After your account is moved to a new server, the website usually works right away, but a few things can break quietly. The most common are: the SPF record losing entries for external services, the SSL certificate for email, store orders placed during the switch, and contact forms that stop sending messages. Each of these takes a few minutes to check, and the checklist is below.
I am writing about this because in recent weeks several of my clients went through exactly this kind of migration carried out by their hosting company. The websites worked, but newsletters failed verification, email apps reported certificate errors, and one store was missing orders from the day of the switch.
Why do hosting companies move accounts to new servers?
Hosting providers regularly retire older servers and move customer accounts to new machines. It is normal practice and usually good for customers, since the new hardware is faster. The catch is that these migrations are done in bulk, for hundreds of accounts at once, and the notice often arrives just a day or two in advance.
In a bulk migration DNS records are sometimes recreated from the control panel’s template instead of being copied one to one. Anything you added by hand can then disappear or get shortened.
Post-migration checklist
1. SPF record
This is the most common problem. An SPF record is a DNS entry that says which servers are allowed to send email from your domain. If you use MailerLite, Google Workspace or another sending service, the record should contain its include: entry.
An example from one migration I dealt with:
- before:
v=spf1 include:_spf.mlsend.com a mx ip4:[old IP address] ~all - after:
v=spf1 a mx ip4:[new IP address] ~all
The host correctly updated the server IP address, but removed the MailerLite entry along the way. The result: the domain lost its verification in MailerLite and newsletters started landing in spam.
You can check your SPF record in any DNS tool, such as MXToolbox, by entering your domain. Compare it with what you remember from before the migration, or with the setup guide of the service you send email from.
2. DKIM key
DKIM is a digital signature on your emails. If after the migration the server signs messages with a new key while the old one is still in DNS, the signature fails verification. The easiest check is to send an email to a Gmail inbox and open “Show original”. Both SPF and DKIM should say PASS.
3. SSL certificate for email
Email apps usually connect to an address like mail.yourdomain.com. If the new server has no valid certificate for it, Outlook, Thunderbird or your phone will warn about an untrusted connection. Your host then needs to issue a certificate for that subdomain.
4. Email app settings
After a migration the server name email apps connect to often changes. Check the message from your host to see whether you need to update settings in Outlook, Thunderbird and on phones.
5. Store orders
If you run an online store, this one matters most. The host copies the database at one point in time, and the domain is switched later. Orders placed in between land on the old server and are missing from the new database.
Compare your latest order numbers with notifications from your payment gateway, such as Stripe or PayPal. If something is missing, the old server is usually still available for a few days and the orders can be moved over. Next time, ask your host for the exact switch time and a final database sync, and put the store into maintenance mode for that window.
6. Contact forms and site emails
Send a test message through your contact form and place a test order. If your site sends email through an SMTP plugin or an external service, check that the connection details are still correct.
7. Scheduled tasks and backups
Check that backups, scheduled tasks (cron) and integrations connecting to your site still work, for example with a supplier, an invoicing system or a courier. Some of them may have the old server IP address on an allowlist.
8. External DNS
If your domain uses external DNS, such as Cloudflare, the host will not change the IP address for you. You need to update the A records and any other records pointing to the old server yourself.
9. Analytics
Look at Google Analytics for the day of the migration. A short gap in the data is normal, but if the numbers have not come back after a day or two, check that the tracking code is still on the site.
How to prepare for the next migration
- Before the host starts, save your current DNS records, ideally as a zone export or a screenshot from the panel. After the migration they are easy to compare.
- List the external services that have DNS entries: newsletters, email in Google or Microsoft, verifications for Google and social media.
- For a store, ask for the exact switch time and a final database sync.
- After the migration, go through this checklist the same day.
When is it worth hiring someone?
With a single site, no store and no external email services, you can check most of these points yourself. With several domains, a store or a mixed email setup, it is easy to miss something.
I compare the state of the website, email and DNS records before and after a migration, fix whatever came through incorrectly, or prepare a ready list of changes for your host. Details are on the WordPress migration page. If something stopped working after a migration, get in touch.
Planning to change your site’s address as well? See the guide on changing your domain without losing Google rankings.
FAQ
Do I need to do anything after a hosting migration?
Most things usually work right away, but within a day it is worth checking the SPF record, the SSL certificate for email, contact forms and, in a store, orders from the day of the switch. These problems are not always visible immediately.
Why do my emails go to spam after a migration?
Most often because entries for the services you send email from disappeared from the SPF record, or the server signs messages with a different DKIM key than the one in DNS. You can check this in the headers of an email sent to a Gmail inbox.
Orders are missing after the store migration. What should I do?
Compare order numbers with notifications from your payment gateway and tell your host right away that you need data from the old server. It is usually still available for a few days, so the missing orders can be moved over.
My email app shows a certificate error after the migration. What does it mean?
The new server has no valid SSL certificate for the address your app connects to, usually mail.yourdomain.com. Ask your host to issue one, or change the server name in the app to the one your host provided.
Can I find out what my DNS records were before the migration?
If you did not save them, they can sometimes be read from the old server while it is still running. That is why it is worth exporting your DNS zone or taking a screenshot of the records before any announced migration.
