How do you move your website to another host?
The short answer
Moving a website is easier than you think. Many providers migrate your site for free when you become a customer. Doing it yourself means copying files and database, testing on the new server and only then pointing your domain over. Your site never needs to go offline.
In detail
Many people stay with a host because moving sounds like a hassle. In practice a move is routine work. Many hosts offer free migration. You hand over the login details of your old environment and their team moves everything. Hostinger and the managed WordPress hosts treat this as standard service. For WordPress, migration plugins make a move nearly automatic.
Doing it yourself follows one recipe. Copy your files and export the database. Load both onto the new hosting. Test the site there on a temporary address. Only then switch your domain’s DNS to the new server. The old site keeps running until the DNS change lands. Visitors notice nothing.
Plan the move a month before your renewal date. That gives you time and saves you another year at renewal rates. Email does not move with the site automatically. Arrange your mailboxes separately, or pick a provider that migrates those too.