Moving your website to a new host: what actually happens
Lots of people stay with a slow or expensive host for years because moving sounds risky. They worry the website will go down, emails will get lost, or something will break. Done properly, a migration is calm and boring. This is how it works.
1. Take stock of what you have
Before anything moves, list everything your current host provides:
- The website files (and the database, if you use WordPress or another CMS)
- Email accounts and any forwarders
- DNS records, including any that point to other services such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
- Scheduled tasks, SSL certificates and any custom server settings
2. Copy, don't move
The website is copied to the new hosting while the old site stays live. Visitors keep seeing the current site and nothing changes for them yet. On our platform you can preview the new copy on a temporary address to check it all works.
3. Test everything
Check that contact forms, logins, the shop checkout and images all work. Problems are much easier to fix at this stage, while the old site is still serving your visitors.
4. Switch the DNS
When everything checks out, the domain's DNS is pointed at the new host. The change usually takes effect within a few hours. During that time some visitors see the old site and some see the new one. Because both copies are identical, nobody notices.
Tip: lower your DNS "TTL" a day before switching. Changes then spread faster, which makes the switch even smoother.
5. Move email carefully
Email needs the most attention. Create the mailboxes on the new host first, then switch the mail (MX) records, then copy across old messages. Done in that order, no incoming mail is lost.
6. Keep the old account for a week
Don't cancel your old hosting the same day. Keep it for about a week as a safety net while everything settles.
Or let us do it for you
We migrate websites to HostWithUs247 free of charge, whether you're on cPanel, Plesk, plain Linux hosting or WordPress. Your files stay safe and there's little to no downtime. Request a free migration or compare our hosting plans.