Your website's domain name is a key part of your brand. When setting up your website, this is one of the first things you will need to decide. Over time, you may realize that your initial choice was not the best choice, or that your business has evolved where the initial choice does not reflect your current brand. The solution is therefore to change your domain name. In this article, we'll explain how to move your website to a new domain name with as little hassle as possible. Step 1: Pre-planning Before you start moving your website, there are several steps you should take to make the process easier.
Implement an action plan Below, we provide you with recommendations on what to do and when, as well as suggestions for tools you might want to use to complete the task. Using this information, you can create an action plan so you have a single, step-by-step company banner design instruction sheet specific to your situation. Eliminate and clean up your content Over time, your website grows as you add written content, videos, images, and more. However, some of them are no longer relevant, underperforming or outdated. If you decide these items are no longer needed, delete the files. You'll free up valuable storage space on your web hosting environment, and the moving process will be easier because you're moving fewer assets. Check your site structure Review your site files.
This will be a reminder of the overall structure of your site and how all your files fit together. If, however, you plan to change your site structure as part of your move, you should pre-plan the HTTP 301 redirects you will need to provide in your .htaccess file . (HTTP 301 redirects help your users find web pages that have moved, even if the user only knows the pages' old addresses.) For example, if you are just changing from http://old-domain.com/blog/postname to http://new-domain.com/blog/postname , the process of setting up redirects will be simple - requiring only a single system-wide redirect. However, if you move from http://old-domain.com/blog/old-postname to http://new-domain.com/new-folder/new-postname , setting up redirects can be very complicated - potentially requiring redirects for each page. Decide if you are going to move to a new web hosting provider If your current web hosting plan isn't meeting your needs (or if you're unhappy with the services you receive), consider switching to a new web hosting provider at the same time as you move your website.