The Outsourcing Option:

By outsourcing responsibility for Internet infrastructure to right service provider, a company gains access to state-of-the-art, highly redundant systems that ensure reliability and free up internal staff to focus their efforts on building and managing Web site content and applications. Today outsourcing your servers to companies can cost as little as a hundred and so dollars a month. Website hosting ranges from free to cheap to fair priced web hosting firms who charge about $25 per website per month but offer guarantees and focus on business needs. Try to always ask your new hosting provider for a copy of service level agreement. Try to find one one that offer 100% uptime and will provide you a discount moment that is not meant. If you can do this you will get a greater return on investment.

Upload files to new host: Using your FTP program connect to your new web host. Right click on folder (e.g. public_html or www -- or if not present no folder maybe required- ask your web hosting provider if you are unsure) and choose upload. When asked where to upload these files from, choose folders and files to upload.

Upload databases: login to control panel at your new web hosting provider, go to Mysql, and use phpmyadmin or a similar program. Choose insert or upload option and select location of database file you downloaded before that is stored on your computer. Click "ok or submit". During import you will see some database commands, but towards bottom it will tell you if it failed or was successful. Be patient, don't interrupt this process, wait for final statement telling you if import was successful. Repeat this process for all of your Mysql databases.

Final Steps

Set up email address using your new control panel. Use "help" if needed to learn how to do this at new web host.

- check that all your software on your new web host site is working properly.

- you might have to change config files if Mysql databases, username or password are different from your old web host.

- If something doesn't work check permission rights of your scripts.

- Make sure that all links work.

Reccomended Web Hosting: http://www.site-webhosting.com . Excellent Customer Service Plans for all size websites $5-$20/month

Geraldine Jensen is the owner of several ecommerce websites. She is the publisher and editor of http;//www.familiesonlinemagazine.com, which was chosen as Hotsite by USA Today in October 2004 due to it diverse opinions and good content. She was Webmaster for a nonprofit organization for 10 years. Her newest project is Today's Family Forum. she has personal experience transferring websites to http://www.site-webhosting.com