Changing IP

[Raymond]

I am switching hosting plans for my website. The IP address will be changed, domain name will remain the same. I am very concern with the IP or DNS server changes involved in this process. Will the pagerank and googlebot be able to follow to my new IP? What can I do to make this process as seamless as possible?

Thank you.

[jdMorgan]

What can you do? ... That depends.

You can ask them to leave your site up on your old server/IP address for three or four days while the new DNS information propagates. So, your site would exist on both the old and new servers for a few days. That would help to make the move "seamless."

However, if they're like most hosting providers, they will just do it their own way, which means your site may disappear for a few days for the users of ISPs with slow-to-update DNS servers.

Most search engines have the brains to re-check a site over several days before dropping its pages -- for just this reason. I had a site that inexplicably changed IP addresses; I mean no-one told me it was going to happen, and there were no ill effects. So, even if you can't do what I described above, don't worry about it too much. Changing IPs is easy, it's changing domains that can get messy.

Jim

[Raymond]

Thanks JDMorgan

So you mean I should have both site up (old one with domain name, new one with just the new IP) for a couple days?

Should both have identical content? Or Should I have a redirect? googlebot comes to my site every day, What if spiders think I have duplicate content and will drop my site all at once?

[tbear]

Hi Raymond,
I changed my IP a couple of weeks ago.
Pretty much as jdMorgan suggested.
I first loaded everything 'as is' to the new IP.
Then I changed the nameserver info.
Then I informed the old host to close account at the end of month (two weeks later).
Went perfectly smoothly, no glitches, no SE problems.

[Moby_Dim]

I've changed 2 host-providers in 1 month (!) (last November) with no looses in PRs, doing =~ like jdMorgan and tbear advice.

[SEOMike]

I actually perform DNS switches for my clients. I always advise them to do it exactly like jdMorgan and tbear said.

One more little thing...

If you have a point in the week / month where traffic is lower, do the switch then in case something goes wrong. Most of my clients do their big business during the week, so we start switches on Friday, and most are done Monday morning.