How to: a beginner’s approach to migrating a website from one server to another

Moving your website to a new server does not have to be complicated. Follow these procedures for a smooth relocation.

After all, there are many genuine reasons for switching web hosts or servers. It’s possible that you outgrew your current hosting package or that you discovered a VSYS host. 

Web servers may significantly impact your company. You can be sure that you’re losing customers if they cause your site to load slowly or go down often. Procrastination of any nature attracts zero tolerance from any user caliber or decent hosting provider. 

That is sufficient justification for switching servers. Please, continue reading to learn how to move a website from one server to another quickly.

Even your new server should be double-checked and verified 

Before switching servers, it makes every sense to examine your hosting package. It would help if you made confident that the new server satisfies your requirements. Perhaps it is worth matching your necessities against the hosting provider’s availabilities. It will help if their team is there to assist and advise you. 

Your new server should have enough bandwidth and speed to boost rather than degrade the functionality of your website. Learning a little about bandwidth and how it may affect your website is advisable.

Create a Website Backup 

Following confirmation of your new server or hosting arrangement, you may go forward with the migration of your website to the new server. 

Regardless of your confidence level, beginning with a backup of your website is always a good idea. It is possible in CPanel. Go to File and choose Backups. After that, you may choose to create a complete backup. On the next screen, select the Home Directory and indicate if you want an email notification when the backup is completed. 

You may download the compressed File after the backup is finished. The fact that it has an a.gz file extension should not scare you. 

Your files may be easily backed up via FTP. All you need to do to restore a backup using FTP is upload the files to the new server. 

It would help if you had an FTP client, such as Filezilla, and the FTP login credentials for your former server.

Add your domain to the new server

You may need to add your website to the new server if you’re switching website hosts. Perhaps your hosting provider took care of this for you already. VSYS host team will provide extra advice about that should you need it. 

Keep a close eye on the sitemap 

If you did not create a sitemap for your website, which is highly advisable, it is about time to do so. Please be sure to avoid including redirected links in the sitemap file. If you’re interested in learning more about how to create one, our support specialists can always provide you with a friendly tip. 

Remember to check your email 

When moving websites, it’s easy to get so preoccupied with the project at hand that you overlook creating email addresses for your new hosting account. You could miss some potentially significant emails as a result.

It would help if you went to the Email section of CPanel or the Email Settings in your new host accounts. The next step is to create your email addresses under Email Accounts. 

Remember to update the mail server settings in Outlook or Gmail to reflect your new password and mailbox changes. 

Check Out the Equipment and Tools Your Host Has 

You could have switched to a new website hosting with capabilities that make it simpler to move your website. Your hosting provider can include a migration plugin that makes the procedure simple if you have a WordPress site. As an example, VSYS host promises to transfer your website for free and offers to provide you with everything you need to do it. 

All you need to do is install the plugin and follow the instructions. To change your DNS, go to the bottom of this list. 

Upload Your Website Using FTP

You may upload your files via FTP if your server doesn’t provide a plugin or another simple way to transfer your site. This time, you’ll need your new server’s FTP access credentials to upload the files.

Modify or Change your DNS

Where exactly was your domain name registered? Surprisingly enough, some may find this question rather challenging. 

Apparent options are moving the domain name to your new website hosting provider or leaving it in its current state. It’s not necessary at all to host your website and park your domain name with the same business. Although, you should expect a decent hosting provider to have all such services in hand. 

Perhaps, keeping them at different companies is often simpler. You won’t need to change the registration location since you’ll be switching hosts more often. Additionally, it may take some time to transfer a domain name. 

Make sure that your domain name links to the new host in the DNS settings, regardless of where it is registered. Your new hosting provider will provide the proper DNS settings. 

You should ask your web host what your new DNS is if you remain with the same website hosting but merely switch servers.

Wait, Observe and Test

It would help if you waited for the changes to propagate after modifying your site’s DNS. It should be verified that your new DNS has been updated on all other servers. 

Please note that the propagation of the DNS updates might take up to 48 hours. 

After the adjustments have been made, you should test your website on the servers of your new website hosting. Verify that the material appears correctly on each page, and 

Installing something like “Under Construction Page” or “Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode” plugins is an excellent way to create temporary pages for your website that will prevent users from seeing the 404 error if you do need to make more modifications to it but believe they shouldn’t see it just yet. Please don’t hesitate to consult the VSYS host support team. 

Usually, such plugins use the drag-and-drop method and provide a wide variety of templates and themes that you may use on your website. Additionally, they will allow you to add SEO optimization, autoresponder and emailing services, access control, countdowns, image/video backdrops, and much more to your websites!

What Would It Be Like if You Wanted to Start from a Scratch? 

In certain circumstances, you may wish to redo your website entirely. In such a situation, you should create a temporary or staging site on your new host. 

The revamp of your website will soon begin to take shape. You may copy and paste your pages to your new site if you wish to transfer your material across. 

You will undoubtedly make errors and often change your mind as you remodel your website. It’s lovely to have a tool that allows you to reset the site or go back to a prior version of it for instances like these, and the most incredible instrument of its kind is called WP Reset.

WP Reset will be included with resetting tools that may completely clear your site or only a portion of it. Additionally, you may return your site to the condition it was in before a particular update was done with the use of the database snapshots that it will provide. 

As if that weren’t enough, this plugin also enables you to organize themes and plugins into collections that you can then install with a single click after a reset or whenever you want. 

In order to prevent your SEO from suffering if you delete pages, you need to put up redirects for those pages. Page redirects may be established by using a plugin. 

You’ll adjust the DNS settings, wait, and test your new site once it’s ready. You may formally terminate your hosting relationship after you are confident that your new website is fully operational.

A Website’s Migration from One Server to Another 

The need to know how to move a website from one server to another may arise at any time. You may need to improve your hosting package or switch hosts. 

It’s a straightforward procedure. Don’t forget to backup your website, transfer your data from one server to another, and direct your domain name system (DNS) to the new servers. 

You may use a plugin to migrate your site much more quickly if you don’t want to transfer data over FTP. A whole site may be moved in a matter of minutes, even by amateurs. 

We suggest visiting our blog more often for new, helpful articles for additional website advice and other hosting-related matters.