Hosting transfer methods
Basically, the method depends on the hosting provider. For instance, certain hosting providers offer website transfer. All you need to do is give the company representative access to your control panel (the link to it and the login credentials). This kind of service can be paid or free. By the way, regardless of whom is moving your websites, the company representative or you, the risks are almost equal.
In case your hosting provider does not offer hosting transfer or you prefer to do this on your own, the following instructions should be helpful.
Where to start?
Firstly, you need to purchase hosting from the new provider. Then you have to make sure that your current hosting will not expire during the transfer.
After that you need to archive all of your website files and databases and start the moving process.
Which FTP-client to choose?
In case you don’t have a favourite one, we recommend to use FileZilla (available for all operating systems) or Total Commander for Windows. You can also use the FTP-client provided by the hosting company.
FTP-client login credentials are sent to the email address used during registration or you can find them in the control panel.
So, let’s say you’ve chosen a hosting provider and logged in to the FTP-client.
What next?
Then you have to upload your files to the server. To do this, you need to locate the root catalogue and it’s name. Usually, when you connect to the FTP-server for the first time, the required catalogue is shown automatically. It can be called ‘public_html’ or ‘www’ (or any other name, these are the most commonly used ones).
Once done, you need to open this folder, open the archive with your files in the FTP-client and copy the files to the root folder. The file structure should remain the same, if the files were archived correctly.
How to import a database?
You need to get a copy of the database from your current hosting provider. It can be a file with the following extensions: .sql, .db, dbf, .mdf (Microsoft MySQL), .accdb(Microsoft Access) etc.
In most cases to import a database you will need phpMyAdmin that is usually installed on the server so you can access it through your control panel.
Note! Before importing a database you need to create a new database on the side of the new hosting provider because, most likely, it is not created automatically. You can create the database either in the control panel or through phpMyAdmin, depending on the control panel.
We have a separate article about database import here.
Once the database is imported successfully, it is required to re-connect it to your website as it contains outdated information (the host and login credentials from the previous hosting provider). You can find the new data in the email that was sent after you’ve ordered hosting or in the hosting control panel. Then it is required to edit the configuration file to add the received data. The name of this file depends on the CMS that was used to develop the website (for example, wp-config.php, configuration.php, config.php).
Once done, you can check if the website is resolving and working correctly from your control panel. The hosting provider should provide you with service address of the website for this purpose.
Also, don’t forget to re-create the emails and set up previously configured cron-jobs on the side of the new hosting provider because they are not created automatically.
To avoid issues with launching your website check the php and MySQL versions on the side of both new and previous hosting provider. If needed, change the corresponding settings on the side of the new hosting provider.
If everything works fine, the last step would be to point your domain name to the new hosting. Be prepared that your site may be down for some time after the switch (from 1 hour to 24-48 hours depending on the way you redirect your domain).
Note! Don’t forget to add the domain name to the hosting control panel. You can find detailed instructions in the hosting provider’s FAQ.
You can point the domain name to your hosting in the following ways:
- By pointing the domain name to an IP-address. You need to obtain the server IP address from your hosting provider and then change the A-records on the side of your domain registrar (or previous hosting provider).
- By changing the domain nameservers. You can also obtain them from your new hosting provider and then change the nameservers on the side of your domain registrar (or previous hosting provider).
Note! It is not necessary to transfer the domain name itself to the new hosting provider. You’ll just need to remember to renew it on time on the side of your previous hosting provider (or domain registrar).
