How to Switch to a New Web Host
You are probably going to spend a considerable amount of time looking at the various web hosts before making a choice. More than likely, you are going to make a sound decision and you’re going to be happy with the people that you choose to host your website.
Unfortunately, there will probably come a day whenever you need to change hosts from one to another. Perhaps you outgrew your old hosting company and need to make the switch in order to grow your business further. It may also be possible that what was once a good hosting company has turned sour for some reason or another and you are looking for greener pastures. In either case, you are going to need to move your data from one host to another.
This can seem like a rather daunting task and to tell you the truth, it can be a bit overwhelming if you have never done it before. There are a few things for you to keep in mind, however, and as long as you take it step by step, things should run fairly smoothly for you.
The first thing that you should do is to get a fresh backup of everything off of your old server. Although you may have been getting backups all along (and if you haven’t you should start now), you want to make sure that you have the absolute newest data that is available.
Many of the control panels that come with the various hosts give you the opportunity to download the data directly to your computer. Make sure that you download everything, from the web files to any databases that are available and even e-mail files and settings.
Once you are certain that you have a good backup of everything, it’s time to switch hosts.
The process of switching hosts should actually began well before you ever backup any data. The reason why I say this is because it is much easier to switch to a new host that is using the same control panel. For example, if you are moving from a host that uses cPanel to a new host that also uses cPanel, you can simply allow the server to make the transfer for you.
If you are uploading data to a new server using a different control panel, the task will be a bit more difficult. If it is straight web files that you are uploading, it is a simple matter of uploading them to the proper directories. If you are uploading databases, on the other hand, you might have to go into PHPmyAdmin in order to upload them properly. This is a fairly seamless process and it usually goes off without a hitch.
Only after you are certain that all of your files have been uploaded to your new host properly should you point your domain name, using the name servers, to the new hosting company. It may take some time for the name server change to propagate throughout the Internet, but once it does, you will quickly know whether you did everything right or not.
If the worst happens and that nothing is right on your new host, quickly point the name servers back to your old hosting company until you’re able to get things straightened out. That is the reason why we always recommend that you keep your old hosting company for a minimum of 30 days after you have switched to your new hosting company.
Nobody said that this was going to be easy but if it is a smart move, it will be well worth it in the long run.
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