How to Change WordPress URL when Changing Hosting Plan Domain Name in Godaddy

April 7, 2023 By WP Helpline Off

Many times you may want to switch the name of your web host or domain without ending up in a situation where your site can’t be accessed anymore. Let’s say you decide to switch from godaddy.com to yournewdomain.com. After the switch you realize that your existing links or redirects no longer work and you need to change them to point to your new site. Or maybe you have an old link that you want to keep honoring, but with the new domain you want to add a new description or emphasize the benefits of your new product or service.

There are several steps you need to follow in order to change the URL of your site without needing to worry about breaking existing links or causing other technical difficulties.

Step one: Changing DNS records

The first step is to change the DNS records for your domain name. For some reason, often people forget about this step and assume that changing the hosting plan or web host will do the trick. This isn’t always the case and oftentimes you need to follow this step to ensure that all links on your site continue to work as intended.

Go to your domain name dashboard on godaddy.com and click on the icon that looks like a gear icon. From here you can click on DNS records, where you can make changes to your domain’s settings.

Step two: Changing hosting plan

After you have changed the DNS records and can access your domain name’s dashboard, it’s time to change its hosting plan. From your domain dashboard, click on the gear icon next to the hosting plan you want to change to.

You will see two different hosting plans, one is a shared hosting plan, the other is a VPS (Virtual Private Server). For this tutorial, we will switch to the shared hosting plan as it is the most basic one and you don’t need any additional features to continue.

Step three: Changing FTP credentials

After you have changed your hosting plan, it’s time to change your FTP credentials. This will be the account you use to upload files to your site’s hosting. Depending on which hosting plan you used, there is a different way to change your FTP credentials. If you are using the cPanel, then you can just change them from within the domain dashboard. On the other hand, if you are using the FTP directly for file uploads, then you will need to change them separately.

Go to your ftp client and log in to your account. From here you can see a list of your FTP servers. If you had set up the FTP account separately from the cPanel, then you will need to change the settings for each of the FTP servers separately.

Step four: Changing database details

After you have changed your FTP credentials, it’s time to change your database details. This will be the information that establishes a connection with your site’s hosting and allows you to log in and access your site’s files and data. Within your database, you can modify the information that makes up your site’s structure including the name of the database table that stores your posts and pages.

Go to your database and look for the connection information. It will be made up of two parts, the first is the username and the second the password. You can find these by clicking on the gear icon next to the database table in your database and then selecting the appropriate options from the menu that pops up.

Just to be safe, it is a good idea to change your database’s password once you have done this. You can also disable the database completely if you are no longer using it. You can find more information about databases and how to use them on your site’s dashboard.

Step five: Creating new folders and files

Now that you have changed all the necessary details, it’s time to start creating new folders and files for your site. This is where you will place all your new content that you have uploaded to your site since the last time you changed the details. Make sure you use the correct folders and files as these will be important if you want your site to function as intended.

For example, if you are using a free hosting account from godaddy.com then the public_html folder will be the one you need to worry about. You can create different folders for each of the elements you want to keep separate, like admin or shop for example. The choice is yours.

Step six: Changing permalinks

Depending on which hosting plan you are using, you can also change the permalinks for your site from within the dashboard. For the shared hosting plan, just click on the gear icon next to the permalink settings. From here you can make changes to your site’s permalink structure and choose from several different options.

Step seven: Redirecting old links

Last but not least, it’s time to redirect all the old links to the new domain. Within your htdocs folder of your site’s root directory (where you store all your web pages), you will find a file named.htaccess. This is where you need to add the necessary redirects or links to begin with. Just add the following lines to the end of the file and save it:

<If someone tries to access yourdomain.com/old-link-goes-here they will be redirected to yourdomain.com.

<If someone tries to access yourdomain.com/old-link-goes-here they will be redirected to yournewdomain.com.

<If someone tries to access yournewdomain.com/old-link-goes-here they will be redirected to yournewdomain.com.

<These lines will do the trick. Any link or any text within your website that includes the strings “old-link-goes-here” will be automatically redirected to the new URL as you define it.

If you are using the VPS hosting plan, then you will need to add the following lines to the end of the file:

<If someone tries to access yourdomain.com/old-link-goes-here they will be redirected to yourdomain.com.

<If someone tries to access yourdomain.com/old-link-goes-here they will be redirected to yournewdomain.com.

<If someone tries to access yournewdomain.com/old-link-goes-here they will be redirected to yournewdomain.com.

That’s it

You now have a brand new domain name and setup for your WordPress site. You can add additional content or make changes to the structure and functionality of your WordPress site and should be able to access all your content regardless of where it is stored. If you have any questions or need help, then feel free to reach out to us via live chat or email.

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