If you're moving your website and email to ZIPROF from a different host, the safest approach is to set everything up on your new account first and only switch your domain over once you've confirmed it all works. This avoids downtime and gives you a fallback if something needs fixing before you go live.
Before You Start
Gather a few things before you begin the move:
- A full backup of your current website files and database. Ask your current host for this if you can't access it yourself.
- Your current domain's DNS records, especially any custom MX or TXT records used for email or site verification, so you can recreate them on ZIPROF.
- Your website's login details: your content management system admin login, and your database username and password.
Don't cancel your current hosting or domain registration until your site is fully working on ZIPROF. Keep both running at the same time during the move, then cancel the old one afterward.
Step-by-Step Migration Checklist
- Sign up for your ZIPROF hosting plan. Once your account is active, you'll receive your control panel login details by email.
- Upload your website files. Log in to your control panel (cPanel or DirectAdmin) and use the File Manager, or connect with an FTP client, to upload your site files into the public_html folder.
- Recreate your database. If your site runs on a database (WordPress and most custom PHP sites do), create a new database and database user in your control panel, then import your backed-up database into it. Update the database name, username, and password in your site's configuration file to match.
- Preview your site before switching DNS. You don't need to point your domain at ZIPROF to check that everything loads correctly first. You can preview the site on your new hosting account while your domain still points elsewhere.
- Set up your email accounts. Recreate the same email addresses in your ZIPROF control panel so mail keeps working once you switch over. If you need the old messages too, download or export them from your current host before the switch.
- Point your domain to ZIPROF. Once you've confirmed the site works, update your domain's nameservers or DNS records to point to ZIPROF.
- Wait for DNS to propagate, then test everything live. This can take a few hours. Check your site, forms, and email on a few different networks and devices before moving on.
- Cancel your old hosting only after confirming everything works. Give it a few days after the switch to be sure nothing was missed.
If Your Site Runs on WordPress
The checklist above applies, but a migration plugin can handle the file and database copy for you in one step instead of doing it manually. Either approach works. Just make sure the plugin-based migration still lands your files and database on the new account before you touch your DNS.
A Few Things to Double-Check After the Move
- Any contact forms or checkout processes that send email.
- Scheduled tasks (cron jobs) that ran on your old host, if any.
- SSL certificate status on your new domain setup, since browsers will flag the site if it's missing.
For the DNS part of the move, see How to Point Your Domain to a New Host and How to Preview Your Website Before Pointing Your Domain's DNS for more detail on those two steps.