Changing Hosts? Step by Step How to.. Step 1 of 4
January 21, 2009 by BloggerNewbie
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“Changing Hosts? Step by Step How to..”
I changed hosts recently and learned my “how to” the hard way. I was down for about 5 days. I couldn’t believe it and with every passing day all I could think was - You’ve gotta be kidding me!
Why is it so difficult to explain in detail, step by step instructions to complete any blog task? Most “how to” articles are in detail and therefore somewhat lengthy. This will be valuable information to the novice computer geek at some point so make sure you bookmark on Delicious so you don’t lose it. If you don’t have an account with Delicious, how do you stay organized?
Okay, lets get started.
Why do you want to change hosts? Capacity, speed, cost, technical support?
I wasn’t able to use a feature in wordpress for publishing posts at a future date and was told in the help forums that it was my host company that was not compatible. Turns out – not the case. But changing hosts was oh so much fun!
Their are 4 crucial steps to accomplish a successful host change. Today, we will discuss Step One.
The first step in changing hosts is to actually choose a new host. When I was searching for a new host I asked around in the social networks for guidance. For each time or each person that I asked for recommendations, I received as many different answers. So no real help there.
I decided I would have to research the information and make the best informed decision. I googled the top ten web hosting companies and came up with the following list. I then compared each plan each company offered. You can click on the following graphic to view each of the top ten. This list is as of January 3, 2009.
There are a few technical issues you need to consider when changing hosts. As with all industries there are certain terms you need to be familiar with. You should understand the following terminology before choosing a host.
Bandwidth or Data Transfer: Many web hosting companies offer unlimited data transfer. Some have a monthly limit. A server transfers data (graphics, text, audio/video files) to a user’s web browser. Web sites that get a lot of page views would need a larger volume for data transfer or bandwidth. Of the top ten hosting companies, only two have a limit on the bandwidth. 3000 GB being the least amount – still a good amount of page views. Approximatley 40,000 page views = 1 GB of data transfer.
Shared Web hosting: Most common type of web hosting. Most new bloggers will be looking for shared web hosting. The most reasonable cost as multiple sites are hosted or share space on a single server. Each site owner has a specific amount of resources allocated on the one server.
Dedicated Hosting: The opposite of Shared Web hosting. Each site owner has their own server. They have a considerable amount of availability of resources for more disk space, more data transfer and are able to host more websites. Dedicated hosting costs more and is usually for larger sites that have more specific needs.
Storage Space (Disk Space): The amount of storage space you need depends on what type of website you have. If you have a large amount of images, HTML files – web pages, audio or video files or graphics, you will need a greater amount of storage space.
Now we know the technical issues to look for. Do you need a dedicated server or can you use the shared hosting plan? Will the company be able to supply you with the data transfer you desire? Will your website require a large amount of space? You need to make a decision based on your needs. Different websites fall into different categories. Most new bloggers will start out with shared web hosting.
What else do you want to consider? Customer service is critical. Do they offer 24/7 customer service via email, live chat and a toll free number?
Choosing the Host is Step No. 1 and very important. Step No. 2 is crucial and we will discuss a few technical issues. It will be so much fun. FTP, PHP and backup will be your new best friends.
Any questions or concerns about Step No. 1? Anything to add? Any Suggestions? Speak up!
Make sure to stop back next week for Step No. 2 of 4 in your changing hosts journey.
Toodles – Blog Happy!
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“It is not so important to know everything
as to appreciate what we learn…”
- Hannah More
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Ok, since I spent ALL of last weekend switching and adding hosts I’ve got one question: Where was this post then!
Just kidding. It wasn’t too bad. This is good info for sure.
Recommendation: DO NOT GO WITH JUMPLINE! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Sucky, sucky, sucky.
Also, be aware that it may take a day or two for your new provider to wrangle the DNS permission from your previous provider if you are transferring – dead in the water until then, mates.
Good one, Dee.
George
Tumblemoose´s last blog post..7 Wealth and Happiness Hazards for Writers
George:
I am in the process of switching yet again! I see you have a blue host affiliate link on your site so I assume that is where you went. I believe I am going to give them a try so I will stop by your site first to click through. Never heard of Jumpline. I can tell you that I tried 2 of the top 10 and ouch. Doesn’t say much. The DNS is the last thing to do and will be discussed in part 4 so stop getting ahead of me!
(Stands at Attention, Salutes, shuts his damned mouth)
Cheers!
Tumblemoose´s last blog post..7 Wealth and Happiness Hazards for Writers
Great post! Changing hosts can be a pain and confusing. Just wanted to say that a number of my clients have been having trouble with Bluehost – they are highly rated but I think that is going to start going down. They’ve been shutting down sites without warning for excessive CPU usage and then aren’t helpful about providing error logs or any information to help you correct the problem.
Cath Lawson recently wrote about her experience with them.
http://cathlawson.com/2009/01/15/web-hosts-from-the-awful-to-the-awesome/
Kim Woodbridge´s last blog post..6 WordPress Book and Notebook Themes
Kim:
That is the trouble with the top 10 list! What is a newbie supposed to do? Some people will swear by a host. Like I said, I used two of the hosts on the top 10 and was not happy! I need to switch again but I don’t know what to do now.
Hi Dee.
Really helpful! I was looking for something just like this a couple of weeks back (I’m setting up a second blog) and couldn’t find it. Pity I didn’t wait as it would have saved me a lot of time!
My main blog is with a small local provider .. I’ve been with them for years. They’re a bit more expensive but the service is personal and very responsive and I’ve been very happy with them. I’ve gone for a larger one for my second blog (a UK based one) .. too early to tell if it’s a good move or not.
Ian
Ian Peatey´s last blog post..Insults, nonviolence and fish
Ian,
I switched hosts a couple of months ago and also this post shortly after. I was going to combine the post with an affiliate ad for my new host but it’s not really working out. Looking again. They all “claim” the same thing. Drives me crazy!
I’ve been with my host for over 5 years. I used to use Movable Type and needed a reliable host for it and mine was highly recommended. They are still good but are not AS good as they were 5 years ago. They are small and slightly more expensive then those in the top 10.
I really don’t know what we’re supposed to do – we are really at their mercy. I’m hoping to stay with mine until (if/when) I need a dedicated server. At that point I want to go with Media Temple. If you want to check mine out it’s called Total Choice but, like I said, I don’t think they are nearly as good as they were when I first started using them. One thing I have to say though – they do answer support tickets quickly.
Kim Woodbridge´s last blog post..6 WordPress Book and Notebook Themes
I had this problem only a month after launching my blog. My traffic increase was so huge in that short time that I exceeded my alloted processor amount. Even though my hosting company offered unlimited bandwidth and disk space.
Here’s a post I recently wrote explaining everthing:
http://www.steven-sanders.com/is-your-blog-hosting-company-scamming-you/
It is a good advice and making sure first that you have all your needs and requirements being afforded to you…nice article..
Kim:
Some hosting companies start out great then experience growing pains. It is so important to be prepared for that! My hosting company is a great package and when I have a problem they respond immediately. The problem is not being able to access the site and that happens frequently. They fix it right away but….Thanks for the advice. I’ll let you know what I end up doing.
Steven:
Yeah, it might be unlimited just not all on the same day! I had that problem with my last host company, what would happen if I really had traffic!
Web Hosting Support:
Too many people only look at the price of hosting. It is also a good idea to get a company you can move up in when you grow.