Make the Smart Migration: Leaving Corporate Hosting Behind #
Ready to move your project to a host that shares your values? This is a clear, low-stress guide on migrating your site from those monolithic, impersonal hosting giants to Counterwave’s stable, independent platform. We explain the process honestly and assure you that the switch to ethical hosting is simpler than you think. Welcome home.
What “site migration” means at Counterwave Hosting #
At Counterwave Hosting, “site migration” means moving an existing WordPress site from another provider onto your Counterwave Hosting account (or between your Counterwave servers) while keeping your design, content, users, and settings intact. This includes all core WordPress files, themes, plugins, media uploads, and database content so the destination is a working clone of your original site with minimal downtime.
Migration options with Counterwave #
Counterwave Hosting supports multiple migration paths so you can choose the one that fits your workflow and comfort level:
- Dashboard‑guided migration: From your Counterwave Hosting control panel, you can launch a guided migration to pull an existing WordPress site from another host using secure credentials (such as SFTP/SSH), with URLs and paths automatically updated on the destination.
- Plugin‑based migration: If you prefer working inside wp‑admin, you can use a compatible migration/backup plugin to package your existing site and restore it onto a fresh WordPress install on Counterwave Hosting. If you don’t have one, we provide Counterwave Connector free of charge.
- Assisted migration by support: For complex or high‑traffic sites, Counterwave’s support team can walk you through a structured pre‑/post‑migration checklist or handle the migration for you, helping reduce risk and downtime.
The Counterwave migration process #
- Prepare the destination
- Create a new site in your Counterwave Hosting dashboard.
- Decide whether you will use the dashboard migrator, a plugin, or a manual/assisted migration.
- Connect the source site
- For dashboard migrations: add the source site details and SFTP/SSH credentials, or install the Counterwave connector plugin.
- For plugin‑based moves: install your chosen migration plugin on the old site and on the new blank WordPress install at Counterwave.
- Run the migration
- Start the transfer and wait for it to complete; avoid making major content changes on the old site during this window.
- Review any migration report or logs for warnings or skipped items.
- Verify on a temporary/staging URL
- Open the migrated site on its Counterwave temporary domain or staging URL.
- Check pages, posts, menus, forms, logins, and media to confirm everything works as expected.
- Point your domain to Counterwave
- Update your DNS records to point the domain at your Counterwave Hosting server (or use any DNS management tools you provide).
- Once DNS has propagated, test the site again at the live domain and clear any caches.
Not feeling technical today? Let us do it. #
There are a number of reasons you may not be comfortable performing your own migration, and that’s fine. Counterwave provides free migration services for existing WP sites to our servers. We’ll handle your move with white glove service at no additional charge.
Here are some examples of when an assisted migration might be ideal: #
- Very large sites (many gigabytes of media) or busy production sites where downtime must be carefully minimized.
- Multisite networks, WooCommerce stores, membership sites, and LMS platforms that rely on many plugins and custom database tables.
- Customers who are not comfortable with SFTP, DNS changes, or plugin‑based backups and restores.
