Knowledgebase

Migrations & Transfers

Moving a site or a domain in, without downtime.

Moving an existing website to us, moving a domain name to us, and doing either without the site going dark in the middle. The order of operations matters more than any single step — copy first, test second, switch DNS last — and these guides are written in that order.

Do I need to tell Google I changed hosts?

No, not for a plain host change with the same URLs — there is genuinely nothing for Google to be told.

FAQ Migrations 4 min
How long does a website migration take?

A few hours to copy and test, then about a week of overlap while DNS finishes catching up everywhere.

FAQ Migrations 4 min
How to copy a site to a subdomain for testing

A subdomain copy gives you a real, public URL to test changes on without touching the live site at all.

FAQ Migrations 5 min
How to keep your URLs working after a move

Every URL that stops working after a move is a link, bookmark or search result quietly turning into a dead end.

Guide Migrations 9 min
How to migrate just the database

Export, create an empty database on the new server, import, then point the application at it — the files do not need to move at all.

FAQ Migrations 5 min
How to migrate a site from a cPanel host

Getting the files and database out of cPanel is the easy part — the order you copy, test and switch DNS in is what actually protects you.

Guide Migrations 10 min
How to migrate a static HTML site

No database, no plugins, no configuration file — a static site is the easiest migration there is, if you still test before switching DNS.

Guide Migrations 8 min
How to migrate a very large website

The same order of operations applies, just stretched over more time and with a few extra tools to move that much data cleanly.

Guide Migrations 10 min
How to migrate a website with no downtime

Zero downtime is not a special technique — it is what happens automatically when the steps are done in the right order.

Guide Migrations 11 min
How to migrate a website to new hosting

Copy first, test second, switch DNS last. Get that order right and a migration is boring — which is exactly what you want.

Guide Migrations 10 min
How to migrate a WooCommerce store

A store keeps taking orders while you migrate, so the real challenge is not losing any of them during the handover.

Guide Migrations 12 min
How to move off a hosted website builder

Most website builders do not export a working site, so leaving one is closer to a careful rebuild than a straightforward copy.

Guide Migrations 9 min
How to move a website to a new domain

A domain change is a bigger job than a host change, because every URL changes and each old one needs a redirect to its replacement.

Guide Migrations 9 min
How to pick the right time to migrate

The best migration window is the quietest one you have, with enough slack afterwards that a surprise does not become a crisis.

Article Migrations 6 min
How to preview a site with your hosts file

One edit on your own computer lets you load the new server privately while every other visitor keeps seeing the old one.

Guide Migrations 6 min
How to roll back a migration that went wrong

Rolling back is simple if the old hosting is still running, which is exactly why you should never cancel it early.

Guide Migrations 7 min
How to test a migrated site before going live

The whole point of testing before DNS switches is that mistakes are free to find and free to fix while nobody else can see them.

Guide Migrations 8 min
Is website migration free?

Yes — website migration is included free with our hosting plans, with no separate charge for the move itself.

FAQ Migrations 3 min
The seven things that go wrong in migrations

Almost every migration horror story traces back to one of a small, predictable set of causes.

Article Migrations 8 min
The website migration checklist

Every task a website move involves, grouped into before, during, on switch day, and the week after.

Article Migrations 7 min
What to check after a migration

Switching DNS is the middle of a migration, not the end — the week that follows is where the real risks actually surface.

Article Migrations 7 min
Will changing host hurt my search rankings?

Not on its own — search engines rank URLs and content, and a clean migration changes neither.

FAQ Migrations 4 min

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