Moving your website to a new host should not start with changing your domain's settings. First, prepare a working copy, check it carefully, and agree on the moment visitors will be directed to it. That is how you give the move the best chance of passing unnoticed by customers.
Faciotech offers assisted website migration with its hosting plans. You can leave the technical transfer to the team while still knowing what must be checked and when your old account can safely close. These three steps explain the move. If you are choosing a destination for a business site, compare the current Faciotech shared hosting plans and tell the team about any store, booking system, custom application, or email service before you order.
Step 1: Make a move plan and protect the current site
Start with a short inventory. List the domains and subdomains you use, the pages or applications they serve, your content management system, databases, contact forms, payment or booking tools, and where business email is hosted. Note any scheduled jobs and services that connect to your website. A brochure site and a store taking orders throughout the day need different cutover plans.
Take a current backup of the website files, database, and any email that is moving. Keep a copy you can access independently of both hosts. Ask how a restore would work, and check that the backup contains the content you expect. If someone else manages the site, agree who owns the domain, who can edit DNS, and who can approve the final switch. Do not cancel the old hosting account or let its domain registration lapse during the move.
Open a migration request with Faciotech and share the inventory, your preferred time window, and the contact person who can approve changes. Give the team only the access needed for the transfer, through a secure support channel or a temporary account. Do not send passwords by ordinary email or put them in a public form. Where practical, create a separate limited account, enable multi-factor authentication, and arrange to revoke that access after the work is verified. Tell Faciotech if the current provider restricts exports or if a licence cannot be transferred.
Before copying anything, agree what "done" means: the right pages and media, current records, working forms, valid HTTPS, and business email sent and received through the intended provider. This is also the time to decide how new orders, enquiries, comments, or bookings will be handled while the two copies coexist. A live store may need a brief write pause or a final data sync just before cutover; merely copying its database once can miss later transactions.
Step 2: Copy the website and test it before visitors move
Faciotech can prepare the new hosting space and transfer the agreed files and databases while your existing site stays online. A WordPress move may also need compatible PHP settings, plugins, scheduled tasks, and file permissions. A custom application may need additional services or a different plan. Ask the migration team to confirm that the destination supports your actual workload before the switch, rather than assuming that every site fits a standard shared account.
Test the new copy on a staging address or through a controlled preview that reaches the new host without changing public DNS. Open key pages on a phone and a computer. Check images, downloads, menus, redirects, search, and sign-in where applicable. Submit a test enquiry to an internal address and confirm that it arrives. For a store or booking site, use an approved test mode to check the journey without making a real charge or reservation. Compare a few current records with the old site so a successful homepage does not hide a missing database table or upload.
Check HTTPS on the new host using the real domain or an approved test route. A padlock on a temporary address does not prove the eventual customer address will have a valid certificate. Confirm whether email is moving with the site or staying with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or another provider. Review mailbox content, forwarders, and the DNS records used for delivery and authentication before changing any mail settings. Moving a website does not automatically require moving its email.
Record the issues found and retest after each fix. Keep the old site available throughout this stage. If you want the detailed technical checklist behind backups, preview testing, DNS, and post-migration checks, read our website migration without downtime guide. The three-step plan here is the customer-facing summary of that work, not a substitute for those checks.
Step 3: Switch traffic carefully, then verify and retain a way back
Once the new copy passes the agreed tests, choose a cutover window with Faciotech. Identify the exact DNS records that need changing and leave unrelated records alone. Where you control DNS, lowering the relevant record's time to live ahead of the move can shorten how long some resolvers keep the old answer, but caches may still behave differently. Keep both hosts serving a working site while the change spreads.
For a site that accepts new data, coordinate the final sync or a brief write pause immediately before the DNS switch. The team should know which copy is authoritative for orders, form submissions, bookings, and account changes. Otherwise, a customer can reach the old copy after a new copy goes live, leaving two sets of records to reconcile. If mail is part of the transfer, verify its cutover separately, including incoming and outgoing messages.
After the switch, check the site from more than one network and device. Confirm the certificate, main pages, forms, email routing, redirects, and any checkout or booking flow using safe test methods. Watch error logs and customer reports while DNS caches settle. Keep the old hosting account and its backup available until the team confirms that traffic and new data are reaching the intended destination. Agree in advance who will decide whether to switch traffic back and how data written after cutover would be preserved.
Uninterrupted service is the target, not an absolute guarantee. DNS caching, a failing third-party integration, or an unexpected application issue can still affect a move. A tested new copy, a short change window, active monitoring, and a practical rollback plan reduce that risk. When Faciotech and your team have verified the new site and mail, remove temporary access and only then arrange cancellation of the old hosting service.
