Changing your website hosting provider can be a smart business decision. Perhaps your current hosting plan no longer meets your needs, your website has become difficult to manage, or you want better support and a more suitable hosting package.
Whatever the reason, moving your website requires more planning than simply purchasing a new hosting plan and copying your files.
Your website may contain important pages, customer enquiries, images, databases, email accounts and other information your business depends on. If the migration is poorly handled, you could experience broken pages, missing content, interrupted email delivery or problems with your website’s functionality.
The good news is that a hosting migration can be completed smoothly when the right steps are followed.
Understand Why You Want to Change Hosting Providers
Before moving your website, identify what you want to improve. This helps you choose a suitable hosting plan instead of moving from one provider to another without solving the original problem.
Your reasons might include:
- Limited resources: Your current hosting plan may no longer provide enough storage, processing capacity or other resources for your website.
- Poor support experience: You may need a provider that responds more effectively when technical issues arise.
- Website compatibility: Your website may require specific PHP versions, database support or server configurations.
- Cost concerns: You may be looking for a plan that offers better value for your website’s actual requirements.
- Business changes: Your company may have expanded, added new services or introduced online sales that require a different hosting setup.
It is important to distinguish between a hosting problem and a website problem. A poorly optimised website, outdated plugin or inefficient application may remain slow even after migration.
Identify the issue first so that the move has a clear purpose.
Check Your New Hosting Plan Before You Move
One of the biggest migration mistakes is purchasing a new hosting package before confirming that it can support the existing website.
Review your website’s current requirements and compare them with the new plan. Consider storage capacity, database limits, PHP compatibility, email features, SSL availability and the number of websites the package supports.
If your website runs on WordPress, confirm that the hosting environment supports your WordPress installation and its essential plugins. WooCommerce stores may also require more attention because they depend on product data, customer information, orders, payment integrations and other connected features.
Do not choose a hosting plan based on storage space alone. A plan can offer plenty of storage and still be unsuitable for your website’s workload or technical requirements.
For businesses choosing a new package, DHNigeria provides web hosting services that you can review when planning your hosting requirements.
Create a Complete Backup Before Making Changes
A reliable backup is one of the most important parts of any website migration.
Before transferring anything, ensure you have a recent copy of your website files and database. Depending on your setup, you may also need to preserve email data, configuration files, scheduled tasks and other important settings.
For WordPress websites, the files and database serve different purposes. The files contain items such as themes, plugins, uploads and core WordPress files, while the database stores much of the site’s content, settings, user information and other records.
Having only one part of the website may not be enough to restore it properly.
Keep a copy of the backup somewhere separate from both the old and new hosting accounts where possible. Confirm that the backup process completed successfully, and avoid assuming that a backup is usable simply because a file was downloaded.
For an online store or another website that receives frequent updates, consider how you will preserve new orders, customer registrations and form submissions during the migration.
Plan for Email and Other Connected Services
Website owners sometimes focus entirely on their web pages and forget that their domain may also support business email.
If your company uses addresses such as info@yourbusiness.com.ng, sales@yourbusiness.com.ng or support@yourbusiness.com.ng, check how those mailboxes are currently configured before changing hosting services.
Your email service might be provided by the same hosting company as your website, or it might operate through a separate email provider. That distinction matters.
Before migration, identify your existing mailboxes, email storage, incoming and outgoing mail settings, and any important DNS records. If email is moving to a different service, plan that transition separately and make sure the required records are configured correctly.
Changing nameservers or DNS records without understanding the existing setup can interrupt email delivery even when the website itself appears to be working.
If you use a separate business email service, you may not need to move your mailboxes at all. The key is to preserve the records and configuration required by that service.
Move the Website Without Rushing the Process
The migration method depends on the type of website, the hosting platforms involved and the tools available.
A simple static website may require transferring files and checking configuration settings. A WordPress website generally requires the appropriate files and database to be moved, followed by configuration and testing.
For more complex websites, a developer may need to review database connections, file permissions, application settings, scheduled tasks and integrations.
Where possible, prepare the website on the new hosting account before directing visitors to it. This gives you an opportunity to identify problems without immediately affecting the live website.
For websites that accept orders, bookings or customer submissions, the process requires extra care. Information added to the old website during migration may not automatically appear on the new copy. A migration plan should account for those changes so that recent business records are not lost.
Avoid deleting the old website or cancelling the previous hosting account immediately after transferring the files. Keep the old environment available until the new website has been tested and the migration has been confirmed successful.
