Sometimes it’s easy, most of the time it is not.
What a headache! If you’ve moved hosts and domains several times you’re probably an old hand at it; if not, you’re in trouble. You’ll probably need the assistance of someone that has some experience in this area.
Choosing a Hosting Provider
This is important folks. A bad hosting provider means a slow, cumbersome website and in today’s world, that means no one will want to be on your website. We love “a small orange” hosting company.
Moving Files
Your website should be flexible enough to move over to the new host without an issue. Hosts behave differently sometimes – there may be a difference in PHP version, the default files or any number of server settings that you’ll need to adjust or adapt to. Try to do as much research as possible about the different software versions each host is using. If there is a difference, give the new host a call and see if you can upgrade.
Moving the URL
Do you need a transfer or can you simply keep the domain where it is and change the nameservers? If you’re not sure what nameservers are then you’ll need some help here. Essentially they tell servers where to go to access your website.
If you’ve been using you old host’s webmail, that account will be essentially gone when you make the move. Be sure to back up important emails or export/download everything into outlook or some other mail program. Gmail is always a good option.
Testing
Test, test, test. and then test again. There’s no excuse for not having things working optimally when the move is complete. Be quick to fix bugs and have others take a look at the website or order a product (if you’re selling) and go through the entire order process to ensure everything is shipshape.