.com, to a new WordPress hosting service with a new domain name you own e.g., newexamplesite.com, you’ll need to change URLs on your website to reflect the new domain. This is because the location of your website’s files has changed from the old hosting service to your new WordPress host.

Security Concerns: In some cases, changing your URL might be a proactive measure to enhance your website’s security, especially if your current URL has been compromised or targeted by malicious actors.

Structural Changes: If you’re reorganizing or restructuring your website’s content, changing the URL might be necessary to reflect the new site architecture and navigation.

It’s essential to plan and structure your URLs carefully before launching your WordPress website. Once your site is live and has content, changing the URL can be more challenging, as it may break existing links and affect your SEO.

WordPress Address Vs. Site Address

When using WordPress for your website, there are two types of URLs it will use. These are the WordPress Address and the Site Address. Here’s the difference between the two:

WordPress Address (URL):

This setting determines the URL used to access the WordPress administration area, login page, and other backend functions. It points to where the core WordPress files, and functionality are located.

For example, if your WordPress URL is set to “http:// examplesite.com/wp”, then you would access the admin area by visiting “http:// examplesite.com/wp/wp-admin”.

Site Address (URL):

This setting controls the URL of your website, which visitors use to access your site’s content, such as posts and pages.

In this case, if your Site URL is “http://examplesite.com”, then your visitors would access your website’s homepage by visiting “http://examplesite.com”.

In most cases, the WordPress URL and the Site URL are the same, especially for a standard WordPress installation where the entire website is located in the root directory of your domain.

However, there are situations where these two settings might differ, such as:

• When you have WordPress installed in a subdirectory e.g., http://examplesite.com/wpblog.
• When you’re running a multisite network with subdirectories or subdomains
• When you’re using domain mapping or masking.

In these cases, the WordPress Address would point to the location of the WordPress core files, while the Site Address would point to the public-facing URL of your website.

It’s essential to update both when changing your website’s URL to ensure that all admin functions and website content are accessible through the new address.

How To Change The WordPress URL

To change your WordPress URL, you’ll need administrator access to your website. This is because modifying the site’s URL requires making changes to core WordPress settings and files, which can only be done by users with admin permissions. Without it, you won’t be able to navigate to the areas needed in the WordPress dashboard or edit the required files directly.

Keep in mind that changing your WordPress URL can potentially affect several parts of your website, such as content, links, and database entries. It’s highly recommended that you backup your WordPress website completely before starting.

A comprehensive backup should include everything in your database, including posts, pages, comments, settings, and user information. You should also back up all the files and software that make up your site, such as WordPress themes, plugins, uploads, and core files.

Backups act as safety nets, protecting you should anything go wrong. If you encounter any issues, you can restore your website to its previous state using the backup, minimizing potential data loss or downtime.

Additionally, a backup allows you to test the URL change in a staging area before doing it on your live site, reducing the risk of errors and site breaks.

Changing the WordPress URL via the WordPress Admin Area

Changing the WordPress URL via the admin area is the easiest method. It’s designed for users of all experience levels and requires minimal technical knowledge.

The WordPress CMS (Content Mangement System) admin area is a graphical interface, so you don’t need to deal with any code or complex configurations. You simply navigate to the settings menu and update the designated fields. Since you’re not editing code directly, the risk of introducing errors or breaking your website is significantly reduced. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.

Step 2: Navigate to the “Settings” menu and click on “General”.

Step 3: Update the “WordPress Address (URL)” and “Site Address (URL)” fields with the new URL.

Step 4: Click the “Save Changes” button.

Once you save the changes in the admin area, the new URL should be reflected immediately.

Changing the WordPress URL via the wp-config.php file

This method can be used if you can’t access the WordPress admin area due to forgotten login credentials, plugin conflicts, or website security issues.

However, this method is more complicated than using the WordPress admin dashboard as editing the wp-config.php file requires technical knowledge. You’ll need to use FTP (File Transfer Protocol) software or a file manager to connect to your website’s server and locate the correct file.

You must manually add code snippets to the file, which can be difficult for beginners unfamiliar with coding. A mistake in the code could potentially break your website. This is because the wp-config.php file stores essential WordPress configuration details, including the website URL.

Step 1: Connect to your website via FTP or the file manager in your Client Portal

Step 2: Locate and edit the wp-config.php file

Step 3: Add the following lines of code with your new URL:

• Copy codedefine(‘WP_HOME’, ‘http://new-domain.com’);
• define (‘WP_SITEURL’, ‘http://new-domain.com’);

Adding the code snippets with the new URL defines the new “home” and “site” addresses for WordPress.

