Click here to view the embedded video.

Check Out the New Provider

Before you do it, you have to inspect carefully to make sure you know what you’re getting into. Go to the new web host, create an account (you would have to pay for it, but you’ll get a refund within the first month or so if you decide to cancel), check out their user interface, contact their support team to find out how helpful and responsive they are. You really want to test it out before you make the decision to take the leap.

A good tip is to sign up for the new web host within about two weeks of your current web hosting contract expiring. This way, if anything goes awry, you have immediate backup right there and can correct any errors far more easily than if you jumped to the new host after your previous contract had expired. Not only that, but you have time to renew your current contract if you decide that the web host you have actually isn’t so bad compared to most of the others out there.

Backup All of Your Data

Before you do the transfer, make sure you have backup properly. The last thing you want is to have misplaced certain files that put your blog to a grinding halt. Download everything to your hard drive so that you can restore everything just in case.

It may also be a good idea to backup everything to CD and/or USB. Backup all of your images, files, databases and directory structures, and then store the CD or USB in a safe location.

Your current web host should have a backup option in their Cpanel. Ask customer service to walk you through the steps if you’re still uncertain. You can also do the backup within WordPress where you can go to Tools and then Export to download all of your content, but this doesn’t include any images, audios or videos. Ideally, those files should be on a separate cloud storage company such as Dropbox, Microsoft Live Skydrive, Amazon S3, or even Google Docs. Of course you should make copies of them too. Basically you should get a copy of everything that makes up your website.

Tell People you’re Moving

Visitors hate being inconvenienced by laggy, slow pages, or web pages that no longer exist. Make sure that you give your visitors a fair warning about the transition and that you will be coming back soon. If you can give them warning weeks in advance through a blog entry, or an email for email subscribers, that would be best. Add a note on the homepage of your website advising of the date that the website will be moved, and for how long they can expect to be inconvenienced. Things on the Internet come and go at a fast pace, so if they for just one day cannot locate your website and receive some “404 error” code, they may assume that you’ve packed up and shipped off, and are never to return again.

Making the Big Move

Ok now here’s the big move. It can be scary. There are a lot of things that you might be thinking about such as transferring data to the new web host, notifying the domain registrar if it’s not your old web host provider. Update your DNS. These are things that might make your head explode. This is complicated. You could really screw up your blog if not done correctly. This is why we like Hostgator so much. They will actually bring all of your stuff over for you.

Now once you have everything migrate over, or you have the new web hosting company do it for you, test, test, and test! One thing that you need to take advantage of is the “preview” function that most of the hosting services offer these days. You can see how your website looks on whatever browser or browsers of your choosing, ensure that the functionality is still working as they should, and that everything is all intact. If anything looks wrong, check the coding, and don’t be afraid to contact the hosting’s customer service for help (they can almost always troubleshoot any problem that you may be experiencing).

Only close your old account after you’ve thoroughly checked to make sure that you website works on the new web host. As mentioned above, “don’t burn that bridge” until you’re sure.

Additional Tips on Changing Web Hosting Services

Once everything looks good and is working right, it’s time to configure your email accounts (you really shouldn’t, but just in case you do) on the new web server. Take note of the new SMTP and POP3 account that you will be using once the transition is complete. Once the website has completely transitioned over to the new web hosting service, you will then be able to update your email client so that it does match the new SMTP and POP3 settings on your account.

While you’re in the process of moving, it’s also a good idea to put some sort of a mark on any page on your new web server, just so that you can differentiate the page on your new webserver from the old one. This will make it incredibly easy for you to tell when ever any DNS information of yours is updated.

It may take the DNS information 72 hours or so to propagate across all of the DNS servers, to make sure that you tell your visitors that you may be gone for that long. Though your entire website may be all (or mostly) switched over in as little as two, it’s always a good idea to give your devoted visitors a fair warning.

When you rent a home or apartment, you are paying someone else’s mortgage, but more importantly, you have no ownership over your own space.

