Transfer your website to us

Definitions

When you transfer a website to us, you move your website to our platform, meaning your website becomes hosted with us. This differs from transferring a domain name, which moves your domain registration service.

A website transfer moves your website to your hosting service.

‼️ IMPORTANT For website transfers, here are key terms in two main categories. Understanding these definitions is crucial for a successful website transfer:

Your Providers

Current Web Hosting Provider

• Definition: This is the provider where your website is currently hosted and you are moving away from.
• Also called: Current web host, old web host, web host you are leaving.

New Web Hosting Provider

• Definition: This would always be us because you’re moving your website to our platform.
• Also called: New web host, web host you’re moving to.

Your Services

Existing Web Hosting Service

• Definition: A web hosting service active on your account with us, where you already host other websites and data. Has usually benefited from a previous free transfer completed by our team.
• Also called: Existing hosting subscription, existing hosting plan.

New Web Hosting Service

• Definition: A new web hosting service where you do not yet host other websites or data. Has usually never benefited from a free transfer completed by our team.
• Also called: New hosting subscription, new hosting plan.

Before you start

‼️ IMPORTANT Your web hosting service determines which website transfer scenario applies. If you haven’t done so already, review the definitions above to understand each term within the scenarios.

Scenario A Do you have a New Web Hosting Service with us❓
➡️ All new hosting services come with a free website transfer by our team. If you just signed up for a new hosting service and want a free transfer, open a support ticket with our team.

Scenario B Do you have an Existing Web Hosting Service with us❓
➡️ To transfer an additional website to your existing hosting service, use this guide to do it yourself for free. If you prefer our transfer team to handle it, open a support ticket. Transfer requests for existing hosting services start at $25 per website. Service fees also apply if you require our team to intervene at any point during your self-transfer.

❗ADDITIONAL POINTS

⚠️ This guide provides general guidelines for each step. If you’ve already completed a step, skip ahead to the section that matches your current step.

ℹ️ This guide has been written mainly to transfer a WordPress website, however, it can be used as a general guideline to transfer different website types.

🚨 Website transfers can be complex. If opting to complete the transfer yourself, make sure to follow the sections in this guide thoroughly.

⛔ Websites built on proprietary website builder software cannot be transferred.

❌ Domain name transfers are not website transfers. If you want to transfer only your domain name to us, go here: Transfer your domain name to us. Transferring your domain only does not transfer your website.

Step by step

🤔 Each section below will guide you on where to perform the step by step instructions.

Transfer your website files

Create an FTP user account

🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section at your Current Web Hosting Provider, the web host you are leaving.

1. Log in to your account at your current web hosting provider

2. Go to the FTP tool or section

3. Create an FTP user account

ℹ️ Note: If you are unsure how to create an FTP account with your current web hosting provider, consult their official help documentation or support channels.

4. Once you’ve created an FTP user account, make sure to note down your FTP credentials in a secure spot that you can easily access. You will need these credentials to transfer your website files:

• FTP Host (or ‘hostname’)
• FTP Username
• FTP Password
• FTP Port

⚠️ Note: To transfer your files, your FTP account must be created at your current web host, not with us.

5. Once you have noted down your FTP user account credentials, move to the next section

Download your website files

🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section between the FTP application on your computer and your Current Web Hosting Provider, the web host you are leaving.

ℹ️ Note: You can use the following guide as general guidelines to help you complete the steps in this section: Use FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to manage your files. However, remember this shows the process on our side, and the structure and naming in your file manager with your current web host may differ.

1. Open your FTP application on your computer. If you don’t have one, you can download and install FileZilla, which is a free FTP application.

2. On your computer desktop, right-click anywhere on your screen and create a new folder

3. Name your new folder in this format: yourdomain.com-files (replace yourdomain.com with the domain name of the website you are transferring)

4. Open the FTP application on your computer

5. Use the FTP credentials from the previous section to connect to your current hosting provider’s file manager. Once connected, your file manager will appear on the right, and your computer desktop on the left.

6. On your current hosting provider file manager, navigate to the public_html folder of the website you’d like to transfer

7. Select all of the files and folders inside of your website public_html, then click and drag all of them to the ‘yourdomain.com-files‘ folder you created on your computer desktop

8. Let the full FTP process run to create a copy of your website files on your desktop folder. This can take a few hours to a full day, depending on your website size. Keep your screen active to prevent disconnection. Once complete, the queued files tab will be empty.

9. Once the website files have been fully copied into your folder through FTP, minimize your FTP application on your computer screen.

10. Now, on the files folder you created on your desktop, right-click it and select Compress (or Zip) from the dropdown

11. Once your ‘yourdomain.com-files‘ folder is saved in a .zip format on your computer, move to the next section

Upload your website files

🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section between your computer and your New Web Hosting Provider, which is on your hosting control panel with us.

