Switching Web Hosts

Sooner or later this day will come. If you are moving into PupHost.com, then I just hope it happens today. Anyhow, jokes apart. Most likely you need to switch web hosts because you need more than they offer or they are just not reliable. In the present, switching web hosts is actually lot easier than you think
I am going to tell you how to transfer a domain name, how to test your website first in the new host, and then initiate a relaunch.
Domain Name Transfer
When you sign up with a company most likely they will register a domain name for you. I personally wouldn’t let the web host own the domain registration. I can guarantee that my company won’t steal your domain but there are many fraudulent companies who does the following:
When you try to switch out, they don’t let you transfer the domain out.
Charge you a lot per year for the domain, where in PupHost.com it costs only $10 USD per year.
If the domain is good and worth the price, they will steal and resale it.
So if your current web host owns the domain name, I recommend that you transfer it to an independent domain registration company. Some of the reputable companies are GoDaddy, Namecheap and of course PupHost.com.
Basically you have to visit any of the domain name registration companies first, and use their Transfer Domain wizard. Before you do that, you need to make sure the domain is free to be transferred. Which means is when you register a domain, you lock it. So, no other company can just take over your domain. First contact your current web host and tell them that you wish to transfer the domain and want to open the domain for transfer. They should unlock the domain for you, and you can easily transfer over.
There might be specific steps you need to take for different companies. For example the transfer process might differ from GoDaddy or PupHost.com. So, you need to ask the company exactly what to do.
New Web Host
So, you decided to go with PupHost.com, Congratulations. Just kidding! Do not take your website down or make any kind of announcements before you test your new web host. Nowadays, quite a lot of web hosts use same or similar structure. For example, a web host might be using the same control panel as the other or offer the same features as the other. Here are some of the steps you need to take.
Back up any important contents. (e.g. Database, Files and so on)
From your old web host, download all the files under the web directory. (e.g. /home/username/www/ or /public_html/ or /htdocs/)
Upload them in your new host maintaining the directory structure.
Download the database if you have any and import them in your new web host. (Most web hosts now have PHPMyAdmin to import/export database if you are using MySQL)
Go back to your new web host files, and change the database host, username and password accordingly.
Visit your new website and see if it is working. (e.g. http://123.123.123.123/~username/). If you have a dedicated ip address, then you can view your website with just the IP address.
If you see everything working as expected, now you are ready to make the move.
Go back to your website hosted with current host (old host) and post a news that the website will be down for 36-48 hours (it usually takes 3-10 hours nowadays). Go to your domain registrar control panel and update the nameservers to your new web hosts.
After the domain has been propagated to the new host, you will see your website is running smoothly. And there will be barely any sign of web host change.