Category: Website management

By Fei Lim  

When you have the need to switch web hosting companies, you can do so without causing any downtime to your web site at all. The fear of changing web host companies should never keep you from looking for a more reliable provider, or a company that offers better customer service or lower expenses. If you do all of the steps for switching hosts correctly, you can ensure that your website remains accessible to your site visitors throughout the entire transition- meaning you don't lose sales, potential customers or receive countless complaints from customers regarding an inaccessible website!

The first step you'll want to complete prior to canceling your current web host is to find a new one. Take some time to compare the features of the new host against the features of your existing host, as well as taking into consideration the features of the current host that go unused. This will allow you to get an accurate understanding of what you really need in a new host. If your current host gives you unlimited email accounts, and you are only making use of 3, why should you pay for a provider that offers so many accounts? Look for one that leaves some room for growth but that isn't charging you extra for all the additional features that you just don't need. When you find a hosting company that will be compatible with your web site needs, create your account and make sure it is fully set up. During this time, you will actually have two web host providers.

Next, log back into your original account with the web host you are looking to leave, and download all of your site files onto your computer. Don't forget any! You can usually do this painlessly using an FTP program, or sometimes a web host will provide an easy to use control panel to drag and drop the files right onto your hard drive. Ask for help from customer service (or a knowledgeable friend) if you need it.

Sign into your account with your new web host provider, and upload the files you saved from your old host. As this gets completed, at this very moment, you will have two websites that are exactly the same on two different web host servers. Verify that everything is working properly on the new host before you move on. If something didn't transfer correctly or it doesn't completely function as it should on the new host, take the time to make any updates or fixes that might be required to get databases, forms or other features to work on the new web host.

The next step is to obtain the name server information from the new hosting company. You might be able to get it from the account area, or you may need to call customer service and ask for it. Either way, make sure you have the correct information and then notify or log into the account where you registered your domain name. This is where you change the "name servers" to the information you obtained from the new host. (It's usually something like ns1.newhost.com).

Throughout this entire process, your customers and site visitors have been able to access your existing website on the existing web host. Once the name servers have been set with the domain registry, you have to wait between twelve and seventy two hours for the site to load from the new hosting servers.

Once the seventy hours have passed, you can cancel your original web host account, as the files are already on the new servers and once the name servers were changed to point at the new host your site has begun loading from the files on the new server. Provided you do all of the steps in order and correctly, you should have no problems switching hosting providers without any website downtime.