We are sorry to hear you are thinking of moving on.
Below you will find details you need to consider and organise if you do decide to proceed on your own.
We suggest you make sure you ensure you have systems in place that consider the security of your website, and backups, ideally to a third party server.
You can see recommendations below.
Hosting
Even though your site is on the internet it still needs to live somewhere. Your site should exist on a server, a server is like a computer that is always connected to the internet so that when someone looks for your site it is available to access.
There are many options for Web Hosting, we have found those that offer cPanel hosting to be the most versatile. In recent years specific WordPress hosting has been introduced.
For basic web hosting the main company we recommend is Hostgator, they offer shared cPanel hosting (we recommend baby plan), or purpose-built WordPress hosting for really reasonable pricing.
HOSTING
Design & functionality
Your website design and lead generation functionality is mostly controlled by the theme and plugins that we license from thrive themes.
The advanced functionality of this software is supported by a premium license. When your website is removed from our servers we will deactivate the support license for the software.
This will not affect the design or functionality of the website. You will lose access to the regular updates that thrive theme releases. Long term this may cause concerns for security and functionality.
You are able to license the software yourself simply by registering here.
Thrive Themes
Form Builder
The software we use to build your website is called Gravity. This plugin allows for far more advanced functionality than free form builders. We will remove the license from your website. The plugin will still function and much like thrive themes the only effect will be that you will be unable to update the plugin. Again this is a cause for concern for security long term.
If you wish to continue to use the gravity form plugin confidently you can purchase a gravity form builder license here
Gravity Forms
Security
Your website can become vulnerable to hackers and malware. We highly recommend making sure plugins are kept up to date and where possible reviewing any free plugins that become unsupported. We prefer to use well-known plugins that are either premium paid for options as they are supported or plugins that are supported by companies that are committed to reviewing and updating regularly.
We use a combination of strategies to protect your website.
The security protocol we recommend.
Scans from a 3rd party software which can detect malware. Your new hosting company may be able to provide this sort of service.
iThemes Security Pro plugin This is a premium plugin we use and you can see details here if you would like to purchase a license for yourself. iThemes Security
Wordfence plugin. This is a free plugin. This allows you to scan, remove and fix files that may be malware or vulnerable to malware.
Backups
We highly suggest making regular backups. Ideally, we recommend making backups to a 3rd party server. In case anything happens to the server your website is hosted on. We typically backup to amazon s3 or dropbox.
We recommend the Backupbuddy plugin. This is a premium plugin you can see more details here. https://ithemes.com/backupbuddy
Emails
You will need to either set up emails with your domain registrar (this may incur a small monthly fee) or set up emails on your new hosting.
It may be possible to transfer emails from our server to your new server. Please let us know if you would like us to assist with this.
To avoid any interruption in service we suggest email accounts are created before your website name servers are changed.
Process for moving your site
Once we have received your request we will prepare your website files so you will be able to install your website on a new server. If you would like assistance with moving your webiste to your new server please click HERE