Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, has rightly quoted, “Change is the only constant in life.”
Starting an online business means having your own website and hosting it. With time, your business would grow and you’d outgrow your current hosting plan. The most obvious solution here is to upgrade your hosting plan to suit your needs. However, here lies the glitch, your current hosting provider doesn’t meet your needs anymore – these could be anything right from email services, bandwidth, support, storage etc. At a time like this, instead of sticking with your current not-so-competent hosting provider, the wise decision would be to switch. Let us see how to switch web hosts seamlessly without losing your sleep!
How to Transfer Web Hosting from One Company to Another – Steps to be followed:
Research and Choose a New Web Hosting Provider
The choice of a new web hosting provider is extremely important when you decide to switch from your existing web host. There are plenty of hosting providers in the market and it should not happen that you choose a service provider with exactly the same problems or worse, more issues than your current one. Detailed research on both the web hosting provider and their plans is a crucial first step.
Example: If you’re currently using Shared Hosting, and want to upgrade, but you’re not satisfied with your current web host then migrating to another web host is the solution. However, it is important to research your new potential web host. One way is to check customer reviews. Apart from this, you must check the upgraded plan you want to migrate to but also, their Shared Hosting plan to compare with your existing one. This will give you some idea about the services of the new web host on a real-time basis, helping you migrate with ease.
Make sure you choose a web host that would support your growing business needs for the long haul.
Inform your Website Customers
Transferring your website to a new host is a hassle-free process. Nevertheless, it is important that you inform your website customers about the possible downtime they might face while accessing your website during the transfer process. It is vital to keep your customers abreast of such a move as it helps retain your credibility and brand image.
A quick tip: You can load your website files on your new web host’s IP address before making the switch.
Take Website Backup
Now that you’ve chosen your new web host and even informed your customers about the move, you may think it is time to move! Before you proceed further, stop! Prevention is always better than cure and hence taking website backup is very important. A website backup ensures that all your website data is in a safe place so that if at all you end up losing your data, your business isn’t affected.
Apart from this, make sure to backup your database too by downloading the files, uploading them, and then restoring the database using your control panel or SSH.
Note down all the System Settings
With the backup done, record and save all important system settings like the software you use and their configurations along with your email and security settings.
Note: Make sure you transfer all your emails if you’re using a third-party application for emails.
Change your DNS records
Correctly updating the A records of your domain name on the Nameservers provided by your new web host is the most crucial step of all. To face minimum downtime it is recommended that you complete this process before migrating completely to your new host. The process can take up to 2 days, taking into consideration that your previous domain provider and web host are the same. You can read this to know how to manage your DNS records.
READ: Domain Names: What? Why? And most importantly – how much for?
Delete your Previous Account
Finally, you’ve moved to your new web hosting provider. Check if your website is performing as it should by testing it thoroughly.
There are 6 types of testing you should perform on your website:
- Functionality Testing
- Usability Testing
- Interface Testing
- Compatibility Testing
- Performance Testing
- Security Testing
You can read this article to understand in-depth how to perform these testings on your web application.
Once you’re convinced everything is in order, you can then delete your account and cancel the hosting package with your previous web hosting provider.
READ: Your Complete Guide to Transferring Your Domain Name to Another Registrar
In summary:
Switching your web host is seamless and the process of ‘how to transfer web hosting’ shouldn’t daunt you anymore! All you need to do is follow the above-mentioned steps and keep an eye on any possible issues that might arise. Most importantly remember to take website and database backup, and restore it too, as well as, keep your customer base informed about the switch. Wishing you a happy switch
