How to Rebrand (or Change Domain Name) in WordPress

Changing a domain name in WordPress

As mentioned above, users can easily change or rebrand their websites hosted with WordPress, and the steps below describe the process.

Register a new domain name

First, you need to get the new web address you want for your WordPress site; this is called registering a domain name.

If you haven’t registered a domain name before, the post below shows you how.

How to register a domain name

Once you have registered the domain name, point the name to the same server host IP as your current website.

Create a new virtual host or server block

After registering your new domain name, you’ll need to set up a place on your web server for it, which is called a virtual host for Apache or a server block for Nginx.

If you haven’t created a virtual host or server block, below is how to do it.

• How to create a virtual host with Apache
• How to create a server block with Nginx

Now, each environment will be different. For example, yours might have unique parameters and definitions.

I use Nginx here. My new server block looks similar to the one below. websitesforstudents.com will be redirected to the new domain geekrewind.com:

server {
        listen 80;
        listen [::]:80;
        server_name geekrewind.com www.geekrewind.com;
        return 301 https://$host$request_uri;

        include snippets/well-known.conf;
}

server {
        listen 443 ssl http2;
        listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
        server_name www.geekrewind.com;

        return 301 https://geekrewind.com$request_uri;

        include snippets/well-known.conf;
        ........................................
        ........................................
}

server {
        listen 443 ssl http2;
        listen [::]:443 ssl;
        server_name geekrewind.com;
        
        return 301 https://geekrewind.com$request_uri;

        include snippets/well-known.conf;
        .........................................
        .........................................
}

I have three server blocks. The first one is simply redirecting HTTP to HTTPS. The second block redirects WWW to the new non-WWW domain. Finally, the last block redirects non-WWW to the new non-WWW domain.

Blocks with listen 443 and http2 definitions have Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate configurations for new and old websites.

Below is how to request Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates

• How to request Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates with Nginx
• How to request Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates with Apache

For the current website referenced in the current server block, replace all current domain names with new ones in the current server block file.

Update WordPress database

Now, you must update your WordPress site’s database to tell it about the new domain name, changing all the old web addresses to the new ones.

Sign on to your MySQL server.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Type a password or press Enter to log on.

There, change to your WordPress database.

use wpdatabse;

Next, run the commands below to view the current URLs.

SELECT option_name, option_value FROM wp_options WHERE option_name IN ('siteurl', 'home');

That will display lines similar to the one below:

+-------------+------------------------------------+
| option_name | option_value                       |
+-------------+------------------------------------+
| home        | https://geekrewind.com     |
| siteurl     | https://websiteforstudeents.com    |
+-------------+------------------------------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Next, run the commands below to update the values for the home and site tables.

UPDATE wp_posts SET guid = replace(guid, 'https://geekrewind.com','https://geekrewind.com');

Next, run the commands below to update the post_content value in the wp_posts table:

UPDATE wp_posts SET post_content = replace(post_content, 'https://geekrewind.com', 'https://geekrewind.com');

Next, run the commands below to update the meta_value value in the wp_postmeta table:

UPDATE wp_postmeta SET meta_value = replace(meta_value, 'https://geekrewind.com', 'https://geekrewind.com');

Exit the database console.

Double-check your work

After making all the changes to move your WordPress site to a new domain, it’s important to double-check everything to make sure it’s working correctly.

If everything is working, restart Nginx or Apache. I hope all is well.

That should do it!

Conclusion:

• Changing a domain name in WordPress involves several crucial steps to ensure a smooth transition.
• Register a new domain name and update DNS records to the current server host IP.
• If applicable, create a new virtual host or server block to handle the new domain and ensure SSL certificate configurations.
• Update the WordPress database to replace all instances of the old domain with the new one.
• Double-check all changes made and 🔄 restart the server to ensure proper functionality.