How to Avoid Problems When Migrating Your Website to a New Hosting
Moving a website to a new hosting provider is a bit like moving your company into a new office. If you do it in a rush and without a plan, you end up surrounded by boxes, without internet access and with clients who can’t reach you. With a website it’s the same story – except instead of boxes you’re dealing with databases, DNS, SSL, emails and performance.
The good news: most problems can be avoided. You just need to know what to check and in what order. Here’s a practical guide to help you get through a migration step by step.
1. Make a plan before you touch a single file
A common mistake: someone simply downloads files from FTP, uploads them to the new hosting and hopes it will “just work”. Instead, clarify upfront:
- What exactly you’re migrating: website files, database, emails, cron jobs, subdomains, redirects?
- What your goal is: cheaper hosting, better performance, a different tech stack (e.g. PHP version), moving to a different domain?
- When you’ll migrate: ideally outside peak hours (at night or on a weekend) when you have time to deal with any issues.
Without a clear plan, a migration is just controlled chaos.
2. Full backup – before you change anything
Before you overwrite or delete anything, you need a 100% backup of your project:
- all website files (via FTP / file manager),
- the database (e.g. export via phpMyAdmin or another tool),
- config files (
wp-config.php,.env,.htaccess, etc.), - if it’s part of the hosting package – a backup of email mailboxes as well.
Ideally, keep this backup stored outside both hosting providers (e.g. cloud storage or local copy) so you can always access it.
3. Environment compatibility: PHP, database, modules
The new hosting may not be technically identical to the old one. Before migrating, check:
- the PHP version – some older sites (or plugins) may not work on the latest version,
- the MySQL / MariaDB version,
- available PHP extensions (e.g.
mbstring,gd,imagick, etc.), - hosting limits – memory limit, max upload size, max execution time.
If you skip this, you may be surprised after the migration when parts of the site crash or show fatal errors.
4. Moving files and database the right way
The actual transfer should be done systematically:
- Create a fresh database and user on the new hosting.
- Import your database dump (SQL file).
- Upload the website files (via SFTP / FTP / a .zip archive).
- Edit the config file (e.g.
wp-config.php) with the new database credentials and table prefix. - If you’re changing the domain, perform a search-and-replace of the URL inside the database (carefully, using a proper migration tool).
A quick “copy & paste” without caring about the database is a shortcut to the white screen of death.
5. Test on a temporary domain or via the hosts file
Before you switch DNS, it’s best to test the new site out of public view:
- use a temporary domain / subdomain on the new hosting, or
- edit your local hosts file so your own computer sees the domain on the new server before everyone else.
During testing, verify that:
- the site loads without errors or warnings,
- forms, search, the shop, logins, etc. all work,
- URLs look correct (no links pointing to the old hosting),
- CSS, JS and images all load correctly.
The more issues you catch on a staging or test version, the fewer emergencies you’ll deal with after going live.
6. DNS switch with minimal downtime
When changing hosting providers, there’s a critical moment – updating DNS records (A record and possibly others). Make sure that:
- before the migration, you lower the TTL (e.g. to 300 seconds) so the change propagates faster,
- at the time of the switch, the new site is already fully ready and tested,
- you understand that for some time, users will be split: some see the old server, some the new one – so you should avoid content changes in that window.
A good practice is to freeze content – pause larger edits a few hours or a day before migration so data doesn’t diverge between the old and new hosting.
7. SSL certificate and security
After migration, HTTPS can easily start misbehaving – no installed certificate, or some elements still loading over HTTP.
- on the new hosting, configure a valid SSL certificate for the domain (Let’s Encrypt or another provider),
- ensure HTTP → HTTPS redirection is active,
- fix mixed content – no images, scripts or styles should load via plain http,
- check third-party tools (Google Analytics, Tag Manager, chat widgets, iframes), as some may cause warnings.
Without properly working HTTPS, the site looks untrustworthy and browsers may actively warn users away from visiting.
8. Emails: the most commonly “forgotten” part
Many people focus on the website itself and forget that migration may affect email services too:
- if your emails are hosted with your provider, double-check MX records,
- back up important mailboxes (IMAP folders),
- verify that forms (contact, order, booking) on the new hosting successfully send emails,
- after migration, test thoroughly – send emails from outside and through site forms.
A freshly migrated website that “doesn’t send emails” is a classic issue – often discovered only after you’ve already missed several leads.
9. SEO and redirects: don’t lose your rankings
If you’re changing domain, folder structure or URL patterns during migration, you need a redirect plan in place:
- create a map of old vs. new URLs,
- set up 301 redirects (ideally at server level or via .htaccess),
- identify your main entry pages from Google Analytics / Search Console and ensure they redirect correctly,
- monitor 404 errors in Search Console after migration and fix them continuously.
Without redirects, you can lose years of SEO work simply because both Google and users keep running into “Page not found”.
10. Post-migration checks: logs, monitoring, performance
The job doesn’t end the moment you flip DNS. In the days after going live:
- monitor error logs (error log, access log),
- keep an eye on traffic and behaviour in your analytics,
- check page load times – sometimes a new server exposes weak spots (heavy plugins, large images),
- talk to hosting support if you hit unexpected limits or errors.
The goal is to catch any problems as early as possible, before your customers notice them.
Conclusion: Website migration doesn’t have to be a horror story
Migrating a website to a new hosting provider is a delicate operation, but it doesn’t have to be a nightmare if you have a clear plan, complete backups and time for testing. Most disasters (downtime, broken forms, lost emails, SEO drops) aren’t caused by the hosting itself, but by the “let’s just wing it” approach.
If you move step by step, keep DNS, SSL, the database, emails and redirects under control, your migration can become a move towards better performance and stability instead of a fire-fighting session.
