With a little planning, you can move your website to PaduHost with little or no downtime.

1. Lower your TTL a day or two before

The TTL (time to live) controls how long internet providers remember your DNS records. At your current DNS provider, lower the TTL on your domain's A records (and MX records, if your email is moving) to 300 seconds (5 minutes). Do this at least 24 to 48 hours before the move, so the old, longer TTL has time to expire.

2. Copy your website and test it

Copy your website to PaduHost or ask us to. Then check it using your hosts file before switching. See Previewing your website before your domain points to us.

3. Avoid changes during the switch

On the day of the move, avoid adding content, taking orders or changing settings on your old website. Anything added there after the copy won't be on PaduHost. For online shops, choose a quiet time or put the shop into maintenance mode briefly.

4. Switch your DNS

Update your A records to point to your PaduHost server's IP address. With a low TTL, most visitors reach the new server within minutes.

Changing nameservers is slower, because registries control that timing and it can't be shortened by lowering the TTL. For the quickest switch, change your A records first and move your nameservers later. See Pointing your domain to PaduHost.

5. Keep your old hosting for a week

Keep your old hosting active for at least a week in case anything was missed. Check your old mailbox for any late email too.

6. Raise your TTL again

Once everything is working, set your TTL back to a normal value, such as 3600 seconds (1 hour).