Clients switching their hosting services over to APC Hosting need not worry about site downtime, email loss, or losing their search engine placement! When done properly, the hosting transition is virtually seamless to your users and visitors.

Follow these steps in order and you will ensure a smooth transition:

1.

Check that you have an up-to-date copy of your entire web site on your local computer. This should include everything - all files, scripts, images, databases, logs, statistics data, etc. If your current host also provides your email service, you must make sure to record that information as well.

For those using cPanel on their previous host, or prefer to use cPanel to help them do the transfer of their account, it will be much simplier. All you need to do is to make a 'Full Backup' using cPanel and then upload it onto our server. Once done, contact our Technical Support and we will restore your backup for you on our servers.

2.

Request your new APC Hosting services using the order form of our web site. Once your account is setup on our side you will be emailed your new account details. Please keep this information safe as you may need it in the future.

3.

Now log into the Account Management area of our web site. You can use the cPanel to perform most of your important hosting tasks like setting up email accounts, creating databases, installing scripts, etc.

Using the FTP information provided in this email, upload your web site to its new home. Then, proceed to test the site and make sure everything works properly with the URL provided in the email. (NOTE: any scripts or forms which email results will not reach your old host!)

4.

Once you are satisfied that your site is functional on our system, you need to modify your domain name information with your registrar so that it points to APC Hosting Name Servers:

          DNS Servers

DNS modifications take anywhere from 24 - 72 hours to fully propagate.

If you are transferring your domain to us, you do not need to modify any of your domain settings as we will do everything for you. You can read more information about domain transfer here.

4a.

An added step, not necessary but ensures a more immediate transition, is to point domain records to our servers immediately from your old hosting service. Not all hosting companies support this function. When you do this, the switch can be done completely in just a few hours without waiting for DNS propagation.

5.

We recommend that you wait at least 3 days after making domain modifications at the registrar before you cancel your old hosting service. This way you can be certain that none of your visitors visited a broken site link during your hosting move.

The entire process is much simpler than it looks. Our support team is here to assist you through it all. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.