A Complete Step-By-Step Tutorial for Beginners, Agencies, and San Antonio Businesses

Migrating your WordPress website to a high-performance hosting platform is one of the smartest technical decisions you can make—especially if you’re running a business in a competitive market like San Antonio , where speed, uptime, and user experience directly translate to higher conversions.

Among all modern hosting solutions, Cloudways stands out as one of the most reliable and scalable platforms for serious site owners, agencies, eCommerce stores, and high-traffic businesses in Texas and beyond. Whether you’re upgrading from shared hosting, moving away from cPanel limitations, or finally stepping into cloud hosting for the first time, Cloudways gives you a clean, managed, powerful environment without the complexity of DevOps.

In this definitive guide, you’ll learn every possible way to migrate your WordPress website to Cloudways — from the official one-click migrator plugin to manual FTP/database migration to backup-plugin migrations. You’ll also get San Antonio-specific best practices, performance tuning, CDN optimization, DNS setup, and troubleshooting guidance.

➡️ https://www.cloudways.com/en/?id=1004605

Before we dive into the migration workflow, let’s establish exactly why Cloudways is the preferred hosting choice for thousands of companies—including many here in San Antonio , from small agencies near the Pearl District , to SaaS companies by Downtown San Antonio , to eCommerce shops along Loop 410 .

Here are the top reasons businesses migrate to Cloudways:

1. Managed Cloud Hosting Without the Complexity

Cloudways allows you to deploy on top-tier cloud providers like:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS)

—without doing the server maintenance yourself.

You get the speed of cloud hosting with the simplicity of a dashboard.

2. Extremely Fast Load Times (Especially for Texas Visitors)

Cloudways offers edge caching , a built-in CDN (Cloudflare Enterprise), Redis, HTTP/2, and auto-scaling resources. For users browsing from Texas, the performance improvement is often dramatic.

Your San Antonio customers will notice the difference instantly.

3. The Safest Migration Environment

• Create staging environments

• Roll back failed migrations

• Deploy safely with zero downtime

This guide teaches you how to use all of that while migrating .

4. No Contract, No Lock-In, No Shared Hosting Limitations

Cloudways is pay-as-you-go, scalable, and not at all like shared hosting where your neighbors are eating your resources.

• Multi-site WordPress setups

You can launch a server instantly and migrate your WordPress website today using Cloudways with a free trial:

👉 https://www.cloudways.com/en/?id=1004605

Now let’s learn how to migrate your site.

To help you choose the right path, here’s a breakdown of the three migration methods included in this guide.

We will fully cover each.

Here’s everything you should prepare before migrating.

✔️ 1. Your Cloudways Account (Affiliate Link #2)

If you haven’t already, sign up using your Cloudways account:

This gives you access to:

✔️ 2. Access to Your Current Web Host

• cPanel, DirectAdmin, or hosting panel login

• Database credentials (phpMyAdmin)

If you don’t have these, request them from your hosting provider.

✔️ 3. A Full Backup of Your Website

This ensures you can restore your site if anything goes wrong.

✔️ 4. Your DNS Provider Login

We’ll update DNS at the end.

✔️ 5. Temporary Site Freeze (Optional but Recommended)

This prevents data mismatch.

This is by far the easiest method.

The Cloudways Migrator Plugin handles:

It’s the simplest path with minimal downtime.

• Choose your provider (DigitalOcean is the most popular).

• Choose server size (start at 1GB or 2GB).

• Choose a region (Dallas is ideal for San Antonio).

• Choose WordPress as the application.

Your server will deploy in 2–7 minutes.

Applications → Your App → Access Details

These will be used later in the migration plugin.

In your original WordPress site:

• Search “Cloudways WordPress Migrator”

This adds the migration wizard to your dashboard.

The plugin will ask you for:

All of these can be found inside:

Applications → Application Management → Access Details

Copy/paste everything carefully.

• Upload everything to Cloudways

• Run search-replace on URLs

• Install your site on the new server

This typically takes 5–30 minutes depending on site size.

When complete, you will receive an email.

Open your temporary Cloudways URL:

If everything works, you’re ready to move DNS.

Go to your domain host and set:

A Record → Cloudways server IP (found in your Server Console)

DNS propagation takes 5 minutes to 24 hours.

After migrating with the plugin, many users upgrade their plan to improve performance:

click here for your free trial 👉 https://www.cloudways.com/en/?id=1004605

This method is best for large sites , multisite installations , or situations where the plugin fails due to timeouts or server limitations. While more advanced, it gives you full control over every file and database entry .

