While moving your site to a new host appears daunting, as long as you take the time plan it out and make all of the necessary changes during setup and pre-migration — it's easier than you think. Whether you are after faster performance, or more responsive support from your web hosting provider — whether the price is high or super-low — there is always that need to switch. When the time comes put your best self together and follow this in-depth guide by hosting experts (as proof) on how to change web hosts […]
1. Choose a New Hosting Provider
Research and choose a new hosting provider to migrate your website will work for you. Take into account information like server performance, uptime guarantees, customer support, as well as pricing. Step three: signup for a hosting plan after selecting your choice.
2. Backup Your Website
But before you do any of the changes, create a complete backup of your current website. That means all the files, databases and configuration. When using a CMS, you can backup with plugins (like backupeverything.io for WordPress), or download files via FTP and export database with tools like phpMyAdmin.
3. Move your Website Domain Name (if From Needed)
When migrating your Hosting Provider, if you are also changing domain Registrars (most common), you will have to unlock your Domain and get an Authorization code from that one. Simply follow the instruction you are going to get from your new registrar in order to complete the transfer.
4. Move Your Website Files to the New Host
After creating your new hosting account, the next step in this migration process is to upload all of your website files onto this new server. Step 2: Transfer your files through FTP Clients like FileZilla or the built-in file manager of the new host Right, so, ensure that you copy over all files with the old directory structure from previous host.
5. Import Your Database
If your website employs a database (which WordPress does), you will have to import the database to the new hosting account. In your new host, create a database and user using phpMyAdmin and then import the file you exported above in this new database.
6. Update Configuration Files
Following your database import, you may also have to change any configuration files that includes the previous db information. For example, in WordPress it can be edited in `wp-config. php` file and change the old database name, username and password to your new one.
7. Test Your Website
Test your website with a temporary URL or by editing the local hosts file before you point your domain to the new host. It gives you the opportunity to test everything works on your new server before it goes live.
8. Update DNS Settings
After you have satisfied with new setup its time to Update your DNS settings. Go to your domain registrar and change them to the new hosting providers nameservers Please note that DNS changes can take up to 48 hours.
9. Monitor Your Website
After the migration has been done and your DNS has propagated, you should watch your website like a hawk for anything to go wrong. Test for links that are broken, images missing or do not work. And deal with any problem immediately.
10. Decommission Your Old Hosting Account
After you're sure that the migration is successful and that your website operates properly with the new host, you can terminate service with your previous hosting account. Just make sure everything you download is saved locally before closing your computer.
Conclusion
By transferring your site only to another hosting provider, you do not need that it will be nervous. Stick to such steps and get planned well in advance so that you may be able to ensure a successful transition i.e. elevating your website performance & reliability easily as well. Take your time at each step of the migration process, and do not feel hesitate to contact support teams if you face any issues.
