To move a site to another server under a subdomain such as blog.example.com, copy and test the site on the destination, configure that server to answer for the exact hostname, point the subdomain’s DNS record to it, install HTTPS for the subdomain, and then monitor the cutover. DNS only directs requests; the destination must also be configured to serve the hostname.
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A move can be nearly invisible when the public URLs stay the same. If URLs change as well, treat that as a separate URL migration: map every old URL, issue direct permanent redirects, update canonicals and internal links, and monitor indexing.
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A subdomain is a hostname below your registered domain. In blog.example.com, example.com is the parent domain and blog is the subdomain label. The browser resolves that complete hostname through DNS, connects to the resulting address, negotiates TLS, and sends an HTTP request containing the Host header (or the equivalent authority in HTTP/2 and HTTP/3).
Moving the site means changing where that hostname is served. The domain registration does not move, and the parent domain can remain on its existing server. You can leave www.example.com and example.com untouched while routing only blog.example.com to a different provider.
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Four independent layers must agree:
- Content: the destination contains the application, database, media, configuration, and required runtime dependencies.
- Hostname configuration: the destination web server or hosting account is configured for the exact subdomain.
- DNS: the subdomain record points to the destination address or hostname.
- HTTPS and application behavior: the certificate, redirects, cookies, canonical URLs, forms, and integrations work for that hostname.
A DNS record by itself cannot make an unconfigured server deliver your site. Conversely, a correctly configured virtual host is unreachable until DNS points visitors to it.
Plan the move before changing DNS
Decide whether the visible URLs will change
There are two different migrations:
| Scenario | Example | Search and redirect work |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting-only move | blog.example.com/post-1 remains the same after the server changes |
Usually no URL redirects; preserve canonicals, links, and response behavior while changing infrastructure |
| Hostname or path move | www.example.com/post-1 becomes blog.example.com/post-1, or paths are redesigned |
Create a one-to-one old-to-new map, direct permanent redirects, update site signals, and monitor indexing |
Do not combine an infrastructure move with a redesign unless you have a reason to accept a more difficult diagnosis. Keeping paths, status codes, titles, canonicals, and response behavior stable makes it easier to tell whether a problem is caused by the server move.
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Inventory dependencies
Record the current site’s important characteristics before copying it:
- Every hostname and whether it redirects to a preferred HTTP or HTTPS version.
- Application and database versions, scheduled jobs, environment variables, storage paths, and writable directories.
- Uploads, downloadable files, image transformations, search indexes, caches, and queues.
- Forms, email delivery, payment or authentication callbacks, webhooks, APIs, analytics, and third-party allowlists.
robots.txt, XML sitemaps, canonical tags, hreflang annotations, security headers, redirects, and custom error pages.- Current DNS records, certificate expiry dates, firewall rules, rate limits, and typical traffic peaks.
Keep a copy of configuration and a database backup that you can restore independently. Never use a production database dump containing personal data on a publicly accessible test installation without applying your normal privacy and access controls.
Choose a rollback plan
Before cutover, document the old DNS value, old server address, and the exact steps to restore them. Keep the old site available and read-only for the initial monitoring period. A rollback changes DNS back to the old destination; it does not undo data written to the new server, so pause writes or establish a way to reconcile databases if both systems could receive traffic.
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Prepare and test the destination server
Copy the files and database
- Create the site, database, user, runtime, and storage on the destination. Match required language, framework, database, and extension versions before importing content.
- Copy application files, media, generated assets, and configuration templates. Set secrets through the destination’s protected environment or secret store rather than committing them to a repository.
- Import a consistent database backup, then update connection details and run any required migrations.
- Copy scheduled tasks, workers, queue consumers, cron jobs, search indexes, and deployment hooks. Disable jobs that could send duplicate email or modify production data during testing.
- Set file ownership and permissions so the web process can read the application and write only to directories that genuinely require it.
