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I’ve just finished the process of selling one of my sites. It was the first time I ever sold a website and, in the process of doing that, I’ve learned some very important lessons.
One of the hardest parts when you already found a buyer is transferring the website to the buyer with very small downtime. So far I haven’t encountered any article describing how to do this so I’ve decided to write one and share what I know.
I know, I know, this phrase has become a cliche. However, the more you apply it, the more you realize how potent it is. Same with selling websites.
Ask the buyer 2 main things when you transfer the website to him:
The last step of the overall process should be changing the DNS records. In Namecheap, they look like this:
The first step should be transferring the data of the website, so when you’re ready to transfer the DNS, the exactly same data is there just on a different server.
Here’s how you do that with WordPress:
Now you need to wait several hours for the DNS to propagate. After that process is done, you should see your site on the new server. The process of transferring with 0 downtime is done.
To see whether the DNS servers are changed, a good trick I use is to place a simple html file on the old server. For example, I can place example.html on the old server with a simple text in it. I then try to open that file in my browser after few hours. If the file is located, that means the DNS transfer has not yet taken place. If the file is not located, that means the website is already on the new server (which doesn’t have that file.) This is helpful because the you have 2 identical copies on the servers so you need to find a separator like this.
That’s it! This process should be even simpler if you have a static website. If you try to transfer a website with Joomla or Drupal, the process should be a bit different. The basic concepts are the same, however. First transfer the data and then change the DNS servers.
Thanks for reading. How do you transfer websites between different hosts?
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Monday, December 12th, 2011 02:22
Hi, I’ve sold some of my sites without getting any problem at all. But, the last buyer has godaddy hosting. I got confused with it. For your information I always found my buyer using cPanel hosting. But, it’s different with godaddy hosting. So, the point when you want to transfer site to new owner is, domain, database, wp data in file manager. ( if you using wordpress). I wonder is there anybody who know how to transfer wordpress from cPanel hosting (hosgator, bluehost, etc) to GoDaddy hosting?
Sunday, March 13th, 2011 05:00
i still don’t get understand :( please video how to transfer hosting
Friday, November 19th, 2010 19:21
Blogger.com is free and can not be sold. But if you have a successful blog on blogger, you can sell the administration right to the interested buyer
Thursday, July 15th, 2010 15:34
Thanks for the article. I haven’t sold an already built website, I’ve only built websites (wordpress) for clients, but always had a hard time transfering files over to their new hosting accounts. So this article is actually amazing for me!
Quick suggestion,
Is there anyway you can include a Video Tutorial on this article: “Transfering websites”?
Sunday, July 11th, 2010 11:36
awesome .. Few days back only was thinking about the same issue, now got the solution. keep up the good work ! cheers mate ;)
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 20:34
very nice tips! i love the end image :P
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 21:56
Very important, if you don’t use an escrow ask for the money first and then change the domain. The paypal transaction can be easily reverted but the domain is harder.
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 20:23
Nice post lol ;) btw, I know who you’re talking about :P
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 20:21
Nice information.
This will certainly comes in handy especially now that most blogs are running as a business model and have a higher chance of transferring owners than in the past.
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 13:39
I sold blogs many times but i only send the database and all the files to the buyer.And for the domain,the buyer pays me the transfer cost and that’s all:)
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 13:34
what about if you have a blog on blogger and wanted to sell it?
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 18:38
A couple of tips that I have learnt over time:
1) You can actually connect to your database remotely. If you’re running an ecommerce site or a blog that has regular comments, you can’t necessarily restore your data on the new server, change the DNS and hope no new transactions occur until the DNS propogates. Also, as DNS propogates at different times around the world, you could end up with different transactions affecting the two different copies of the database simultaneously. The solution is to have the database on one server, and connected to by both sites (on the old server and the new server) at the same time. This ensures that, regardless of DNS propagation, both sites are connecting to the same database.
