How to Migrate a WordPress Site to HostGator [Tutorial]

Forrest Pykes Jun 16, 2025

I recently published an article on how to transfer a WordPress site to a new host , but for many users, migrating WordPress hosting is a technically challenging process.

Most bloggers who initially used cheap WordPress hosting may now have achieved a certain level of success and need more advanced hosting services. However, due to lack of technical knowledge, they still rely on free or cheap hosting services, which may bring some problems, such as lack of advanced resources or frequent downtime.

In today’s post, we’ll take a look at HostGator, which allows you to migrate your WordPress blog to their hosting service for free.

Hostgator is one of the best shared hosting services for WordPress, and while it’s not free, it does offer high-quality hosting services at very reasonable prices. One of the best features of Hostgator is its customer service, which is crucial for any service. In addition to its commitment to providing excellent customer service, Hostgator also offers a free WordPress hosting migration service, which makes migrating to their service even more attractive. They offer this service to allow new customers to migrate from their old hosting service to Hostgator with minimal stress and hassle.

However, before you sign up with Hostgator , you should consider the following facts about Hostgator’s free web hosting migration:

Facts about Hostgator Free Web Hosting Migration:

Primary domain name:

Hostgator offers free primary domain migration services. Whether your blog is a WordPress blog or a static website, Hostgator will provide you with free migration services.

Upgrade your plan:

If you are an existing customer, you can upgrade your hosting plan to a higher tier. For example, if you have a Hatchling plan, you can upgrade to a Baby plan or Business Hostgator plan and ask them to migrate for free.

Migrating multiple WordPress blogs/websites:

If you have multiple blogs that need to be migrated, you can contact Hostgator customer service before signing up and negotiate to purchase their hosting services if they are willing to handle the migration of multiple sites.

That being said, you should be aware that there are some common issues you may encounter when Hostgator’s customer service is handling your WordPress hosting migration:

  • Image not uploaded
  • Cache not working
  • WP-DB Manager plugin not working properly
  • WordPress odd character problem

These are all issues they should be taking care of, but because they follow traditional migration methods (such as migrating the database and moving the WordPress content folder), they can easily miss out on some of these features.

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How to Request a Free Website Hosting Migration from HostGator

The migration process itself is simple, but there may be some issues after the hosting migration is complete. This is because in most cases the directory structure will change, and cache and many other plugins will stop working due to these changes in the directory structure.

While I can’t guarantee a smooth hosting migration following this tutorial, I can tell you that you’ll definitely run into fewer issues if you take help from a free hosting migration service.

How to Migrate a WordPress Site to HostGator [Tutorial]

If you haven't signed up with Hostgator yet, you can sign up with Hostgator here .

After signing up, you will receive an email with all the information related to Hostgator hosting.

Details Required for Free Website Migration:

In order to initiate a migration request, you will need the following information:

  • Old host FTP username
  • FTP Username and Password
  • WordPress Administrator Information
  • cPanel Login URL and Username and Password
  • Latest WordPress database backup

While they will usually make a backup as part of the migration process, I would recommend making a complete backup since your last update and telling them to use the backed up database file when migrating your site.

All the fields are self-explanatory and easy to fill out, making it very easy for you to request the migration of your site.

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Let us know which shared hosting you are using and how well it works for you.

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