You can move a website to a new host without downtime or lost email by copying everything across first, making sure your email records are carried over untouched, and only updating DNS once the new copy has been tested. Keep the old hosting live for at least a week afterwards.
This post covers why moves go wrong, the order to do things in, and the email problem that catches most people out.
Why do website moves go wrong?
The website itself is rarely the problem. Files and databases copy across without much drama. What goes wrong is everything around them: email stops arriving because a DNS record was not carried over, the site goes down because DNS was changed before the new copy was ready, or the old hosting is cancelled the same day and a missed file cannot be recovered.
Almost every one of these comes from doing the right steps in the wrong order.
Before you start
Gather these first:
- login details for wherever DNS is managed: the domain registrar, the old host, or a service like Cloudflare
- a full backup of the site and its database, stored somewhere that is not the old host
- where your email is provided, whether that is Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or the old host itself
- a note of every DNS record currently in place, not just the website ones
That last item matters most. A screenshot of the existing DNS records is a cheap insurance policy, because a record you forget to recreate is a service that quietly stops working.
If you are not sure what your current plan includes, our post on what your hosting bill actually pays for is a useful starting point before you choose a new one.
What order should you move things in?
- Lower the DNS time to live (TTL) on your records to a few minutes, at least a day before the move. This makes the final switch take effect quickly. It does not speed up a change of nameservers, which can take a day or two whatever you do.
- Set up the new hosting and copy the site across.
- Recreate every existing DNS record on the new setup if DNS is moving too, especially the email ones.
- Test the new copy before anyone else sees it. Most hosts offer a temporary address, or you can point your own computer at the new server.
- Check forms, logins, checkout and any other feature that depends on the server.
- Update DNS to point the website at the new host. On many hosts the security certificate is only issued once DNS points at the new server, so a browser warning can show briefly while it is set up.
- Watch both the site and the email for a few days.
- Cancel the old hosting only once you are sure nothing was missed.
The email trap
Email is where migrations hurt, because a broken website is obvious and a broken mailbox is not.
Most small businesses have their email with Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace rather than their web host. In that case moving the website does not touch your mailboxes at all. The risk is DNS. Your email works because of a handful of DNS records: MX records that tell the world where to deliver mail, plus SPF, DKIM and verification records. If DNS stays where it is and only the website record changes, email carries on as normal. If the move also shifts DNS to the new host, every one of those email records has to be recreated exactly, or mail stops arriving with no warning.
If your email is on the old host itself, it is a bigger job. The mailboxes and their old messages need copying to a new provider before the mail records change. Moving the website and the email in a single step is where things most often go wrong, so separating them is usually safer.
Either way, check the website’s own emails afterwards. Contact forms and order confirmations are often sent from the web server, and a new server may not yet be authorised to send as your domain.
Many sites avoid that by sending form emails through a dedicated sending service such as SMTP2GO, Elastic Email or SendGrid. These are more reliable, but they depend on their own DNS records: usually a DKIM key, a bounce or return path record, and an entry in your SPF record. If DNS moves and those records are left behind, form emails start landing in spam or stop arriving entirely, while everything else looks fine. Check the sending service’s dashboard after the move, as most show whether the domain is still verified. Our explainer on SPF, DKIM and DMARC covers what those records do.
Will moving host affect your rankings?
A change of host does not affect search rankings on its own. What can cause a drop is downtime while Google is trying to crawl, changed page addresses, or a new server that is noticeably slower. If the domain and page addresses stay exactly the same and the site stays online, search engines have no reason to treat it differently.
After the switch
For the first week:
- check the site loads over the secure address with no warnings
- send and receive test emails, including from outside the business
- test every contact and enquiry form end to end, and confirm any email sending service still shows the domain as verified
- look at Search Console for new crawl errors
- keep the old hosting live as a fallback
How long does it take to move a website?
A small brochure site can be moved in an afternoon. DNS changes usually take effect within a few hours but can take up to a day or two to reach everyone. Sites with online shops, bookings or lots of mailboxes take longer, mostly because of the testing.
When to ask for help
If your email is business critical, your site takes enquiries or sales, or you do not know where your DNS is managed, it is worth having someone who has done it before. A planned move is quick. An unplanned one costs enquiries.
If you are thinking about changing provider and want to know what is involved, get in touch.
1418 provides hosting and business email for businesses in Cumbria, including moving sites and mailboxes across from another provider.