How to Migrate Your Website to OVHcloud Web Hosting from Another Provider

Thinking of switching hosting providers? You’re not alone.

It’s one of the most common dilemmas website owners face. Your current hosting service worked well in the beginning, but now you’re dealing with sluggish site speed, rising costs, poor customer support, or just outgrowing your plan. Maybe you’re coming from a beginner-friendly platform like Hostinger or GoDaddy, and it’s time for something more robust. 

Comes OVHcloud Web Hosting, a provider known for its performance-driven infrastructure and scalability at competitive pricing.

But moving your entire digital home? That can feel like packing up an apartment and realizing you have way more junk than you thought. Here is a step by step breakdown. Whether you’re a business owner, blogger, or developer, by the end of this, you’ll know how to seamlessly migrate your website to OVHcloud without losing your mind—or your data.

Step 1: Pre-Migration Checklist 

Take a deep breath before you jump right into the migration procedure. Moving a website isn’t hard, but it does pay to plan ahead. You don’t just get in the car and drive when you’re getting ready for a road trip. You check the gas, prepare some munchies, and make sure you have the perfect playlist ready.

Here’s your pre-migration essentials checklist:

• Backup everything: Yes, everything. Even if you don’t think you’ll need it.
• Audit your current site: Find out what’s important and what you can leave behind.
• Note current versions: From your CMS (like WordPress or Joomla) to the versions of PHP or MySQL.
• Take screenshots: If you’re like me and learn best by seeing things, this is helpful when you want to copy settings.
• Inform stakeholders: Plan for low-traffic hours or maintenance announcements if your site gets a lot of visitors or does a lot of business.

What you take with you is just as important as what you leave behind when you move. Now is the moment to clean up your site if it has old plugins, broken links, or media files that are no longer in circulation.

Step 2: Choose the Best OVHcloud Hosting Plan

Not all hosting plans are the same. OVHcloud Hosting plans offer a lot of different alternatives, including shared hosting for modest sites and VPS and dedicated servers for projects that need a lot of resources. So, how do you choose?

Here’s a simple guide:

• Do you want a personal blog or a portfolio site? Choose OVHcloud’s Web Hosting plans, which come in two levels: “Personal” and “Pro.”
• Do you own a small business or a WooCommerce store? Think about the Performance plan.
• Want more control or the flexibility to grow? OVHcloud’s VPS or Cloud Web Hosting services let you fully customize your server and give you root access.

One of the best perks of hosting with OVHcloud is its transparency regarding specs, such as RAM, storage, and bandwidth—it’s all clearly laid out. There’s no need to decode vague marketing lingo like “unlimited,” which usually isn’t.

Step 3: Set up Your OVHcloud Hosting Environment

After you pick a plan and sign up, you need to prepare your hosting environment, just like you would prepare the guest room for a friend to come over.

You should:

• Go to your OVHcloud Control Panel and log in
• Make your own domain space
• You can install your CMS (like WordPress) with the OVHcloud one-click installer or by hand
• Set up your file structure, especially if you’re moving a site that isn’t a CMS

Compared to providers like GoDaddy that are more user-friendly, OVHcloud’s interface could seem a little technical. But once you get the hang of it, it’s nice to have so much flexibility and customisation. You’re not stuck in a “caged” space.

Step 4: Transfer Website Files and Databases

Ah yes, the real migration—the digital version of loading and unloading boxes. Depending on how your site is set up, there are a few different ways to do it:

If you have a CMS like WordPress:

• With plugins like All-in-One WP Migration or Duplicator, you can export and import everything with just a few clicks.
• You can also use FTP (with FileZilla) to move files by hand and phpMyAdmin to import your database.

For static sites or custom installations

• Use FTP to send your HTML, CSS, and JS files to the OVHcloud server.
• Manually import your MySQL databases.

This step can be scary, to be honest. I had a client lose all their media files once because they neglected to move the /uploads folder. Check the paths and structures of your files and folders three times. Use your staging area if you have one.

Step 5: Change the DNS records to send traffic to the right place.

Your files may be in their new home, but if your domain name still points to your old host, visitors won’t see the changes. It’s like changing your address on Amazon—it’s necessary if you want items to get to the appropriate place.

In the control panel of your domain registrar (which might still be GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.):

• Change the A Record so that it points to your new OVHcloud IP address.
• If you are utilising OVHcloud’s custom nameservers, be sure to change them.

DNS propagation can take as long as 24 to 48 hours, but it usually starts considerably sooner. Don’t make important changes to the site at this time, because they could not sync up well.

Step 6: Set up SSL and Security Settings

Leaving your flat door wide open in the middle of the night is the same as having an unsecured website in 2025. You wouldn’t do that, would you?

Most of OVHcloud’s plans come with free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates. You may turn it on in the Control Panel under your domain settings. Also:

• Redirects that force HTTPS.
• Change the settings in your CMS such that HTTPS is the default.
• Check the permissions on files and folders. A good rule is 644 for files and 755 for folders.

Install a web firewall or turn on OVHcloud’s DDoS protection (which is offered by default on many plans) for extra points.

Step 7: Email and Other Services

There are other things on your hosting account besides your website. It’s time to move your email as well if you were utilising your old host for it. OVHcloud is a professional email hosting service that protects against spam and lets you use your own name.

Follow these steps:

• In the OVHcloud panel, you can make new email accounts.
• Set up MX records for your domain.
• If you use IMAP, make sure to back up your old emails with tools like Thunderbird or MailStore.

This is one of those “easy to forget” processes that can cause a lot of trouble if you don’t do it, especially if you’re running a business and your clients are expecting quick replies.

Step 8: Test Everything and Keep Things Running

It’s time to be a detective now that everything is up and running. Check that every link works, every form works, every image loads, every script runs, and your analytics are working right.

• Pingdom or GTmetrix to check speed and performance.
• “Down for Everyone or Just Me?” to check the site’s uptime.
• SSL Checker to check that the certificate has been installed correctly.

And certainly, perform a “final sweep” when there aren’t many people around. I constantly urge my clients to look at their site as if they were a first-time visitor. A new pair of eyes can find a 404 or broken plugin sooner than an admin who is only looking at the backend.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Like a Pro

1. Not making backups. Even experts forget things. Don’t be one of them.
2. PHP and MySQL versions that don’t match. Make sure it works with your CMS and plugins.
3. The DNS settings are wrong. One mistake in an IP address might make you scratch your head for hours.
4. Not paying attention to email migrations. Your site is live, but you don’t have any client questions? Not great.
5. Not remembering to turn off maintenance mode. You think it’s funny now, but it occurs.

If you take your time and double-check, you can avoid making mistakes during a migration.

Wrapping Up

If you’re moving your site from an all-in-one service like Hostinger or GoDaddy, it could seem daunting at first to move it to OVHcloud. But here’s the thing: after you finish the procedure, you’ll love the freedom, speed, and control that OVHcloud gives you. No more dashboards that are too big or ambiguous claims of “unlimited.” Just basic, dependable hosting with a lot of infrastructure power behind it.