I have transferred my blog Bloggingjoy.com from SiteGround to Bluehost last year. Yes, my SiteGround GoGeek account is valid till 25th NOV, 2021. But I decided to switch my website from SiteGround hosting to Bluehost as I need to move these website gradually.
I have transferred this website to Cloudways recently. If you are also trying to switch to Cloudways then this tutorial will help you to migrate your website from SiteGround To Cloudways Hosting. This article will cover all your queries like.
- How To Move Web Hosting From SiteGround to Bluehost
- How do I transfer from SiteGround to Bluehost?
- How To Transfer Your Website From SiteGround To Bluehost?
- How to migrate a WordPress site to Bluehost
Table of Contents
Why To Migrate From SiteGround To Bluehost?
If you are not aware, then let me tell you that SiteGround has recently increased its web hosting price. And it’s quite significant. Here is the new SiteGround Pricing: SiteGround StartUp cost will increase from $3.95 to $6.95, GrowBig plan from $5.95 to $9.99, and GoGeek Plan from $11.95 to $14.99 per month.
In such a situation, SiteGround is not at all a beginner-friendly cheap WordPress hosting providers. In fact, their StartUP plan is way costly with very limited features, which is not at all worth. That’s why I am writing this article for them who want to transfer their website to an affordable & reliable hosting, like Bluehost.
Is Bluehost Better Than SiteGround?
Don’t rush to get into any conclusion. First of all, just try to understand what is your need and then accordingly judge the product. As I have mentioned, my website is still on SiteGround and I am really happy with their service.
But after the price rise, it looks like your expenses will go high. One can’t deny that. Now, if you are looking for Managed Hosting plans with priority support, advanced-cache, then SiteGround GoGeek plan undoubtedly a good plan.
But from a beginner’s point of view, is it possible to spend such a high cost even if the plans are good? In fact, if you compare the basic plans of Bluehost Vs SiteGround as per the features & pricing, you will easily understand that SiteGround is more an affordable WordPress hosting providers.
Bluehost Choice Plus
- Price is $5.45/mo after initial discount (3 Yrs)
- Offers FREE Domain
- Renewal Price $14.99/mo
- Unlimited SSD Disk Space
- No traffic limit
- Unlimited Domains
- Domain Privacy + Protection
- Site Backup + Code Guard
SiteGround StartUP
- Starting Price $6.99/mo with 53% discount
- No Free Domain
- Renewal Price $14.99
- 10 GB Space
- 10,000 visits/mo Traffic Limit
- Only 1 website
- No Domain Privacy
- Only automatic Backup, no On-Demand Backup
So, you can see that the SiteGround STARTUP plan is even more expensive compared to the top Bluehost Choice Plus plan with many features. Yes, just check with the Bluehost Choice Plus plan, you can getting so many things.
But if you compare SiteGround GoGeek Vs Bluehost Choice Plus, then definitely GoGeek will win the battle based on performance & quality. But for that, you have to be ready to pay such a high price as well.
But for a beginner, when you need a best-shared hosting plan to start blogging, then why to worry too much? Start with a decent hosting under budget (E.g. Bluehost with a $2.95/mo price), work more on creating amazing content, and grow your blog.
When you start getting more traffic, feel free to switch your hosting if you feel it’s not worth it. But as a beginner, no need to spend a huge amount of money to get started. Keep a track of upcoming Bluehost Black Friday 2021 Sale to maximum discount.
How To Buy Hosting From Bluehost With Max Discount?
So, as you have decided to migrate your website from SiteGround To Bluehost, you need to buy hosting from Bluehost. Bluehost offers cheap & affordable hosting with premium features like Free SSL Certificate, Free Domain Name etc. Let me guide you to buy hosting from Bluehost using the best Bluehost Promo Code offer.
Step 1: Use This link to visit Bluehost Official website. This link will activate the Special Bluehost Pricing $2.95/mo. By default you may get $3.95/mo in most cases, but if you use our link you can get some extra discount.
Step 2: Bluehost offers 3 different hosting plans under shared hosting or WordPress hosting plan. You’ll see a Basic, Plus, Choice Plus, and a Pro plan. Although the BASIC plan is the cheapest, but if you want unlimited domains you must go with PLUS or Choice Plus Plan.
- Bluehost Basic Plan ($2.95/mo): good for someone who wants to run only a single site
- Bluehost Plus Plan ($5.45/mo): best and recommended one, where you can host unlimited websites
- Bluehost Choice Plus plan ($5.45/mo): You can go for the Choice Plus package in case you need Code Guard and domain privacy and are ready to pay a higher renewal fee
Step 3: Next click on the SELECT button and go to the next screen where you need to choose a domain name. Bluehost Offers a Free Domain name for the first year. So you can avail the domain in this step as free of cost.
