Migrating Your Website to a New Host? Use this Website Migration Checklist

If you aren’t satisfied with your current web host’s performance or hosting conditions, it’s perhaps a good idea to make the switch to another UK web hosting service. But be sure to take your time to find the right host. After all, you don’t want to jump off the frying pan only to land into the fire. 

If you’ve decided to migrate your website to another web host, it’s important to plan it well and get it right. Although it may seem like a straightforward process, one small mistake could wreak havoc on your website’s performance and even SEO. 

So what is website Migration? 

Website migration is the process where you make a change to your website’s setup, structure, design or location. 

It’s a challenging, complex process that brings with it many risks.

Prepare for Migration 

1. Plan the move and collect data for benchmarking and analysis. 
2. Make a copy of your website. 
3. Check the DNS TTL values.
4. Check the performance of your web server. 

Start the Migration 

1. Update DNS settings – When switching to a new server, the first thing to do is to change your DNS settings to point to the new IP address. Contact your UK web hosting provider to request the change. 
2. Remove all temporary blocks – If you disable search engine crawling, be sure to unblock the same. 
3. Enable redirection – Now, it’s time to enable and test all the redirects, if you have not done that already. 
4. Ensure your site is verified in Google Search Console – After the move, it’s important to check that your site ownership is still valid. Check the Google Search Console settings to verify. 

Monitor the Migration 

1. Check for issues – Once your site has moved to the new server, check to ensure if there are any issues. 
2. Check site performance – Page load speed is an important aspect. So you must pay attention to it when migrating to a new server. You want to be sure the server is fast. 
3. Cancel old hosting – Once Google has finished indexing your new site, be sure to cancel the old hosting account. Once again, ensure that all the 301 redirects are set up correctly and are redirecting people away from the discontinued server. 

Parting Thoughts

If you are not too sure how to go about migrating your website from your old host to the new servers, be sure to seek professional help. You could hire a web designer or ask your web hosting company to do it for you. 

Looking for a reliable UK web hosting service? LS25 Web Hosting offers top-quality web hosting with a 99.99% uptime guarantee and a host of benefits. Explore our plans here.