Changing Web Hosts Help

[stuff_4_beauty]

Hi all!
I have an extremely busy site (3years old) and our rankings on google, msn and yahoo are excellent.

I had some issues with my current web host of 2 years and am not happy with an issue they are having with their server and phpmyadmin mysql database crashing daily for the past 3 weeks. I am not able to admin my database without crashes and the tech support I am getting from them is horrible. So... I found a new hosting company - although not as big as the current one, they are friendly and supportive.

They do cost about double from what I am paying now. The cost is not an issue as much as my site running perfect and how they will handle any problems.

My questions I have because I am so scared that that change will hurt my rankings:

1. Can the change hurt my rankings??
2. Will my site be down to visitors during the dns change? (The new provider says no)
3. Is there anything I should be concerned about that I did not cover here?

I am planning on leaving my site on the old sever since I paid for another year of hosting just this past Dec and will not get a refund.

Any and all help would be so much appreciated as I am in a whirlwind here and do not want to do anything to hurt my buisiness or rankings.

Thanks!

[cyanide]

HI stuff4beauty,

Changing hosts can be tricky, especially if you are running an eccomerce site and/or using a live database.

Your Questions:
1. Can the change hurt my rankings??
No
2. Will my site be down to visitors during the dns change? (The new provider says no)
No, there shouldn't be downtime. However, since it can take some time for all geographic locations to update their dns some customers will be viewing and ordering from your site on the old host which ofcourse, means the database on your new host will be different.
3. Is there anything I should be concerned about that I did not cover here?
Yes. Backup, everything! I've had to rescue numerous clients that had a host destroy their database during migration due to un-skilled staff.

[stuff_4_beauty]

I REALLY appreciate your response - it is so scary changing hosts when the site has been on one host since birth - I do have EVERYTHING backed up :-)

[ritaperdue]

Hi. I currently use a webhost with an online e-commerce builder. However, there are limitations to the builder's shopping cart. I was thinking about changing to another host with an online ecommerce shopping cart builder, but was wondering how it would affect my ranking and placement in Google, Yahoo, and MSN if I still used the same domain name and just had my domain registrar point it to the new host? I realize all my products would have different URLs, but would still be an extension to the domain name. Would my site be thrown back into the "sand box" or would the search engines just take it as "new and interesting" changes to my domain name and re-index me?
Thanks for your help.

[cyanide]

Hi,
Since your domain is the same, there shouldn't be any kind of sandbox effect. However, if the urls are different, then yes, they would have to be re-indexed.

I would suggest you avoid any host that have on "online cart builder" because usually it is proprietary.
You should look for a cart, that is independant, so should you be unhappy with your host, atleast you can take the cart with you.

[ADAM Web Design]

Two things:

1) You're absolutely entitled to a refund, even if it's pro-rated. The old host failed to provide a satisfactory level of service, and you should fight for that. Chances are, if you raise a stink for 15 minutes, they'll cave just to shut you up and move on.

2) You can experience flux with SEs, if the SE in question has difficulty reaching your new site. This isn't necessarily your new host's fault; maybe the SE is trying to reach the IP assigned to your site by the old host, or maybe there's a traffic problem between the SE and the new host. In any event, it usually is a temporary condition that straightens itself out, and it's very rare (and thankfully getting even more rare.)

So don't sweat this too much. Just be aware of it as a slightly possible effect.

[stuff_4_beauty]

Originally Posted by ADAM Web Design

Two things:

..........or maybe there's a traffic problem between the SE and the new host

Thank-you for your comment. Focusing on the above, would you mean that google or another SE could possibly have a problem reaching my new host? Do you think that if this were the case that the problem would be resolved?

This is exactly what I worried about. Well, regardless, I made the switch last night, it all seemed to go smooth. Today our traffic was slightly down and I am not sure if it is related to the move?

Thanks again for all the support! I am going to try to get a pro-rated refund in a couple weeks.

[ADAM Web Design]

Possibly, but I wouldn't sweat it too much.

Get you some refund money (and send me a tip. :) )

[jestep]

Right now there is definitely a problem with your hosting setup. I can ping your website, but I get absolutely no response back from it.

What IP is your site at now and where was it before. You can PM me if you need to...

[cyanide]

Originally Posted by jestep

Right now there is definitely a problem with your hosting setup. I can ping your website, but I get absolutely no response back from it.

What IP is your site at now and where was it before. You can PM me if you need to...

I can ping it and am getting the ip address.

However, it is not responding further, most likely they have the icmp ports closed. Site seems to be funtioning ok

[jestep]

I can ping it and am getting the ip address.

However, it is not responding further, most likely they have the icmp ports closed. Site seems to be funtioning ok

I'm getting the same thing as well. IP address resolves but no response after that. I'm not sure of the exact effect as far as SE's are concerned, but personally I would want that response on any of my sites.

[cyanide]

Most of my servers have these ports closed and have never had issue with search engines.