changing web host

[ken72]

Hi Guys,

I am thinking about changing web hosting companies. My current webhost gives me a static ip address for my site. Assuming I find another that will also give me a static ip address will it affect my search engine position. I remember reading somewhere that it is not a good idea to change webhost as it affects your ranking eventhough your domain name stays the same?

[korkus2000]

If you get a static IP address then I don't think there is really anything to worry about. Dynamic IPS could be a problem because they could change during a crawl and get the DNS out of sync with your site. I would plan it to be completely set up when the DNS switches over so there is no down time.

[jdMorgan]

ken72,

Just plan ahead in order to avoid problems:

Put a copy of the old site on the new server.

Update your DNS to point to the new IP address.

Redirect your old site to the new IP address.

Leave the old site up on the old server until you have been deep-crawled by the search engines which are important to you, and you know that they have updated their databases (e.g. you can plant a new keyword in your pages to detect this).

Take the old site down.

Don't hurry. The cost of paying an extra month of hosting may be nothing compared to having your site disappear!

HTH,
Jim

[bateman_ap]

If you run anything above a personal website that you only would access then a static ip is a vital need! Otherwise you will never be found one day to the next, not only by the search engine spiders but also by a lot of people who use dns servers that don't update all that much (I know one very very large UK company that only updates its internal DNS servers about once a month, and sometimes it has been 60 days!)

[JayC]

Dynamic IPS could be a problem because they could change during a crawl and get the DNS out of sync with your site.

There seems to be some confusion here. Generally, a "dynamic IP" is what you get when you dial up to your internet connection and are assigned a different IP each time. It's the IP assigned to your computer while you're connected, not the IP of your website. Having a "static IP," as offered by some Internet Service Providers, would mean you are assigned the same IP each time you connect. But unless you're hosting your website on your PC at home, they have nothing to do with anyone -- human or search engine -- finding your site.

In the web hosting context, the two choices are a "dedicated IP" or a "shared IP." The latter means that other sites have the same IP address that yours does; the former means that only your site is on the assigned IP. A shared IP typically does not change "dynamically," once you have it you, and the other sites that share it, keep it. In other words, a shared IP is a static IP... so is a dedicated IP.

The concern when moving your site is that some search engines (Google, for example) cache the IP to which a site is assigned and so instead of looking for your site by name in the next crawl may look for it at your old IP address and so not find it. That's why jdMorgan's advice is exactly right: overlap the two sites for a month, and use a permanent redirect (in your .htaccess file) from the old site to the new.

[jdMorgan]

As DaveAtIFG just pointed out in this thread [webmasterworld.com], the redirect from the old site to the new IP address will not work if the new host is a shared-IP host. In that case, all you can do is wait while the DNS issues resolve themselves.

Planning to overlap the old and new hosts for a couple of months is the safest route.

Jim

[korkus2000]

JayC - No confusion. You would be suprised to know how many sites out there are run from a dynamic IP. I have worked for some. They are a real pain in the neck. With DSL dynamic ip sites for businesses are not that uncommon. Terrible yes, uncommon no.

[sun818]

A few migration issues you will have to consider:

1. Does your web site have absolute or relative links? Absolute links like http:/ /yourdomain.com/index.htm will cause issues during migration. Some of the suggestions above assume that your site is designed with relative links.

2. Do you run CGI/Perl scripts?
Your scripts will probably break unless you change the configuration to the new web host. If your site is all static HTML files, migration is a no brainer.

I suggest you get your new site running with relative links and CGI/Perl scripts running properly. Then make the DNS switch.

[edited by: sun818 at 7:24 pm (utc) on Jan. 3, 2003]

[JayC]

Korkus, that does make sense if it relates to DSL... but I can't imagine any actual, legitimate, hosting company using a dynamic DSL connection. Then again, I've been surprised and disappointed before.