A web hosting service is a great way to get your website out on the internet. But if you decide that you web hosting service just isn't working, you do have the option to take your site somewhere else where you can get better services. Don't get sucked into paying more for mediocre service when you can easily trade your old hosting service for a new one.

First, you will want to research where you want to host your website next. This will seem boring and maybe time consuming, but you need to do your research in order to end up with a web hosting service that is better than the one you are moving from. Make sure that the web hosting service you choose will also allow for expansion of services and space as your business grows.

Next, you will want to schedule the time you want to spend moving your site over. Even if you have to end up paying a month of web hosting for both services, you will end up only have a few hours or less of downtime if you take awhile to move your site to its new host. Any problems may arise during the transfer should be easily fixed before the new site is up and running.

But before you move a single file, you will want to make backup copies of everything. This will make sure that you will not lose any files in the process of moving your website. Make sure you test your site before starting the transfer process! There is usually a test or temp URL you can use for this purpose.

Having moved hundreds of sites myself over the years, I usually change the name servers on a Friday night to the new web hosting company. These changes usually take from 2-24 hours to take effect. Double check the next day to make sure your site has transferred and that your website is working correctly.

Next, if you wish to transfer the domain name over to your new web hosting company, this can be done at your own leisure as it does not effect any services you have with your new web host.

If anything changes on your website, such as email addresses or the main domain name, you will want to have a way to notify customers. You can forward the email address to a new one, or you can always just send out an email to your customers.