If you plant a tree in the backyard, you don’t have ownership over it. Maybe you decide to put tile down in the bathroom, but you can’t take it with you one day when you leave. Renting means that you are living somewhere at the approval of another person.

Owning, on the other hand, means that you can do what you want because you own the space. You can paint, put down hardwood floors and fence the backyard. Sure, you might have some neighborhood covenants that govern certain things, but for the most part, you are the captain of your own ship.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Using Free Web Hosts

With web hosting, many people make critical areas when it comes to choosing how to host their blogs. There are free blog services like Blogger and WordPress.com that you can use (don’t confuse the WordPress.com free web host with the very popular WordPress blogging software – which we use AND highly recommend). In fact, many people start out using these free services because they want to “test the waters”. However, there is a big danger is using free services if you want to build a long term business as a blogger.

Just as with renting, you can be “kicked out” of your free blog in a heartbeat. Let’s say you spend 6 months building up a blog with tons of fantastic content and a following of faithful readers. Then, one day out of the blue, you realize your blog has been wiped clean.

As unbelievable as it may sound, it does happen and is not a good surprise. When you build rankings to a free blog, you are paying someone else’s mortgage payment in a way. You are building rankings for something you do not own which can be wiped out in any time for no valid reason at all.

Also some free services like WordPress.com prohibit the use of affiliate links on your free blog, meaning you can’t make money with your blog. Which really makes “free” into a pretty bad deal?

When you use a free blog service, you have to follow someone else’s rules. If you break those rules, or they even think that you did, they can click a button and kill your business in a heartbeat. It is like building a house on sand. Who needs or wants the stress of wondering if your business will still be there tomorrow?

Paid Web Hosts

So what is the answer? Get your own web hosting! You can (and should) still use WordPress as your blogging software. Web hosting is very inexpensive (less than $7 per month for basic services) and will allow you to be the ruler over your own virtual “real estate.”

As you learn how to start a blog, you will be able to write what you want and build your business without constantly worrying about the possibility that someone will remove your content tomorrow.

When considering a hosting company, it helps to ask other successful bloggers and Internet marketers who they recommend. Many will have horror stories of certain hosting companies, which will help you avoid landmines in your search for a hosting company.

You also want to make sure that the host you choose has CPANEL (control panel) so that you can easily access certain features that you will need as you learn more about blogging and working online. You may also want to ask if the host has support for WordPress, our recommended blogging software. Some web hosts (like our recommended web host below) provide a simple way to install WordPress in just a few clicks.

Another factor to consider is how much space you really need for your new blog. You don’t want to overbuy and overpay each month for space you don’t yet need.

You can always upgrade your plan later as your blog grows in traffic. When starting out in blogging, it’s important to only spend money on the necessities instead of wasting a lot on things that are not needed yet.

Our Web Host Recommendation

There are many web hosting companies out there, but one of the most popular and most reputable is called HostGator (read our review here). They are well known within the industry for their competitive pricing and great customer service.

Also they’re the ones we started with and we recommend you start with them as well.

They have chat representatives available all the time in case you have questions or concerns which makes it a valuable resource for new bloggers all the way up to advanced bloggers. They offer several plans including dedicated servers, but you won’t need that until you have either a lot of sites or a ton of traffic.

HostGator offers unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth and a very easy control panel where you can set up email addresses among other things. They have a 99.9% uptime guarantee which is highly important because that means your website will very rarely “go down”.

Some hosting companies cannot guarantee uptime, and that usually means they experience a lot of technical glitches. The last thing you want to worry about is having your site go down a lot and missing out on traffic and income potential.

As one of the world’s top 10 largest web hosting companies, HostGator has more than 4 million hosted domains. They are certainly not the only hosting companies, but you will rarely hear any complaints about their services.

