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There are a variety of reasons you may be thinking of switching from your current web hosting service provider to another. No matter what the reason may be, there are certain things to keep in mind while changing web hosts.

The number one, most important thing to remember is to keep your current site up and running until your new host has your new domain functioning at full capacity. A great way to ensure that you won’t lose any information is to keep your site backed up at all times. Once your new account is up and running and before your old account is expired or closed, use a redirect page for at least 49 hours so that your customers and visitors know that you created a new web page, even if you kept the same domain name. At the end of the seemingly never ending process, you can finally close the account you have with your old web hosting company.

Keeping your website backed up is one thing, but when you’re getting ready to switch web hosts, you will also need to search well in advance. You don’t want your account or service with your current web host to expire before you have the chance to find your best new web host. When you search in advance, you are guaranteed the time that it takes to do research and gain the knowledge that is required when making such a big decision.

Know what you want from your new company. If your old web host kept you on a shared server, look for a host that will place you on your own, dedicated server and give you a permanent IP address. Especially for a business owner, a dedicated domain is important because without all of the other webmasters running their sites on the same server as you, you have the opportunity for growth and expansion. You will have more disk space to upload more content to your site, more bandwidth so you are allowed more visitors each month, and better security. Without all the extra stuff on the server, you control what is uploaded to your page and spamming therefore is limited, if not completely blocked.

Make sure that your new host doesn’t have a limit to the number of parked domains and sub domains. A parked domain helps with the traffic flow of your website, so you never have to worry about the site getting backed up due to too many visitors and you’ll never exceed your bandwidth limit. Sub domains are used to help with getting your website ranked higher in search engine results.

I’m sure that the reason you’re thinking about switching web hosts is because in some aspect, you are unhappy with your current host. Make sure that your new host is a quality, reliable, honest host. Ask questions before signing on to the company and always remember that when changing web hosts, it is of the utmost importance that you keep your old site running until the change is finalized.

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When you first got started building your website, you most likely chose to work with a small, unknown web host. Doing so may have seemed like a good idea in the beginning, but as your website continues to grow and you learn more and more about using your domain, you probably began finding weak points in the provider you’ve been working with.

There are many reasons to begin to thinking about changing your web hosting company. Have you noticed lately that outages have been happening on a much more frequent basis? Small hosts may have more downtime than larger, better known hosts which could mean that your website gets shut down along with the server. Is your business expanding or is your blog attracting more readers? Maybe your host doesn’t provide the bandwidth or the disk space that you didn’t previously, but currently need. Sometimes, if your website is on a shared server instead of a dedicated server, you or the other domain holders can experience some turbulence due to something you or they don’t even have any control over. It is a little more expensive, but better in the long run to use a dedicated server.

Once you have decided to change your web hosting company, think about what it is that you need more of so that you can decide which web hosting company is the right one for you. Make sure you still have the account login information given to you by the company from which you purchased your original domain. You will also need to make sure that you actually own the domain name and that the host doesn’t. Run a WHOIS search on your domain (whois.com) to see whom the administrative contact it. If you are in fact the administrator, then take a step forward. If not, call the technical support staff immediately to see what you must do to become the administrative contact.

Now that you’ve chosen your new host, it’s time to purchase the right package for you. Thoroughly read and print out all of the emails you receive from your new web hosting company, as they contain important information on your new host. You’ll want to update all of your DNS (Domain Name System) information and enter your new name servers.

Be sure to keep the account with your old host active until all of your file transfers have been finalized. Most of the time the entire process takes 24-72 hours, more or less. Once your new account has been confirmed and you have checked to make sure that all of your files and links work with your new web host, you can close the account with your old host and finally, move on to bigger and better things.

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