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Website migration

Moving a site looks like copying files. In reality it's six different things that have to happen in the right order — and if one is missed, the site works, but something is quietly wrong for weeks.

Quote: By scope
Downtime: Practically none
URLs: Preserved
Email: Migrated separately

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Types

Three different kinds of move.

They go by the same name, but the risks differ. Only the first is relatively harmless.

01 Changing hosting The same site, a different server. The risk lies in the email, the domain records and differences between environment versions. by scope 02 Changing platform From Joomla, Drupal or an in-house system to WordPress. The content is converted, and the URLs almost always change. by scope 03 Changing domain The riskiest. All the authority has to be carried over with redirects, and recovery takes months. by scope

What's included

The six things that have to happen.

Skipping any one of them leads to a problem that shows up later and is hard to trace back to its cause.

An inventory firstAll URLs, versions and settings. This is the list used afterwards to check that everything has been moved.

A copy in the new placeThe site is set up on the new server and tested before the domain points there.

Checking the functionsForms, payments, sending email. Email is what breaks most often when hosting changes.

A redirect mapWhen the platform or domain changes, every old URL gets a new one. It's done in advance.

SwitchoverChanging the records with a short time-to-live, so it's quick. The old server stays live for a few more days.

Checking afterwardsCrawling every URL, checking Search Console and the email. Monitoring through the first weeks.

Risks

What goes wrong most often.

We've fixed every one of these after someone else's migration. What they have in common is that they're discovered late.

Email stopsThe domain has been moved, but the MX records haven't. Messages go to the old place, or nowhere.

Lost redirectsOld URLs return 404, and the rankings disappear along with them.

A forgotten noindexThe test copy was hidden from search engines, and the setting travels with it into the live site.

A different environment versionThe new server runs a different version of PHP or the database, and something stops working — but only on certain pages.

A missing certificateThe certificate hasn't been issued in the new place, and the browser shows a warning.

Stale dataThe copy was made a day early, and the last day's orders vanish. For a shop, that's real money.

Related services

What else comes into it.

It's rarely just one thing. Here are the services that go with this one, and why.

01 Changing hosting without downtimeAn hour-by-hour checklist — and the five things that stop quietly. read 02 A redesign without losing rankingsWhat gets lost when a site changes, and how to stop it happening. read 03 Whose website is it?A five-minute check that the domain, hosting and accounts are in your name. in the open 04 How to leave usWhat you get when we part ways, and how quickly. Written down in advance. in the open 05 Hosting and domainsIf you're looking for somewhere to move the site. by scope 06 Website redesignWhen moving and refreshing go hand in hand. by scope 07 WordPress websiteIf you're migrating to WordPress from another system. from €600 08 Website maintenanceAfter the move, someone has to look after it. from €40/month

Questions

About migration.

If your question isn't here, call us — we answer by phone too.

+359 882 95 89 89

Will the site go down during the move?

In practice, no. The site is set up in the new place and tested while the old one is still running. The switchover is a change of records and takes minutes.

For a shop, we pick a quiet moment and pause orders briefly, so no order gets lost between the two places.

How much does migration cost?

By scope. Changing hosting for a business website is quick work; changing platform with thousands of URLs and redirects is a project.

Will I keep my Google rankings?

When changing hosting — yes, if the URLs don't change. When changing platform or domain, it depends entirely on the redirects.

That's why the URL map is made before the move and tested before it's needed.

And the email?

It's migrated separately and is the most common oversight. If your email is on the same hosting, it moves along with the site; if it's elsewhere, care is taken that the MX records stay untouched.

Can I migrate from Joomla to WordPress?

Yes. The content is converted, the structure is reworked and every old URL gets a redirect.

Automated tools do part of the job, but the checking is manual — they regularly trip up on non-Latin characters and nested categories.

Next step

Where is the site now?

Tell us where it is and where it needs to go. We'll look at what carries risk in this particular move.

+359 882 95 89 89 office@illumi.bg

Sofia, Bulgaria We reply within 24 hours In business since 2012