How to switch web hosts without losing your rankings.

People switch web hosts for good reasons: the site's slow, the renewal price tripled, support never answers, or they've outgrown Wix or Squarespace and want something they control. The move itself isn't complicated. It's just a lot of small things that all have to be right on the same day.

Here's how to do it without losing your rankings, your email or your leads.

First, know what you're actually moving

A "website" is really four separate things, and they're often with different companies:

• Your domain (yourbusiness.ca). This is registered with a registrar, like GoDaddy, Namecheap or a Canadian registrar.
• Your DNS. These are the settings that tell the internet where your website and email live. Usually managed at your registrar or your host.
• Your hosting. The server (or platform, like Wix) your website files live on.
• Your email. Often Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, sometimes a basic mailbox from your host.

Before you change anything, write down where each one is and make sure you can log in to all of them. A surprising number of moves stall because the domain is in a former web designer's account. If that's you, sort that out first: the domain should be in your name.

Host move or platform move?

These carry very different risks:

• Same platform, new host (for example, a WordPress site moving from one host to another). The pages, content and web addresses stay exactly the same. Google barely notices. The main risks are email and anything that was set up on the old server, like forms or SSL.
• New platform (for example, Wix, Squarespace or an old site builder to WordPress). You're rebuilding the site, and the web addresses almost always change. This is where rankings get lost if redirects aren't done properly.

The checklist

Before the move

1. Back up everything. Files, database, images, and any form submissions or customer data you need to keep.
2. List every page on the old site. Use your sitemap, a crawler, or Google Search Console. Note which pages get traffic and which rank.
3. Copy your DNS records. Screenshot or export every record at your current DNS provider, especially the MX records (email), plus any TXT records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC and site verification). This is the step people skip, and it's the one that breaks email.
4. Lower the DNS TTL a day or two before the move, so the switch spreads across the internet faster.
5. Build or copy the site on the new host and test it there before anyone can see it: every page, every form, every button.

If the web addresses are changing

1. Make a redirect map. For every old address, write the best matching new address. Not the homepage for everything, the closest real match.
2. Set up 301 (permanent) redirects from each old address to its new one.
3. Carry over page titles, descriptions and headings for the pages that rank.
4. Keep the content that ranks. A move is a good time to improve pages, but don't throw away the ones that bring in traffic.

Moving day

1. Point your domain at the new host by updating the DNS records.
2. Re-create your email records exactly as they were (unless you're moving email too).
3. Turn on SSL so the site loads on https with no warnings.
4. Make sure the site is open to Google. Test copies are often set to "discourage search engines." Switch that off on the live site.

After the move

1. Test everything again on the live domain: pages, forms, phone links, booking tools, and sending and receiving email.
2. Check Google Analytics and Search Console are still connected and collecting data.
3. Submit your new sitemap in Search Console.
4. Watch for errors for a few weeks. Search Console will show pages Google can't find. Fix them with redirects.
5. Cancel the old hosting only when you're sure nothing still depends on it. Give it a couple of weeks.

Moving off Wix, Squarespace or GoDaddy's builder

Website builders are easy to start on and hard to leave. A few things to know:

• There's no "export" button that gives you a working site. You'll get some of your content out, but the design and layout have to be rebuilt.
• Their web addresses are often different from what you'd use on WordPress, so a redirect map is a must.
• Check where your domain is registered. If you bought it through the builder, you may want to transfer it to a registrar you control.
• Blog posts, products and bookings may need separate exports or a manual move.

It's more work than a host-to-host move, but you end up with a site you own and can take anywhere. Our website migration service handles the whole thing, redirects and email included.

Don't let email go dark

We'll say it again because it's the most common problem we see. If your email runs on Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 and someone changes the DNS without copying the MX and TXT records, email stops arriving. Sometimes nobody notices for a day or two.

If your email currently comes from your old web host, moving is a good time to switch to proper business email that isn't tied to your website at all. Then the next time you change hosts, email isn't even part of the conversation.

What to expect in Google after the move

• Host-only move, same addresses: usually no visible change. Sometimes a small speed boost helps.
• Platform move with good redirects: some up and down for a few weeks while Google re-crawls, then things settle, often a little better if the new site is faster and clearer.
• Platform move with missing redirects: a drop that doesn't recover. If you're seeing this, check Search Console for pages that are "not found" and redirect them. It's usually fixable.

Picking the new host

Cheap hosting is cheap for a reason: crowded servers, slow sites, and support that answers next week. For a small business site, look for decent speed, daily backups, SSL included, real support, and someone who keeps the site updated. Our hosting starts at $25 a month and care plans at $99 a month, with a local team you can call.