CentriWebTo move your website to a new host without losing email or enquiries, do it in this order: confirm who controls your domain and DNS, take a full backup, set up and test the site on the new host, copy every email-related DNS record, then switch DNS and test forms straight away. Keep the old hosting running until everything is confirmed working.
Most migrations that go wrong don’t break the website. They break email and contact forms, often quietly, so you only notice when enquiries stop. This checklist is written for owners, so you know what to ask for and what to check, even if someone else does the technical work.
Before you start: find out who controls your domain and DNS
Three different things are often mixed up, and they can sit with three different companies:
| What | What it does | Where it might be |
|---|---|---|
| Domain registrar | Where you rent your domain name each year | A registrar, your old web designer, or your current host |
| DNS | The address book that tells the internet where your website and email live | Your registrar, your host, or a service like Cloudflare |
| Web hosting | The server your website runs on | Your current host |
Before anything else, find out:
- Which registrar your domain is with, and whether you can log in yourself.
- Whose name and email address the domain is registered to. It should be your business, not a past developer.
- Where your DNS is managed. That’s where the switch will happen.
- Where your email is hosted. Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or mailboxes on your current web host.
If a former developer or agency controls the domain, sort that out first. Ask for the login or a transfer into your own account. Moving hosting without control of your domain is how businesses end up stuck. When you hire someone new, settle this before you sign; it is the first of our questions to ask a web designer.
Take a full backup you can restore
A backup is only useful if you can restore it. Before you change anything, get:
- All website files, including uploads and images.
- A copy of the database, if your site uses one (WordPress sites do).
- A screenshot or export of every DNS record as it is now.
- If your email lives on the current web host, a copy of every mailbox.
- Logins for anything connected to the site: payment gateways, booking tools, form services, analytics.
Store the backup somewhere that isn’t the old host or the new host. The Australian Cyber Security Centre’s small business guide covers backups as one of the basics, and a migration is a good time to check yours actually work.
The DNS screenshot matters more than people think. If anything goes wrong after the switch, it tells you exactly what the settings were before.
Set up and test the site on the new host
Build the site on the new host while the old one keeps running. Visitors shouldn’t notice anything at this stage.
Most hosts give you a temporary address or a way to preview the site before DNS points to it. Use it to check:
- Every page loads, including old blog posts and service pages.
- Images, fonts and downloads all appear.
- Logins work for the admin area.
- The site loads at a reasonable speed on a phone.
- Plugins, themes and the software version match what you had, or are newer and tested.
Make sure the new host can issue a security certificate (the padlock in the browser) once the domain points to it. Most hosts do this automatically, but ask.
Many hosts offer to migrate your site for you, sometimes at no charge. That can save time, but ask exactly what they copy. Some move the website files and database only, and leave email, DNS records and form settings to you.
Pick a quiet time to switch, like early in the week, outside a sale or campaign. Avoid Friday afternoons. If something breaks, you want people around to fix it.
Email: the part that usually breaks
Email breaks when DNS records that the old host was quietly managing don’t get copied to the new DNS. The website comes up fine, so everyone assumes the job is done, and then emails start bouncing or landing in spam.
Before switching, list every email-related DNS record and make sure each one exists on the new DNS, exactly as before:
- MX records. Tell the internet where to deliver your email. If these are wrong, email stops arriving.
- SPF (a TXT record). Lists which services can send email for your domain. Your website’s form sender may need to be added here.
- DKIM. A signature that proves your emails are genuine. Usually one or more TXT or CNAME records from your email provider.
- DMARC (a TXT record). Tells receiving servers what to do with email that fails the checks above.
- Autodiscover and similar records. Help phones and Outlook set up mailboxes automatically.
- Verification TXT records. For Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Search Console and other services. Losing these can break things weeks later.
If your email is hosted with Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, it doesn’t move. You just need the records copied correctly. If your mailboxes are on the old web host, you have a bigger job: set up mailboxes on the new host or a dedicated email service, and move old emails across before switching. It is also a good moment to check your SPF, DKIM and DMARC records, which decide whether your email reaches inboxes or spam.
Switching DNS and what propagation means
When you change where your domain points, the change doesn’t reach everyone at the same moment. Internet providers cache DNS records for a set time, called the TTL (time to live). Until that time runs out, some visitors still go to the old server. This delay is what people call propagation.
To make the switch smoother:
- Lower the TTL a day or two before. Set the records you’re changing to a short TTL, such as five minutes, so the switch takes effect faster. The shorter setting only kicks in once the old one has expired, which is why you do it ahead of time.
- Freeze changes on the old site. Don’t publish posts or take orders through the old site while you’re mid-move, or they’ll be left behind.
- Change the records. Usually the A record for your domain and the www record. Leave email records alone unless email is also moving.
- Check from different networks. Your phone on mobile data and your office wifi may see different versions for a while.
- Raise the TTL again once everything is confirmed working.
Because the old host stays live during propagation, visitors see a working site the whole time. That’s why there’s no downtime if it’s done in this order.
Testing forms, payments and tracking after the move
Enquiries are the reason most small business websites exist, so test everything that brings one in:
- Contact and quote forms. Submit each one. Check the notification arrives, the auto-reply goes out, and the enquiry lands in your CRM if it’s connected.
- Form email delivery. If notifications are sent from the server, they may need an SMTP setup or an SPF update on the new host to avoid spam folders.
- Spam protection. Captcha keys are sometimes tied to a domain or server and may need resetting.
- Payments and bookings. Run a small test payment. Check that webhooks, the messages your payment provider sends back to your site, are reaching the new server.
- Analytics and ad tracking. Confirm your tracking codes are firing, or you’ll lose data and possibly ad performance.
- Scheduled tasks. Backups, feeds and automated emails that run on a timer may need setting up again.
Check again a day later and a week later. Some issues only show up once a scheduled task runs or a real customer uses a form.
When to cancel the old hosting
Don’t cancel straight away. Keep the old hosting for at least a couple of weeks after the switch, or until the next billing date if that’s sooner and everything checks out.
Before you cancel:
- Confirm all traffic is reaching the new host.
- Confirm email is working and nothing is still being delivered to old mailboxes.
- Download one final backup of the old site and any mailboxes.
- Make sure the domain itself isn’t registered through the old host. If it is, transfer it first, or cancelling could take your domain with it.
Getting it done without the stress
Print this out and work through it in order, ticking each step. If you’d rather hand it over, ask whoever does it what’s included, who tests email and forms, and how long they keep the old site as a fallback. We handle managed hosting and migrations for business websites, including the DNS and email checks. If that’s useful, you can book a migration.