web hosting

Changing Hosts Without Losing Rankings

Ever wonder why so many people stress the importance of choosing a good web hosting company the first time?  Well, there are actually several reasons, but one relates to the fact that switching to a new host is such a headache.  Let’s face it, changing servers without suffering considerable downtime is almost impossible.  If your website is down for too long, you stand the chance of losing visitors, customers and eventually sales.  While you can make arrangements to inform your customers about the move, the same can’t be said for your search engine rankings.

Though it is something you never look forward to, moving to a new web host should be a straightforward process that results in little to no time.  When done correctly, your position in the search engine will not be impacted in the least.  In order to enjoy a seamless transition, you need to follow these critical points:

Check the IP Address of the New Web Host

Though it rarely occurs, there are a few IP addresses that have either been banned or experience major issues.  The worst thing you can do is move from a host that can no longer meet your needs to another one sitting on an unfavorable IP rage.  If your web pages are associated with a troubled IP address, your search engine rankings will suffer greatly.

Perform a Full Backup of Your Website

Having a full backup of your website files makes it much easier to move to a new provider.  Besides, if anything goes wrong with the new service, you can run back to your old host and set up almost instantly.  It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Test Your Website

When changing web hosts, you will probably hurry to set everything up quickly and get back to business.  Even if the site looks fine on the surface, it is still wise to test all of your forms, applications and databases to ensure that everything is working properly.

Change Your DNS

After all of your files have been transferred to the new server and everything appears to be working correctly, it’s time to flip the switch and make it official.  All you have to do here is change your domain name servers from the old service to the new host.  This can be done easily through the control panel provided by your domain name registrar.   Simply switch out the old nameservers for the new ones and you are ready to go.  Just remember that you must wait for the domain to propagate which lets the internet know that your site has been moved.  This process generally takes anywhere from 24 to 48 hours.

Conclusion

The tips in this article should actually help you kill more than birds with one stone.  Now you know what it takes to move your website to a new server and endure the smallest amount of downtime possible.  Most importantly, you know how to keep your visitors and customers around and your search engine rankings intact.