Moving a website without losing what keeps the business running
Migrating an established WordPress website, domain and email configuration to a new hosting environment while keeping the website and business communications working throughout the transition.
The Challenge
Moving an established website isn't always just a matter of copying WordPress from one server to another.
Costa del Soul's website was hosted with its existing provider alongside the domain configuration and DNS records supporting its Google Workspace email.
That meant the migration had several connected parts. The WordPress website needed to move to a new server, the domain needed to be transferred to a different registrar, and the existing email configuration needed to continue routing mail through Google Workspace.
A mistake in one part of the process could leave the website unavailable or interrupt business email.
The challenge was therefore not simply to move the website, but to understand everything that depended on the existing setup and migrate it in the right order.
The Approach
Before changing anything, I reviewed the existing hosting and DNS configuration to identify the services connected to the domain.
The website, domain registration and email routing were treated as separate but interconnected parts of the migration.
Rather than changing everything simultaneously, I approached the move in stages: preparing and migrating the WordPress website, configuring the new hosting environment, reproducing the DNS records required by external services, and handling the domain transfer separately.
This reduced the risk of one change unexpectedly affecting another service and allowed each part of the migration to be checked before moving on.
The Solution
WordPress and hosting migration
The existing WordPress website was migrated from SiteGround to its new hosting environment.
The migrated site was checked on the new server before the domain configuration was fully switched over, allowing problems to be identified without unnecessarily disrupting the live website.
DNS and Google Workspace
Business email was already handled through Google Workspace, so preserving the existing mail routing was an important part of the migration.
The relevant DNS configuration was recreated on the new environment and the domain was configured to continue treating Google Workspace as the external mail service.
This allowed the hosting provider to change without requiring the business to move or recreate its email accounts.
Domain transfer
The domain itself was transferred separately from the website migration.
This involved coordinating the transfer between registrars, obtaining the required transfer authorisation and ensuring the domain continued pointing to the correct services throughout the process.
Keeping the domain transfer separate from the website migration made the transition easier to control and troubleshoot.
The Result
Costa del Soul's WordPress website, hosting and domain were successfully moved to the new provider while its existing Google Workspace email setup remained in place.
The business retained its existing website and email addresses, but the infrastructure behind them was moved to the new hosting and domain environment.
Most importantly, the migration was handled as a connected system rather than simply a WordPress installation, accounting for the website, DNS, domain registration and email services that depended on it.
Ongoing WordPress support and SEO
Following the migration, my work with Costa del Soul continued through ongoing WordPress maintenance, technical support and SEO.
This includes WordPress and plugin updates, backups, security checks, troubleshooting and plugin management, alongside performance and technical SEO work to keep the website healthy, accessible to search engines and performing effectively.
I also continue to support the site's content and SEO as new articles are added, helping ensure that new content is properly structured and optimised as the website grows.