The process of transferring a domain name to a new host is fairly straight forward. All you need is the password of your existing domain and a choice host that hopefully gives you better performance, reliability and supports the languages of your online applications.

The application process for transferring a domain generally takes two seconds to complete, and happens via an online form or over the phone. Some hosts offer a free transfer, but with others you may have to pay, or sign up to one of their hosting packages for a waiver.

Before the Transfer

Before you begin the transfer process, it’s wise to backup your old website locally. The reason for this is because your website data isn’t transferred to your new host along with your domain, so if you want to keep your existing site up on the web, you’ll need to re-upload it later to the new host.

Transferring…

If you are transferring to a new host and you want to avoid as much downtime of your site as possible, make sure you have your hosting setup before you begin the transfer. New hosting can be setup quickly and generally happens faster then a transfer, but you don’t want to be caught out if for some reason it happens the other way around, so setup your hosting first just to be safe.

Transfer Time

How long does the transfer take? The time period for a domain transfer is generally between five and ten working days, but really, this depends on your existing domain registra and the performance of the admin team behind your new hosting. From experience, for us it takes on average, about 5 days when transferring client domains.

Overall, transferring a domain name is a very easy process. As long as you have your domain password, the application process shouldn’t take you long at all.