How to Get Your Website and Domain Transferred to FastComet

In an ideal world, we would never have to worry about switching web hosts. But the reality is that people tend to seek a happier place for their website quite often. There are a lot of reasons someone could decide to do that, such as sluggish hosting, a lack of quality in customer support, etc. Moving from a different hosting provider to our services is one of the most common requests here at FastComet. Switching web hosting providers usually involves transferring both your domain name and website. Still, many first-timers feel confused about whether these are two separate processes. This post aims to provide you with a clear understanding of the difference between transferring a domain registration and a website's content, and the needed steps on how to painlessly perform the switch.

• What's the Difference Between a Domain and a Website?
• Free Website Transfers Per Hosting Plan
• What are the Correct Steps to Move Both my Domain Name and Website to Avoid Downtime?
• Choose a Web Host
• Consolidate Your Web Hosting and Domain Management Into One Place
• Request Site Migration and Provide Website Details
• Final Check & Troubleshooting
• Pointing Domain DNS to Your New Web Host
• Transfer Your Domain Name to FastComet
• What if I Don't Know Who my Domain Registrar Is?

What's the Difference Between a Domain and a Website?

It's somehow natural to think a domain name and a website are the same. While they are closely related, they require separate services. To open your website, by typing its name in the browser, you need a domain name. Our domain name, for example, is fastcomet.com. A domain name has to be registered with an accredited company called a domain name registrar.

Registering a domain, however, doesn't automatically create a website - it only means that you've registered the domain. Web hosting, on the other hand, is  the service needed to make your website appear online. Behind every domain is a web hosting service where the files that compose your website are stored. Thus, to create a website you need an account with a web hosting company. The website hosting company enables you to lease space on their web servers where you can store your website files and make them available for visitors to view.

After you have registered your domain, you can use it at any web hosting company. Regardless of where you decide to host your website's files, your domain remains yours for the duration of its registration.

FastComet is a web hosting provider and allows for you to choose from 500+ top-level domains (TLDs). This means you can register your domain name, build a website for it, and get it on the web - all in one place. With each of FastComet's web hosting plans, you also get one free domain transfer, as well as a free domain name renewal for one year if you transfer your domain from a different registrar to us.

We also offer free website transfers, about which you can read below.

Free Website Transfers per Hosting Plan

You have multiple websites - no problem. One of the great features about FastComet is that we will transfer up to three websites per hosting plan at no extra cost, and our technical support team would be glad to assist you with that. Additional websites can be transferred at an affordable price. The transfers can be from your old host to us, or between our servers. Not only that, but if your old host is using cPanel we can transfer the entire cPanel account over to us, keeping all of your data intact. 

Our FastCloud Essential plan comes with one free website transfer. Higher plans - FastCloud Plus and FastCloud Extra - come with three free website transfers. Our Virtual Private Severs (VPS) and Dedicated Servers come with up to five free website transfers. Furthermore, as an added benefit from us, one whole cPanel migration counts as a single free website transfer: we will move your whole cPanel account over to us free of charge, and deduct only one of your free website transfers.

What are the Correct Steps to Move Both my Domain Name and Website to Avoid Downtime?

Transferring both your domain name and website to a new web host doesn't have to be a painful process. Here are some general steps that should work with any host. They are the steps we ourselves would take:

1. Purchase a new hosting account;
2. Move all website files - including databases and email accounts;
3. Point your domain DNS records to the new web host;
4. Transfer the domain name to the new host or leave it with the current registrar. We have an excellent tutorial about the process you can check out.

You can either outsource these tasks to your new hosting company (FastComet will do these for free) or you can transfer your sites manually or using a plugin.

Choose a Web Host

Making the switch to a new web host can be stressful – which is why many site owners prefer not to switch web hosts unless it's necessary. After all – why waste time and energy when everything is working fine?

So when is the right time to start looking for a new host? How do you know that your web host is the root cause of your website problem? Here are a few hints:

• Your site is constantly going down;
• Your site is too slow;
• Customer service is not helpful;
• You need more space, functionality, or other resources;
• You are paying too much;
• You have been hacked, more than once;
• You have heard about a great service elsewhere.

If you don't feel that level of comfort or are bothered about negative reports you've seen on your web host, it may be time for a change. You can transfer either your website, your domain name or both.

