One of the biggest things potential customers have in transferring their existing website to a new host. Don’t worry – like everything we do, our aim is to make this process Hassle Free!
If you opt for our FREE website transfer service, we will remove we look after the migration of your domain name, website and if required, your emails.
Hippo Website Transfer
Full Website Migration- Suitable for:
- People who have an existing website, domain name and/or email and want to move to Hipposerve.
- Services Offered:
- Telephone, Zoom or Email Contact
- Existing Site Audit
- Transfer Plan
- Data / Email Migrated
- Domain Transfer Initiated
- Installation Testing
- Site Optimisations
- Final Deployment
Website Transfer
As Always – Hassle Free
Step 1 - Choose a Hosting Package
Decide on the hosting plan that you need for your website and select BUY. If you are unsure what is the best option for you, give us a call on 0330 043 1502, or email us at sales@hipposerve.co.uk and we can discuss the needs of your site. Don’t worry, we won’t try to oversell our products, just advise you on what is best for you.
Step 2 - Select a Domain Name
Either choose a new domain name, transfer an existing domain name to us, or use an existing domain and update your name servers.
In most cases here you will transferring a domain name to us. Sometimes this can be problematic, with certain hosts. If it is – give us a call and we will be able to help.
Step 3 - Select the FREE Website Transfer addon
During the order process, select the FREE Website Transfer Addon, when you are configuring your site. Don’t worry if you accidentally miss this bit out, you can always call us on 0330 043 1502 to arrange a transfer.
Step 4 - Telephone, Zoomor Email Contact with Hipposerve
We will email you, or arrange a call if you prefer to discuss the transfer process. At this stage we will require the login details to your existing accounts, so we can assess what is required.
Step 5 - Existing Site Audit
We will carefully audit the existing site to ascertain what work needs to be done for a successful transfer. After this we will prepare a bespoke transfer plan so you are fully informed of the process. We will also outline any site optimisation that could be included to help improve the performance of your site.
We will not proceed with any transfer work or optimisation until you are happy with this plan.
Step 6 - Data Migration
We will start to migrate the data to your new hosting.
We often set it up under a test domain, so we can check that everything works. When we are happy that everything is functioning we will ask you to check it as well.
Step 7 - Changing Name Servers
At this stage we will point the name servers to your new site. This is an interim step before we transfer the name fully.
This can take up to 48 hours to complete, so we like to do this at the weekend, or during a period when your web site won’t be busy.
There is rarely any downtime, but sometimes there is a bit of switching between the old site and new site and the DNS servers propagate.
Unfortunately this is beyond Hipposerve’s control.
Step 8 - Domain Name Transfer
As part of the free upgrade you agree to transfer your domain names to Hipposerve. This can take a few days depending on the type of domain name (.coms take longer than .co.uk’s for example).
You probably won’t notice anything happening here until you get a confirmation email that this has taken place.
Step 9 - Transferring Emails
If required we will transfer your emails to the new host. If you are using a third party provider such as gmail, then this stage won’t be necessary.
Step 10 - Remove your Old Account
When we are happy that everything is working we will send you a completion email notifying you that it is safe to remove your old account.
Website Transfer Features
Transferring a website to a new host is always a daunting prospect. However with Hipposerve’s careful and well planned approach you don’t need to worry any more.
What Will We DO
Keeping Your Website Safe and Secure
Backups
Before we do any work on either your old or new site we will create a backup of your database and website files. This means that should anything go wrong, we can revert your site to exactly how it was before.
Test Test Test
We will test your new installation fully before it goes live to minimise disruption. We can’t guarantee that there won’t be some down time due to DNS issues beyond our control.
Optimisation Checks
We will examine your site to see if there is anything we can do to improve its performance and security. If there is we will let you know. If you are interested we will complete this work for free.
TimeScale
How Long will The Transfer Take?
We have completed hundreds of transfers and no two are the same.
The time taken for the transfer to complete depends on a number of factors.
- The size of your website, the larger it is the longer the work will take.
- The complexity of your installation
- If any optimisation work is required.
- If you require any email transfers
There are also elements beyond our control, such as the time taken for your your existing host to release the domain name (some take ages), and the time taken for the DNS servers to propagate.
As a rough average transfers tend to take between 5 and 7 days.
Domains
Don't Wait - Claim Your Domain Now!
.com Free
.co.uk Free
.org Free
.net Free
.org.uk Free
.me.uk Free
.net.uk Free
.plc.uk Free
.ltd.uk Free
.uk Free
.biz Free
.info Free
Free domains are only available when purchased with multi-year hosting plan.
The duration of the offer is for one year, whereafter they revert to their standard domain fee.