What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It is the work of making your site easy for Google and others to find and understand. Good SEO brings more visitors.
Can a host move change SEO?
A careful move should not harm SEO. Problems come from mistakes, not from the move itself. The things that matter are speed, uptime, and links.
- Uptime: this is how often your site is online. Long outages are bad.
- Speed: faster sites usually do better. A better host may even help.
- Location: the server's country can matter a little for local searches.
- IP address: your IP will change. This is normal and not a problem.
Before you move
- Back up all site files and your database.
- Write down your page addresses, or export a list from your site.
- Note your SSL, redirects and any special settings in
.htaccess. This is a small file that holds server rules for your site.
During the move
- Copy everything to the new host.
- Test the site using a temporary link or a hosts file preview if you know how.
- Make sure all links, forms and images work.
- Install SSL on the new host before the switch.
- Update nameservers at your domain registrar. The registrar is the company where you bought the domain.
After the move
- Open the site on phone and computer.
- Check that each main page loads without errors.
- Look for the file
robots.txt. Make sure it does not block everything. - Check Google Search Console for crawl errors.
- Keep the old account for a short time as a safety net.
Tip: Move at a quiet time, such as late at night, when fewer people visit.
Quick recap
- A good move does not hurt SEO.
- Keep downtime short and page addresses the same.
- Install SSL and test before switching.
- Check for errors afterwards.