Step 4: Save the changes to the wp-config.php file

Additional Steps

Update Database URLs

Even after changing your URL settings, there may still be instances where your old URL is hardcoded or stored in your WordPress database. This can include post content, custom fields, metadata, and other areas.

Not updating these hardcoded URLs can lead to broken links, missing images, or other issues on your site. You can use plugins or database management tools to search for and replace instances of your old URL with the new one.

DNS Settings

If you’re changing your WordPress URL due to a website migration or hosting provider change, you’ll need to update your domain’s Domain Name System settings. This involves pointing your domain to the new hosting server’s IP address or updating the “A Record” in your domain provider’s DNS settings.

Failing to update your DNS settings correctly can result in your domain not resolving to the new server and website.

Third-Party Integrations And Plugins

Your WordPress website may have third-party integrations or plugins that use your site’s URL. These could include email marketing tools, analytics platforms, social media plugins, etc.

Be sure to update the URL settings in these services or plugins to ensure they continue to function correctly with your new website address.

Redirection

When you change your WordPress URL, it’s essential to implement proper redirects so that any existing links or bookmarks to your old URLs continue to work correctly. This can be done by using a redirection plugin or by modifying your website’s “.htaccess” file (if you have the technical knowledge).

Properly redirecting old URLs helps maintain your search engine rankings, prevents broken links, and ensures a good user experience for visitors.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

When you change your WordPress URL, you need to inform search engines of the change. This can be done by submitting an updated sitemap and using tools like Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools. Not doing this can lead to issues with indexing, a drop in rankings, and potential traffic loss.

Troubleshooting WordPress Change URL Issues

While changing your WordPress URL is a relatively straightforward process, there are some common issues that you may encounter along the way. Most of these happen if you have not followed the additional steps in the previous section. Knowing what they are can help you anticipate and fix them quickly.

Broken Links and Images:

One of the most common issues after changing your WordPress URL is the appearance of broken links and missing images throughout your site. This can occur when URLs or links generated by plugins or themes are not updated to reflect the new address.

Use a database management tool like phpMyAdmin to search for and replace instances of your old URL with the new one across your entire database.

Additionally, consider using a redirection plugin to ensure any existing links to your old URL are properly redirected to the new address.

Login Issues:

After changing your WordPress URL, you may encounter difficulties logging into the WordPress admin area. This can happen if the WordPress URL setting is not updated correctly or if there are caching issues.

Double-check that both the WordPress Address and Site Address settings are correct in the WordPress admin area. This can be found under “Settings” followed by “General”.

Permalink Issues:

If you’ve changed your permalink structure along with the URL, you may have issues with broken post or page links, resulting in 404 errors.

Use a redirection plugin or edit your “.htaccess” file to create redirects from the old permalink structure to the new one. This will ensure that existing links to your content work correctly.

Plugin and Theme Conflicts:

Some plugins or themes may not work correctly with URL changes, leading to conflicts and functionality issues.

Deactivate and reactivate any incompatible plugins or themes that seem to be causing conflicts after the URL change. If the issue persists, consider updating or replacing the problematic plugin or theme with a more compatible alternative.

Indexing Issues:

As mentioned earlier, if you don’t properly inform search engines about your URL change, you may encounter issues with your site’s indexing and rankings.

Submit an updated sitemap to search engines like Google and Bing and use tools like Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools to communicate the URL change. This will help ensure that your new URL is properly indexed, and your search rankings are maintained.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. Your WordPress URL is your website’s address that allows people to find and access it. The components of a URL are the domain name and path/permalink structure.
2. Reasons for changing your WordPress URL might include rebranding, migrating your site to a new web host, changes to your domain name or site structure, and security.
3. Two methods to change your WordPress URL are via the WordPress dashboard or editing the wp-config.php file.
4. The additional steps after changing your WordPress URL settings are updating database URLs, DNS settings, plugins, and integrations, implementing redirects, and informing search engines.
5. By understanding common problems like broken links, login issues, permalink conflicts, plugin compatibility, and search engine indexing, you can implement solutions and minimize disruptions.

FAQs

Other Blogs of Interest:

– 6 Tips To Finding The Best VPS Hosting Services For Your Website

– Understanding WordPress User Roles: A Guide for Website Owners

– The Ultimate Guide to Professional Emails

– Website Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

– How To Create a Landing Page In WordPress