Before moving a website, find out four things: who controls the domain and its DNS, where email is hosted and which records it depends on, exactly what product the current site runs on, and which existing pages already bring in visitors and enquiries. Those answers decide whether the move is something nobody notices or a week of missing email and lost rankings. Then plan redirects for every address that changes, and keep the old site available until the new one is confirmed working.
1. Who controls the domain
Find the registrar, confirm the domain is registered to the business, and make sure someone at the business can log in. If the only login belongs to a previous web designer, sort that out first; nothing else can happen without it.
Check the renewal date too. Moving a site a week before the domain is due to lapse invites a second, unrelated problem at the worst moment.
Website hosting, domain registration and email hosting: what is the difference? explains how to find out who provides what.
2. Where the DNS is managed
The domain's nameservers say where its DNS lives. That might be the registrar, the old web host or a separate provider. You need a login there, because that is where the website records will be changed.
Before anything is edited, save a copy of every record. Decide whether the move needs only the website records changing, which is usually the case, or a full nameserver change, which needs more care.
3. Where email lives and what it depends on
Look up the MX records to see who handles email, and note the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records alongside them. None of these should change when the website moves.
The question that matters most here is whether email is part of the old website's hosting package. If it is, cancelling the old hosting deletes the mailboxes, so email needs a new home first or the package has to stay. Can I move my website without moving my email? covers the details.
4. What the current site is actually built on
Get the exact product, not just the company. "The site is with IONOS" or "it's on GoDaddy" is a start, but a traditional hosting account, a WordPress install and a drag-and-drop site builder each move in completely different ways. Some let you upload a new site in place of the old one. Site builders generally do not.
We learned to ask this precisely on a real job, written up in Replacing an IONOS Website Builder site while keeping IONOS email.
While you are there, list what else the site does: booking widgets, online payments, a client login, downloads, anything on its own subdomain. Each needs a plan.
5. Which pages already earn their keep
An existing site may be ranking for searches that bring in work, even if nobody has looked. Before the move, export the list of pages from Google Search Console with their clicks and impressions, and list every URL on the old site.
Any page that changes address needs a permanent (301) redirect from the old URL to the closest new page. A new site that quietly drops the page ranking for "boiler repair Halesowen" throws away the work it took to get there. Pages that are being removed should redirect to the most relevant page that remains, not all to the homepage.
6. The small things that get forgotten
- Where contact form messages go, and whether the new form sends to the same place.
- Analytics and any tracking that someone relies on.
- The website link on the Google Business Profile, if the address is changing.
- Email addresses or phone numbers that appear only on the old site.
- The favicon, the cookie notice and the privacy policy.
7. Timing and a way back
A day before the switch, lower the TTL on the website records so the change takes effect quickly. Switch at a quiet time, not on a Friday afternoon. Check the new site on the bare domain and on www, send and receive a test email, and test the contact form.
Keep the old site and hosting available until everything is confirmed. Cancelling it the same day removes the simplest way back if something was missed.