How I Successfully Migrated 50+ WordPress Sites to Pressable for a Web Agency

Migrating WordPress websites at scale is no small feat—especially when handling multiple clients with minimal downtime. Recently, our agency undertook a massive migration project, moving 50+ WordPress sites from various hosting providers to Pressable, Automatic’s high-performance managed WordPress hosting.

The results? Faster load times, improved security, and happier clients.

In this post, I’ll break down our migration strategy, the challenges we faced, and why Pressable turned out to be the perfect choice for our agency’s hosting needs.

Why We Chose Pressable for Our Clients

Before committing to the migration, we evaluated several managed WordPress hosts (Kinsta, WP Engine, Flywheel). Here’s why Pressable won:

✅ Automattic-Backed Reliability – Built by the team behind WordPress.com, ensuring deep platform optimization.

✅ Effortless Scaling – Handles traffic surges without manual intervention.

✅ Built-in Performance Features – Free CDN (Jetpack), automatic caching, and PHP 8.0+ support.

✅ Agency-Friendly Tools – Centralized dashboard for managing multiple clients.

✅ 24/7 WordPress-Specific Support – A lifesaver during complex migrations.

Our Step-by-Step Migration Process

1. Pre-Migration Audit & Prep

• Backup Everything – Used UpdraftPlus and All-in-One WP Migration for redundancy.
• Clean Up Sites – Removed unused plugins/themes and optimized databases.
• Document All Custom Configs – Noted custom .htaccess rules, cron jobs, and server-level tweaks.

2. Setting Up Pressable for Multiple Clients

• Created separate Pressable “sites” per client under a single agency dashboard.
• Pre-configured staging environments for testing before going live.
• Enabled free SSL certificates (Pressable auto-configures Let’s Encrypt).

3. Migration Execution

We used two methods depending on site complexity:

A. Automated Plugin Migration (for smaller sites)

• Pressable’s built-in migration tool (simple, but limited for large sites).
• BlogVault (great for incremental syncs with near-zero downtime).

B. Manual Migration (for large, custom sites)

1. Exported databases via phpMyAdmin.
2. Transferred files via SFTP/rsync.
3. Updated DNS early with low TTL values to minimize propagation delays.
4. Used Cloudflare to manage DNS smoothly.

4. Post-Migration Checklist

✔ Test Everything – Forms, checkout pages, redirects.

✔ Verify HTTPS & Mixed Content – Used Really Simple SSL.

✔ Optimize Performance – Enabled Pressable’s Object Cache Pro (Redis alternative).

✔ Monitor for Errors – Used New Relic & Sentry for real-time debugging.

Biggest Challenges & How We Solved Them

🔹 Downtime Fears → Staggered migrations during low-traffic hours + maintenance mode.

🔹 Email Downtime → Kept MX records on old host until full cutover.

🔹 Plugin Conflicts → Tested in staging first, then used WP Rollback if needed.

🔹 Client Communication → Sent pre- and post-migration reports with performance benchmarks.

The Results: Why Pressable Was Worth It

🚀 40-60% Faster Load Times (TTFB improved dramatically).

🔒 Enhanced Security – Automatic updates, malware scanning, and DDoS protection.

📉 Fewer Support Tickets – Clients noticed fewer crashes and slowdowns.

💡 Scalability – No more “resource limit exceeded” errors during traffic spikes.

Key Takeaways for Agencies Considering Pressable

1. Start with a staging site – Test thoroughly before going live.
2. Use a DNS manager like Cloudflare – Makes cutovers smoother.
3. Document everything – Server settings, plugins, and custom code.
4. Leverage Pressable’s support – Their team knows WordPress inside-out.

Final Thoughts

Migrating 50+ sites was a massive undertaking, but Pressable’s infrastructure and tools made it manageable. Our clients now enjoy faster, more secure websites—and our team spends less time firefighting hosting issues.

Considering Pressable for your agency’s WordPress sites? I’d highly recommend it.

Have you migrated to Pressable or another managed host? What was your experience? Let’s discuss in the comments! 👇