How to easily change your web host (to join Fastcomet) - step-by-step guide • Peas On Toast

So, you’ve decided to join Fastcomet to host your website – that’s a great decision, but what’s the next step?

TIP: this tutorial relates to the post: Website Diary #6 – web host, mailing list and CTA and my FastComet review

FastComet has made it very easy for you to register a domain name and get web hosting. Even if you’re a total beginner when you join FastComet and this is your first time buying a domain and setting up a website, FastComet’s LiveChat’s available to help at every stage.

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial you can follow.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to join FastComet web hosting to register a new domain or transfer an existing website

1. Go to Fastcomet’s website

TIP: it’s great to know that FastComet doesn’t allow these types of websites to be hosted on its servers: child porn, spam, scams and exploits, viruses and malware, violence, and racial/religious intolerance.

Click the banner above or use this link for direct access to FastComet’s website – it’ll open in a new tab so that you can follow these instructions at the same time as you join FastComet.

TIP: if you’re moving your website from another web host, it’s best to register with FastComet before notifying your current web host. This ensures that FastComet has uninterrupted access to transfer your website.

Scroll down the homepage and select Start Now or See Plans.

FastComet’s prices are very good value and they don’t increase at renewal. A free domain name’s included and, unlike some other web hosts, there’s also a 45 day money back guarantee.

Click “See Plans” to see FastComet’s three web hosting options which are perfect for any website scenario and you can upgrade/downgrade at any time:

single website
multiple websites
e-commerce

Click “See Full Comparison” for a detailed list of every feature included in the web hosting packages.

Scroll further down, and you’ll see a helpful comparison of Fastcomet, A Small Orange, GoDaddy and Arvixe showing you that for less than half the price of its competitors, FastComet gives you many more features.

Once you’ve chosen which FastComet package you’d prefer, click “Get Started”.

2. Choose your domain name

TIP: It’s perfectly fine (and legal) for you to transfer your website to without transferring the domain registration. For instance, I transferred my domain to FastComet, whilst keeping it registered with Falcoda Internet.
WHY?
– on 1 March 2016, the UK Registry decided to almost double the cost of all .co.uk domain registrations. Falcoda Internet’s .co.uk fee increased from £3.95 plus VAT to £5.99 plus VAT. Whereas, Fastcomet charge $25.99 for a .co.uk domain – I guess it’s because they’re not a UK-based web host.
I could have chosen to use FastComet’s free for life registration or keep PeasOnToast.co.uk registered with Falcoda Internet. Once my current registration expires, I’ll move it to FastComet.
HOWEVER, in future:
I purchase and register my other domains with NameCheap.com as they’re very well organised and, as their name implies, cheap.

After clicking get started, you’ll be asked which domain (ie your website name) you’d like to use – a new, free domain or an existing domain.

Select whether you’d like to register a domain for free, or if you already have a domain (perhaps you bought it from another provider, or are moving your existing website to FastComet)

Type the domain name you’d like to use and click “Use this Domain”.

3. Fill out the registration form and order summary

TIP: all billing’s in USD. Don’t worry that you can only see the annual billing amount at the top of the screen. Once you’ve scrolled further down to the Billing Cycle section, there’s an option for you to select monthly billing, if you’d prefer to do so.

You’ll now need to fill out the registration form and check your order summary for whichever hosting plan you chose.

TIP: if you’ve chosen either the Multiple Websites or the E-Commerce package, then you’re allowed to have unlimited websites anyway, albeit they’re running from the same web hosting package.
THEREFORE:
– you’d only need the Buy 1 Get 1 Free web hosting account offer if your existing website(s) are slow as they’re busy and use a lot of data.

The benefit of paying annually as a new customer:

the $19.95 initial set-up fee is waived (this is payable as a one-time fee if you choose the monthly payment option)
eligible for latest offers, eg discounted SEO Package or Buy 1 Get 1 Free Web Hosting Account

The benefit of paying monthly as a new customer:

you’re free to switch web hosts at any time and you won’t be out of pocket (you can switch web hosts even if you paid annually, but if it’s after the initial 45 days money back guarantee, you won’t get a pro-rata refund of your annual payment)

4. Choose which Add Ons you’d like

TIP: if you’re comfortable installing plugins such as Yoast SEO, subscribing to Google Webmaster and reading articles about SEO optimisation which you can find free on the internet, you need only select ID Protect (to prevent your contact details being publicised in the domain registration directory). If not, you’re perhaps better off selecting the Add Ons.

After you’ve chosen which billing cycle to use, scroll down to the Add Ons.

These are a small one-time (or in some cases, annual) payment:

Search Engine Submission – this Add On improves your website visibility and helps boost traffic
Domain Privacy (ID Protect) – protects your personal information against telemarketers and data mining companies by preventing your domain ownership information from being publicly accessible
Search Engine Optimization Audit – 10 pages of SEO analysis with tips and recommendations on how to improve your website Search Engine visibility and ranking, based on more than 20 SEO signals.
Google SiteMap – an XML sitemap for your website that can be submitted to Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines to help them crawl your website better. Includes a Text sitemap to have a plain list of all your pages and an HTML site map to allow human visitors to easily navigate on your site.

Choose the Add Ons you’d like and add them to your Cart to join FastComet.

5. Check the configuration options and billing information

After selecting your AddOns, scroll down to check the configuration options and billing information.

Configuration Options

For the best speed, you should choose whichever FastComet data center is nearest to you:

Dallas or Chicago in the US
Amsterdam in the Netherlands
Frankfurt in Germany
London in the UK
Singapore in Asia

Billing Information

Below the Total Amount, you’ll see the option to add a coupon code – search in Google for “FastComet coupon” and you’ll probably come across a valid coupon code, such as 10% off all shared plans and 50% off the first month of dedicated server plans. Check whether it’s valid for annual and/or monthly paid hosting plans.

Tick to confirm you’ve read the terms and conditions, and click Submit.

You’ve now joined FastComet!

You’ll see an order ID reference number and will be redirected to your Fastcomet client screen.

What to do if you’ve transferred an existing website to FastComet?

FastComet will transfer your website to the FastComet servers for free. After registration:

go to Fastcomet Client Area (use the login details you chose during registration)
Home tab, Support
click “submit ticket” and fill out the ticket fields – choose the department dealing with transferring websites and put it to high priority

To give you an idea of timeframe, I submitted my support ticket at 10.15pm to transfer my website, and just a few hours later by 1.55am, my website was ready for me to start using. Everything had been transferred perfectly.

My thoughts on FastComet Technical Support and LiveChat

I’m really pleased that I’ve transferred PeasOnToast to join FastComet.

I would 100% recommend FastComet to you.

FastComet Technical Support and LiveChat are honestly, by far the best that I’ve encountered, and they’re free 24/7.

FastComet Technical Support‘s very knowledgeable, quick to respond to support tickets and deal with pretty much any issues you need help with on your website. I’ve contacted them so many times with little and/or large queries, and they’ve been able to fix them all.

LiveChat‘s readily available and very helpful. It’s rare that they don’t know the answer to my website queries.

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Mrs P

I'm a full-time working wife and mum who loves searching for innovative products and learning how to run a successful website. I started PeasOnToast.co.uk to help people like you:
- reviews to save you time looking for good value, quality household/fintech products
- blog/tutorials for any of you website newbies to follow my PeasOnToast learning curve

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How to easily change your web host (to join Fastcomet) – step-by-step guide