Ask the developer in writing for a full copy, move the domain and hosting into the business's name, copy every DNS record, test on the new host and switch at a quiet time.

A site on someone else's server

The developer who built your website also hosted it, on a server or account only they can log into. For years that was convenient: one person to call, one bill.

Then the relationship ends. The developer takes a full-time job, retires, becomes slow to answer, or you simply part ways.

The site keeps running until a renewal lapses or something breaks and nobody else can reach it. If your email runs on the same server, it stops with the site.

What the developer may control

The third catches people out. DNS decides where the website and email go, and if it is managed on the old server, switching that server off takes both with it, however ready the new hosting is.

Ask in writing, early and politely

A move goes far better with the developer's help, and most developers will help when asked plainly.

Write a short, friendly email saying you are moving the hosting.

Ask for a full copy of the site's files and database, a list of the DNS records, and whatever is needed to move the domain into the business's name.

Offer to pay for the time, suggest a date a few weeks out and keep the exchange in writing. A clear request with a date gets a better answer than a vague one sent in frustration.

Get a complete copy first

A complete copy means every file, including uploaded images and documents, plus an export of the database, which on most modern sites holds the pages, settings and form entries.

It also means the details that are easy to forget: scheduled tasks, redirects and anything the developer configured on the server rather than in the site.

A copy is only proven complete once it has been restored somewhere and works. Keep one version in storage the business controls, not only at the new host.

Hosting in the business's name

Open the new hosting account in the business's name, billed to a business card, with the login kept where more than one person can reach it.

Whoever you hire to look after the site gets their own login, not yours. Next time a relationship ends, you remove one person's access instead of moving the whole site again.

The domain belongs in an account in the business's name too. Moving it usually needs a transfer code from the current registrar account, another reason to ask early.

A worked example

A family taqueria on a suburban main street had its site, menu and catering form built nine years ago by a developer who hosted it, with about forty other small sites, on one rented server.

The restaurant's email ran on that server, and so did the domain's DNS. The domain itself was registered in the developer's own account.

Last spring the developer took a full-time job and told every client the server would close at the end of the year. Nothing had been hidden; the pieces had simply never been separated.

The owners hired help for the move. A polite written request brought a full copy and the transfer code within a week, and the domain and new hosting were both set up in the business's name.

Every mailbox was copied, including years of catering orders from regular office customers.

The site was tested on the new server, the DNS records were rebuilt to match, and the switch happened mid-afternoon on a Monday, the quietest hours of the week.

Moving email without losing it

Mailboxes on the old server can hold years of messages and folders. They can be copied to the new server, folders and all, before anything is switched.

Any computer set up years ago to download mail rather than sync it holds its own copies, which are safe but sit on that one computer.

After the switch, some mail can still arrive at the old server for a day or so while the change spreads. Check both before calling the move finished.

Switching without downtime

Restore the site on the new host and test it there before anything points at it.

A day or two before the switch, lower the DNS time to live, the setting that controls how long the rest of the internet remembers the old address.

Recreate every DNS record in its new home, make the change at a quiet time, and check the site and the email from a phone on mobile data as well as from the office.

Keep the old server running until nothing arrives there. Only then ask the developer, in writing, to delete their copies, which include your customers' messages.

After the move

Change every password: the site's administrator accounts, the hosting and the email. Remove the developer's administrator account from the site rather than leaving it in place.

Transfer ownership in Search Console and administration in Analytics to an account the business controls, and buy plugin and theme licences in your own name so updates keep coming.

When the developer does not answer

Recovery then depends on the access you already have. An administrator login to the site is enough to export most of it, and a backup plugin can produce a full copy.

A domain registered in someone else's name is harder to recover. That is the part to get professional help with first, well before its renewal date.

The counter-case

If the developer still answers promptly, keeps the server updated and you are happy with the arrangement, there is no need to move this month.

Moving for its own sake costs money and carries small risks. What you need now is the ability to move: a copy of the site you hold, the domain in your name and a login to the DNS.

Whichever server the site lives on, the business should hold its own keys.

Getting the keys back

  1. List everything the developer controls.
  2. Ask in writing for a full copy.
  3. Move the domain into the business's name.
  4. Copy every DNS record before changing anything.
  5. Restore and test on the new host.
  6. Switch at a quiet time and check email.
  7. Change every password once it is live.

Step four is the one that protects your email. A website that goes missing for an hour is noticed at once; mail that quietly stops arriving can go unnoticed for days.

Checking the restored site before the switch is covered in the temporary address a new host gives you.

Frequently asked questions

What does an old developer usually control?

Often the hosting account, sometimes the domain registration and DNS, any mailboxes on the same server, premium plugin licences and access to Search Console and Analytics.

How should I ask for a copy of my site?

Politely, in writing and early. Ask for the files and database, the DNS records and the domain transfer code, offer to pay for the time and suggest a date.

Why do DNS records matter so much in a move?

They decide where the website and the email point. If they live on the old server, every record must be copied before anything is switched, or email stops arriving.

How do I avoid downtime when switching?

Restore and test on the new host first, reduce the DNS time to live the day before, switch at a quiet time and keep the old server running until nothing arrives there.

What should change after the move?

Every password, the developer's administrator account, Search Console and Analytics ownership, and plugin licences, which should all sit under the business's own name.

What if the developer does not answer?

Recovery depends on the access you have. An administrator login can export most of a site; a domain in someone else's name is harder and needs help before it expires.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Site on your old developer's server?

Tell us what you can log into today. We will plan a move that keeps the site and email working.

Start a Conversation