Another great thing about HostGator is that WordPress can be installed in just a few clicks using a feature called Fantastico. They also have simple tutorials available showing exactly how to install WordPress, and once you do it then you will be a pro at it – and you’ll get your blog started right away.

Choosing your web hosting is important because you want to be sure that your blog is protected and stable. After all, this will be your new business model so you need to take the decision seriously.

Look at all of the factors when you are comparing hosting companies so that you don’t have to move your site later as that can mean a real hassle and potential loss of data if not done correctly. You can also look for special coupons and deals on hosting to get in at a great price.

Check out the detailed review on the ONLY web host we recommend if you’re just getting started – the one we recommend to our own friends and family.  Our recommended web host even comes with 1-click installation of WordPress, our favorite easy to use blog publishing platform: the one we use for all our sites.

If you get a really big traffic spike because you’re YouTube video went viral – can your web hosting plan handle it? Or will your blog simply be ‘unavailable’?

We experience some very large traffic spikes in the beginning of our online presence. At a time when AskDanAndJennifer.com was getting about 10,000 page views per month, one of our article would get featured on a major social media site sending somewhere between 30,000 – 60,000 visitors in one day!

Sounds awesome right? Well it’s awesome until your blog goes down – completely – because your web host can’t handle the traffic spikes.

That was the case with our first web hosting service so we decided to try HostGator. Guess what? Amazingly, our $7/month web hosting plan held its own and we had no more downtime from these traffic spikes. Yes!

I’m not saying HostGator is perfect and we never have any downtime…

Listen, all websites go down occasionally – even Amazon… What matters is how your web hosting provider handles the situation when there’s an issue. HostGator’s email support team responds to tickets very quickly – sometimes in a matter of minutes. Plus, if you need to, you can pick up the phone and call them.

HostGator’s customer service simply cannot be beat. Their staff is knowledgeable, responsive, and helpful – that’s a trifecta in my book.

Are there other good web hosting options?

Sure, there are web hosting companies that offer great good, solid service and reliable servers. But there’s a catch (read on, we’ll spill the beans below).

When we started looking for a good web hosting service a few years ago, we asked around and got a general shoulder shrug from most of our friends. Yeah, they all had one host or another that was “OK”, but nobody could tell us”the best one to go with”. So after a LOT of painstaking research, we ended up with a “short list” of possible contenders and the end decided to go with HostGator.

HostGator – Best web host to start out with. Solid, reliable, and very inexpensive: as low as $5/month. And a unique feature that other low-cost web hosts don’t have: you can sign up monthly, no commitments.

HostGator is great because it JUST WORKS, they offer a lot of great features, and (unlike most other quality web hosts) you can just sign up for an inexpensive monthly plan, month by month. We highly recommend HostGator. The fact that their email support replies to most issues in literally minutes certainly doesn’t hurt.

NOTE: Use Coupon Code BLOGSUCCESS when you sign up with HostGator – and your 1st month is just $0.01! That means you can start a blog today for just $0.01. Now you’ve really got no excuse to delay, so take a few minutes and do it before you get busy and forget!

Why We Personally Recommend HostGator

Handling 30,000 – 60,000 visitors to our WordPress blog in a single day is not bad for a $5/month hosting account. We were pretty darn impressed. And that’s why we recommend HostGator to our friends and family regularly…

AND, they offer a 45-Day Money-Back Guarantee… so they really make it easy for you to try it out and see how it actually works for you. If you don’t like it, they’ll give you a full refund, no questions asked. We think that’s pretty cool.

In short, if you want a hosting provider that is inexpensive and JUST WORKS, we recommend you go with HostGator. That’s what we did, and that’s where we send our friends.

So go ahead… Try HostGator for yourself. You’ll be glad you did. 

Tip: Don’t forget to use Coupon Code BLOGSUCCESS when you sign up with HostGator – and your 1st month is just $0.01! That means you can start a blog today for just $0.01. Now you’ve really got no excuse to delay, so take a few minutes and do it before you get busy and forget!