Making the decision to move my blog from http://www.courseladder.com to http://www.golfballdriver.com was a big one, and a good one, and it taught me a lot about learning how to relocate your WordPress blog to a new domain name under the same hosting provider. Course Ladder suited me for a while, but from an SEO standpoint it was not a good domain name for me to stick with over a long term and I am glad for the change.
Golf Ball Driver is better than Course Ladder because…
- “Golf” in the domain name
- All domain words are highly relevant
- Direct golf product tie in
- It makes sense. What am I? A golf ball driver!
- The double entendre between the products and the persona.
What You Need to Do:
The first thing that you want to do is to create a new add on domain for the new domain name.
The next step in the process is to copy the entire contents of the old domain folder, which includes your entire WordPress blog, into the brand new domain folder within the same hosting area.
Next, there are a couple of SQL statements that you need to run:
* First, to update your WordPress options with the new location of your blog, the following SQL command needs to be put in:
UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = replace(option_value, 'http://www.old-domain.com', 'http://www.new-domain.com') WHERE option_name = 'home' OR option_name = 'siteurl';
Next, you are going to need to fix the URLs of your posts and pages on WordPress. The URL values are stored as absolute URLs rather than as relative URLs, so you need to use the following SQL query to change them.
UPDATE wp_posts SET guid = replace(guid, 'http://www.old-domain.com','http://www.new-domain.com');
If you have linked internally at any point within your blog posts or your pages using absolute URLs, then this links are going to be pointing to the wrong locations after you change the location of your blog. You need to use the following SQL commands in order to fix all of the internal linking in all of your WordPress posts and pages.
UPDATE wp_posts SET post_content = replace(post_content, 'http://www.old-domain.com', 'http://www.new-domain.com');
Once you have put all of these SQL queries into action, the next step is to browse through as much of your WordPress blog as you can in order to make sure that everything is in good working order. You are also going to need to login to your WP Administration section because the authentication cookie will become invalid when you change domains.
Now you can delete the old folder contents so that your blog is not appearing in two different places.
In order to 301 redirect all old links from the old domain to the new domain, place a single file .htaccess into the now empty folder. You want to be sure to 301 redirect else you will permanently lose any hard earned links you have developed. Here is what the file should contain:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^.old-domain.com$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.old-domain.com
RewriteRule ^/?(.*)$ "http://www.new-domain.com/$1" [R=301,L]
Finally, update your WordPress blog to have the new blog name in your title.
The process is relatively simple once you have a feel for what needs to be accomplished. Above all else, it is vital that you avoid upsetting your linking structure in the process. Make sure that all of your links are still valid and working after you make the big move, and your blog should be just fine, and more importantly, better off with an improved domain name.
Originally posted 2009-02-05 09:45:03. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Related Posts -
8 Wordpress Blog Theme Design Considerations Most blogging platforms offer a wide variety of different themes to chose from, and most can be altered and edited to suit your needs, or left alone exactly as they are. Some themes are plain and dull while others are colorful, modern and inspiring. There are thousands of themes out...... -
6 + 1 Steps for How to Increase Blog Traffic Having access to the right tips and hints for how to increase blog traffic can really come in handy. The more tips and tools that you have in your arsenal for learning how to increase blog traffic; the better off you will be when it comes to building up a...... -
10 Benefits of Hosting your Own Blog If you want to create an edge over many of the other bloggers on the web, then one of the best things that you can do is host your own blog. There are a number of benefits of hosting your own blog over having some other service host your blog....... -
Related Websites Welcome to the power of relevant chaos. The Related Websites plugin is the latest to come from the labs of the Blog Traffic Exchange. The Related plugin has been built by a blogger for the benefit of fellow bloggers everywhere. There is no advertising present on member blogs - only...... -
Installing a WordPress Blog If you want to install WordPress on your own server, the first step is to download the necessary files from the website at WordPress.org download. Next, you will use an FTP program to upload the files to your host site. If you use Cpanel, you can use Fantastico in order......
Related Websites -
[How To] Configure WordPress for iOS Stats Feature for WordPress.org Blogs WordPress recently updated it's app for Apple iOS. The release is a major update as it provides Quick Photo option, Localization feature and the Stats feature. You can now view visitor stats directly from your Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad For WordPress.com blog, the stats feature is available natively....... -
Permalinks are more important than you think! Picture this. You're at a casual dinner party and you have a friendly discussion on healthy activities. The next day, your friend sends you a link to your work email address that says "Read this!". You click it and it brings you to an article that discusses an activity that...... -
Weight Loss Tips and Blogs Needed I need some help. Any one with any weight loss tips and blogs that can help me shed some extra weight and adjust to my new lifestyle are encouraged to share them. I am looking for tips and tricks that will assist me in losing some extra fat, gain more...... -
Make Blogging Work for Your Business pt 2 Are you ready to make blogging work for your business? If you already know the benefits associated with corporate blogging, then the next step is to put these concepts to work by creating your own corporate blog and sharing your company with the world. This is part 2 in a...... -
These Wordpress Plugins May help Wordpress Plugins You May Need Image by teddy-rised via Flickr I have been asked many different times from new bloggers what plugins they should use. I think a big part of it comes down to personal taste. While there are some essentials many of them are just add-on plugins......