How do I transfer my domain name and web hosting as painlessly as possible?

Moving your website to a new hosting provider can be straightforward when it is carefully planned. This guide explains the recommended process for transferring your website and domain name while helping to minimize disruption to your website and email services.

Important

Every website is different. Depending on how your website, email and DNS are configured, additional steps may be required.
While you can carry out the migration yourself, we strongly recommend contacting our Support team before making any changes. We can:

Step 1 – Take Full Backups

Before making any changes, create backups of all important data. We recommend backing up:

Having current backups provides a recovery option should anything unexpected occur during the migration.

Step 2 – Create a Domain Reference

If your domain is currently registered elsewhere, you can create a Domain Reference in your Customer Area before transferring the domain itself.

To create a Domain Reference:

Step 3 – Assign a Hosting Package

Once your Domain Reference has been created:

Full steps are provided in this article: cPanel - Domains & Website Setup - How to assign your domain

Hosting setup usually completes within approximately one hour or less.

Step 4 – Build or Migrate Your Website

Once hosting has been activated, you can begin preparing your website.

Typical tasks include:

If you are migrating a CMS such as WordPress, Joomla or Drupal, ensure all configuration files are updated with the correct database credentials.

Step 5 – Test Your Website

Before directing live traffic to your new hosting account, thoroughly test your website using the temporary URL or preview address available within your hosting control panel.

Confirm that:

Resolving issues before updating DNS helps reduce visitor disruption.

Step 6 – Review Your Email Configuration

Changing DNS or nameservers without considering your email service could interrupt incoming or outgoing mail.
If your email is remaining with another provider, additional DNS records may need to be retained.
If you are unsure, please contact your email provider before making changes.

Step 7 – Prepare Your DNS Records

Before updating your nameservers or DNS records, ensure all required records have been recreated if necessary.

These may include:

Missing DNS records may result in:

Step 8 – Update Your Nameservers (If Required)

If you intend to use our DNS service, update your nameservers with your domain registrar.

Our nameservers are:

Please note that you may not need to change your nameservers if:

DNS propagation may take up to 48 hours, although changes are often seen much sooner.

Step 9 – Transfer Your Domain Name

The transfer process depends on your domain extension.

.uk Domain Names

gTLD Domain Names (.com, .net, .org, etc.)

To begin the transfer:

Most transfers complete within a few days but can take up to seven days depending on the losing registrar.

Step 10 – Verify Everything After the Transfer

Once the migration has completed, check that:

Please note:

If you are unsure at any stage, please contact our Support team before making changes.

Our team can:


Article ID: 186
Created On: Thu, Mar 5, 2015 at 5:04 PM
Last Updated On: Tue, Aug 11, 2026 at 11:20 AM

Online URL: https://www.heartinternet.uk/support/article/how-do-i-transfer-my-domain-name-and-web-hosting-as-painlessly-as-possible.html