How to migrate a static HTML site

A static HTML site is the simplest thing there is to migrate. There is no database to export, no configuration file pointing at credentials that need updating, and usually no server-side software to match between the old host and the new one. What you are moving is a folder of files, and the entire job is copying that folder correctly and testing it before the domain follows.

That simplicity does not mean skipping the order that keeps every migration safe: copy first, test second, switch DNS last.

What actually needs copying

It is easy to assume a static site is "just the HTML pages", which is how people end up with a migrated site that looks broken. The full list is:

• Every HTML page, including ones not linked from the main navigation.
• CSS stylesheets and JavaScript files — a site with no styling after a move is almost always a missing or misreferenced CSS folder.
• Images, fonts and any downloadable files such as PDFs.
• The .htaccess file, if one exists. It is hidden by default in most FTP clients and is easy to miss entirely — it often carries redirect rules or clean-URL settings that the site depends on.
• Any build output, if the site was generated by a static site generator. Copy the generated output folder, not the source files that produced it, unless you intend to rebuild it on the new host.

Step 1 — Copy the folder structure exactly

Download the site from the old host, or export it if it was built with a tool that has an export option, keeping the folder structure intact. A site with pages at /about/index.html needs that same structure on the new server — flattening folders during the copy is a common way to turn working links into 404 errors.

Step 2 — Set up the new hosting account

Add the domain to the new account. A static site has no PHP version or database to match, which removes one of the usual sources of migration problems entirely.

Step 3 — Upload into the web root

Transfer the files using FTP, SFTP, or the file manager available in your control panel. The most common mistake here is landing the site one folder too deep — if your home page ends up at yoursite.com/mysite/index.html instead of yoursite.com/index.html, the files went into a subfolder of the web root rather than the web root itself.

Step 4 — Test before DNS changes

Add a temporary entry to your own computer's hosts file mapping the domain to the new server's IP address, shown in your new host's control panel or welcome email. Full instructions are in previewing a site with your hosts file.

With that entry active, click through the site properly:

• Every page in the navigation, and a few that are not.
• Images loading correctly, at the right size.
• Any downloadable file, such as a PDF brochure.
• Contact forms, if the site has one — these often depend on a script that needs its own configuration on the new server.
• Internal links pointing to the right place, especially if the old and new hosts use slightly different URL structures.

Step 5 — Switch DNS

Once everything checks out, lower the TTL a day ahead if you have not already, then update the nameservers or the A record with the values from your new host. Remove the hosts file entry afterwards so your own machine behaves like everyone else's going forward.

Step 6 — Keep the old hosting active for a week

DNS changes do not reach every network at the same moment. Leave the old account running for about a week after the switch so visitors whose resolvers have not caught up yet are still served correctly, then take a final backup and close it.

A note on SEO

Because a static site's URLs typically do not change during a like-for-like migration, moving host does not itself affect search rankings. What matters is that every URL that existed before still resolves afterwards — see keeping your URLs working after a move if any page paths are changing as part of the move.