Moving your site to a new web host

1. On a sheet of paper, draw a diagram of your site's directory structure, including all sub-directories.
    
2. Prepare the new web server. After you have received your login information from the new web hosting provider, configure your FTP program to log in to the root directory. Create a directory structure that mirrors the one on your existing server.
    
3. Upload your .htaccess and robots.txt files to the new web server, or create new ones if you prefer.
    
4. One at a time, upload your directories to the new web server. After you have finished uploading the contents of each directory, place a check mark beside that directory on your diagram. Verify that each directory has the same number of files as the corresponding directory on the old server. If not, find out what's missing and upload it.
    
5. Upload and configure any CGI scripts that you use and set the permissions for the files. Also check the file permissions for all the other files and directories that require it.
    
6. Create any redirects that you need for your pages.
    
7. Test the links on your home page to make sure they all work correctly. If your site is small enough, check all of the links on the entire site. If the site is too large to do that, spot check a few links on as many pages as possible.
    
8. Verify that all CGI scripts and javascripts work correctly.
    
9. Set up your email accounts on the new web server. They won't work until the DNS propagation has completed, but they'll be ready when that time comes.
    
10. After you're fairly certain that everything is in order and working properly, go ahead and change the DNS settings for the domain to those for the new web server. It will take anywhere from 24 to 72 hours for the DNS information to fully propagate, so your visitors will be accessing the site from the old host until then.
     
11. After you have determined that you can access the site on the new web server, place a message in a prominent place on your home page explaining that you have just moved the site to a new web hosting provider. Ask your visitors to report any broken links, scripts, etc. via email.