How to Easily Migrate Your Website to a New Hosting Service
If you’re reading this, I assume you’re either a: a website owner who’s currently hosting their websites on a limited scope server or b: a web developer who’s currently working on project sites for clients and needs to migrate these sites to a new hosting service.
Often times, transitioning from one host to another can feel like a hassle. In most cases, you’ll have to manually download and install a large set of files before you can actually start using the new hosting service. Even then, you’ll have to take the time to configure a whole slew of settings on your new host – all of which are different from what you’re accustomed to. And if you’re working with a developer, this can be quite the ordeal. So, let’s take a look at how you can make this process as easy as possible by utilizing the many features that most web host providers offer.
Find The Right Package
When it comes to web hosting services, there are usually three major tiers: basic, standard, and premium. Each one is a step up from the previous and usually comes with additional features that are beneficial for website owners and digital marketers who use the site frequently. As the name suggests, the basic package offers very limited functionality and is suitable only for personal use. The standard package is a good choice for small to medium sized businesses and comes with several performance enhancing features that make the site load much faster. The premium package is the best choice for very large businesses, enterprises, and government agencies who need superior performance and security features.
Manage Your DNS
Have you ever had to type in a long IP address whenever you wanted to visit a particular website? That’s what happened when I first started using Namecheap’s web hosting. Their nameservers were severely overloaded, so whenever I tried to visit a website, I’d get a “Temporary DNS Failed” message. Not good.
If you’re starting out with a basic or standard web hosting plan from one of the biggies like Bluehost or Hostgator, you’ll have to manage your DNS manually. That is, you’ll have to enter the IP address of the domain you want to point to when you’re setting up the site. Once you do, you’ll be able to access the site directly without having to enter long IP addresses every time you try to visit a different site. This is a big time-saver when you have a lot of sites to maintain. In addition to this, you can also use the same hosting service to register your domain with, so when someone clicks on yourdomain.com, they’ll be automatically redirected to your website. There’s also the option for free domain privacy, which hides your actual hosting address from the domain name. So, for example, if you have a blog at santassecret.com, no one will be able to see that you’re using Hostgator’s services unless they know your IP address or you give them permission to view the source code of your site.
Get A Free Dedicated IP
Dedicated IPs are essentially what makes the internet go round. They’re unchangeable IP addresses that you can use to connect to any of the providers hosts, meaning that your website will always be reachable at the given IP address, even after you change web hosts. They’re also very helpful for those who use multiple computers or devices to connect to the internet as it’s often the case that every time you connect to the internet, you get a new IP address. So, if you want to keep your existing content and don’t want to lose your website’s traffic, get a dedicated IP. It’s also worth noting that dedicated IP addresses are very reasonably priced compared to the price of a standard shared hosting plan.
Use Free SSL Certificate
Free SSL certificates are an additional layer of security that you can use to encrypt all of the data that you send to your customers. They also increase your site’s credibility by adding that extra layer of security. When your visitors enter their username and passwords, they’re usually doing so in the vain hope that it will keep their personal information secure. So, by applying a free SSL certificate to your site, you can give them that little extra reassurance that their personal information is safe.
Use The Right Mattress
Your website’s load time is among the top three factors that determine its success, so you’ll want to do everything you can to speed it up. One way is to choose a proper mattress; I recommend the Dreamfoam Mattress. It provides a comfortable sleeping surface that helps to reduce tossing and turning, which results in better sleep quality and higher productivity at work. It also helps to keep your sleeping partner (not going to lie, I’m a big advocate for co-sleeping) warm, which is important because who wouldn’t like to sleep next to a warm, cosy body? Just make sure that you don’t waste your precious energy when moving around in bed, as this can make the mattress less supportive and lead to more back pain. I know, I know, better back pain than being cold and uncomfortable, right?
Use CloudFlare
CloudFlare is probably the most well-known content delivery network. What is a CDN, you ask? It stands for Content Delivery Network and is essentially a distributed server network that helps to deliver content, such as websites, much faster than your typical host. Think of it like this: when you’re trying to find a particular photo on the internet, it will usually show up on one of several different websites. Typically, the closer the server is to your geographical location, the better the connection and the faster the download will be.
Because of its popularity, it’s very easy to get a CloudFlare account. All you need is a free Google account to establish your identity. Once you do, you can go through the automated setup as easy as pie and in just a few minutes, your account will be ready to use. What’s more is that CloudFlare offers a free basic plan that should be suitable for almost all websites. Even better is that they offer a free plan that allows you to deploy a single website. This is ideal for someone who either just launched a new blog or for someone who wants to quickly and easily get their blog up and running. In either case, it’s worth the minimal cost of a CloudFlare account to make this process as easy as possible.
Use No-IP
No-IP is a free DNS service that is easy to set up and extremely simple to use. It was designed for just these types of situations, where you either don’t have access to your own DNS servers or want to use a different DNS service. The best part is that you don’t even need to have a website to use it, as you can simply download and install the app on your phone. Then, whenever you want to register a new domain or want to update the existing ones, simply use the app to point them to your current host’s IP address. It’s a great way to try out different DNS services without having to worry about making any adjustments once you’re live. And if you ever decide that you want to switch hosts, it’s super simple to do so because all you need to do is delete the domain and recreate it on the new host. Most importantly, though, is that because No-IP is a free service, you won’t have to worry about resource constraints, as you’ll be able to pull any amount of traffic you want.
Use A CDN
A content delivery network, or CDN for short, is like having a team of people constantly checking for updates so that the content on your site is always up-to-date. Think of it like this: when you set up your site with a CDN, they will automatically look for the content on other sites and bring it to you, reducing the load time for your site’s content. There are several different CDNs to choose from, with CloudFlare and MaxCDN being two of the biggest names in the industry. One important thing to keep in mind is that your CDN provider will determine how much content you can pull, so make sure you go with a reputable company that knows how to handle large amounts of content.