Register for the Next Webinar (We'll notify you via email)
Moving a website you've run for years can feel risky. You have members who log in, paying subscriptions, pages people have bookmarked, and visitors who find you on Google. The good news is that none of that has to be lost, and you don't have to switch everything over in one nerve-racking afternoon.
In the video above, you'll see the whole move in about two minutes: building your new site while the old one stays live, importing your members and content from spreadsheets, recreating your pages, keeping the traffic you've already earned, and connecting your domain when you're ready.
Why It's Easier Than It Looks
- Your current website stays live. You build your new site on the free test address every Brilliant Directories site starts with, so your members never see a half-finished site.
- Spreadsheets do the heavy lifting. Member categories, members and posts can all be imported from CSV files instead of being typed in one by one.
- Paying members carry their billing with them. Subscription details can be imported along with each member, so their plans and billing continue on your new site.
- Old links keep working. A 301 redirect sends anyone who uses an old address straight to the new page, including Google.
- You switch over when you're ready. The Domain Manager walks you through connecting your domain step by step, on your schedule.
What It Takes, Start to Finish
- Build on your free test address. Every new site starts on a free directoryup.com address. Work there, or on a subdomain of your own, for as long as you need.
- Set up your membership plans first. Go to Finance » Membership Plans. Every member you import is assigned to a plan, so the plans need to exist before the members do.
- Import your member categories. In My Members » Member Categories, click Import Categories and upload your category spreadsheet. Do this before importing members, so each member lands in the right category. How to import categories via CSV.
- Import your members. Go to My Members » Import Members and upload your members spreadsheet. For paying members, include their subscription start date, billing cycle and Stripe customer ID, and their billing carries over. How to import members via CSV.
- Import your posts. Articles, events, blog posts and other content can be brought in through My Content » Manage Posts with Import Post File. How to import posts via CSV.
- Recreate your other pages. Your About page, Sign Up page and info pages are rebuilt in My Content » Web Page Builder. If you have the HTML code from your old pages, paste it into Code View. Or ask BD Butler, the built-in AI assistant, to recreate the page for you.
- Connect your domain. When everything is ready, open Settings » Domain Manager and follow the steps to point your domain at your new site. How to connect a live domain name.
The Most Important Step: Keep the Visitors You Already Have
Your most popular pages are the ones people have bookmarked, shared and found on Google. If those addresses stop working after the move, that traffic is gone. Before you switch, open Google Analytics and export a list of your most-visited pages. Depending on the size of your site, that might be your top 50 or top 100.
Then go down the list and make sure each one has a matching page on your new site. Where an address stays the same, you're done. Where it changes, add a 301 redirect in Developer Hub » 301 Redirect Rules (see the 301 redirects guide). It works like a forwarding address: someone visiting /resources/guide.html lands on /member-resources automatically, and Google updates its listing to match. Have a lot of them? Click Import CSV and upload them all from one spreadsheet, as shown in Import 301 Redirects via CSV File.
Before You Switch Your Domain
- Check your email first. If you have email addresses on your domain, such as [email protected], find out who hosts that email before you connect your domain. Changing your domain's settings can interrupt email if you skip this step. How to connect a domain to a Brilliant Directories website covers what to check.
- Moving to a new domain name? Set up forwarding at your domain registrar so the old domain sends visitors to the new one.
- Let Google know. Use the Change of Address tool in Google Search Console so Google moves your listings to the new domain.
- Tell your members. A short email announcing the move, with a link to the new site, saves a lot of confused messages.
A Few Ways to Plan Your Move
- Running a small site with a few pages? Most owners handle a move like this on their own. Recreate the pages, import your members, add a handful of redirects and switch over.
- Moving a large member database? Set up your plans and categories first, then test your import on a few rows before uploading the full file.
- Not ready to replace your old site yet? You can run your Brilliant Directories site alongside it on a subdomain and link the two together. The guide to using Brilliant Directories with an existing website covers all three options.
For the complete checklist, including your Google Maps API key and email accounts, read Moving an Existing Site to Brilliant Directories. Rebuilding your join page as part of the move? See how to create a better sign-up page instantly, and read more about AI page generation.
Ready to make the move? Start a free trial website today, book a live demo, or get in touch with our team.
