If you want to start selling websites for a living, then you are going to need to know how to transfer websites to your buyers hosting accounts. If you don’t know how to do this already, that is completely fine because I am going to teach you how it is done. No, I’m not talking about how to move Wordpress blogs, I’m talking about static HTML websites that do not require the use of a database to work. Either way, lets start.

Before you start, you need to know what you are working with. Consider what it is that you need to do. You are going to need to transfer a website (files included), plus you are going to need to transfer a domain, which comes in two stages. DNS change, and domain ownership transfer. Don’t worry, I’ll cover these in the right way so that the process can be smooth for both you and your buyers. After all, you want your buyers to be clients for life, right?

Lets start with the files. If you are using cPanel, you can simply navigate to the files, and compress them into a single zip file. I highly recommend this, as it preserves file permissions, and saves any problems from occurring further down the track. In order to transfer these files to the new hosting account, simply download the compressed zip file, then re-upload it to the new hosting account where the website is being transferred. Once it has been uploaded, simply extract the zip file, and you’re done. If you are not using cPanel, this process is done using FTP. A word of warning however, large websites with many files can take quite some time to download and upload, so please be patient.

Next, you will want to change the DNS with your current domain registrar, so that you can test that the website is functioning correctly on the new hosting account. You will need to have access to the name servers for the new hosting account in order to do this. I actually like to upload a test file to the new server so that I can test that the transfer has occurred, otherwise it is quite hard to test.

Once the test has been successful, you can initiate the domain transfer. First, you will need to request what is called an “EPP Code” from your registrar for the transfer of your domain. This is usually fairly straight forward, however a few registrars make this quite difficult. Once you have this code, send it to the new owner, and they can then apply for the transfer with their current registrar. Transfers can take a few days, but once they are done you will get notification. Just be sure to action any emails that come through asking for permission to transfer.

So, that is how to transfer a website to a new owner. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? That’s because it is, and with more practice, it will become second nature to you. Not only that, but you can also charge for this service as well, and add an extra few dollars to every sale, all whilst adding value to the buying and transferring process. However, please don’t attempt to move Wordpress blogs using this method, as this will not work. There are other methods that you can use to move database driven systems like WordPress and Joomla, but this is not one of them.