How to prepare for moving to Green Hosting

20th Apr 2023

If you're thinking of moving your website to Green Hosting, that's great news. We are here to answer your questions, offer support and make the process as smooth as possible.

When you transfer to us, you may wish to handle the move yourself or we can do it for you. Either way, there are some things that are useful to have ready in advance to make sure the transition happens quickly and without unnecessary hitches.

Here's a useful checklist to prepare for moving to Green Hosting:

Take an inventory of what you have and what you would like to transfer.
So you can get a clear picture of the work involved (especially if someone is transferring the website for you) it is useful to check and list all the things you need to transfer. Are you moving one or more websites and how many e-mail accounts? Do you have add-on domains? What are the files and databases?

Make sure you have access to your current website files and e-mails
Do you or someone who looks after the website for you have the log-in details for your current website hosting account and e-mail accounts? Check that the log-in details work and that you can see everything that you wish to move (website files, databases, e-mails etc).

Make sure you have access to your domain account
Do you have the log-in details for your domain account? This may be part of your website hosting account or with a separate provider. You will need to be able to change the settings of your domain to 'point' it to Green Hosting once your website and e-mails have moved to us.

Check which Green Hosting plan you need
You can see our hosting plans here. You will need to choose a plan than can accommodate your current usage (disk space and data transfer) or additional usage if you are expanding your website for example. If you're not sure and can't see what your current usage is, we can help you find out. You can easily upgrade or downgrade your Green Hosting plan at a later date.

We understand that moving website hosts can be daunting too, so here are a few FAQs that we hope will put your mind at ease:

I'd rather not handle the transfer myself, can Green Hosting do this for me?
Yes, we will need to establish all of the above and with those details we can take care of the transfer for you. See our testimonials page for clients' feedback on our transfer service.

How much does it cost for Green Hosting to handle the website transfer?
Transfer from another web host is £25 per website and £10 per e-mail account. For websites hosted at WordPress.com this is a more complex and involved process and is £99.

My current website hosting is due to expire and I want to move. How close to the expiry date should I do this?
We suggest a minimum of two weeks before your current hosting expiry. This allows time to transfer the website without being in a rush. It also means you can make sure the website is running smoothly and check that nothing has been left behind at the previous hosting account.

How much down time will there be?
When we handle the transfer for you, we aim for no downtime. We do this by making sure that the website and e-mails are all in place at Green Hosting before changing the domain nameserver details. We will agree a suitable time for this to happen so that it doesn't coincide with anything else you have scheduled for your website.

How do I get started?
Sign up for one of our hosting plans and select 'Website Transfer Service' (or Transfer from WordPress.com) in the checkout. We will then get in touch with you to arrange the transfer.

When will Green Hosting start charging me?
As soon as you sign up for your hosting account with us, you will pay for the first month or a whole year (plus website transfer fee if needed), depending on how you choose to pay. Paying for a full year gives a discount and you can get a further 20% discount on all annual plans by using the code WINDPOWER in the checkout.

If there is anything else you'd like to know, please get in touch.