I'm helping my dad with his small business website. It's been a while since it was set up, and the domain is currently registered with Bluehost, which is forwarding DNS and hosting to a platform called domainspricedright. We've hired a developer to revamp the site, and they want to transfer the domain and DNS to NameCheap while moving the hosting to WPEngine. I've been reading about issues people have when transferring domains and DNS, especially with email interruptions, and I want to make sure we do this the right way. Does anyone have advice on how to handle this properly to minimize downtime and avoid losing any emails, especially since we're using Google Workspace for that?
1 Answer
Transferring your domain and changing DNS can be straightforward, but watch out for developers who want to transfer ownership of the domain to their NameCheap account. You want to keep it in your account and give the developer the necessary access. Before changing anything, export your current DNS records, or at least copy them down. When you're ready, you'll change the authoritative DNS server to the new registrar. Just make sure everything is set up correctly before flipping the switch, because people often run into issues like losing email access after a domain transfer.
Exactly, just be cautious with the developer's access. When you transfer from Bluehost to NameCheap, the DNS settings usually stay intact, but it's smart to have a backup, just in case.