Migrating Your Website to New Hosting

Overview

Migrating your website to a new hosting provider involves transferring all your files, databases, email accounts, and DNS settings. With proper planning, you can complete the migration with minimal downtime.

Before You Start

• Do not cancel your old hosting until the migration is fully verified
• Note your current DNS settings — Take screenshots or export your DNS zone file
• Check compatibility — Ensure the new hosting supports your site’s requirements (PHP version, database type, etc.)
• Choose a low-traffic time — Perform the migration during off-peak hours

Step 1: Back Up Your Website

Files

1. Log into your old hosting’s cPanel or use FTP
2. Navigate to public_html and download all files
3. Alternatively, use cPanel’s Backup Wizard to create a full backup

Databases

1. Open phpMyAdmin in your old hosting’s cPanel
2. Select your database
3. Click Export and choose SQL format
4. Download the exported file

Email

1. Note all email accounts and their configurations
2. Back up important emails using an email client (Thunderbird, Outlook)

Step 2: Set Up the New Hosting

1. Log into your new 10Corp hosting account
2. Set up your hosting for the domain (see Setting Up Hosting for an Existing Domain)
3. Note the new server’s nameservers and IP address

Step 3: Upload Files to New Hosting

1. Log into the new cPanel or connect via FTP
2. Navigate to public_html
3. Upload all your website files
4. Alternatively, upload cPanel’s backup file and restore through Backup Wizard

Step 4: Import Databases

1. In the new cPanel, go to MySQL Databases
2. Create a new database with the same name
3. Create a database user and assign it to the database with all privileges
4. Open phpMyAdmin, select the new database
5. Click Import and upload your SQL backup file
6. Update configuration files — Edit your website’s database configuration (e.g., wp-config.php for WordPress) to reflect the new database name, username, and password

Step 5: Test Before Switching DNS

Before updating DNS, test your site on the new server:

1. Edit your hosts file — Add an entry like NEW_SERVER_IP yourdomain.com to your local hosts file
2. Browse your site — Visit your domain in a browser to verify everything works
3. Check all pages, forms, and functionality
4. Remove the hosts file entry after testing

Step 6: Update DNS

1. Log into your domain registrar
2. Update the nameservers to point to 10Corp’s nameservers
3. Wait for DNS propagation (up to 24–48 hours)

Step 7: Verify and Clean Up

• Verify your website is working correctly on the new server
• Test all forms, links, and interactive elements
• Confirm email delivery is working
• After 48 hours, cancel your old hosting plan

WordPress-Specific Migration

For WordPress sites, you can simplify migration using plugins:

• All-in-One WP Migration — Export and import entire WordPress sites
• Duplicator — Package your site for easy migration
• UpdraftPlus — Backup and restore with remote storage support

Need Help?

10Corp offers migration assistance. Contact our support team if you need help moving your website to our hosting platform.