Most webmasters are reluctant to move their webhost because anytime problems can occur. However, there are solutions for all problems encountered so I thought I'd write a small article about how you can move the host without any problems.

Backup

      It is good to always make a backup of your site. Rather than wake up in a hopeless situation is much better to make two copies of your website and have them in emergency situations. If the site has a database then do a backup even for this.
If you move to a host that has a different control panel than the current host then make a manual copy because it can happen that the backup done in a different control panel can not be used on the new one. It also happens that the file structure can be different and therefore it is indicated a manual backup.

What should you do?

- Get the DNS from your new web host
- Ask your host provider not to change your DNS until you ask this
- Need a FTP client to upload files on the server

- Get a temporary URL from your web host so you can check the site before you change the DNS

Inform your visitors

      Always is better to announce the move on a new host. This is especially when you have an e-shop because users will believe that you want to go with their money. It is better to keep them informed of everything that happens with the remaining time until the final move to the other webhost will be finished.
Our advice is to try to make the transfer from one host to another in a time when traffic is lower on the site and make a new backup just before you start this action. If you have a big site we suggest you to do the transfer over several days and start with the less important files.

Change your DNS

      After you finish transferring files to the new webhost you can change your DNS. Change your old site error page to inform visitors about the move and give the URL to be accessed if it has changed. To be able to tell if everything is ok, change something on a page on the server and check if the change is visible.
Before releasing the website is better to wait several days until you can be sure that the transfer was made in full and that everything works properly.