Changing Web Hosting
-
We're about to change web hosting providers and I'm wondering whether there's an "optimal" way to do this without losing any SEO value. Is it as simple as changing hosts without SEO in mind - point the domain to the new host?
-
As long as as the hosting change goes smoothly - i.e. no extended downtime during the transition - there should be no SEO impact.
The file that's even more important than the robots.txt is the .htaccess file. You need to make sure it's migrated to the new site as well as it could contain significant numbers of redirects that need to be preserved in the new setup. It's a frequently missed element if the hosting transfer is done manually.
Paul
-
By page names I mean the URL, so for example
www.yoursite.com/about.htm must not be changed to www.yoursite.com/aboutus.htm or anything else.
There is nothing in the transfer process that would cause the URL to change but often website owners take the transfer as an opportunity to make changes that they have been planning for a while.
-
What do you mean by page names? Titles of pages? And yes I'll make sure the robots.txt file is on the new host after we point the domain. Thanks Sean.
-
There should be no issue, just make sure you have a back up of the site before you change anything.
Do not change page names and make sure you have the Robots txt file is on the site once you have moved
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Hosting set up in different country
Hi Guy's, I was wondering if it matters if your hosting servers is set on a different country than where you're website is targeting (.de (germany) website and the server is in france) Thanks!
Technical SEO | | Happy-SEO2 -
For a web agency, can the same WHOIS registrant name information between different domain names hurt SEO?
Hi, I own a web agency and we often register domain names for our clients. When we register those, I just realized that we always use the same registrant name and other whois (ex : Louis-Philippe Dea), for all domain names. Can this hurt the SEO of our clients? Hope that you'll understand when I'm trying to say in spite of my bad english :S Thanks 🙂
Technical SEO | | Louis-Philippe_Dea0 -
Should I change by URL's
I started with a static website and then moved to Wordpress. At the time I had a few hundred pages and wanted to keep the same URL structure so I use a plugin that adds .html to every page. Should I change the structure to a more common URL structure and do 301 directs from the .html page to the regular page?
Technical SEO | | JillB20130 -
Importance of WMT change of address and problem doing it
Hi, How important is it to submit a change of address in WMT? I say that because I am having problems doing it so wondered if it was worth the hassle in trying to fix it. I am getting the error: "We couldn't verify website.co.uk. To submit a change of address, website.co.uk must be verified using the same method as www.website.co.uk. Add website.co.uk to your account and verify ownership, then try again." I have looked on the web to try and find an answer and have come across 2 suggestions: You might have lost the verification with the redirect. If you used a metatag on the home page, the home page is now redirecting. If you had uploaded a verification text file, that file is probably now gone and redirecting as well. You probably need to re-verify the site. Either re-upload the text file and configure it not to redirect (may be difficult) or use the DNS server verification method. You need to verify the non www. version of the website because that's the way Google like it. Not sure why solution 2 would be necessary but it does seem to be what WMT are getting. Because the site already redirects, 1 would then come in to play. Is it worth persevering with because IT will be getting a long list of stuff to do from me as it is.... Thanks all
Technical SEO | | Houses0 -
Changing images on site without losing ranking
A number of images on my site rank very well under google image search but need to be replaced with updated versions. If I keep the file name and pixel dimensions identical will switching the image effect my rankings? Thanks!
Technical SEO | | Justin450 -
Does SEO Reflect when We change the Host??
I would like to know, if i switch to host not Domain, Just Host which just change the internal IP, Will that Affect to My SEO? If YES then What is the procedure to safe our SEO before Move? Or what is Procedure after we Moved. Hope many people found this issues, and got the solution, I through Google Webmaster do through filter, but i am not sure about it. Thanks
Technical SEO | | Webranx0 -
Lost FaceBook Shares with URL change
I recently changed the URL of a page and used a 301 redirect from old to new. I just realized I lost all my Facebook shares. Now it shows 0 on that page. What can I do to get back my count of shares? I cannot find any information.
Technical SEO | | MiamiWebCompany0 -
Is there a great tool for URL mapping old to new web site?
We are implementing new design and removing some pages and adding new content. Task is to correctly map and redirect old pages that no longer exist.
Technical SEO | | KnutDSvendsen0