Changing a WordPress site's domain name

1. Rewrite the address everywhere

In Settings › General, “WordPress Address (URL)” and “Site Address (URL)” only change two settings. The links in your pages, your images and your page builder settings keep the old address.

A simple “search and replace” in the database isn't enough: some data is stored with its length, and a longer or shorter address breaks it. And a typo in these two settings is enough to lock you out of the admin area: make a backup just before.

2. Redirect the old address

Every page at the old address must lead to the same page at the new one, through a permanent redirect (301). Not all of them to the home page: each one to its own page. These redirects are set up on the server that answers at the old address, with your host or through a redirect plugin.

Keep them for a long time, and so keep the old domain name: Google recommends at least a year.

3. Tell Google

In Search Console, add the new address, then use the Change of Address tool from the old one. Submit the sitemap for the new address. During the change, your positions in the results may fluctuate: Google warns that this is normal, and that they settle down afterwards.