netcup wiki
Domain
Transferring an External Domain
1. Preparation and Planning
- Do not carry out the transfer on the weekend. It is easier to contact support during the week if problems arise.
- Notify your customers and visitors about the change.
- Notify operators of external sites that link to your old domain and ask them to update the links.
- Back up your entire website and all emails.
- Save your current DNS records so you can restore them correctly afterwards.
2. Getting Started
- Log in to your account with your current provider and check if you have access to all the relevant settings.
- Some domains are subject to a transfer lock. Make sure that you have deactivated the lock.
- Request the Auth-Code from your current domain registrar.
If you have any problems with these steps, contact the support team of the provider from whom you want to transfer the domain.
3. Transfer
- Log in to the netcup Customer Control Panel (CCP).
- Go to the Domains menu item and click on Order in the top right corner.
- Enter the name of the domain you want to transfer and click Check availability.
- Select your desired settings for domain type and hosting.
- Click Domain transfer.
- Select your desired settings again and click Continue order.
- Enter the Auth-Code you received earlier.
- Enter your DNS records.
- Accept the terms and conditions, then click Order domain for a fee.
Depending on the provider and domain extension, the transfer may take a few hours to several days. During this time, your website may be temporarily unavailable.
4. After the Transfer
- If you are using a new domain, redirect old URLs to the corresponding URLs on the new domain using 301 redirects.
- Notify Google of the domain change so that the new domain is indexed more quickly.
- If you use email addresses with your domain, check that sending and receiving emails is working properly.
- Use web tracking tools, such as Google Analytics, to ensure that your visitors are redirected correctly to the new domain.
- If your website uses HTTPS, make sure that your SSL certificate is active after the move.
5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How long does a domain transfer take?
Depending on the provider and domain extension, the transfer may take a few hours to several days. During this time, your website may be temporarily unavailable.
Can netcup speed up the transfer process and minimize downtime?
Unfortunately, we have no influence over how quickly a transfer takes place or whether there will be any downtime. This also depends on your current provider and the registry.How much does a domain transfer cost?
When transferring a domain, the annual registration fee is charged a second time because of the change of registrar.Are emails and websites automatically transferred when switching to netcup?
Only the domain itself is transferred when transferring a domain. Websites and emails must be migrated manually.
Why can't I select a domain as an included domain?
If this option is unavailable, there are two possible reasons. Either you have no more included domains left, or the top-level domain is not included in your contract.
In the Customer Control Panel (CCP), under Products > Magnifying Glass Icon in front of the web hosting plan in the Overview, you can see how many included domains you can still assign.
The available top-level domains can be found under Products > Magnifying Glass Icon in front of the web hosting plan > Features.