Moving your website to a new hosting provider is simpler than most people think — and many hosts will do most of the work for you. The typical migration takes a few hours of actual downtime, and if you follow the right steps, your visitors won’t notice a thing. Here’s how to do it without breaking your site.
Before You Start: The Pre-Migration Checklist
Before touching anything, gather this information:
- Your current hosting provider’s login details — control panel (cPanel, Plesk), FTP credentials, and database access
- Your domain registrar login — this might be the same company as your host, or it might be different. Check your email for renewal notices from your domain provider.
- A full backup of your website — files and database (we’ll cover this below)
- Your new hosting account — set up and ready to go, but don’t change anything on your domain yet
If you don’t know who hosts your website or manages your domain, check your email for recurring charges or invoices. You can also use a free tool like who.is to look up your domain and see which nameservers it points to.
Step 1: Back Up Everything
This is the most important step. Before migrating, create a complete backup of:
Your Website Files
These are the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, and other files that make up your website. If you’re running WordPress, this includes your theme files, plugins, and uploaded media.
How to download them:
- Most hosting control panels have a “File Manager” or “Backup” tool — use it to download a ZIP of your entire website directory
- Alternatively, use an FTP client (like FileZilla) to download all files from your
public_htmlorwwwfolder - For WordPress, you can use a backup plugin like UpdraftPlus or All-in-One WP Migration
Your Database
If your site uses WordPress, WooCommerce, or any CMS, your content (pages, posts, products, comments) lives in a database — not in the files.
How to download it:
- In cPanel, open phpMyAdmin, select your database, click Export, and download the SQL file
- WordPress backup plugins typically include the database in their backup
Your Email
If you use email through your hosting provider ([email protected]), those emails are stored on the server. Download any important emails to your computer before migrating, or ensure your email client (Outlook, Thunderbird) has local copies.
Save all three backups to your computer. Don’t rely on the old host’s backup system — you might lose access to it after migrating.
Step 2: Set Up Your New Hosting Account
Sign up with your new hosting provider. Most providers walk you through the initial setup. What you need to do:
- Choose your plan — if you’re not sure what you need, our hosting guide can help
- Note your new nameservers — your new host will give you two nameserver addresses (something like
ns1.newhost.com.auandns2.newhost.com.au). You’ll need these later. - Don’t change your domain settings yet — your old site should keep running while you set up the new one
Step 3: Move Your Website to the New Host
You have three options, from easiest to most hands-on:
Option A: Let Your New Host Migrate For You (Easiest)
Many hosting providers offer free migration when you sign up. They handle everything — files, database, email — and you just need to provide your old hosting login details.
Providers that typically offer free migration:
- VentraIP — free migration assistance
- SiteGround — free professional migration
- Most managed WordPress hosts
This is the recommended approach if you’re not technical. Your new host’s support team does migrations regularly and knows how to avoid the common problems.
Option B: Use a WordPress Migration Plugin
If you’re on WordPress, plugins like All-in-One WP Migration or Duplicator can package your entire site into a single file that you upload to the new host.
- Install the migration plugin on your old site
- Export your entire site as a file
- Install WordPress on your new hosting account
- Install the same migration plugin on the new WordPress
- Import the file
This works well for sites under 500 MB. Larger sites may need the premium version of these plugins or a manual approach.
Option C: Manual Migration
For full control, move files and database separately:
- Upload your website files to the new host via FTP or the control panel’s File Manager
- Create a new database on the new host
- Import your SQL backup into the new database
- Update your site’s configuration file to point to the new database (for WordPress, this is
wp-config.php— update the database name, username, password, and host)
This approach requires some technical knowledge. If you’re not comfortable with databases and FTP, use Option A or B.
Step 4: Test Before Switching
Before you point your domain to the new host, test that your site works on the new server. Most hosts provide a temporary URL (like youraccount.newhost.com.au) or an IP address you can use to preview your site.
Check:
- All pages load correctly
- Images display properly
- Contact forms work
- Any e-commerce functionality processes correctly
- Links aren’t broken
Fix any issues now, while your old site is still live and your visitors are unaffected.
Step 5: Update Your DNS
This is the step that actually moves your domain to point to the new host. It’s also the step people worry about most — but it’s straightforward.
What DNS Is (Simply)
DNS (Domain Name System) is like a phone book for the internet. When someone types yourbusiness.com.au, DNS looks up which server to send them to. Changing your DNS is like telling the phone book your new address.
