Moving a website to a new host is a routine job, and it goes wrong in predictable ways: the site is down for hours, email stops, a form breaks or search rankings dip. All of those are avoidable with a bit of order. This is the checklist we work through.
How to tell your host is the problem
- The site is slow even when it is lightly used, and has been for months.
- It goes down more than occasionally, and you hear about it from customers.
- There are no backups you can restore yourself, or nobody has tested one.
- The server runs old software that cannot be upgraded.
- Support is slow, scripted or unreachable.
- You cannot see or control your own files, database or DNS.
Before you move, make sure it is the host. A bloated theme or too many plugins can slow a good server, and a move will not fix that.
Step 1: Record what you have
Write down, or export, everything that exists today: the domain registrar and login, where DNS is managed, all DNS records, where email is hosted, the website platform and version, installed plugins, scheduled jobs and any third-party services that connect to the site. Surprises during a move are almost always something nobody wrote down.
Step 2: Take a full backup
Take a complete copy of the files and the database, and store it somewhere other than the old host. Confirm you can open it. This is also your way back if anything goes wrong.
Step 3: Separate website from email
This is the step people skip. Website hosting and email are often at the same company, and they are controlled by different DNS records. Changing the wrong record moves the website and silently breaks email, or the other way around. Find out where your mailboxes live, and make sure the mail records stay exactly as they are unless you are moving email on purpose.
Step 4: Build the site on the new host
Copy the files and database to the new server and bring it up under a temporary address, or by pointing only your own computer at the new server for testing. Visitors should not see any of this.
Step 5: Test properly
- Pages, images and menus load, and links go to the right place.
- Forms send, and the message arrives.
- Logins, shopping carts and payments work in a test.
- The security certificate is valid on the new server.
- Redirects and the XML sitemap behave as before.
- Scheduled tasks and backups are running.
Step 6: Lower the time-to-live
A day or so before the switch, reduce the time-to-live on the records you will change to a few minutes. That way, when you point the domain at the new server, the world sees the change quickly instead of over hours.
Step 7: Freeze changes, copy once more, and switch
Pause content changes and orders for a short window, take a fresh copy of the database so nothing made since the first copy is lost, and then change the DNS to point at the new host. Check the site from a phone on mobile data as well as from your computer, since different networks pick up the change at different times.
Step 8: Watch, then keep the old host a while
Leave the old hosting in place for a couple of weeks. It costs little, and it gives you a safe fallback if something turns up late. In that time, watch your uptime alerts and check Search Console for crawl errors. Once everything is steady, cancel the old plan, and raise the time-to-live back to a normal value.
What not to change at the same time
Moving host is a good moment to be tempted into a redesign, new addresses or a new platform. Do those separately. If the web addresses stay the same and the content is the same, search engines see nothing but a faster server, and rankings are preserved.
Want a hand?
Moves, new hosting and the DNS and email work around them are part of our website and IT management service, and we also run containerised hosting where it suits. Start with a free site review, request a call or email [email protected].
