If you have an existing website up and running for any length of time and it has any level of real functionality, migrating
your site has all the appeal of a trip to the dentist for a root canal. Yet, if you’re finding your current service unacceptable in terms of reliability, uptime, functionality, or customer service, it is often better to take the plunge and endure short term pain for long term gain.
Before you set the wheels in motion on your migration you need to determine what your current website makeup includes. The following list should get you started:
- Basic website (static web pages)
- Blog
- Shopping Cart
- Mailing List/Newsletter
- Autoresponders
- Databases
- Other Dynamic web content (message boards, database interaction, scripts)
The good news is that usually your shopping cart and newsletters are services provided by someone other than your website host. However, in some cases you may have been hosting your site somewhere that provided this all in one package at which time the migration is an even bigger project because you need to change everything at once. The good news in the end is that you will no longer be relying on one provider for everything (no more all your eggs in one basket) and you’ll have more flexibility and often better service.
Where to Start
Using the list you just made of the different components of your website, you need to determine who provides what service. What components are part of your web hosting? What components are part of a third party provider (like a shopping cart)? Determine if you need to migrate everything at once or if you can do it in pieces. Then, create a matix of each component and how that will be addressed in the migration. For example:
Component —-> Current —-> Post-Migration
basic website —-> web host —-> new web host
shopping cart —-> web host —-> ABC shopping cart company
Blog —-> Blogger —-> Blogger
If you are stumped about what components are in play and how to address them, it is worth consulting with an expert to make the planning and transition go smoother.
Keep in mind that at this stage of your planning you will want to research all the different providers so you can get a holistic view of what your post-migration costs will be and to ensure that you will be receiving the same or better level of features and service when all is said and done. Otherwise, all this effort won’t give you any return on your time, energy, and investment.
Once you have a list that gives you a clear picture of “today” as well as a list of what it will look like post-migration you are ready to get into action.
Create a Detailed Plan
Migrations, even small ones, can be stressful. That is why it pays to have a detailed plan which includes chronological step by step checklists of what needs to be done, when, by whom, and how long it’ll take to complete. There really is an order to the process that must be taken to minimize downtime and ensure everything works on your site. This is where it really pays to work with someone who understands the behind the scenes details because it will utterly confound the average user.
Choose a Time to Migrate
The process is not instantaneous because changes need to be made to your domain name records and hosting account to ensure that everything is pointing to where you want it to (i.e. your website URL points to where your actual website is hosted). What that means is it takes time for these changes to proliferate across servers. Your migration will not happen as fast as you’d like. That being said, if you plan well you can make the change with minimal disruption to your online business.
Backup
Before anyone does anything, you need to perform backups. Backup your files, your database content, and any other thing you can think of. Once you switch there is no going back. As they say, back things up six ways past Sunday. While I have no idea what that cliché really means, I love the way it sounds and it reminds me that you can’t have too many safeguards in place when it comes to backing up your information.
Make Critical Changes to Domains and Hosting Services
If you are switching domain names or hosts you need to make changes on the domain name record. These take a while to proliferate as I mentioned. So you want to be doing this in parallel with your other setup activities at your host and third party providers. Do as much as you can in tandem so you are ready to roll once the changes are complete.
Migrate Files and Perform Updates
This step can be short or time consuming depending on the complexity of your site. You need to physically move your files and data from your old host to your new host. You need to update any links that will suddenly be out of date. In addition, if you have switched newsletter or shopping cart providers you need to configure those new services as well and implement the new code on your site.
Test
Once your physical migration and setup is complete, you need to test your site. Test, test, and then test some more. Enroll the help of others if you can. You want to make sure everything is working as it should before you call it a wrap. Test all the links and interactive portions of your site. View and use the site in multiple browsers. You will also want to test your shopping carts, forms, and other features that integrate with other service providers or programs.
Cancel Old Service Providers
Once your site is up and running and fully tested to your satisfaction you want to cancel your old service providers and get any pro rated refunds you might be owed. Don’t let anyone give you a run around about canceling especially if they have been unresponsive in the customer service arena in the past. Unless you have some contract that you need to take some formal action to terminate, you are free to go at anytime (you may or may not get any refund).
Celebrate
It is a lot of work to migrate a site. If you’ve made it this far it is time to celebrate and pat yourself and your team on the back! While it is a long process, if you did your up front planning you should now be poised to reap the benefits.
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