How to Update It
- Log in to your domain registrar — the company where you registered your domain (might be the same as your old host, might be different)
- Find the DNS or Nameserver settings — look for “DNS Management,” “Nameservers,” or “Domain Settings”
- Replace the old nameservers with the new ones — your new host provided these in Step 2
- Save the changes
That’s it. The technical part takes about two minutes.
DNS Propagation: The Waiting Period
After you change your nameservers, the update doesn’t happen instantly. DNS propagation typically takes 2–48 hours, though most visitors will see the new site within 4–6 hours.
During propagation, some visitors will see your old site and some will see the new one. This is normal. As long as both sites are running (don’t cancel your old hosting yet), nobody will see a broken page.
Step 6: Verify and Clean Up
Once propagation is complete (give it 24–48 hours):
- Test your site again — check all pages, forms, and functionality
- Check your email — make sure email is working on the new host
- Update any hardcoded references — if your site has any references to the old server’s IP address or temporary URL, update them
- Keep your old hosting account active for 7–14 days — just in case something was missed. Don’t cancel it immediately.
- Cancel your old hosting — once you’re confident everything works on the new host
Common Migration Mistakes
Cancelling the Old Host Too Early
Keep your old hosting active for at least a week after migration. If something goes wrong, you can quickly switch back by reverting your nameservers.
Forgetting About Email
If your email runs through your hosting provider, migrating your website also migrates your email. Make sure your new host supports email and that you’ve set it up before switching DNS. Or consider moving to Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 as a separate service that isn’t tied to your hosting.
Not Updating WordPress URLs
If you’re migrating WordPress, the site URL is stored in the database. If your temporary testing URL got saved into the database, your site might behave strangely after the DNS switch. Most migration plugins handle this automatically, but if you migrated manually, check the wp_options table in your database.
Ignoring SSL
Your new host should provide a free SSL certificate. After migration, make sure HTTPS is working and your site redirects HTTP to HTTPS. Browsers will show a security warning if SSL isn’t configured, which sends visitors running.
Not Backing Up Before Starting
This bears repeating. If the migration goes wrong and you don’t have a backup, you could lose your website. Back up before you start, and save the backup somewhere safe.
How Long Does Migration Take?
| Step | Time |
|---|---|
| Creating a backup | 15–30 minutes |
| Setting up the new host | 15–30 minutes |
| Moving files and database | 30 minutes – 2 hours |
| Testing | 30 minutes |
| Updating DNS | 5 minutes |
| DNS propagation | 2–48 hours (usually 4–6) |
| Total active work | 1.5–3.5 hours |
| Total elapsed time | 4–48 hours |
The actual work takes a couple of hours. The rest is waiting for DNS to propagate, during which your site is still accessible on either the old or new host.
When to Migrate
- Low-traffic periods — evenings or weekends when fewer visitors are on your site
- Avoid migrating during sales or campaigns — don’t migrate your e-commerce site during Black Friday
- Give yourself a buffer — don’t migrate the day before a major launch or event
- Weekdays are fine — if your new host offers free migration, their support team is usually most available during business hours
Do You Need to Migrate?
Before going through the migration process, make sure switching hosts is the right move. Check our red flags guide to see if your current host is genuinely underperforming, or whether the issue might be solvable without switching.
If you’ve decided to switch, our provider directory reviews Australian hosts independently — no affiliate links — so you can choose your next host with confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will my website go down during migration?
Briefly, yes — but it’s usually minimal. During DNS propagation (the 2–48 hours after you update your nameservers), some visitors may see the old site and some the new one. As long as both hosting accounts are active during this period, nobody sees a broken page. True downtime is typically just minutes, if any.
Can I migrate my website myself?
Yes, but if you’re not technical, use your new host’s free migration service. Most reputable providers include this. It’s faster, safer, and avoids the common mistakes. If you’re on WordPress, migration plugins make self-migration straightforward.
How much does migration cost?
Many hosts offer free migration to win your business. If yours doesn’t, professional migration services typically cost $50–$150. WordPress migration plugins have free versions that work for most sites, or premium versions around $70–$100 for larger sites.
What if something goes wrong?
If you followed Step 1 and have a complete backup, you can always restore your site — either to the old host or the new one. The backup is your safety net. If the migration fails, revert your nameservers to point back to the old host while you troubleshoot.
Do I need to tell my customers about the migration?
For most small business websites, no. If the migration goes smoothly (and it usually does), your visitors won’t notice anything. The domain stays the same, the site looks the same — just the server behind it changes. For e-commerce sites, you might want to schedule the DNS switch during off-hours to minimise any chance of disruption during checkout.