Migrating to WPEngine: How to Do It With a FREE Plugin

Back in June, I decided to switch from SiteGround to WPEngine for this site's web hosting. While WPEngine does not offer free migration support services like SiteGround does, migrating to WPEngine on my own was surprisingly easy thanks to its FREE plugin.

Below, I'll outline the WPEngine migration process so you can do it yourself!

Note: This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you buy from my link I might make a small commission. This does not affect the price you pay. See the full affiliate disclosure here.

Table of Contents

How to Migrate to WP Engine With a Plugin (for FREE)

Before we begin, you'll need to have two tabs open in your browser:

Your WP Engine dashboard.
Your WordPress website dashboard.

You'll be toggling back and forth between these two so this will make your life easier. Trust me.

Step 1: Download the WP Engine Automated Migration plugin.

Log into WordPress. Go to “Plugins” > “Add New” and search for “WP Engine Automated Migration.” This is WP Engine's official migration plugin, and it's free.

Step 2: Activate the plugin.

After you click “Install” on the plugin, click “Activate.”

Step 3: Log into WP Engine account and locate SFTP credentials.

Now, toggle to your WP Engine dashboard.

Step 4: Paste credentials into plugin.

Toggle back to your WordPress dashboard and find “WPEngine Migration” in your lefthand menu.

This is where you paste your SFTP credentials. See screenshot below:

Step 5: Click “Migrate.”

Once you've entered all your credential information, click the blue “Migrate” button.

You'll have to wait for a little while as BlogVault migrates your site to WP Engine.

Once your site has been successfully migrated to WP Engine, you should see the following message:

Step 6: Add domain.

Now, you need to add your domain to WP Engine.

6a) Go to your WP Engine dashboard and click “Sites”

6b) Click your environment from the list. If you only have one, choose that.

6c) Click “Domains” in the lefthand menu and add your domain.

Step 7: Check your staging site.

Before pushing your site live, WP Engine gives you a staging site where you can check everything out to make sure it migrated over correctly. They send you the link to the staging site, so be sure to go there and check it out.

Click around and make sure all the links work, images are in the right place, and all the text is there.

Once you've thoroughly inspected the staging site, you can push it live.

Need Help Migrating to WPEngine?

Option 1: Open a support ticket with WP Engine (but they won't actually DO the migration for you).

Option 2: Hire iMark Interactive to finish the migration for you and make sure it's done correctly! (This is what I did).

You can hire iMark Interactive to complete the migration for you and check everything out to make sure your site has successfully migrated over and gone live. It cost me $78.30 and was well worth the convenience and peace of mind!