Most website migrations that go wrong fail on the details: a forgotten database, mail that stops arriving, a DNS change that takes a day to spread. A methodical approach avoids them.
1. Inventory everything
- Website files and all databases.
- Email accounts, forwarders and their mail.
- DNS records: not just A records, but MX, TXT (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, verification records), CNAMEs and any others.
- Scheduled tasks, SSL certificates, redirects, environment settings and PHP version.
- Integrations: payment gateways, APIs, webhooks that point at your server's address.
2. Lower the DNS TTL in advance
A day or two before the move, reduce the TTL on the records you will change to a few minutes. When you switch, resolvers will pick up the new address quickly instead of caching the old one for hours.
3. Copy and test on the new server
Copy files and databases to the new host. Test the site there before any customer sees it, for example by pointing your own computer's hosts file at the new server. Check forms, logins, checkout, emails sent by the site and admin functions.
4. Plan the cutover
- Choose a quiet time.
- For sites where data changes constantly, such as online stores, freeze changes briefly or do a final database sync just before switching.
- Update DNS records to the new server.
- Keep the old server running until traffic has fully moved.
5. Email needs special care
If mailboxes are moving, migrate existing mail, switch MX records, and keep the old mail server accepting messages for a short overlap so nothing is lost while DNS updates.
6. After the switch
Check the site from several networks, watch error logs, confirm SSL is valid, verify mail flows both ways, and test integrations. Only then cancel the old service.
How IDX helps
IDX Migration moves your sites, apps, mail and DNS, planned to keep downtime to a minimum. Our team copies and tests everything on the new server first, and you approve before we switch DNS.
IDX on digital infrastructure
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