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Changing website provider
Changing website provider: domain, email and pages.
You can change the person who builds or hosts your website without automatically changing your domain or business email. The important thing is to know which service is changing and what needs to keep working. Below, you will find a handover list, an order for the launch checks and a message you can send your current provider.
Start with the decision
Which part is actually moving?
A new design, a new host and a new domain are different jobs. Write down which you are doing before anyone touches DNS or cancels an account.
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| What changes | What usually stays | Main check |
|---|---|---|
| Designer only | Your existing domain, hosting and email may stay where they are. | Make sure the new designer can work on a private copy and knows who will publish it. |
| Website hosting | The public addresses can stay exactly the same. | Test the replacement host, then change only the DNS records needed for the website. Keep email records intact. |
| Page addresses | Your domain may stay, but paths such as /services/old-name/ change. | List each important old URL and its closest relevant new page. Put permanent redirects in place. |
| Domain name | The business and content may continue under a new address. | Plan both a domain migration and the email implications. Keep control of the old domain for redirects and existing mail. |
Google has separate instructions for a hosting move with unchanged URLs and a move that changes URLs. Their checks differ. This guide does not promise that search positions will stay the same.
Can the current website actually move?
A Wix site, a Squarespace content export and Webflow's exported code are different handover materials. A domain can point elsewhere while the design or connected services still need rebuilding.
Use the free planner to check what you can take from the current platform and which functions you still need. You can download a brief setting out who will handle the move and how you will check it has worked.
Build your platform exit plan
The planner also treats staying on the current platform as a valid option. It does not inspect an account or declare the old service safe to cancel.
Know what you control
One domain can point to several services.
The company that registered the domain, the company managing its DNS, the website host and the email provider may all be different. Ask for the name and account owner of each.
01
Domain registrar
Keeps the domain registered and renewed. Record who holds this account and its renewal date.
02
DNS manager
Holds the records that direct the domain. It may be the registrar or another provider.
03
Website host
Serves the public pages, images and forms. This is often the part that changes.
04
Email provider
Receives and sends business mail. Its records may need to remain exactly as they are.
MX records route incoming email; SPF, DKIM and DMARC relate to email authentication. If you change nameservers, copy and verify the full DNS zone first. If you change only website records, check whether any mail record depends on the same hostname. See Cloudflare's DNS record reference and nameserver setup checklist.
Before you give notice
Ask for a handover pack.
Ask while the current website and email are still running. A “copy of the website” can mean different things on different platforms, so be specific about the files, content and access the next provider will need.
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| Ask for | What you need to know | Owner's check |
|---|---|---|
| Domain and DNS | Registrar, account holder, renewal date, nameservers and a complete DNS record export or screenshot. | Can your business approve and recover changes? |
| Website copy | Available files, content, images, database export if there is one, and instructions to run the site elsewhere. | Can the new provider actually use the copy? |
| Email details | Mail provider, MX records, authentication records and any mailboxes tied to the old hosting bill. | Will cancelling the website plan also affect mail? |
| Important URLs | Existing sitemap, key pages, linked downloads and paths used in adverts, print or other sites. | Which URLs must stay or redirect? |
| Forms and tools | Where enquiries are sent, plus booking, payment, analytics and other integrations. | Can each live journey be tested end to end? |
| Rights and licences | The written rights in the design, copy and assets, plus fonts, images or software licensed by the provider. | What has to be replaced before a move? |
Do not put passwords in an ordinary handover email. Arrange secure access with the people who need it, and remove unneeded access after launch. For ownership questions, see our website ownership guide and the actual agreement you signed.
Build, then switch
A calmer way to make the change.
Agree who is responsible for each check. The old provider, new provider and business owner should know the launch window and who can reverse a faulty website change.
- 1Keep the old site live while the replacement is tested.
Review the new pages on a private address. Check mobile and desktop layouts, the correct business facts, images, accessibility basics and a real form submission. Make sure any temporary indexing block is removed from the public version at launch.
- 2Choose what happens to every important old URL.
Keep working URLs where possible. If one changes, send it to the closest relevant new page with a permanent server-side redirect. A deleted service page should not be sent to the homepage simply to avoid a 404.
- 3Confirm the DNS change and the email boundary.
Record the current DNS settings before editing them. If only the website host changes, avoid changing mail records without a reason. If nameservers change, recreate and verify the mail records at the new DNS provider before switching.
- 4Make the switch with a named person watching.
Open the homepage and two or three deeper pages on different connections. Send and receive a test email, submit the contact form, check its inbox and visit old URLs that should redirect. Keep the old hosting active while the change settles.
- 5Watch the following days and weeks.
Check Search Console for fetch, indexing and sitemap issues, alongside real enquiries. Fix a repeatable error at its source. Only retire the old hosting after traffic and essential services are reaching the new setup reliably.
Google advises testing the new host before changing DNS and keeping the old infrastructure until users and Googlebot have moved. For URL changes, it recommends direct permanent redirects and keeping them for as long as possible, generally at least a year. Read its hosting move and URL move instructions. You can record your own decisions in our free URL mapping worksheet.
Use this with any provider
A handover request you can send today.
Replace the bracketed details and send this to the company currently managing the site. It asks for facts and access, without assuming the current provider has done anything wrong.
If one company handles the domain, another handles email and a third hosts the site, send the relevant parts to each. Ask them to name any service that ends when the current contract does.
Continue with the redesign checklistCOPY AND PERSONALISE
Hello [provider name],
We are planning a change to our website at [domain]. Please confirm which services you currently manage for us, and the date each would stop if we ended the website arrangement.
Could you send us the domain registrar and renewal details, where our DNS records are managed, the current website and email hosting providers, and a copy of our DNS records? Please also let us know which website files, content, assets and database exports are available for handover, and whether any licences or tools would need replacing.
We would like to keep the current website and business email running until the replacement is tested and the move is agreed. Please identify the person who can help with the website switch and any redirects from existing URLs.
Thank you,
[your name]
The practical answer
Bring us the situation. We will map the move.
Send us your current website and tell us what you want to change. Knowing who controls the domain, where your email runs and which page addresses need to stay will help us work through the move with you and agree what needs doing before launch.
Check email and forms.
We will ask where business email lives and how the old and new contact journeys should work.
Agree the URL plan.
Important old addresses need an explicit keep, redirect or retire decision. Search positions and enquiries cannot be guaranteed.