Change hosting in 5 steps guide

Change hosting in 5 steps guide

You have registered a domain with a third party domain registration service and you want to change your web hosting provider or web host. There are many articles on the Internet teaching you how to change web hosts, but many of them are too general, confusing and do not provide a clear outline of the steps to follow. The following is a step-by-step guide that explains in 5 steps how to protect yourself from possible data loss, minimize your website downtime and advises you on how to find the best quality service for your money. If you are looking for a good and reliable web hosting provider that offers excellent webmaster tools and a simple-cheap service then feel free to check out this web hosting provider.

Step 1 – New Web Host

 Apparently you were not happy with your current provider, if you are reading this article. It’s good to think about alternatives. But before quitting your current provider and registering yourself with a new one, make sure you considered all your critical needs and requirements and addressed them to the new web hosting provider. Choose your new provider carefully and without rush. It is so easy nowadays with search engines to find feedback on interested web hosts. Before registering with a new web host enquire also on all additional costs, as some may charge domain transferring fees.

Step 2 – Full back-up

You shall understand the risks related to the hosting transfer process. During the transfer the data from one web server is transferred to another. However, data loss may occur for various technical reasons if no back-ups were created in advance. Make sure you copy all the files, scripts and database (if used) for your website to a local computer. Don’t forget to copy also important configuration information.

Don’t forget to write down your website Whois information (contact details, including home addresses and phone numbers, given upon registration of your domain). You have a good opportunity to verify that you are registered as an owner of your domain. In case you are not, you won’t be able to transfer the website to the new host. You may ask your new web host to assist you with the domain transferring process, but enquire about all possible additional assistance fees in advance. Some web hosts willingly assist to their new clients with the transfer processes and take most of the work on themselves. But you can also do it, so don’t be discouraged.

Step 3 – New website setup

Register yourself with your new web hosting provider. Copy backed-up website data from your computer to the new web host. Don’t forget about database files, if you are using one. Generally you will be given a temporary domain that you can use for testing until you switch completely and start using your website as the primary one. Check all possible changes that could happen due to the transfer process. For example verify that all relative links work, script paths function correctly, and you can send and receive e-mails. Don’t forget to test everything to make sure it’s all working. It might be not a bad idea, to make some new changes to your website so that you can easily see the difference on your new web host. You may also wish to inform your customers or visitors about an alternative e-mail, in case there will be some downtime.

Step 4 – DNS records update

Update the name servers of your new website hosting provider with your domain name registrar. The change generally takes up to 48 hours, but it might be wise to give up to 1 week in advance for the changes to propagate all way through the Internet. During the changing period some customers or visitors may see the old website and some the new one, but normally it’s hard to notice any difference. Importantly, search engines also ignore the changing period without making a difference on which server your website was accessed, so your ranking will not be affected.

Step 5 – Cancel existing web hosting

Now that you switched your domain name and verified that your website is up and fully functioning, you may cancel your existing web hosting. You may still end up paying two web hosting companies for one month, but the additional cost is not worth of switching website to the new host in the rush, being worried about possible data loss and long downtimes. It’s better to test that everything works with the new web host and only then cancel the existing one.

Good luck!

Source : http://www.registerwebhosting.com/change-hosting.php