Test the New Website Before Changing DNS
A website can appear to have transferred successfully while still containing hidden problems.
Before directing your domain to the new hosting account, check the website as thoroughly as possible.
Review the homepage, important service pages, contact forms, images, menus, downloadable files and any other features customers rely on. If the website includes a shop, test product pages, cart functionality, checkout configuration and other essential shopping steps without placing unnecessary live orders.
Check that the website uses HTTPS correctly and that important pages do not produce security warnings. Review links and forms for errors, and confirm that the administration area remains accessible to authorised users.
For WordPress websites, also check that the theme and plugins are functioning as expected. A difference in PHP versions or server configuration can cause errors that were not present on the old hosting account.
Pay attention to mobile devices as well. A website that works on a desktop screen may still have layout or navigation problems on a phone.
Testing before the DNS change gives you a chance to correct issues while the existing website remains available to visitors.
Understand What Happens When You Change DNS
DNS records help direct visitors to the correct online services. When you migrate hosting, you may need to update the relevant DNS records so that your domain points to the new server.
The exact changes depend on your configuration. Some migrations require updating an A record, while others involve changing nameservers or adjusting several records.
DNS updates do not always appear everywhere immediately. Different networks and devices may continue using cached information for a period of time, so some visitors might reach the old server while others reach the new one.
This is why timing matters.
Plan the DNS change for a suitable period, especially if your website supports customer enquiries, sales or bookings. Keep the old hosting active while the change takes effect, and monitor the website and email services during the transition.
Do not assume that a website is fully migrated simply because it loads correctly from your own computer. Check the domain, key pages, email delivery and important functionality after the change.
Protect Your Website’s SEO During Migration
Changing hosting does not automatically damage your search rankings. However, technical mistakes during the process can affect how search engines access and understand your website.
Before migration, preserve the existing URLs wherever possible. If your hosting move does not require a website redesign or URL change, there is usually no need to change page addresses unnecessarily.
After the move, confirm that important pages remain accessible and that the website is not accidentally blocking search engines. Review the XML sitemap, robots.txt file, canonical tags and redirects where relevant.
Check for broken links, missing images, server errors and pages that return unexpected status codes. If you are also changing your domain name or website structure, that is a separate SEO migration task and may require a carefully planned redirect strategy.
Monitor your website’s search performance after the move. A temporary technical issue can sometimes be identified through crawling errors, indexing changes or unusual drops in organic traffic.
The goal is to preserve the website’s existing search visibility while ensuring that the new hosting environment works correctly.
Keep the Old Hosting Account Until the Move Is Verified
Cancelling your old hosting account too early can make recovery more difficult.
Before closing it, confirm that the new website works correctly, important files and database records are present, email services are functioning, and the necessary DNS changes have taken effect.
If your website collects customer information, verify that the latest submissions or transactions are available. For an online store, make sure recent orders and other business records have not been left behind on the previous installation.
Keep the old account for an appropriate transition period based on your provider’s billing terms and the complexity of your website. Make sure you have retained any backups and records you need before the account is closed.
Once the migration is stable, remove unnecessary copies and access credentials securely. Keeping old hosting indefinitely without a reason can create unnecessary costs and security risks.
When Should You Ask a Developer to Handle the Migration?
Not every website migration requires extensive technical work. A small website with few dependencies may be relatively straightforward to move.
However, professional assistance is worth considering when your website supports daily business operations, online payments, customer accounts, bookings or other functions that cannot easily be interrupted.
You should also consider help if you are unfamiliar with DNS records, database transfers, server configuration or WordPress troubleshooting.
A developer or hosting specialist can assess the current website, identify dependencies, prepare a migration plan, transfer the required data and test the new environment. They can also help reduce the risk of losing information during the transition.
Before work begins, agree on what is included in the migration, how backups will be handled, how downtime will be minimised, and who is responsible for checking the website after the move.
A Successful Hosting Migration Starts With Preparation
Moving your website to a new hosting provider should be an improvement for your business, not a source of avoidable disruption.
The most reliable approach is to understand why you are moving, choose a suitable hosting package, create complete backups, account for email and DNS settings, test the new environment, and keep the old hosting available until everything has been verified.
For businesses that depend on their websites to attract customers, receive enquiries or process orders, careful planning protects more than website files. It helps preserve the online services customers rely on.
If you are reviewing your current hosting arrangement, visit DHNigeria to explore its services or discuss the right hosting setup for your website.
You can also review DHNigeria’s web hosting plans when comparing your options.