Before starting manual migration:

• Log into Cloudways → Applications → Add Server

• Select WordPress as the application

• Pick your cloud provider (DigitalOcean, Vultr, AWS, GCP)

• Choose server size based on expected traffic

• Choose server location closest to your audience (Dallas is ideal for San Antonio)

Once complete, your new WordPress application will have a temporary Cloudways URL for testing.

Connect to your old hosting provider via FTP or SFTP . Recommended clients:

• Connect using your host credentials: Host (IP or domain) FTP/SFTP username Password Port (usually 21 for FTP, 22 for SFTP)

• Port (usually 21 for FTP, 22 for SFTP)

• Navigate to the WordPress root folder: /public_html/ /htdocs/ /www/

• Download all files including hidden files (e.g., .htaccess ).

⚠️ Pro Tip: If your site is very large, download in chunks to avoid FTP timeout errors.

• Select your WordPress database

• Click Export → Choose Quick Export → SQL format

• Save the .sql file locally

This database contains your posts, pages, users, plugin settings, and theme customizations.

• In Cloudways, navigate to Server Management → Master Credentials

• Use SFTP credentials in FileZilla to connect

• Upload all files to: /applications/yourapp/public_html/

• Overwrite any existing files in the Cloudways WordPress installation

⚠️ Pro Tip: Keep a local backup in case of mistakes.

• In Cloudways, go to Application → Access Database → phpMyAdmin

• Click Import → Choose the .sql file

Database import may take a few minutes for large sites.

Open the wp-config.php file in Cloudways SFTP and update:

These values come from your Cloudways Application Access Details .

If your old site used oldsite.com and your Cloudways site is temp.cloudwaysapps.com , update URLs using WP-CLI :

Or via plugin: Better Search Replace .

Finally, go to WordPress Dashboard → Settings → Permalinks → Save Changes to refresh rewrite rules.

Ensure all plugins work properly .

• Cloudways provides free Let’s Encrypt SSL .

• Go to Application → SSL Certificate → Add domain → Install

• Enable Breeze caching plugin

• Optionally activate CloudwaysCDN (faster global delivery)

• Enable Redis for WooCommerce-heavy sites

⚡ Pro Tip: Faster sites = higher SEO rankings.

For businesses ready to scale their San Antonio online presence with managed cloud hosting, start your Cloudways trial:

• Backup current Cloudways site

Once confirmed, you can proceed to update your domain DNS .

• Go to your domain registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare)

• Update A Record → Cloudways Server IP

• Update CNAME → www → your domain

• Wait 5–24 hours for DNS propagation

• Open your domain in Chrome/Edge/Firefox

• Test site speed with GTMetrix, Pingdom, PageSpeed Insights

• Ensure all links & forms function

Your site is now fully migrated manually .

If you’re ready to experience premium WordPress cloud hosting, start your Cloudways trial today:

This method is ideal for:

• Large or complex websites

• Multisite WordPress installs

• Sites with custom themes or builders like Elementor, Divi, or WPBakery

• Situations where plugin migration fails or manual migration is too complex

Using backup plugins ensures a full site copy , including database, media, plugins, and themes.

Duplicator is one of the most robust migration plugins.

Step 1: Install Duplicator on Old Site

• Log into WordPress dashboard

• Navigate: Plugins → Add New → Search: Duplicator

Step 2: Create a New Package

• Open Duplicator → Packages → Create New

• Follow wizard: Scan → Build

• Wait for Duplicator to generate: installer.php archive.zip

⚡ Tip: For sites >1 GB, Duplicator Pro is recommended for reliability.

Step 3: Upload Files to Cloudways

• Connect to Cloudways server via SFTP

• Upload both installer.php and archive.zip to: /applications/yourapp/public_html/

Step 4: Run the Installer

• Visit: https://temp.cloudwaysapps.com/installer.php

• Follow steps: Connect to Cloudways database Update site URL Test connection

• Connect to Cloudways database

Step 5: Post-Migration Tasks

• Test homepage, posts, plugins

• Remove temporary installer.php file

• Install All-in-One WP Migration on old site

• Download the .wpress file

Step 2: Import Site into Cloudways WordPress

• Log into Cloudways WordPress admin

• Install AIOWP Migration plugin

• Navigate: Import → File → Select .wpress

• Wait for upload and automatic restoration

⚡ Tip: AIOWP Migration free version supports up to 512MB; larger sites require the Unlimited Extension .

