How to Change WordPress URL (Simple)

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How to Change WordPress URL (Simple)

Sure, here’s your requested Markdown-formatted 1000-word beginner guide:

You may have recently changed your core business, or you want your WordPress site to reflect a rebranding strategy. Whatever your reasons, making changes to your WordPress URL can seem daunting. Here, we will make it simple with a step-by-step guide.

Step One: Back-Up Your Site

Before making any significant changes to your WordPress site, it’s important to create a backup. This can simply be done via a WordPress backup plugin, like UpdraftPlus or BackupBuddy.

  1. Download and install your chosen plugin.
  2. Navigate to the plugin’s settings in your WordPress admin area
  3. Select a full back-up and follow the plugin’s instructions.

Remember, the backup plugin is your safety net. Without it, unsuccessful URL changes could let your entire site crash.

Step Two: Changing WordPress Address and Site Address

In this step, you have two options to access your WordPress site’s admin area:

  1. Go directly via typing yourwebsite.com/wp-admin in your web broswer’s address bar.
  2. Hover over your website name in the top left corner if you’re already in the dashboard, and click ‘Dashboard’ from the dropdown menu.

Once you’re in, follow these detailed steps:

  1. Scroll down until you see the ‘Settings’ tab, found usually at the bottom of your dashboard sidebar.
  2. Click on ‘Settings’ and a dropdown menu will appear. Click on ‘General’.
  3. On this page, you’ll see two address options, ‘WordPress Address (URL)’ and ‘Site Address (URL)’.
  4. You will need to change both these address fields to your new URL.
  5. Once you’ve changed the URLs, scroll down and ensure to click ‘Save Changes’ at the bottom of the page.

For HTTPS URLs, ensure you have an SSL certificate installed before making the change. Otherwise, your site may become inaccessible.

Step Three: Update Your Database

Changing your URL in your general settings does not change the URL in posts and pages. To update those, use Velvet Blues Update URLs plugin.

  1. Download, install and activate the plugin.
  2. Navigate to ‘Tools’, then click on ‘Update URLs’.
  3. Enter your old and new URLs.
  4. Check the boxes which apply to your site change.
  5. Click ‘Update URLs Now’.

Step Four: Test Your Site and Address Any Broken Links

Sometimes, changing a URL can cause links to break. For a comprehensive link scan, use Broken Link Checker.

  1. Download, install and activate the plugin.
  2. Navigate to ‘Tools’, then click ‘Broken Links’.
  3. It can take some time to check all links depending on the size of your website. Once finished, fix or dismiss any broken links.

Step Five: Update Search Engines, Users, and Redirects

After changing your WordPress URL, you will want to do the following:

  • Update your Google Search Console. Log into your account, select your property (old URL), click on ‘Settings’, then ‘Change of Address’, and follow instructions.
  • Inform your users of the change and update any email communication or newsletters.
  • Set up 301 redirects. This helps your users and search engines to find your site after the URL change. You can use a plugin like Redirection for this.

Final Words

That’s it! If you have followed these mulitple steps, you’ve successfully changed your WordPress URL. And remember, backup is key. Ensure to take extra time to check links, individuals pages and any functionality to confirm that your website is working correctly.

I hope this comprehensive guide is helpful for you and your website visitors!

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