Moving to a New Web Site Hosting Platform, Simplified

If you're a small business owner who has only had one web site hosting company, chances are you don't know the potential issues involved with making the switch. But everyone has moved from one residence to another at some point. When you look at switching web hosting packages through the familiar lens of moving from one apartment to another, making a hosting move is much easier to understand.

Browsing the Classifieds...Or Searching the Web

VPS

Whether you're looking for a new place to live or a new place for your business to live online, you'll want to do some shopping and research. Looking for a new apartment, you might browse classified ads or drive around the areas you want to live looking out for "For Lease" signs. You'll also probably ask for advice on which areas are desired and which are best avoided. Do the same when looking for a web host: search online, read reviews, contact people you trust to see the hosting service they use. Don't just blindly listen to a salesperson...that's how you end up with leaky pipes or a not-so-secure web host.

Also, moving because your site takes up too much space for your current hosting package, is a lot like upgrading from an efficiency to a roomy two-bedroom. You'll want to check for storage...or bandwidth. Avoid automatically opting for what's cheapest...remember those leaky pipes?

Back Up Before You Pack Up

Before moving your website, be sure to back up the entirety of your website to guard against losing anything in transition. If you used movers to transport that antique dining room set, you'd get insurance, right?

Keep Your Info at Hand

Before making the move from one web site hosting provider to another, record security settings, email boxes, and software and configuration information. Think about it like labeling boxes filled with kitchen supplies, linens, or your prized collection of Frank Sinatra vinyl sides. It makes the unpacking much easier once the move is complete if everything is labeled and in the right place.

Remember Those Change of Address Forms

When you make a move, you fill out change of address information for all of your important bills (yeah, it's tempting to leave those behind, but it'll come back to bite you in the end), right? Likewise, when moving to new web hosting, you need to update your domain name information with the name server information used by your new web hosting company. Once a change has been initiated, it can take up to two days for DNS servers to learn that your website now lives on a different server-just like that birthday gift from Aunt Edna that went to your old address and took a while to show up at the new one.

Moving to a New Web Site Hosting Platform, Simplified