You have chosen that the time has come to leave Weebly and migrate your site to a new domain. It is excellent news. However, the procedure of transferring your domain may appear to be frightening. Worry not, we are here to assist. In this article, we shall take you through the steps involved one by one and your domain transfer will be a piece of cake. Shall we begin?
What Is DNS?
And just before you move a domain out of Weebly, you need to know that a domain is not simply a name but a DNS (Domain Name System). What does that entail then? In other words, DNS is the technology, which assists in converting your domain name into an IP address in order to enable computers to communicate with one another. When you make a domain registration, the related DNS records enable the web browsers to reach the appropriate web server when a person visits your site.
Mail servers and other records are also managed through these settings such as MX (Mail Exchanger) records that indicate to email accounts where they should send and receive emails. All very technical I know, but good to know should you wish to transfer your domain name out of Weebly successfully.
What Is a Domain Transfer and When Would One Want to Do It?
Perhaps you are wondering, why would I want to move my domain name out of Weebly? Well, lets say there are some reasons why a person would desire to transfer his domain name.
One, when you move a domain to a different site you have a better control of your web site and you can make your web site more customized in terms of its look and feel. Along with that, when you move a domain off of Weebly, you no longer have to pay them hosting costs. The second reason why you may wish to transfer a domain is the fact that it is generally far easier to manipulate DNS settings with other web hosts.
Regardless of the reasons why you want to move your domain out of Weebly, it is best to know what actually happens when you do that. Transferring your domain name out of Weebly could take up to five days, and will require some manual intervention as well: more on that in the next section.
How Much Does It Cost To Transfer Domain Name Out Of Weebly?
Depending on the domain provider that you are transferring out of Weebly to, the process may cost you nothing at all, or a couple of hundreds of dollars. This is all dependent on the provider that you select and the kind of a domain that you possess.
As an illustration, in case of .com domain, you may be charged about 10-15 dollars as a transfer fee. However, with a country specific domain name e.g. .co.uk the transfer cost can be up to around 100 dollars. It is also good to know that certain providers will charge you a yearly renewal fee on your domain name. So do make that part of your decision making.
What is the Time Required to Move My Domain Name Away Off Weebly?
The process of transferring a domain registered with Weebly takes 5-7 business days. This will differ based on the Registrar you decide to transfer your domain to.
To begin the process you will require:
The name, address and other contact details of the new Registrar
Your new Registrar account username and password\
The EPP code/Authorization code to your domain (this can be located in your Weebly account)
Is a Hosting Provider Required to Transfer My Domain Away Weebly?
To move your domain name out of Weebly, you will require having a hosting service. Weebly is a site creator and to have your own domain name you will need it to be hosted by a provider. This is since Weebly does not provide their hosting. Hosting providers are a dime a dozen so you need to do your homework before selecting one. Be sure to read reviews and compare prices to make your choice.
What happens if I want to retain my current site/website, after moving my domain out of Weebly?
In case you desire to retain your current site once the transfer has been done, then you can do a few things. First, when moving your domain to a different hosting service they might be able to help you move your site so that it remains intact. Second, when transferring to a different domain registrar, find out whether it has a site-building service. In that case, all you need to do is to transfer your domain and perform the switch Weebly to the new platform.
Naturally, there can be additional steps, depending on the host, to which you are transferring. Indicatively, they will either demand that you change some of the DNS records or upload some files manually so that your current site can continue being live. You should make sure to read up on this subject before you can consider doing any kind of domain transfer.
Domain Transfer Troubleshooting Tips Weebly to Anywhere
You have finally decided to move your domain and you are wondering what steps to take? The first thing you need to do is to ensure that you have the correct log in details to the domain you are transferring. When you are certain that you have everything right, these are some of the troubleshooting ideas that you should remember:
- Ensure that your domain name is unlocked before initiating the process of transfer. You can do this with your existing registrar or web site provider.
- Ensure that the Whois contact information relating to your domain name is current and correct.
- Ensure that the domain is not less than 60 days to expiration since the transfer process cannot be done within this period.
- Ensure that you delete all special characters and symbols before the domain name before starting the transfer process.
- When transferring a domain, double check any custom nameservers or third party DNS.
How to Transfer Weebly Site to a Different Host?
And, yes, Weebly site can be transferred to a different host. This is achieved through transferring (downloading and then uploading) all the site files such as HTML, CSS and images to the new host. In order to do this, you will require an FTP client and your Weebly account.
