Moving to new hosting company

Will google still know where I am

[SeventiesMartin]

I'm going to be moving quite a few sites to a new hosting company.

What concerns me more than anything, is will google know where I've gone, will it still spider me. The sites are well positioned on google.

I suppose the question really is, does google find remember sites by ip address or domain name.

I'm even letting google dictate when I make the move. Googlebot is visiting every day, so I intend to make the move not long after the visit, and hope the dns entries etc. for the new location are in place before the next visit. I really don't want googlebot to try and visit a site and find it's not there.

[shady]

Google caches DNS information. I would advise that you keep the sites on the old server for around 1 month AFTER the dns has propergated to the new server.

[SeventiesMartin]

Thanks Shady.

But not quite sure how I do that. When I move the site to the new hosting, don't I then update the dns entry on the new nameservers, and everything on the old servers is lost.

How do I keep the site on the old servers and the new.

I'm probably asking a stupid question and just can't think around it as it's so late.

[jady]

Upload all files to your new server - change the DNS (name server) information - then just leave the old servers alone for a few weeks.

In actuality, your domain name will point to your new server once it propergates through the net, but this is just a safe guard incase the DNS isnt fully changed.

[SeventiesMartin]

Thanks Jady, got it I think.

I was going to change the IPSTAG and move lock stock and barrel after removing the site from it's old hosting.

Guess I should just change the nameservers and not touch anything else at all on the old servers, then change the IPSTAG a month or so later and then remove the site from the old hosting. Or does it even matter if I change the IPSTAG at the same time as the nameservers.

[shady]

Interesting - the only people answering this request have nicknames that rhyme ;)

Thats exactly right! You are leaving them on the old server so that if google is using cached DNS information, it will see the pages on the old server, even though the DNS has propergated so that "real" users see the new server.

[SeventiesMartin]

Maybe I should change to SeventiesMarty.

Thanks you both very much, that's put me at ease and I have a clear plan of action.

I gues the thing to do is keep an eye on the site stats for the old server. Then when the visitors stop, and especially when googlebot visits no more, it's safe to drop the files.

[annej]

I changed to a new hosting company a month or so ago and did not leave anything on the old server The transfer went beautifully. Google seemed to find my site just fine at it's new home. I don't know if I was just lucky.

Anne

[mat]

I don't know if I was just lucky.

I'd say you were. We recently moved machine (not host, so the 'leave on old' was not an option for us) and went through a very anxious three weeks during which time Googlebot did not visit us once - we were on daily crawl, and now are again.

Clearly the Freshbot does not do a DNS lookup that often, if at all, and the consensus gathered from when I was posting is that you'll need to wait for the monthly crawl for G to update their DNS cache. That said, we were revisited a day or two (phew) before the monthly deep crawl.

So yes, leave your stuff on the old box for a month or so. There'll be no duplicate content penalty as G will simply stop seeing your old site once the DNS points to your new IP.

Finally, I'd make the move in the days immediately following the monthly crawl, just to cover as many basaes as you can. Good luck.

Mat

[ciml]

I agree with everything here, just one extra point. Even after you start seeing Googlebot in the logs of the new server it can still visit the old one. This is because the Googlebot machines have their own DNS caches. Although they have central DNS cacheing as well, I would guess that the Googlebot datacentres each have their own.

[Birdman]

I could be off base here, but isn't it a good idea to put a permanent redirect on the old pages after you move?

[Chris_R]

Not in this case - as the pages will still be there - he is just changing the host.

Unless there is some severe monetary reason that you can't afford to - I agree with everyone else. Leave the old host up for a month or so.

If I was picking a day to move - I would pick around the 10th or so.

[annej]

Mat,

I think my luck was in changing over just as the google dance started. Not that I did it on purpose, it just happened to be then.

Anne

[shady]

So to summarise, you want to play it safe by keeping both servers running in parallel for 3-4 weeks. Then you need not trust to luck!

Good luck ;)

[SeventiesMartin]

Thank you all for that.

I now have a very clear picture of what I need to do.