If the application generates absolute links, set its base URL to the subdomain. For a temporary test hostname, prevent accidental indexing and email delivery, but make sure the production hostname can be enabled without changing content URLs at cutover.
Make the server answer for the real hostname
In the destination control panel or web-server configuration, add the exact hostname, such as blog.example.com. Configure the document root or upstream application, preferred HTTP-to-HTTPS behavior, compression, caching, upload limits, and error handling. A server that responds only to its provider-assigned hostname may return a default page even after DNS is changed.
Test the virtual host before public DNS changes by resolving the destination address locally or by sending a request with an explicit host header. For example, after replacing the placeholders with your destination address and hostname, use curl --resolve blog.example.com:443:203.0.113.20 https://blog.example.com/. Confirm that the certificate, page content, redirects, and logs correspond to the intended site.
Test functionality, not just the home page
- Open representative pages, category pages, search results, images, CSS, JavaScript, PDFs, and other downloads.
- Submit forms in a safe test mode and verify validation, confirmation pages, email handling, and anti-spam controls.
- Test login, logout, password reset, sessions, cookies, permissions, and any OAuth or SSO callback.
- Check database writes, background jobs, feeds, webhooks, APIs, and integrations with firewall or IP allowlists.
- Request missing pages and confirm the expected
404response rather than a soft error or redirect to the home page. - Inspect response headers, canonical tags, robots directives, sitemap URLs, structured data, and language annotations.
- Run a crawl from the test environment and compare status codes, page titles, content, and internal links with the current site.
Remove temporary noindex rules and test blocks before production cutover, unless they are intentionally required. A forgotten crawl block is a common cause of a successful technical move followed by disappearing pages.
Choose the correct DNS record
Use the record type that matches what the destination provider gives you:
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| Record | Use it when | Value example | Operational consideration |
|---|---|---|---|
A |
The destination supplies a stable IPv4 address | 198.51.100.24 |
You must update the record if the provider changes that address. |
AAAA |
The destination supplies a stable IPv6 address | 2001:db8::24 |
Ensure the server and firewall actually accept IPv6; a broken IPv6 path can affect some visitors even when IPv4 works. |
CNAME |
The destination supplies a fully qualified hostname | edge.provider.example |
The target provider controls the underlying addresses and can change them without your editing the record. |
For a subdomain, a CNAME is normally permitted. At the DNS zone apex, traditional CNAME rules create conflicts with required records, so providers may offer an ALIAS, ANAME, or flattened CNAME feature instead. That apex limitation does not apply to an ordinary label such as blog.
Follow the destination provider’s required target exactly, including the final hostname and any verification record. Do not add a second competing CNAME, and do not leave an old A or AAAA record active alongside a CNAME at the same name. If you use a DNS management service that offers proxying, decide whether the record should be DNS-only or proxied; the choice changes where TLS terminates, whether caching and firewall rules run at the edge, what source IP the origin sees, and how much infrastructure you must operate.
DNS-only versus proxied delivery
| Characteristic | DNS-only | Proxied |
|---|---|---|
| TLS termination | The origin server must present a certificate for the subdomain. | The proxy presents an edge certificate; the origin still needs suitable TLS when encrypted proxy-to-origin traffic is required. |
| Caching and firewall | Requests go directly to the destination, so origin controls handle them. | The proxy can provide edge caching, filtering, rate limits, and firewall features, depending on its plan and configuration. |
| Source-IP visibility | The origin sees visitor addresses directly. | The origin may see proxy addresses and must use the provider’s documented headers and trusted-proxy configuration. |
| Complexity | Fewer layers to diagnose. | More controls, but another TLS, caching, and header layer to verify. |
Plan TTL and perform the DNS cutover
Lower the TTL in advance
DNS answers are cached by recursive resolvers for the record’s time to live. Lowering the TTL does not flush answers already cached under the old, longer TTL. For a planned move, set a conservative value such as a few hours in advance; Google recommends lowering it at least a week before a hosting move so widely cached answers have time to expire.