Firstly, you will need to log-in to your Weebly account and retrieve the source code files. It is also possible to download any pictures you might have posted. Next, access your new host via FTP client, such as FileZilla or Cyberduck and put the source code files there.
Lastly, you will be interested in changing your nameservers in your domain registrar dashboard to make the domain point to the new hosting server. You are all ready now! Weebly moves your site to a different hosting service.
How To Transfer Your Domain From Weebly
When you decided to move your domain name registered with Weebly to a different service, you have come to the right place. Below, you will find the information on the steps that you are to take.
Step 1. Create an Account with a Hosting Company
The very first thing you will do is to create an account with a hosting company. Any decent host provider will give you an option to transfer your domain name out of Weebly and they should in addition have a policy that covers you bringing your domain name without charging you an additional fee.
Ensure they provide this service prior to registering to know any transfer fee or other expenses involved in using them as a host. The easiest way to tell whether they do, is to visit the terms & conditions section of their web site.
Step 2. relocate your Web site
The second one is to relocate your site. You can transfer your Weebly site in several ways but you have two choices:
- You may utilize the very site of Weebly and move files within one place to another. This is what the majority of the individuals do in the process of transferring their sites through one hosting company to another. Simply upload them at a single location, and then transfer them accordingly to your new host system as and when required. But this has its demerits also in the sense that it involves a bit of manual operation at both ends (uploading files as opposed to downloading). Neither does it blend effectively with most software programs involving intricate movements of data between servers (such as WordPress) or third party sites such as Google Analytics or MailChimp.
- Or, perhaps, in case FTP client is installed on both machines beforehand then the process of transferring files can be considerably simpler than above. This is due to the fact that there will not be any conflicts whatsoever triggered by the difference in programming languages among hosts.
Step 3. Secure New Domain Name
A domain name can be purchased at a domain registrar, by your hosting provider or even at an auction site. Should you choose to purchase the domain name through your hosting company they can send you in the right direction. Unless they are aware of the location and the price of things in that area, they will most likely say that they do not have such information at the moment. But don not believe them!
Step 4. Change the Address (URL) of the Web site
In order to modify the address of the web site, you will be required to modify your domain settings in the “Domains” section of the Weebly dashboard. To perform this, you will have to click on Domains and choose your domain in the list at the top of your screen.
When you are there, you will see “Permalink Settings” which you need to click on in order to get all those options:
Permalink Settings: This will enable you to modify anything regarding the way people can view and get into your web site using any search engine or directory (like http://www.google.com). You may also specify the pages that you want to be indexed by the search engines such as Google. Therefore, they are ranked better in their result pages when people make search requests of certain items related.
Step 5. Create a Support Ticket and Submit It to Weebly Support Team to Review.
Once you have placed your domain transfer request, you need to wait now until the Weebly support will review it. After they have done that they will reply back with a status update and will inform you of any mistakes that are occurring during the transfer process.
Step 6. Talk to Weebly Customer Service Representative and get an explanation as to why your request to transfer your domain has been denied
Don’t worry if you have been turned down, we have some useful hints that may assist you to have your domain transferred. Their customer care personnel will notify you of the reasons behind the rejected request and the channels of appealing against the decision. You may reach them via our support page or via email.
How To Modify Your DNS Records?
After you have completed the process of providing the paper work to transfer your domain name, the second process is to switch your DNS (domain name servers). DNS records are used to decide the company hosting your site. In order to modify them, you will have to enter your Weebly account and find the Manage Domains section.
There you will be able to modify the DNS records of your domain name. This process may differ depending on the kind of domain name you own, however, in general, it is carried out by modifying the A/CNAME records and configure a new nameserver. After doing all these changes, save them and wait till Weebly gives you an indication that they were saved and updated successfully.
Don t forget that these changes can take up to 24 hours to come into operation. In case they do not show up during that period, ensure that you re-check whether everything was typed in properly or seek further assistance of Weebly support team.
Conclusion
Weebly is an excellent tool in the hands of an entrepreneur, yet the process of transferring a domain may be tricky. It is not something that can be done overnight, and it requires patience as well as Weebly team support. To make the transfer of domain to Weebly easier, use the following steps. Need to give your presence in the net a boost? Try Mixx to gain Instagram followers and likes.
