I’m thinking about changing my web host provider. By changing where my site is hosted, will my website experience any side effects? Such as a decrease in backlinks or bad SERPs?
In a word, yes. I found that when I moved to 1&1, I kept getting dropped from Google's listings! If you're in the company of spammers or bad folk, you'll get hurt. (Not saying 1&1 hosts spammers or bad folk, just that I had problems with rankings when hosted by them) -- uptime obvioulsy is also an issue! as is speed.
Sort of.. depends on multiple things. I'm no SEO wiz but ultimately if you're going to a shared provider try to nab a dedicated IP.. also use a 301 redirect to the new site so spiders gobble it up .
As long as you move from your present host to a "better" one, there will be no problem, but, as others said, if the host is not good (downtime, doing tricky things with search engine robots, bad neighbourhood,...), this will hurt your visitors experience and your SERP's position. Also keep in mind that search engines take the localization of the host into account in the search results. For example, if your host was in India and you move it to the UK, you are going to go up in google.co.uk and down in google.co.in. Jean-Luc
I am not a expert, but chaniging host doesn't effect backlinks, nethier drop from search engines. Just care to not to put your site offline.
The only think that you can have a problem with is DNS. That can be a real pain in the ass if you don't do it properly. I would keep both sites up until atleast 72 hours. I would also go in and setup your TTL to a really low number a week or more before you move your site. Good luck, Fred
yes..one more suggestion. If you plan to change your host, than follow these steps: 1) Dont tell your old host provider that you are shifting. 2) Move all files and databse to new hosting. 3) change nameserver. Dont update anything on your site during trasfer. 4) wait till nameserver is updated. 5) Once the nameserver is update, you can remove files from old hosting. Like this you wont have any downtime.
The key to moving without downtime is to adjust your DNS TTL's to a very low value - 300 or 600 seconds usually works for us. That way your DNS information won't be cached anywhere, so when your site moves and your IP changes, there will be little if any downtime due to the DNS switch. Don't forget to change your TTL's back after you move, however. Having your DNS TTL's too low can put undue strain on your providers DNS servers. On the lower end, your TTL's should be no less than 3600 seconds unless you are moving your site.
Rob T's notes on TTL is really good advice. And think about it several DAYS ahead of time because sometimes you can find that TTL is set for 48 hours or other very high numbers! If you don't have your own DNS server, and most people don't, rent a reputable one - get DNS set up and tested there, then set that up as your primary and secondary DNS, THEN use the service (with a short TTL) to redirect to the new host, THEN test that host's DNS server, etc.