10 Best Web Hosting With Free Site Migration (2023)

What Does Migrating a Site Mean?

When it comes to site migration, there is a lot of room for interpretation. From the perspective of SEO specialists, it can involve making substantial changes to a website which could lead to changes in its visibility on search engines. For software engineers and graphic designers, a migration entails moving a website to a new source. Both perspectives are true, as website migrations can range from simple hosting shifts to complete revamps. An analogy to help understand this is to consider a business changing its physical location. It has moved to a new place, and it is now necessary to ensure that customers can reach the new place, and that it is equipped with the necessary utilities to run the business. With a proper website migration, users can locate the new website and maintain business as usual.

What Are the Reasons for Migrating Your Website?

It's not unusual to need a site migration. Depending on the specific requirements, there can be several overlapping reasons for a business to migrate their website. These may include, but are not limited to: changing web hosting, upgrading to a new CMS or ecommerce platform, platform updates, transferring to a new domain and website redesign. For example, a hosting switch may be necessary during a website redesign. Changing web hosts is often the most straightforward of all website migrations. Moving your website files and database to a new server is necessary to ensure a smooth transition, even if no other changes are being made. You may decide to switch hosting services for a variety of reasons, such as finding a more cost-effective solution or needing more capabilities than your current host can offer. Whatever the motivation, a migration is required to complete the switch.

What to Consider Before Website Migration?

Prior to migrating a website, it's critical to think about the following:

Assess the potential risks and anticipate the effects of the move

Moving your website to a new platform may bring with it certain dangers. It involves starting from scratch after all that time and effort you put in. Mishandling the situation can cause a severe drop in data, reputation, branding, and general business. Therefore, it is important to be mindful of the risks and prepare to minimize the damage if you do decide to migrate.

Make a backup of everything and save it

Migrating a website can be tricky, so it isn't wise to rely solely upon your intuition. Before making any changes, it is prudent to back up all of your information for possible recovery in the event of a bad connection or an unresponsive server. It is best to store the backup on your local computer, and not just on cloud-based services such as Google Drive or OneDrive.

Be mindful of the URL structure

When transitioning to a new web host, be sure to update the URL structure and make sure the new structure looks like the previous one with all the same content. It is important to take SEO into consideration when making such a change, as it is an essential element to maintain the website's authority on the web. If you are a developer working on the migration, make sure you have an SEO analyst present for guidance. To ensure that SEO score is not lost, redirect the old URLs to the new ones with utmost care.

Remember to factor in URL redirection for SEO purposes

Migrating URLs is a critical component of SEO, and it is imperative to migrate old URLs to new ones correctly. If this is not done, the website will suffer in terms of ranking and will experience 404 errors, resulting in diminished authority on the web. To remedy this, 301 redirects should be utilized for those URLs that require permanent redirection.

Retain the same hierarchy of files and folders

The current website is composed of a complex web of files and folders arranged in a hierarchy that is responsible for the thousands of web pages. To ensure that the links remain functional and the rankings are not lost, the same hierarchy should be implemented on the new website.

Eliminate broken page links and 404s

Migrating a website can revitalize it, but it also means cleaning out the old and broken links. When shifting to a new server, it's essential to identify these defunct connections and provide proper redirects to new pages or the homepage. Doing so will help to streamline the site and improve its speed and performance on the new server.

Establish a new robots.txt file

The robots.txt file provides instructions to web crawlers in terms of what should and should not be crawled. If a website's URL or HTTPS changes, the robots.txt file may need to be updated to reflect the new blocked and redirected URLs of the old content. However, if the website is simply being migrated to a new server with the same URL, the robots.txt file can remain as is. If the website is being migrated to an entirely new domain, the robots.txt file must be edited with new rules.

Give precedence to higher authority websites

If you possess multiple URLs for your website, it is recommended that you have a permanent redirection rule in place to direct traffic from the weaker URL to the stronger one. In the event of migrating the website, make sure to modify the redirection rule to match the new web hosting. It is important to always prioritize the URL that has the greatest authority.

Devise strategies in the event of re-branding

Re-branding is analogous to migrating a website. It entails a lot more than just website transitioning. At times, the legacy website may need to be assimilated with the new or current one in the event of an acquisition. In such a scenario, it's not just the URL redirects that come into play but also the notification of the customers/visitors.