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Ben McCahill migration case study

How an Indie Author Conquered His Fear of Website Migrations 

Written By: author image Joella Dunn
author image Joella Dunn
Joella is a writer with years of experience in WordPress. At Duplicator, she specializes in site maintenance — from basic backups to large-scale migrations. Her ultimate goal is to make sure your WordPress website is safe and ready for growth.
     Reviewed By: John Turner
reviewer image John Turner
John Turner is the President of Duplicator. He has over 20+ years of business and development experience and his plugins have been downloaded over 25 million times.

300 million self-published books fly off the virtual shelves every year. That’s the booming world of indie publishing today. 

But many of these authors need help managing their online presence.

For indie authors, a website is their brand, their storefront, and their lifeline to readers. Yet, many find themselves caught in a web of technical nightmares.

Ben McCahill is a retired engineer turned author. He bounced from host to host, wrestled with uncooperative themes, and watched in horror as his precious content seemed to vanish into the digital void.

Ben’s journey from stressed-out writer to confident website owner is a tale many can relate to – and one that led him to discover a powerful ally: Duplicator Pro!

Meet Ben McCahill

Ben McCahill isn’t your typical retiree. While many dream of golf courses and leisurely days, Ben traded his engineer’s hat for a writer’s pen. And he hit the ground running.

Since diving into the world of indie publishing in 2023, Ben has been a whirlwind of creativity. He published one book and has three more in the pipeline. So much for a quiet retirement!

But Ben’s ambitions didn’t stop at books. He founded ActiveCitizen.ai, a digital hub where creativity, personal identity, and the impact of AI collide. It’s a space where Ben explores what he calls “authentic intelligence” in our rapidly changing world.

ActiveCitizen.ai website

For Ben, ActiveCitizen.ai isn’t just a website. It’s the heart of his author brand where he connects with readers and fellow thinkers.

There was just one problem: keeping that platform alive and thriving proved to be far more challenging than Ben ever anticipated.

The Challenge of Finding the Best Platform For Ben’s Writing

Ben had a simple goal: create a great site to showcase his work. But what seemed straightforward on paper quickly turned into a maze of technical challenges.

“I’m not an admin person,” Ben confesses. “I’m just a new author who wants a great site.”

Yet, he found himself playing the roles of web developer and troubleshooter — all while trying to focus on his true passion: writing.

Ben’s journey took him across multiple hosts, each promising to be the perfect solution. He experimented with various content management systems, from self-hosted WordPress installations to specialized platforms like Ghost.

Ben found his creative energy drained by technical troubleshooting. He had a real wake-up call when disaster struck. 

“At a fairly early stage in my writing, I made a change to my site and everything just seemed to disappear. This was terrifying, and it was days before I got a satisfactory response. What was even worse was that once I elected to move platforms I got zero assistance to help with technical details or migration assistance.”

This highlighted a harsh reality for Ben: his valuable content was effectively being held hostage by platforms he couldn’t fully control or trust.

It was clear something needed to change. Ben needed a solution that would let him focus on writing while ensuring his website remained secure and flexible.

Making Migrations Easy with Duplicator Pro

At the end of the day, Ben McCahill had no idea if his hard work was going to disappear again. There are tons of content management systems out there, and he wanted to try a few different platforms without losing data along the way.

“Many sites offer to take care of everything — but what if that site goes down, or access policies change, or pricing starts to get out of control? No matter how often the site offers a backup service, how do I ensure that all of my data is 100% secured?”

Ben’s goal was to find the best option for every part of his site. But how do you safely experiment with different web hosts, e-commerce platforms, or themes?

Finally, Ben found Duplicator as the solution to his problems. For Ben, Duplicator wasn’t just another WordPress plugin. It was the key to unlocking true digital independence.

Whenever he wants to move to a new host or platform, Duplicator makes this easy. All he has to do is create a full package of his old site and upload it to the new server.

Upload cloned site files

Ben described his journey as a hermit crab changing its shell.

“Duplicator provides a safe and secure way to minimize that time when moving from one shell to another.”

Along with full site migrations, Duplicator helps with theme changes. If Ben wants to try out a new theme, design, or style, he can back up his website first. Duplicator has one-click restore buttons to undo anything that went wrong.

Duplicator restore button

As an author, this data security is so important. Everything on Ben’s website is vital for his career. With Duplicator, he doesn’t have to worry about losing anything!

Results

With Duplicator, Ben McCahill was able to:

  • Significantly reduce his website management stress
  • Reduce time spent on technical issues, allowing him to focus more on writing and selling books
  • Easily migrate between hosts or platforms without fear of data loss
  • Secure his data through regular, reliable backups
  • Scale his website as his audience grows
  • Not settle for subpar platforms due to fear of moving
  • Gain control over his online presence without needing to become a web expert

Summary

Every author deserves the freedom to be creative without worrying about technical website issues. Because Duplicator protects his data, Ben can focus on what truly matters: his writing.

“I always insist that I have ‘safe passage’ assured across providers and platforms thanks to the independent control that Duplicator gives me.”

Isn’t it time you gave your creative projects the protection they deserve? Get Duplicator Pro today and start focusing on what you do best — telling your story.

author avatar
Joella Dunn Content Writer
Joella is a writer with years of experience in WordPress. At Duplicator, she specializes in site maintenance — from basic backups to large-scale migrations. Her ultimate goal is to make sure your WordPress website is safe and ready for growth.

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