The following will give you an idea of what is involved in backing up and moving websites and blogs. Once you get that picture you will have a greater appreciation for my recommendation as to what hosting company you select.
Moving a web site from one server to another for most sites is generally not a major problem. Here are the steps:
1. Update the backup of your site on your hard drive. This is done by logging into the server that hosts your site with an ftp client. There are plenty of free ftp clients. I use Core FTP Lite and it works very well. Once you log in, the files that make up your site normally stored under public_html can be copied from the server to your hard drive. Then you are done.
2. Once updated the next step is to update the dns information of the domain name you are transferring. This is done through the company you used to register your domain. You will need the DNS information of the new server that will host your site. This is obtained from the new company that is hosting your site.
(If your are getting blurry eyed at this point and have no idea what I am talking about, I can assure you it is worth your time to learn these steps to protect your sites. I can also assure you there is likly to be a time when you will want to move your sites. Finally, this was all greek to me not that long ago and if I can learn it, so can you.)
3. Once the DNS is updated with your domain registering agent, it is now time for the scary part which is to delete the domain account with your previous hosting company and then immediately set up the domain on the server of your new hosting company. As part of the set up process you will need to have the user log in name and password in order to upload your saved site with your FTP client.
4. With your domain now set up on your new hosting company’s server, you are now ready to upload your saved site from your hard drive and test your site to make sure all is working well.
This work can be outsourced but I highly recommend you learn and do this yourself a few times before outsourcing it. Also if you do outsource this task, make sure you have the DNS record information and administrative user ID and password information. Once the third party is finished transferring your site you should change the log in information.
We just covered transferring a domain which is relatively easy in comparison to transferring a blog. Blogs on a WordPress platform log entries into a database. In order to move a blog you have to copy the data base and reload the data base onto the new hosting company. But before you do that the domain has to be prepped to receive the WordPress database and files. There are detailed instructions on how to do this in the Moving section of http://www.tamba2.org.uk/wordpress The guidelines are easy to follow but like anything else you have to do it a few times before the fear factor goes away. At this point I have succeeded in backing up my data bases. In fact I use a WordPress Backup plug-in but have never tested restoring a blog. I will be doing that shortly.
PLEASE NOTE: BACK-UP AND RECOVERY OF BLOGS HOSTED BY BLOGGER MAY NOT BE POSSIBLE. IF YOU USE BLOGGER, PLEASE WRITE ALL YOUR POSTS USING A TEXT EDITOR OR WORD AND SAVE THEM ON YOUR HARD DRIVE.
Big Bonus Tip
You generally do not have to worry much about any of this if you select the right hosting company to begin with and the right account with that hosting company. I continue to recommend the Host Gator Reseller Account for $24.95 per month. You will have a separate CPanel interface with that type of account and if you do not know what CPanel is when you do you will appreciate those features for each domain you have. By the way you can host a lot of domains for that one price.
Be Well and Prosper,
Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting
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Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve now consults personally with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Most projects are self-funding within 90 days. The client then experiences a very high return on investment. Learn more about the process of How To Increase Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting StevePohlit.com or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly.
