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Hosting switch checklist: a step-by-step plan for moving your site
Most migration disasters come from three things: no backup, forgotten email records and missing redirects. Pick your situation and follow the list in order.
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HOSTING SWITCH CHECKLIST
- Inventory: List every site, subdomain, staging copy, cron job, email inbox and DNS record on the old host.
- Inventory: Export the full DNS zone (A, CNAME, MX, TXT, SPF, DKIM, DMARC records) before changing anything.
- Inventory: Crawl the site and save a list of every URL, so you can check nothing goes missing.
- Backup: Download a full backup of every site: files and database, stored in two places.
- Backup: On Pressable, create on-demand filesystem and database backups per site; cancelling deletes all backups.
- Backup: On cPanel hosts, use Backup Wizard for a full account backup, including email.
- Email: Set up the new email provider and copy mailboxes before touching MX records.
- Store: Pick a low-traffic window and put the store in maintenance mode during the final database copy, so no orders are lost.
- Build: Restore the site on the new host (many managed hosts migrate for free) and test it on a temporary URL.
- Build: Export or rebuild the site as static files, deploy from Git, and recreate redirects in a _redirects file or redirect rules.
- Build: Replace forms, search and comments with services that work without a server.
- Test: Compare the URL list: every old URL should return 200 or a 301 redirect.
- Test: Check HTTPS, forms, logins and checkout on the new host before switching DNS.
- Switch: Lower DNS TTL a day ahead, then point A/CNAME records (or nameservers) to the new host.
- Switch: Confirm the switch with a hosting checker and watch for errors for 48 hours.
- Aftercare: Submit the sitemap in Google Search Console and watch for 404s for two weeks.
- Aftercare: Update uptime monitors, firewall allow-lists and any API callbacks that point to the old server.
- Cancel: Cancel Pressable at least 24 hours before renewal with "Cancel Later", and close the linked WordPress.com account if unused.
- Cancel: Cancel the old plan before it auto-renews; check the refund policy and any notice period.
The three steps people skip
- Exporting DNS first. Email breaks when MX, SPF and DKIM records aren't copied.
- Checking every URL. Missing redirects are how sites lose Google traffic after a move.
- Cancelling too early. Keep the old host running until the new one has served traffic for a few days.
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