What to do when moving your website
Nothing inspires the same stomach-dropping fear as the phrase “We need to move the website.” A website move requires some planning and preparation to pull everything off smoothly, but it doesn’t have to wreck your week.
The important thing! Don’t panic.
It’s doable. And you don’t need to be a techno-wizard or code monkey to get it done right. You just need to know the right questions and the right people.
Checklist: Moving Your Website
With all the logistics surrounding a website move, it’s important to focus on the most important questions:
- How will this affect my domain name?
- How will this affect my website files?
- How will this affect my email?
- What else do I have hosted there?
If you don’t know the answers, that’s alright. Give us a call and we’ll walk you through it.
1) What is the name of your domain registrar?
“Domain” just means the address for your website. Like a mailbox number.
For “http://google.com”, the domain is “Google.com.”
“Registrar” means the company handling your domain, like GoDaddy or Omnis.
You can find the domain registrar information by checking your site at: WhoIs.DomainTools.com
Help, I’m lost!If you have no idea what that means, that’s okay too! We’ll help you figure it out.
2) Who is your website hosting provider?
Your “hosting provider” company stores all the files, databases, and scripts to run your website. If your domain is your address, the “hosting provider” is your landlord.
Sometimes the same company handles both your domain and your hosting.
3) How do you currently handle email?
Does your company use an Exchange server?
Are you accessing email via Outlook?
How many emails do you maintain?
Email can be tricky, but this is an important part of any server migration.
4) What else lives on that server?
The website may only be one piece of the puzzle. Consider other ways your company might be using the server, either in the past or currently.
Are you storing any important files for clients or internal staff?
Are you running any web applications that connect to this hosting account?
Do you have any backups of either your website or other company assets on the server?
Are you running any eCommerce transactions through this server?
5) Decide how to proceed.
Once you have this information in hand, you can decide how you want to proceed with your hosting migration.
Make moving your website easy.
Need help moving your website from one host to the other? We can help. Our team has moved websites big and small. It doesn’t have to interrupt your business or your life.
Let the professionals handle it, so you can get back to business.
Give us a call at 918.518.6576 or
Contact Us today!
Additional Resources:
Google Blog: Making site moves easier
Google Help Center: Transfer, move, or migrate your site
Google Developers: Moving mobile websites