2) If you are transferring email too, this can be a problem with delayed or lost mail as the DNS propagates. If I was selling 1stwebdesigner.com and I had the email address gareth@1stwebdesigner.com, I could setup gareth@tempdomain.com on the new server. I could then forward all emails to gareth@1stwebdesigner.com on the old server to gareth@tempdomain.com on the new server. Naturally, you’d also setup gareth@1stwebdesigner.com on the new server and map it to the same email user ready for when the DNS propagation is complete. This method again ensures that all email ends up in the same place on the new server and you’re not having to merge mail boxes later on or lose email.
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 16:33
Great points, DNS records last is the key point. Do not transfer until you have been paid…
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 12:40
Nice post. I have sold/bought many blogs myself so this kind of article is always welcome!
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 13:32
Glad you liked it Jean. :)
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Jean-Baptiste Jung
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 12:40
Nice post. I have sold/bought many blogs myself so this kind of article is always welcome!
Saad Bassi
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 13:32
Glad you liked it Jean. :)
Arshad Cini
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 13:39
I sold blogs many times but i only send the database and all the files to the buyer.And for the domain,the buyer pays me the transfer cost and that’s all:)
Aidan
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 20:21
Nice information.
This will certainly comes in handy especially now that most blogs are running as a business model and have a higher chance of transferring owners than in the past.
Ken
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 13:34
what about if you have a blog on blogger and wanted to sell it?
David
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 16:33
Great points, DNS records last is the key point. Do not transfer until you have been paid…
Gareth
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 18:38
A couple of tips that I have learnt over time:
1) You can actually connect to your database remotely. If you’re running an ecommerce site or a blog that has regular comments, you can’t necessarily restore your data on the new server, change the DNS and hope no new transactions occur until the DNS propogates. Also, as DNS propogates at different times around the world, you could end up with different transactions affecting the two different copies of the database simultaneously. The solution is to have the database on one server, and connected to by both sites (on the old server and the new server) at the same time. This ensures that, regardless of DNS propagation, both sites are connecting to the same database.
2) If you are transferring email too, this can be a problem with delayed or lost mail as the DNS propagates. If I was selling 1stwebdesigner.com and I had the email address gareth@1stwebdesigner.com, I could setup gareth@tempdomain.com on the new server. I could then forward all emails to gareth@1stwebdesigner.com on the old server to gareth@tempdomain.com on the new server. Naturally, you’d also setup gareth@1stwebdesigner.com on the new server and map it to the same email user ready for when the DNS propagation is complete. This method again ensures that all email ends up in the same place on the new server and you’re not having to merge mail boxes later on or lose email.
Abhishek
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 20:51
You are correct, nice additions by the way! :)
Abhishek
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 20:23
Nice post lol ;) btw, I know who you’re talking about :P
asher
Sunday, March 13th, 2011 05:00
i still don’t get understand :( please video how to transfer hosting
Shendy Wilandria
Monday, December 12th, 2011 02:22
Hi, I’ve sold some of my sites without getting any problem at all. But, the last buyer has godaddy hosting. I got confused with it. For your information I always found my buyer using cPanel hosting. But, it’s different with godaddy hosting. So, the point when you want to transfer site to new owner is, domain, database, wp data in file manager. ( if you using wordpress). I wonder is there anybody who know how to transfer wordpress from cPanel hosting (hosgator, bluehost, etc) to GoDaddy hosting?
Nnadi Jane
Friday, November 19th, 2010 19:21
Blogger.com is free and can not be sold. But if you have a successful blog on blogger, you can sell the administration right to the interested buyer
Rob
Thursday, July 15th, 2010 15:34
Thanks for the article. I haven’t sold an already built website, I’ve only built websites (wordpress) for clients, but always had a hard time transfering files over to their new hosting accounts. So this article is actually amazing for me!
Quick suggestion,
Is there anyway you can include a Video Tutorial on this article: “Transfering websites”?
Lucian Apostol
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 21:56
Very important, if you don’t use an escrow ask for the money first and then change the domain. The paypal transaction can be easily reverted but the domain is harder.
Taimur Asghar
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 20:34
very nice tips! i love the end image :P
Srivathsan G.K
Sunday, July 11th, 2010 11:36
awesome .. Few days back only was thinking about the same issue, now got the solution. keep up the good work ! cheers mate ;)