1. Log in to your hosting control panel with us

2. Click on Domains

3. Click on + Add New

4. In the Domain field, type the domain name of the website you are transferring and click the Create button

5. Return to the main page of your hosting control panel

6. Click on the File Manager button

7. Double click the domains folder

8. Find your domain name folder and double-click it

9. Look for the public_html folder and double click on it

10. At this point, you can upload folders to your website’s public_html folder. Click the [+] button on the left-hand side to get the Upload Files popup window.

11. From your computer desktop, select the compressed (.zip) version of your website files folder that you created from the previous section, and drop it into the DROP FILES HERE square

12. Click the Upload button

13. Let your folder fully upload and keep the page open. Depending on the folder size, this may take some time. Once the upload is complete, it will be marked as 100% on the bottom right. After seeing 100%, click the X button to close the Upload Files popup.

14. Now you will see your compressed (.zip) files folder in your public_html, right click the folder and from the dropdown select Extract

15. On the Extract popup, click the Extract button

16. You will now see all of your website files inside the public_html folder

17. Now, find your website file .zip folder (the one you uploaded and extracted)

18. Right-click on it, and select Remove from the dropdown

19. On the Remove Files popup, toggle OFF the To Trash button, and then click the Remove button

20. You have now successfully transferred your website files, move to the next section

Transfer your website database

Find your database name

🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section at your New Web Hosting Provider, which is on your hosting control panel with us.

1. Open and complete all the steps in this guide: Find your WordPress website database name

2. Note down your database name on a secure note, you will need this in the next section. Once you’ve noted down your database name, move to the next section.

Download your database

🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section at your Current Web Hosting Provider, the web host you are leaving.

ℹ️ Note: Use this guide as a general reference: Download a full copy of your website (see the ‘Download your website database‘ section). Keep in mind that this shows our process, and your current web host’s database management tool and naming may differ.

1. Log in to your hosting control panel at your current web hosting provider

2. Go to phpMyAdmin or database management tool

⚠️ Note: If you are unsure how to access your databases at your current web hosting provider, consult their official help documentation or support channels.

3. When phpMyAdmin opens, your databases will be displayed on the left side. If you have multiple databases, they will be listed here. Find the database that matches the name you found in the previous section.

4. Click directly on your database name

5. From the top, select the Export button

6. On the next page, make sure the format is set to SQL

7. Click the Export button

8. Your website database will now download to your computer, normally to your desktop or downloads folder

9. You have now successfully downloaded your website database, move to the next section

Create your new database shell

🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section at your New Web Hosting Provider, which is on your hosting control panel with us.

1. Open and complete all the steps in this guide: Create a new database – by completing these steps, you will create a new database shell

2. Once you’ve created a new database shell, note down its credentials securely. You’ll need these credentials to connect your website files to your database in a later section:

• Database Name:
• Database Password:

3. Once you have successfully created your new database shell and noted down its credentials, move to the next section

Upload your database

🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section at your New Web Hosting Provider, which is on your hosting control panel with us.

1. Log in to your hosting control panel with us

2. Click on the phpMyAdmin button

3. When phpMyAdmin opens, your databases will be displayed on the left side. If you have multiple databases, they will be listed here. Find the new database you created in the previous section and click it.

⚠️Note: Our process below provides visual examples. Keep in mind that your settings and naming will differ.

4. Click the Import button from the top

5. Click on Choose File

6. Select your database file from your computer and click the Upload button

7. Click the Import button from the bottom of the page

8. Allow the database import to complete without clicking away from your screen. This may take some time, depending on the database size. Once finished, you will see a green ribbon at the top with the message Import has been successfully finished.

9. Once you have successfully imported your website database, move to the next section

Connect your website files and database

🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section at your New Web Hosting Provider, which is on your hosting control panel with us.

1. Have the new database shell credentials you noted earlier ready for use. Pull up the secure note where you saved them.

2. Log in to your hosting control panel with us

3. Click on the File Manager button

4. Double click the domains folder

5. Find your domain name folder and double click it

6. Look for the public_html folder and double click it

7. Locate the wp-config.php file

8. Right click on the wp-config.php file and select Edit from the dropdown

9. In your wp-config.php file, find the DB_NAME section and delete the old database name from between the single quotes ‘ ‘ and type in your new database name, 🚨 do NOT delete the ‘ ‘

• In our example, our old database name is infoceptor_66 and the new one is cloudhelpcenter_db3982, so we’d change this section to:

/** The name of the database for WordPress */
define( 'DB_NAME', 'cloudhelpcenter_db3982' );

10. Find the DB_USER section and delete the old database username from between the single quotes ‘ ‘ and type in your new database username, 🚨 do NOT delete the ‘ ‘

• In our example, our old database username was infoceptor_66 and the new one is cloudhelpcenter_db3982, so we’d change this section to:

/** Database username */
define( 'DB_USER', 'cloudhelpcenter_db3982' );

11. Find the DB_PASSWORD section and delete the old database password from between the single quotes ‘ ‘ and type in your new database password, 🚨 do NOT delete the ‘ ‘

• In our example, our old database password was S37.1Ak(mp[o and the new one is QaNewwx#mwk!GoH2, so we’d change this section to:

/** Database password */
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'QaNewwx#mwk!GoH2' );

12. Find the DB_HOST section and make sure it says localhost between the single quotes ‘ ‘

/** Database hostname */
define( 'DB_HOST', 'localhost' );

➡️ Here is an example of the entire process above within our wp-config.php file:

13. Double check and make sure you’ve put in all of your new database shell credentials correctly, including all special characters. If there is a mistake in your database credentials, your website will not work.

