Doing Domain Transfers Right

There are all kinds of reasons you might wish to be able to transfer your domain to a different web host, and at least one of them is bound to come up at some point if you run a website for long enough. It might be that you realise you can get a better deal elsewhere, or that you want to switch to a different kind of payment system, or that you need to move your website to an alternative server setup. When these things do arise, it's important - for the future of your business as well as for the good of your revenue flow - that you make sure you get it right.

Set Up Your New Account First

Before you do anything else, it's important that you begin by purchasing and setting up the account you plan to use with your new provider. There are sometimes delays when you're trying to do this - waiting for your payment to clear, or for space on your chosen server to free up - and the last thing you need is to close down your website only to discover that everything at the other end still isn't ready for you to move over there and re-open.

Get Your DNS And Nameserve Settings Right

To make sure that your domain URL is still going to work, it's important that you update the information in your DNS and nameserver settings. This can usually be done through your domain control panel, and if you have any questions about how to make it work your provider's tech support line will be able to help. You might need to be careful about when you do this, though, to be sure that you're doing it at the right time.

Keep In Touch With Both Providers Right Through The Process

Get in touch with both providers - the old and the new - as early on in the process as you can to let them know what it is that you're doing. This means that you'll be assisted with the transition, and that you'll be able to access the appropriate customer support in a timely fashion.

Back Up Your Files

Accidents happen, and things go wrong; it's unfortunate, but it's inevitable. If you want to be sure that you'll be able to rescue the situation should something go awry, you need to be careful to make good backups of your website before you begin the process of taking it down from one server and moving it over to another.

This means that you need to make a backup of everything; your pages, your snippets of code, your images, any other kinds of files that you've been hosting on the site. If something were to go missing during the transition, you'd then be able to replace it - no harm, no foul.