One
of the biggest pains about having a web site is changing web
hosts. I ought to know, I've changed over half a dozen times
in the last three years. Each time has been a step up and
with each move it becomes easier and easier to change.
Why change web hosts?
In
many cases, your web site is the first and only thing that
your customer sees (besides, hopefully, your product after
they make a purchase). This is especially true if your company
does not have a real-world presence such as a store or office.
Thus it is important that your web site be available to your
visitors (and customers if your site is commercial) twenty-four
hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Not
only must it be available, but your web site must load quickly.
If your host computer is too slow, it doesn't matter how much
you optimize your graphics and HTML, cut down page sizes and
perform other actions.
Other
features must work properly. These include CGI routines, autoresponders,
PHP, ASP and SSI scripts, and, very importantly, shopping
carts and credit card services.
All
of this is so important that you must keep an eye on your
site. I use two services: alertsite and internetseer. Both
of these ping my site occasionally to determine if it is up.
Any errors are reported to my email inbox. Why do I do this?
Two reasons: (a) it's critical that my site be online all
of the time, and (b) these services provide a third-party
record of any downtime, which is useful when attempting to
get fees refunded.
These
two services also measure response time, which is very useful
to determine how well your site responds to your users browsing
requests. These two factors, uptime and response time, are
the most critical measures of web site performance. A consistently
bad number in either measure is more than enough reason to
find another host.
Of
course, if your CGI routines stop working mysteriously or
your autoresponders stop responding, then by all means shoot
off a trouble ticket to your host. You have a right to expect
these types of issues to be quickly and politely fixed. If
they are not and the errors continue, then consider moving
to another host.
Getting
Ready to Move
There
are a number of tasks that you should be performing on a regular
basis. You see, you cannot predict when you might have to
change web hosts. It could be that they are suddenly sold
and their level of service drops, or they upgrade their computers
which causes a series of new problems. You can be sure that
you will only find out about these things when your web site
stops working or becomes unstable.
Another
reason to be performing regular maintenance tasks is the possibility
of disasters. A hacker could deface or even destroy your web
site. Your credit card could be closed, which might cause
your host to close down your site until you pay. Any number
of other disasters could occur, which make it very imperative
that you have a continual set of procedures in place to be
prepared for anything.
What
do you need to do regularly?
Monitor
your site - As I stated earlier, be sure you use a site monitoring
service to keep an eye on your web site. That way you will
know immediately if something happens.
Backup
your site - You should perform all edits to your pages on
your own computer and upload them to your site. Never edit
your site pages directly. This, by it's very nature, ensures
that a copy of your site always exists on your own computer
system.
However,
you may also have databases stored on your web site which
do not originate from your computer. These might include mailing
lists, demographic data, links and other similar things. These
items must all be copied to your own hard drive on a regular
basis.
You
can set up your favorite FTP program to do scheduled downloads
of selected databases, or you can just manually copy them
on a regular basis.
In
addition, your web host should be backing your site up daily.
In many instances, these backups are available to your as
downloadable zip files. Be sure and copy these down to your
system once in a while - perhaps once a week.
Don't
forget about such things as autoresponders, CGI routines and
anything else which you may enter at your site control panel.
You must ensure that you have a backup of everything.
Keep
a log - Be sure you know everything that you've done to your
site. You should list all of your autoresponders and their
names, track any subdomains which you have set up, and anything
else which you may do. This way if you have to change you
can recreate your site quickly and efficiently.
Only
use a domain name - Always reference your site via a domain
name which you have purchased and control. Never, ever use
the URL provided by your web host, as tempting as this can
be at times. I ran into a situation where my web host URL
was somehow entered into a number of search engines, and I
discovered I was getting tens of thousands of hits from these
URLs. This forced me to keep paying for the old site after
I switched hosts, just to be able to redirect the traffic
to my new site.
Make
sure you register your domain elsewhere - The first time I
registered a domain name, it seemed so convenient to just
use my web hosts domain registration service. What I didn't
know is they became the registrar, and it was a nightmare
getting the domain transferred to a different one. By registering
the domain at a different company, you will most likely get
a better price, and you will gain independence from your web
host.
Scope
out a few hosts in advance - Even if you are completely happy
with your current web host, at least take a few minutes and
have a few names ready just in case. This way if you are forced
to move, you have a pretty good idea of where.
Moving
To A Different Host
If
you are lucky, you get to make the choice about moving. In
that case, you can simply upload your new site, get it all
working, then transfer the domain and cancel the old site.
This gives you a large amount of control, because you don't
have to transfer the domain and cancel until you are happy
with the new host.
If
for some reason your web host has cut off access to your site,
then you have to move fast. This is where the monitoring services
come in handy - you know immediately when your site fails.
These
are the steps that I follow when I change hosts.
1)
Determine that a change is necessary. Ideally you are the
one making this determination. Of course, if your web host
decides for you, then you have to perform the rest of these
steps very quickly because you are down.
2)
Find a new hosting company. Read all of the information on
the internet that I can find. I also learned something the
hard way - check the hosting companies own forums for customer
complaints. There were several times that I would have avoided
trouble had I followed this advice.
3)
Review the features of the hosting company to be sure they
offer what you need. If you have any questions, be sure and
send an email off to their sales department.
4)
If you need a storefront, shopping cart and/or merchant status,
be sure you resolve any issues you may have before laying
out any money.
5)
Sign up for the hosting company with the right size package,
but the minimum amount of time (one to three months). This
gives you some time to check them out without laying out too
much money up front.
6)
Once the site is active, start uploading files.
7)
Modify any scripts as necessary. Test all of them to be sure
they work.
8)
Upload any autoresponders and set up your email forwarding
as desired.
9)
Create any subdomains, if you use this feature.
10)
Of course, set up any databases. If your other site is still
active, then just load the databases on the new site with
data from the most recent backup - you just want the data
for testing purposes. If it's not active, then load the databases
with the most recent values you have.
11)
Set up your storefront, merchant services and credit card
processing, if necessary. Test as thoroughly as you can.
12)
Once everything works and is tested, transfer the domain to
the new host.
13)
If you have the option, freeze your databases on the old site
about 12 hours after transferring the domain. Disable all
activity to the old databases, then copy to the new site.
14)
Once the domain transfers (usually a day or two) test thoroughly
again. Unfreeze the databases as soon as you can.
15)
Once everything works, cancel the old account.
16)
Depending upon the circumstances of the move, demand a partial
or full refund. It does not matter what the hosting companies
policies are - presumably you moved because they were not
fulfilling their contract. This means they are in breach of
contract, so demand your money back.
17)
If they will not give it back (and they probably won't), check
with your credit card company to see what your options are
- if you've paid within 60 days via credit card, you may be
able to get the credit card company to get your money back
for you. This is where your monitoring logs come in very handy
(assuming downtime or response time was the reason you left)
- you can prove your case using third party data.
18)
Why the focus on getting a refund? Because the hosting company
did not provide contracted services - and no one should be
rewarded for failure to fulfill their contract. The only real
weapon you have is your money. Demand a refund.
19)
Once you've moved, be sure and practice the maintenance steps
mentioned earlier in this article. You may have to move your
site again, and you want to be prepared.
So
basically, moving to a new host is always a traumatic, time
consuming event. You should take pains to be prepared so that
the trauma is reduced in duration and loss.
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Richard
Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets at
http://www.internet-tips.net/
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