Keep the lower TTL during the observation period. After traffic is consistently reaching the new server and rollback is unlikely, raise it to a normal value. A lower TTL cannot guarantee that every resolver changes at the same instant, so keep both old and new environments safe to receive requests during the transition.
Change only the intended record
- Confirm the destination hostname configuration and certificate are ready.
- Record the current DNS response and export the zone or note the exact old value.
- Change the
A,AAAA, orCNAMErecord for the subdomain, leaving unrelated parent-domain records unchanged. - Check the authoritative DNS response, then query more than one public recursive resolver.
- Request the site over both HTTP and HTTPS, with and without the preferred hostname form, and inspect the status code, certificate, final URL, and page content.
Useful checks include dig blog.example.com A, dig blog.example.com AAAA, dig blog.example.com CNAME, and curl -I https://blog.example.com/. A CNAME lookup can be followed by A or AAAA answers from the target; that is normal. What matters is that the final address belongs to the intended destination.
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Recognize propagation symptoms
During propagation, different visitors can reach different servers. Some may see the old content, while others see the new site or a DNS error. A resolver returning the old answer does not necessarily mean the change failed. Compare timestamps, resolver locations, authoritative answers, and server logs before reverting. If only some networks fail, investigate stale DNS, an incorrect AAAA record, split-horizon DNS, or a firewall that permits one address family but not the other.
Install HTTPS for the subdomain
The certificate must cover the exact hostname visitors use, such as blog.example.com. A certificate for the parent domain does not automatically cover every subdomain unless it includes an appropriate wildcard or explicit subject alternative name. Obtain the certificate through the destination host, your certificate authority, or your proxy provider, then configure the server to serve the full certificate chain and renew it automatically.
If the DNS record is not proxied, the origin server must support TLS itself. If a proxy terminates TLS, configure the proxy’s encryption mode and the origin certificate deliberately; do not assume that encryption to the visitor also means encryption between the proxy and origin.
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- The certificate’s names include the exact subdomain.
- The certificate is not expired and the chain is trusted by ordinary browsers.
- HTTP redirects to the intended HTTPS URL without a loop.
- Mixed-content warnings do not block scripts, forms, or images.
- Alternate hostnames do not expose the site with a mismatched certificate or unintended default virtual host.
If the subdomain is not correctly covered by TLS, browsers can display a security warning or refuse the connection. Fix certificate names and virtual-host bindings before sending production traffic.
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When URLs stay identical
A pure hosting move normally preserves the URL, so search engines can continue requesting the same addresses. Keep the same content, status codes, canonical tags, internal links, robots directives, sitemap locations, and structured data. Do not add redirects merely because the IP address changed.
When the hostname or paths change
Create a spreadsheet or machine-readable map with one old URL and one final new URL per row. Include important image, document, feed, and paginated URLs where they attract traffic or links. Map each old address directly to its final equivalent. Avoid sending an old URL through several intermediate redirects.
Implement server-side permanent 301 or 308 redirects. Update self-referencing canonicals, internal navigation, hreflang references where used, XML sitemaps, feeds, structured-data URLs, and campaign links. Preserve query-string behavior intentionally; do not blindly forward tracking or sensitive parameters.
Check that every redirect ends at a 200 response or an intentionally permanent endpoint, that HTTP and HTTPS variants behave consistently, and that redirect rules do not create loops. Google recommends direct server-side permanent redirects from old URLs to their mapped new URLs.
Use Search Console appropriately
Verify both the old and new properties in Search Console and keep access for everyone who needs to monitor the move. The Change of Address feature is intended for eligible moves between domains or subdomains after redirects are active. It does not automatically move nested subdomains, and it does not replace redirects, canonical updates, or sitemap changes. For a server-only move with unchanged URLs, it is generally unnecessary.