14. Once you have successfully imported your website database and connected it to your website files, move to the next section

Verify your website transfer

🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section between your web browser and your New Web Hosting Provider, which is on your hosting control panel with us.

1. Open this guide and follow all the steps: Check your site on our DNS after transfer via the SkipDNS service

2. Use the steps listed in that guide to run a check on your transferred website

3. Your website will load if the transfer is done correctly and there are no incompatibility errors. If there are errors, they will be logged within your website error log, which you can then use to troubleshoot and fix.

ℹ️ Note: Website errors after transfer are often caused by plugins or .htaccess code snippets tied to your old web host and require deletion. Your PHP version might also need adjusting. Review these settings.

4. Once you’ve completed your website checks and/or required fixes, move to the next step

Check your email settings

🤔 Where do I do this? This section only applies if you have an active email service tied to the domain of the website you’re transferring. If it applies to you, complete the steps at your New Web Hosting Provider which is on your hosting control panel with us. The exact steps depend on where your email service operates.

ℹ️ Note: If you have an external email service connected to the domain of the website you’re transferring, you need to perform the required email transfer or email MX DNS record updates now to keep your email operational. If you don’t have any email connected to the domain, skip this section and go to the next.

If you have an external email service tied to the domain of the website you’re transferring, here are three scenarios and what you need to do:

Scenario A

• ✉️ Email Service: Your email is hosted by an external provider, but not Google Workspace or Microsoft 365

• ❓ What do I do? You need to transfer the email accounts tied to your domain name, open and complete the steps in this guide: Transfer your email to us

Scenario B

• ✉️ Email Service: Your email is hosted by Google Workspace

• ❓ What do I do? You need to activate the Google Workspace email records on your domain name, open and complete the steps in this guide: Activate Google Workspace email for your domain

Scenario C

• ✉️ Email Service: Your email is hosted by Microsoft 365

• ❓ What do I do? You need to activate the Microsoft 365 email records on your domain name, open and complete the steps in this guide: Activate Microsoft 365 email for your domain

Apply our nameservers

🤔 Where do I do this? Complete this step at your Domain Registrar, the company that manages your domain name registration. This is where you change your nameservers.

1. Open this guide and follow all the steps: Use our nameservers on your domain name

2. Once you’ve applied our nameservers to your domain name, you must wait for the settings to load across the internet, this can take anywhere from a few hours to 24 hours in a process called DNS propagation.

❗Do not check your website immediately after applying our nameservers, as you need to allow 24 hours for proper DNS propagation and SSL activation. Don’t worry, your website remains fully operational during this period. You just need to wait for internet service providers worldwide to sync their settings.

Check your SSL certificate

🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section between your web browser and your New Web Hosting Provider, which is on your hosting control panel with us.

1. After you’ve waited 24 hours, check your website via an incognito or private web browser session

2. You should see your website loading from our network with an active SSL certificate. If you do not see an SSL certificate, go to step 3 in this section. If you do see an SSL certificate, skip step 3 and go to the next section.

3. (Only complete this step if you do not see an SSL certificate. If you do, skip this step.) Open this guide and follow all the steps: Install an SSL certificate and enforce HTTPS on your domain

Update your WordPress Manager

🤔 Where do I do this? Complete the steps in this section at your New Web Hosting Provider, which is on your hosting control panel with us.

1. Go to your hosting control panel with us

2. Click on the WordPress Manager icon

3. On the WordPress Management page, click the Scan button

4. On the Import Installations page, click the Start scanning for installations button

5. Click the Return to WordPress Management button

6. Your transferred website WordPress installation will now be listed

7. At this point, you can log in to your WordPress admin dashboard: go here for the exact steps. Once you’ve successfully logged in, move to the next section.

(Optional) Transfer your domain name to us

🎉 If you’ve made it to this section, congrats, you’ve completed your website transfer! Now, you can transfer your domain name to us, if you’d like and haven’t done so already.

🌐 To transfer your domain name to us, complete all these steps: Transfer your domain name to us

There are several benefits to transferring your domain name to us, namely:

✔️ You will manage all your services from one place
✔️ You will have long-term cost savings
✔️ You will gain an additional year on your registration period (for most extensions)