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Moving your website without your email going down
Your new website is ready, the domain is switched over, and a day later it turns out no more email is coming in. That is the most common mistake in a move, and it is easy to prevent.
Why does moving the site affect your email?
Because your website and your email share the same domain. Behind your domain name is a list of pointers: the DNS records. Some of them say where your website is. Others say where your email is delivered. When the site moves, only the first ones need to change.
| Record | What it controls | When the site moves |
|---|---|---|
| A or CNAME | Where the website is, for the domain itself and for www | Change to the new server |
| MX | Which mail server your email goes to | Leave as is |
| TXT (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) | Prove that email sent in your name really comes from you | Leave as is |
Without the TXT records your email ends up in spam more easily. Large email providers require them; Google mentions SPF, DKIM and DMARC in its guidelines for senders.
Where does it go wrong?
When switching the nameservers. It usually goes wrong when not only the site moves, but also the management of the DNS: the nameservers are switched to a new company. That company starts with an empty list. If only the records for the website are added, the MX records no longer exist and nobody knows where your email should go. Senders get an error message or their message disappears.
How do you move without your email going down?
First carry over all existing records and only then change the nameservers. In five steps:
- Make a list of all current records before anything changes. Your current hosting company can export them.
- Carry all records over to the new DNS, including MX and the TXT records for email, before you change the nameservers.
- Only then change the records for the website to the new server. Leave the rest as it is.
- Test straight away: send an email from outside to your own address and send one yourself to another address.
- Only cancel the old hosting plan once site and email have worked well for a few days. If your mailbox is with the old company, you need a plan there for it, or you move the mailbox too.
How long does it take?
Usually a few hours, sometimes longer. A change in the DNS is not visible everywhere at the same time, because internet providers remember the old data for a while. If you still see the old site while others already see the new one, that is why. On a phone via mobile internet you often see the new result sooner than at home via wifi.
And the domain itself?
The domain name should be in your name, not the web builder's. Then you can always switch, whoever made the site. With us the domain stays yours; we only take care of the technical side. How to check whose name it is in is in Is your domain name in your own name?
Read also
- Is your domain name in your own name? What you need to have in your own hands so you can always switch.
- How long does it take to have a website made? Where the time goes, and what you can prepare yourself.
- What do you need to supply for a new website? Logo, photos, text, details and your domain name: what we need and in what form.
- Hosting more expensive or down? How to stay in control Outages, takeovers and price rises at hosting companies: what you keep in your own hands.
Written by Taher Jerjissi, MODEX. Questions or something to add? Email info@modexsoftware.nl.
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