How To Migrate An Existing Website To Bluehost?

Migrating your website to Bluehost doesn’t have to feel like moving an entire house online. With the right steps — and a bit of patience — you can safely transfer your website without losing data, traffic, or search rankings. 

Whether you’re switching hosts for better performance or cost efficiency, this guide will walk you through exactly how to migrate an existing website to Bluehost, even if you’re not a technical expert.

Understand Your Website Migration Options

Before touching anything, it’s important to know how migration works with Bluehost. Essentially, migration means moving all your website files, databases, and configurations from your old hosting provider to Bluehost.

Bluehost gives you two main options for migration:

• Free Migration (for eligible WordPress sites): Bluehost offers a free migration tool that automatically transfers WordPress websites from another host.
• Manual Migration (for all other sites): If your site isn’t WordPress-based (for example, built in HTML or another CMS like Joomla or Drupal), you’ll need to transfer it manually.

I recommend starting by checking if you’re eligible for the free WordPress migration tool. To do that:

• Log in to your Bluehost dashboard.
• Go to Hosting > WordPress Migration.
• Follow the on-screen prompt to check your site’s eligibility.

If it says you’re not eligible, don’t worry — the manual method below covers everything.

Prepare Your Website Files and Backup Everything

Before you migrate, create a full backup of your current website. This ensures you have a safe copy if something goes wrong during the transfer.

For WordPress users: 

You can use a plugin like UpdraftPlus or All-in-One WP Migration to create a backup. Once installed:

• From your WordPress dashboard, go to Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups.
• Click Backup Now, and download both the database and files backups.

For non-WordPress sites: 

Access your hosting control panel (like cPanel) and:

• Go to File Manager > public_html.
• Compress all your files into a .zip folder.
• Download it to your computer.
• Export your database from phpMyAdmin (found under Databases in cPanel).

Pro Tip: Keep your backup saved in both your computer and a cloud service like Google Drive or Dropbox. It’s your safety net in case anything breaks during migration.

Set Up Your Bluehost Account and Domain

Once your backups are secure, it’s time to get your Bluehost hosting ready.

Step-by-step setup:

1. Go to Bluehost.com and sign up for a hosting plan.
2. During setup, you’ll be asked if you want to use an existing domain or create a new one. Choose “Use my existing domain” if you already have one.
3. Complete the purchase process.
4. Once you’re inside the Bluehost Dashboard, go to My Sites > Create Site to begin adding your existing site.

This creates a space for your old website files to live once you upload them.

Tip: Bluehost automatically installs WordPress during setup, but if your site isn’t WordPress-based, you can remove it later from the My Sites tab.

Upload Your Website Files to Bluehost

Now comes the main migration step — moving your site files from your old host to Bluehost.

If using cPanel (the most common method):

1. Log in to your Bluehost account.
2. Go to Advanced > File Manager.
3. Open the public_html folder.
4. Upload the .zip backup file you created earlier.
5. Once uploaded, right-click and choose Extract.

If your site includes a database (like for WordPress or other CMS), upload it next.

To import your database:

• Go to Databases > phpMyAdmin in Bluehost.
• Click Import, choose your .sql file, and start the upload.

When done, update your site’s configuration file (like wp-config.php for WordPress) with your new database name, username, and password — all found under Databases > MySQL Databases.

Update Domain DNS Settings

Your domain needs to know where to point visitors — in this case, to Bluehost.

To do that, log into your domain registrar (like GoDaddy or Namecheap) and update your nameservers to:

• ns1.bluehost.com
• ns2.bluehost.com

This change tells the internet to start sending visitors to your Bluehost server instead of your old one.

Note: DNS propagation can take anywhere from a few minutes to 24 hours. During this time, your site might flicker between your old and new host — that’s completely normal.

Test Your Website After Migration

Once the DNS change has fully propagated, test your site thoroughly.

Here’s a quick checklist:

• Load your homepage and subpages to ensure all links work.
• Check that your images and CSS files load properly.
• Log into your WordPress dashboard (if applicable) and confirm everything looks normal.
• Test any forms or scripts (like contact forms, checkout pages, etc.).

You can also preview your migrated site using Bluehost’s temporary URL feature before making DNS changes. To find it:

• Log in to your Bluehost account.
• Go to My Sites > Manage Site > Settings, and look for the temporary URL under “Site URL.”

Verify SSL and Security Settings

Bluehost includes a free SSL certificate via Let’s Encrypt, but you need to make sure it’s active.

To check:

• Go to My Sites > Manage Site > Security.
• Toggle on the Free SSL Certificate option if it’s not already enabled.

Once active, your website should automatically switch from http:// to https://. If it doesn’t, you can use a plugin like Really Simple SSL for WordPress to force the redirect.

Also, enable Bluehost SiteLock Security (optional but recommended) to protect against malware and hackers.

Optimize and Finalize the Migration

After migration, take a moment to improve performance and SEO:

• Use Bluehost’s caching tools under Performance > Caching to speed up your site.
• Check Google Search Console to ensure your new hosting environment hasn’t triggered crawl errors.
• Reinstall your analytics tracking (Google Analytics or GA4).
• Update all your site URLs if needed (use Better Search Replace plugin for WordPress).

Finally, run a speed test using GTmetrix or Google PageSpeed Insights to confirm everything is performing as expected.

Expert Tip: Let Bluehost Handle It for You

If you’d rather not risk any downtime or confusion, Bluehost also offers a professional migration service starting around $149.99. Their experts handle the entire process — file transfer, DNS updates, SSL setup, and testing — while you sit back and watch your site move seamlessly.

This option is especially worth it if you’re managing a large eCommerce site or business-critical platform where uptime is essential.

In Summary: Migrating your existing website to Bluehost is a straightforward process once you understand the flow — backup, upload, connect, and verify. With a bit of prep work, you can switch to Bluehost confidently and enjoy faster load times, reliable uptime, and solid customer support.

If I were to give one final piece of advice: Take your time verifying each step. Migration is less about speed and more about precision — because once your site is safely up on Bluehost, you’ll thank yourself for doing it right.