Step 3: Test Your Migrated Site

• Verify pages, posts, media

• Check WooCommerce checkout (if applicable)

• Check menus, plugins, and theme layouts

• Install UpdraftPlus on old site

• Navigate: Settings → Backup Now

• Include: Plugins, Themes, Uploads, Database

• Store backup locally or in cloud storage

Step 2: Restore on Cloudways

• Install WordPress on Cloudways

• Navigate: Restore → Upload Backup Files

• Select all files and restore

• Check all functionality, including forms and WooCommerce

• Activate SSL if necessary

After any backup-plugin migration:

• Activate Breeze caching plugin

• Enable Redis (optional for eCommerce)

• Update PHP version to 8.x

• Test site speed using GTMetrix, Pingdom, or Google PageSpeed Insights

⚡ San Antonio Tip: Choose a server closest to Texas (Dallas or Houston) for lowest latency.

• Test mobile responsiveness

• Backup migrated site immediately

Once your site is successfully migrated using plugins, scale your performance and security with Cloudways managed hosting:

• Minimal downtime for clients and customers

• Supports large eCommerce and membership sites

• Perfect for agency clients who need fast deployment

• Affordable, cost-effective, and compatible with Cloudways pay-as-you-go pricing

• Use CloudwaysCDN for faster page delivery in South Texas

• Optimize images with Smush or Imagify

• Activate server-level caching via Breeze

• Ensure mobile-first optimization for Google ranking

• Minify JS and CSS for faster load times

After your WordPress migration is complete, the next critical step is updating your domain so visitors reach your Cloudways-hosted site instead of your old host.

Step 1: Get Your Cloudways Server IP

• Log in to Cloudways → Servers

• Select your server → Access Details → Public IP

Step 2: Update Your Domain Registrar

At your domain provider (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Bluehost, Cloudflare):

• Create an A Record : Host: @ Value: Cloudways Server IP TTL: 600

• Create a CNAME Record for www: Host: www Value: yourdomain.com TTL: 600

Step 3: Wait for Propagation

DNS propagation may take 5 minutes to 24 hours . You can monitor it via tools like whatsmydns.net .

⚡ Pro Tip for San Antonio Businesses: Pointing your DNS to a Dallas or Houston server ensures local visitors experience faster load times, which can improve conversions and SEO rankings.

SSL is essential for security, SEO, and customer trust . Cloudways makes it easy:

• Go to your Cloudways Application → SSL Certificate

• Click Install Certificate

• Enable HTTPS Redirection to force all traffic to HTTPS

After installation, verify with your browser that the padlock is active.

Cloudways offers multiple ways to improve site speed:

Step 1: Enable Breeze Caching

• Install the Breeze plugin in WordPress

• Enable options: Database optimization Minification (CSS/JS/HTML) GZIP compression Cache preloading

• Minification (CSS/JS/HTML)

Step 2: Activate CloudwaysCDN

• Go to Cloudways → Application → CloudwaysCDN

• Enable for faster delivery across the U.S., especially for users in Texas

Step 3: Enable Redis (Optional)

For WooCommerce or database-heavy sites, Redis caching reduces server load and improves response time.

Step 4: PHP & Server Tweaks

• Increase memory_limit and max_execution_time if needed

⚡ San Antonio Tip: Running speed tests with GTMetrix or PageSpeed Insights helps ensure your site is optimized for local searches.

• Test homepage, posts, pages, and custom post types

• Test forms and WooCommerce checkout

• Test plugins functionality

• Backup your new Cloudways site

• Use CloudwaysCDN for low latency in Texas

• Implement local schema markup (address, phone, hours)

• Enable server-side caching

• Use mobile-first responsive design

• Ensure fast DNS resolution by selecting the nearest server region (Dallas preferred)

For San Antonio businesses, agencies, or developers ready to scale their WordPress website with premium managed hosting, start your Cloudways trial today:

Cloudways ensures fast, secure, and scalable hosting with zero hassles.

• There are 3 reliable ways to migrate WordPress to Cloudways : Cloudways WordPress Migrator Plugin (Easiest) Manual FTP + Database Migration (Advanced) Backup Plugin Migration (Large or complex sites)

• Cloudways WordPress Migrator Plugin (Easiest)

• Manual FTP + Database Migration (Advanced)

• Backup Plugin Migration (Large or complex sites)

• Always backup your site before migration

• Test thoroughly after migration: Pages, posts, media, forms, WooCommerce

• Pages, posts, media, forms, WooCommerce

• Update DNS to point to your Cloudways server

• Enable SSL and caching for speed, security, and SEO

• Optimize site for San Antonio users : server region, CDN, mobile-first, and schema markup

Migrating to Cloudways is the first step in scaling your online presence while providing a fast, reliable, and secure user experience for local and global visitors.