Submit the new sitemap when its URLs change, inspect representative URLs, and watch indexing, crawl errors, redirect reports, and security issues. Search Console data is delayed, so combine it with real-time server logs and DNS checks.
Monitor after cutover
First hours
- Watch DNS answers from several resolvers and both IPv4 and IPv6 networks.
- Compare access and error logs on old and new servers. A sudden absence of traffic on the new server can indicate incorrect DNS or a hostname binding problem.
- Track
4xx,5xx, timeout, TLS, redirect-loop, and origin-connection errors. - Test login, forms, checkout or payment callbacks, email, webhooks, downloads, search, and cache invalidation from outside your office network.
- Check capacity: CPU, memory, database connections, disk space, bandwidth, queue depth, and rate limits.
Following days and weeks
Compare crawl activity, indexed pages, canonical selection, sitemap processing, organic landing pages, and conversions with the pre-move baseline. Investigate differences by URL pattern rather than relying only on total traffic. Keep the old hosting available until traffic and crawler access have moved successfully. For an eligible URL move using Change of Address, Google documents at least 180 days of redirect maintenance; retaining redirects longer is prudent when external links and visitors may still use old URLs.
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Roll back DNS when the destination cannot reliably serve the site, causes widespread data loss, exposes private content, or produces sustained errors that cannot be corrected quickly. First preserve logs and the failing configuration so diagnosis is possible. Restore the old DNS value, verify the old server is healthy, and stop writes to the failed destination if the two copies can diverge. Do not roll back solely because one resolver still has a cached old answer during normal propagation.
Quick Recap
Common failures and fixes
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Default provider page or wrong site | Destination lacks a virtual-host binding for the exact subdomain. | Add the hostname to the hosting account/web server and test with an explicit host request. |
| DNS resolves, but connection times out | Firewall, security group, load balancer, or IPv6 path blocks traffic. | Allow required ports, verify origin health, and test A and AAAA paths separately. |
| Certificate warning | Certificate does not include the subdomain, is expired, or is served by the wrong virtual host. | Issue and bind a certificate covering the exact hostname, including the full chain. |
| Redirect loop | Origin and proxy disagree about HTTP versus HTTPS, or rules point between hostnames. | Set one canonical scheme and host, configure trusted proxy headers correctly, and test each hop. |
| Pages disappeared from search | Accidental noindex or robots block, broken canonicals, URL changes without redirects, or inaccessible server responses. | Inspect rendered HTML, robots.txt, sitemap entries, redirects, logs, and Search Console URL inspection. |
| Forms or webhooks fail | Destination IP is not allowlisted, environment variables were omitted, or callback URLs still reference the old host. | Update allowlists and secrets, test callbacks end to end, and confirm DNS and TLS for every integration hostname. |
| Some users see old content | Resolver caching during propagation or a second DNS record still points to the old server. | Compare authoritative and recursive answers, remove conflicting records, and wait for cached TTLs to expire. |
Final cutover checklist
- Destination files, database, runtime, storage, jobs, and secrets are complete and backed up.
- The destination serves the exact subdomain and has been tested before DNS changes.
- All required A, AAAA, or CNAME records are correct, with no conflicting records.
- TTL was lowered in advance and the old DNS value is documented for rollback.
- The certificate covers the exact subdomain, renews automatically, and has no mixed-content or chain errors.
- Forms, authentication, downloads, APIs, webhooks, email, queues, and scheduled jobs have passed tests.
- Robots controls, canonicals, links, hreflang, structured data, and sitemaps are correct.
- Any URL change has a complete one-to-one map and direct permanent redirects.
- Search Console properties are verified; Change of Address is used only for an eligible domain or subdomain move.
- Logs, DNS responses, capacity, crawl behavior, indexing, and conversions are monitored after cutover.
- Old hosting remains available until the new server is demonstrably receiving traffic and crawler requests successfully.
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