When was the last time your weren\u2019t satisfied with how your website is running? Not the traffic stats or received income \u2014 that\u2019s completely different story \u2014 but with it\u2019s speed, stability and cost.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s be honest \u2014 for most of us it happens pretty often. Sometimes the problem is entirely subjective, sometimes there\u2019s an actual issue at the heart of it. And most of the time we blame the hosting company and want to switch. But is it really worth it, to switch to another hosting company?<\/span><\/p>\n The saying goes \u00abThe pastures are always greener on the other side\u00bb. And it is not wrong. So it all comes down to how dissatisfied you are with your current hosting.<\/span><\/p>\n If the problem is subjective \u2014 for example, your website works a bit slower than you\u2019d like it to, but everything else is OK \u2014 maybe you should stay. Such issues are generally pretty easy to iron out once you get in touch with the support team.<\/span><\/p>\n If the problem is systematic \u2014 for example, if your website is constantly down while the support is unreachable and\/or unreasonable \u2014 you should switch ASAP. There are way too many hosting companies in the market to stick with a bad one.<\/span><\/p>\n If everything is great, but another company offers better prices \u2014 that depends on how much better the price is. As a rule of thumb, anything less than $10 per year is simply not worth it, unless your website is not making money at all. And in that case, you should probably think about monetization to offset the costs.<\/span><\/p>\n And, of course, it all depends on how easy the transfer is going to be.<\/span><\/p>\n Yes, with a capital letter. Because if you ever switched web hosts, you know how much frustration it involves.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s perfect on paper. You transfer the files and the databases to the new hosting, change the DNS settings and everything works once more!<\/span><\/p>\n Except it doesn\u2019t. Despite the CMS developers and hosting companies claiming that it\u2019s going to be perfect, something will go wrong. The database will not connect to the files. The files will be corrupted. The subdomains will fail to initialize. The redirects won\u2019t work. And not because you did something wrong, but due to sheer number of different hardware and software configurations and possible errors when interfacing them.<\/span><\/p>\n But it\u2019s not the end of the world. Some companies offer a free transfer performed by their team. Other companies will let you try it yourself first, but will offer support if something goes wrong. And then there are companies that won\u2019t help you at all, but why would you be switching to something like this?<\/span><\/p>\n Learn everything beforehand.<\/b> No one reads fine print. That\u2019s exactly what allows hosting companies to lie to you. But if you want to be satisfied with the switch \u2014 you should really dig into the terms and conditions of the service.<\/span><\/p>\n In order to make sure you are not getting bamboozled, look the company up on specialized forums and catalogue websites. Read reviews. Contact their support directly. Take every negative review as a mild alert. It\u2019s normal to have a dozen of disgruntled former clients, but it\u2019s not normal when they are a majority.<\/span><\/p>\n If you are sure that the hosting company you are switching to is legit \u2014 great. Now you just have to do it correctly.<\/span><\/p>\n Purchase a hosting with a new company.<\/strong> Do not cancel your contract with your current hosting company just yet, you will need it for a little longer.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Contact the support team of your new hosting.<\/strong> See if they offer a free transfer. If they do \u2014 provide them with access to your current hosting and stay in touch in case they need to clear something with you. If they don\u2019t \u2014 keep reading the manual.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Download all the files from your old hosting and upload them to the new one.<\/strong> If you are familiar with FTP, you can even do it directly, without saving the files on your PC.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Export the current databases and import them to the new hosting.<\/strong> Absolute majority of the websites nowadays run some sort of the SQL database where they store the custom data. The databases are arguably more important than files, so make sure you do it correctly.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Ask your new hosting support if they can give you a temporary domain.<\/strong> If they can\u2019t \u2014 it\u2019s OK, just go to the next step. If they can \u2014 connect it to the newly created copy of your website and make sure everything works correctly.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Transfer your actual domain to the DNS servers of your new hosting company.<\/strong> Once again, you can contact support or do it yourself. Make sure to test everything once more \u2014 just in case.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Wait 48 hours.<\/strong> During the next 2 days, your website will be loading randomly from your old and new hostings. Place a warning about it in the header of the website.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Cancel your old account.<\/strong> Once 48 hours since the DNS switch have passed, contact your old hosting company and cancel your account with them.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n If you actually decided to pull the trigger and switch \u2014 congratulations! Also, a final advice \u2014 stay realistic. Your new hosting may be much better than the previous one, but that doesn\u2019t mean that it is flawless.<\/span><\/p>\n If there are any issues \u2014 don\u2019t be afraid to contact support and ask. They will investigate and either help you fix it or at least explain why it is happening and offer a workaround. And if they refuse to do so \u2014 well, that might be the first signal that you should switch hostings. Again.<\/span><\/p>\n At Unihost, we provide a free transfer by our support team to anyone who switches to our hosting, VPS or dedicated servers.<\/span><\/p>\n We also have a special offer to compensate for up to 6 months of pre-paid hosting you might have at the previous hosting company. In order to qualify for the offer, you have to:<\/span><\/p>\n When was the last time your weren\u2019t satisfied with how your website is running? Not the traffic stats or received income \u2014 that\u2019s completely different story \u2014 but with it\u2019s speed, stability and cost. Let\u2019s be honest \u2014 for most of us it happens pretty often. Sometimes the problem is entirely subjective, sometimes there\u2019s an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-webdev","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\nWhen you should (or shouldn\u2019t) switch<\/span><\/h2>\n
The Transfer<\/span><\/h2>\n
The main rule when switching hostings<\/span><\/h2>\n
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How to switch web hostings \u2014 a step-by-step manual<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>\n
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