When migrating to a new host or launching a new website, it’s important to make sure your business email is not impacted. When we launch a new site on our hosting platform, we update your DNS to point to the new server. Your email won’t be impacted at all. If you’d like to cancel the hosting agreement at your old provider, you can, but there are a few critical steps that need to be reviewed to make sure your email is safe, secure, and still working. Below are some instructions and tips to help you navigate your email hosting options as you move from one host to another.
Select Your Provider
For Current Office365 users:
If you are using Microsoft Office365 as your current business email provider, you don’t have to modify anything for your email. Your email records are already loaded into the DNS at your current domain host. This means, you do not have to worry about your email service changing, regardless of where you point your hosting. If you decide to move your DNS to a new location, just let us know and we’ll make sure your MX (email details) records are safely transferred.
When moving your website from any other host to ContentFirst.Marketing, our team will not modify your nameservers. We will modify the DNS to point only the website to the new server. Your email will stay in tact. In the case of using Office365 with your current hosting, all you need to do is keep your DNS hosting – everything else can be canceled.
Here’s an example of what this often looks like:
Jennifer registered her domain at GoDaddy (jenniferswebsite.com) years ago, but is current site is hosted on HostGator. In Jennifer’s GoDaddy account, the nameservers point to HostGator, which means her DNS entries (email, website, google verification, and other items) are all controlled on HostGator.
Now that Jennifer is launching and hosting her new site with ContentFirst, she wants to end her hosting contract with HostGator. In order to do that and not lose anything, we copy her DNS entries, point her nameservers back to GoDaddy (giving GoDaddy control over the DNS), and we populate it with the entries and values she needs, including her Office365 email credentials.
She can then cancel her agreement with HostGator, and simply keep her GoDaddy registration current.
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Creating a New Office365 / GoDaddy Email Account:
If you are moving your email away form your current host or need to setup a new business email and want to use Office365 as your new provider, we recommend creating your account through GoDaddy. Because they often offer Office365 at a discount with your GoDaddy account, it’s a simply and affordable way to get your email setup. If your domain is registered at GoDaddy already, this makes it even easier.
If you would like to create your account directly with Microsoft, you can simply create a new account and provide us with your verification DNS entry and MX records. You will receive those during the verification process in your new account setup.
Get started with Microsoft Office365 // Sign-up through GoDaddy
If your email is hosted with Microsoft Office365, you can eliminate your web-hosting cost with your current provider and keep your email in tact.
We’ll help make sure you’re properly connected.
For Current G-Suite users:
If you are using G-Suite (now called Google Workspace) for your current email setup, you don’t have to modify anything for your email. Your email records are already loaded into the DNS at your current domain host. This means, you do not have to worry about your email service changing, regardless of where you point your hosting. If you decide to move your DNS to a new location, just let us know and we’ll make sure your MX (email details) records are safely transferred.
When moving your website from any other host to ContentFirst.Marketing, our team will not modify your nameservers. We will modify the DNS to point only the website to the new server. Your email will stay in tact. In the case of using G-Suite with your current hosting, all you need to do is keep your DNS hosting – everything else can be canceled.
Here’s an example of what this often looks like:
Steven registered his domain at GoDaddy (stevenswebsite.com) years ago, but is current site is hosted on BlueHost. In Steven’s GoDaddy account, the nameservers point to BlueHost, which means his DNS entries (email, website, google verification, and other items) are all controlled on BlueHost.
Now that Steven is launching and hosting his new site with ContentFirst, he wants to end his hosting contract with BlueHost. In order to do that and not lose anything, we copy his DNS entries, point his nameservers back to GoDaddy (giving GoDaddy control over the DNS), and we populate it with the entries and values he needs, including his G-Suite email credentials.
He can then cancel his agreement with BlueHost, and simply keep his GoDaddy registration current.
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Creating a New G-Suite Account:
If you are moving your email away form your current host or need to setup a new business email and want to use Google Workspace as your provider, simply create a new account and provide us with your verification DNS entry and MX records. You will receive those during the verification process in your new account setup.
Get started with Google Workspace
If your email is hosted with Google Workspace (G-Suite), you can eliminate your web-hosting cost with your current provider and keep your email in tact.
We’ll help make sure you’re properly connected.
In many cases, you may be using an email service provided by your website host. If you created email addresses for your website domain directly from your web hosting panel, this applies to you. An easy way to know if this applies to you is understanding how you check your email. If you go to sites like webmail.yourdomain.com or mail.yourdomain.com, this is a good indicator your email is provided at your host.
When moving your website from that host to ContentFirst.Marketing, our team will not modify your nameservers. We will modify the DNS to point only the website to the new server. Your email will stay in tact. In this case, all you want to do is modify your plan to reduce your hosting from website + email to ONLY email hosting. This will allow you to keep your email up and running without issue, and save you money by reducing your hosting bill with your current company.
Because each hosting provider is different, it’s impossible to provide exact instructions on how to update your hosting agreement with each. The best thing to do is contact your provider and request help “reducing my hosting package to email and DNS only.”
GoDaddy: Email Only Plans | 480-651-9712
BlueHost: 866-96-GATOR
Network Solutions: Email Only Plans | 866-908-3442
What You Need to Know
The Bottom Line
Whether you’re looking to setup new business email addresses, or simply make sure your email isn’t impacted during the launch of your new site –especially if you’re looking to cancel your old host– the best thing to do is ask us to take a look at your current setup. We can help you determine what services to keep, which to cancel, and where you can consolidate accounts so you can have all your accounts in fewer places.
Don’t hesitate to reach out if you still have questions.
