Move website to new hosting advice needed

[purple]

After a week of shocking support from 1&1, I am looking to move a few of my key websites to new hosting.
I have not moved websites for a time, and I want to make sure it happens smoothly, could it effect my google pr if i change hosting?

Is there certain steps I need to follow.

[andysears]

I have just moved 6 websites from 1&1 to CS New Media, all without problem.
Although I did keep my domains at 1&1 and just changed the DNS entry once the websites were set up on my new host.

[eetc]

I have just done this for the same reason. Follow these steps:

Get new hosting
Upload sites and confirm they are complete
Change DNS at 1&1 to point at new hosting
Wait 48 hours for DNS to propogate (you may see it sooner but others won't)
Move the domain

As soon as you move the domain 1&1 will turn off your mail and if any DNS servers have not got your new IP you'll get a gap.

I don't believe your Google PR should be affected but I am not an expert. I do however believe that having your sites in the UK is better than in Germany in Google terms.

eetc

p.s. I moved to Designer hosting at names.co.uk and I am really really impressed

[purple]

Originally Posted by andysears I have just moved 6 websites from 1&1 to CS New Media, all without problem. Although I did keep my domains at 1&1 and just changed the DNS entry once the websites were set up on my new host.

What package did you go for? I have around a dozen sites to move.

[seochatbox]

Well I dont think moving a host will affect your rankings. It affects only the domain name changes because all your rankings depends on your backlinks which you have generated to your domain name or your URL.

[km8]

Originally Posted by eetc I have just done this for the same reason. Follow these steps: Get new hosting Upload sites and confirm they are complete Change DNS at 1&1 to point at new hosting Wait 48 hours for DNS to propogate (you may see it sooner but others won't) Move the domain As soon as you move the domain 1&1 will turn off your mail and if any DNS servers have not got your new IP you'll get a gap.

I agree - that's the way to do it - except for the last step.
When you've done the first 4 steps, you have "moved" the domain.

After the 48 hours, and after you've tested that the new version is working properly, cancel your 1&1 account (most likely, that's what eetc meant anyhow)

A word of caution - don't cancel your 1&1 account too soon, especially if you have databases, stats, logs etc you might want. Better to pay them for an extra month if necessary than risk telling them to cancel and then finding out that you forgot to transfer your database or logs.

And a tip: keep your domain reg account separate from your hosting - that way you're always in control. You can go in to your domain reg account anytime and change the DNS to a different webhost.

Bad hosting sucks but moving is not difficult once you decide it has to be done.

[purple]

Still not got around to moving my hosting!! touch wood 1&1 has not had major down time recently, but I still intend to move some sites to spread the risk.

If i move domains to another host away from 1&1 would I still be able to keep them for managing the domain names?

Also if I move a domain, would the email addresses automatically move from 1&1 too

[km8]

Originally Posted by purple Also if I move a domain, would the email addresses automatically move from 1&1 too

Assuming you mean something like emailme@yoursite.com, you will need to set up that email address in your new webhosting account - that's part of what is involved in setting up the domains on the new account, just like uploading your html/php files to the new account.

Once you have changed the DNS to say yoursite.com is located at your new webhosts server anything at all, whether a www, an ftp or an email request will all go to your new hosts. It's up to you to set up your account on your new hosts' server to handle those requests.

Think of it this way if it helps:

DNS records are like a telephone directory. If I want to know your phone number, I look in the tel directory and that tells me what number to dial.

Likewise, If my computer wants to see your homepage, it consults the public DNS record which says "go to this address" (which will probably be something like dns1.yournewhost.com)

That gets me to your webhosts' server (their switchboard, if you like).

Their DNS server then routes my "call" to the internal extension for your homepage.

Darn that sound more complicated that it is.

But that's why I say keep you Domain registration separate from your webhost. If your hosts fails or cuts you off, you can change your own entry in the "directory" (the public DNS) to whatever your new "address" is.