Transfer or map my domain?

  • Unknown's avatar
    diversifyingecon · Member ·

    I have an existing website and domain name. I want to create a new version of the site on WordPress.com, and then, once that’s done, point the old domain name to the new WordPress site. I want to keep using the old version of the site until the new version is ready.

    Should I choose the Map my Domain rather than Transfer my Domain? And, once done, from the perspective of site visitors, is there any difference in load speed with mapping rather than transferring?

    I don’t have a site with WordPress.com yet

  • staff-totoro · Staff ·

    Hi there,

    Yes it’s no problem to get your site all set up, and then connect your custom domain right at the end when you are ready to launch.

    From a performance standpoint there is no difference between domain mapping and transferring it directly to your account. The primary advantage of transferring the domain is that it’s included free with any of our upgrade plans, and after you transfer we add a free year of registration so you do not need to renew again until the following year. Learn more about our WordPress.com Premium Plan here: https://wordpress.com/pricing/

    However, transferring a domain can take a few days (it’s not as fast as you would think) so I usually recommend mapping the domain first. Then, once it is mapped and you see your new WordPress.com site at the URL, you can transfer in a second step.

    The advantage of mapping first is that you can transfer any time after that and the transfer is completely seamless and results in no downtime.

    Hope that helps. Please let us know if you have any more questions.

  • Unknown's avatar
    gabriellecosey4933 · Member ·

    Thank you, jerrysarcastic. That was really helpful. I will start by mapping and then transfer.

    Just to check, when I first create my new site, I can start with any domain name, something temporary like “mysitename.wordpress.com”, and then once I map the site will be renamed to my real domain name and the temporary site name will not be public. Correct?

  • Unknown's avatar
    gabriellecosey4933 · Member ·

    Oops I am the OP

  • staff-mckluskey · Staff ·

    That is correct. Once you add your custom domain and set it as your primary address, visitors will only see the custom domain, not the free address.

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