Step 4: After that you need to provide all your personal details like email address, name, address etc.
Step 5: Now if you go for 36 month plan, you will be able to save maximum. You can see that the special $2.95/mo price is activated and you can buy Bluehost for next 3 years by paying only $106.
Step 6: Next you have to untick all the addons & features. Just follow the picture below and keep the settings that I kept.
Step 7: Finally you need to pay the amount using credit card. You can see that you have saved 67% on Bluehost for next 3 years and also get a free domain for first year.
That’s it. We are done with the purchase of hosting from Bluehost. Now let’s move our website from SiteGround To Bluehost account.
How To Transfer Your Website From SiteGround To Bluehost?
If you are starting your blogging journey and yet to decide on which hosting to buy, then I would recommend you to follow this guide to create a blog from scratch on Bluehost.
Now all SiteGround users, who are looking for some good SiteGround alternatives under budget, my recommendation is to start with Bluehost. As I always say, I only recommend products that I use. Check the list of Blogging Tools I use.
Previously, I have created a video while migrating the website WPBlogging360.com from FastComet To Bluehost with the help of the UpdraftPlus plugin. You can follow the exact steps to transfer your website from SiteGround To Bluehost.
Bluehost doesn’t offer free website migration service. If you want to avail of their service, you have to pay a good amount, I think $140 for that. But why pay money when you can do this your own just following the below steps?
Understand the exact steps to switch from SiteGround To Bluehost.
Step 1: Install UpdraftPlus Plugin (it’s free)
First of all you have to install the UpdraftPLUS Plugin on your website. We need to take the full-back up of the website. This is a free plugin and I have created a detailed video on this. You can watch this video and understand how to take the backup of your website.
Step 2: Download the backup files
I am sure you have watched that video and understand how to create backup files and then download them one by one. Just click on each file and download them on your computer. There are a total of 5 files. You have to make sure to keep them secure.
Step 3: Change the DNS records of Your Domain
So, we are done with all the work from the SiteGround side. Now we need to start the process to transfer the website from SiteGround To Bluehost. For that change your domain DNS records with Bluehost Nameserver records mentioned below.
- ns1.bluehost.com
- ns2.bluehost.com
My domain is with GoDaddy, so it’s easy for me to switch hosting companies. In case your domain is with SiteGround, then you have to transfer that domain from Siteground To Bluehost.
In case you want to transfer your GoDaddy Domain to Bluehost to get the Domain as FREE, then you can contact Bluehost and easily transfer the Domain. You need to provide the EPP Authorisation code for that. Watch the below video to find out how to get the EPP Authorisation code for GoDaddy Domain.
They will waive off the domain registration charge for the 1st year if you have to avail that offer while buying Bluehost Share WordPress hosting plan.
Step 4: Add Domain On Bluehost & Install WordPress
Now, if you have purchased the Bluehost plan already then fine, or else you can follow this tutorial to follow the exact steps to buy Bluehost shared WordPress hosting plan at a special price of $2.95/mo for the next 36 months.
After that, you have to set up a complete WordPress website on Bluehost. I have created a detailed guide on that topic, you can watch the video.
Step 5: Install UpdraftPlus Plugin Again & Restore
Now you can see a fresh WordPress installation on your domain. On that, you have to install the UpdraftPlus plugin again. This time after installation, upload all the 5 files that you have downloaded on the first step.
Select the files and click on the restore button. It will take some time, then your restore will complete and all the website data will transfer to the new Bluehost hosting. Just refresh the page, it will ask you the login details and as soon as you provide, you will get back your entire website.
Wrapping Up
That’s it. It is very easy to follow the process and I have done the same many times in the last couple of years. You can watch my videos carefully to get used to the process and if possible try with a dummy domain before transferring your main website from SiteGround To Bluehost.
Just remember one thing, as you are changing the DNS records, it may take some time to propagate the DNS records and during that time you may find little website down problems. That’s why I always recommend doing this kind of website transfer activities during the weekend or after working hours at night.
Personally, I didn’t find any issues and have transferred many websites without asking for anyone’s help or service. It’s better to learn everything in blogging so that you can work with less dependency. That’s why I always believe that a blogger is a one-man-army.
Anyway, I am sure you will find this website transfer tutorial from SiteGround to Bluehost useful. In case you have any doubt or questions, please feel free to write a comment below.