Consolidate Your Web Hosting and Domain Management Into One Place

It makes sense to house your site in the same place where you got your domain. Especially since many service providers offer seamless user interfaces for managing both and some will also throw in free domain transfers when you purchase hosting.

Consolidating both your domain name and web hosting services at one place is a convenient way to protect your domain names from unplanned expiration and unauthorized transfer - which saves time as well as money, and will ensure your websites stay online without interruptions.

Here are some of the main reasons you might want to transfer your domain and website to FastComet:

• Free 1-year domain renewal upon transfer, for certain domain extensions. You can contact us for more information;
• 24/7 professional technical support;
• High-speed, optimized and secure servers;
• Better renewal pricing. With almost everything in life, better prices are always welcome. We offer competitive and affordable pricing without sacrificing quality or features.

Request Site Migration and Provide Website Details

After signing up for one of our hosting plans, you may need to get your site moved from your old host over to our servers. Don't panic! We can get that done for you. Our support agents have broad experience in this as they move hundreds of websites every single week. We just need a bit of information from you and we can get started.

In order to request the transfer of your website all you need to do is to provide us with access to your website files and database. To do that, open a new ticket in our Website Transfer category and provide us with the following credentials:

• Control panel URL from your old host;
• Username for the old control panel;
• Password for the old control panel.

You will be updated regularly on the transfer progress. The process takes time according to the size of data that needs to be relocated. To learn more about the website transfer request process, please check this Website Transfer tutorial.

Final Check & Troubleshooting

FastComet is committed to making it easy to transfer your site to your new hosting account. In case the provided information required for the successful website migration is sufficient you will receive a confirmation that your transfer has been initiated.

During the website transfer, we will copy your website's content to your new server with us. During the process your website will remain online from the old host. It will be an exact copy of your website with the previous Hosting Provider. Once the transfer is completed our technical support team will update you via your ticket and request you to double-check and verify its successful transfer. That can be done by modifying the Hosts file of your computer.

Put simply, the Hosts file of your computer can dictate which websites open via which IP address. There will be clear instructions in the ticket update you will receive, but if you would like to read more about the Hosts file you can check out our tutorial on the topic. Once you verify your website works on our hosting services you can proceed and point your domain to FastComet's nameservers.

Pointing Your Domain's DNS to Your New Web Host

Once you have reviewed the website on your end, you will need to point your domain to your hosting plan with FastComet. You will be provided with Nameservers and an IP for an A record. Choosing to point your domain via Nameservers will allow you to control its DNS zone from your cPanel account with us. If you choose to use only an A record to point your domain to us, then you have to do that from the current DNS zone for the domain.

When you make changes to your DNS, please allow up to 24 hours for propagation. Because of that we recommend performing no changes on your website during that time as once the propagation is over, they may not be saved on the new server.

Transfer Your Domain Name to FastComet

If you would like to transfer your domain name to a new domain name registrar, the very first step would be to make sure that your new registrar not only supports but can also register your domain name extension (TLD).

Even if some country-specific domains or uncommon TLDs are not supported by a hosting service's registrar, that does not mean the hosting services themselves will be unavailable for that TLD. Web hosting is not affected by a domain's TLD and you can still host your domain even if the hosting provider cannot support or register your domain's TLD.

FastComet supports more than 500 domain extensions and we will transfer one domain name for free per newly purchased hosting plan. Domains transferred to FastComet will be automatically renewed for free for a full year from the date of transfer as a value-added extra. You can request the free domain registration transfer any time within the life of your hosting account. Note that when signing up for our services using the “I already have a domain” field, this does not automatically post a domain name transfer order on your behalf.

If you would like to learn more about the process or are having difficulty, check our domain transfer tutorial.

What if I Don't Know Who My Domain Registrar Is?

If you don't remember who your domain registrar is, search your email archives for billing records about registration or transfer of your domain name. Your domain host is listed on your invoice. If you can't find your billing records, you can look it up by performing a search for your domain name.

The "Registrar" field shows you who your registrar is. Alternatively, you can look this up through a WHOIS search.

Conclusion

By transferring your domain name (or website) to FastComet you'll be benefiting from one of the world's fastest and most reliable hosting platforms, backed by our 24/7 support service. Make the switch today and our team will help transfer your website's content for you at no additional charge. Simply get in touch with us and we will be happy to help you make the change!

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