01/04/2026
Small reminder from a recent website migration job.
The client messaged saying half their visitors were seeing the old site and half were seeing the new one. Naturally, they assumed something was broken.
Nothing was.
When you move a website between hosting providers, DNS changes don’t happen instantly and caching at the ISP, browser, or CDN level can also delay what users see. Different ISPs around the world are still caching your old records and they update at their own pace. Completely normal.
The mistake most people make: jumping straight to switching nameservers. The issue is that nameserver changes are cached at the registrar and resolver level, usually 24 to 48 hours, and you can't speed it up. But A record TTL? You control that. Lower it to 300–600 seconds before you migrate and the cutover becomes much faster and cleaner.
The better sequence:
→ Lower your TTL 24 hours before the move
→ Point the domain to the new server (if you’re only changing hosting), keeping the DNS provider the same for now
→ Wait until most global resolvers reflect the change
→ Then move nameservers if needed
Think of Nameservers like changing your home address at the post office, while an A Record is like giving someone a sticky note with your new coordinates. One is permanent but slow; the other is fast but temporary.
A free tool called WhatsMyDNS shows you exactly how your DNS change is spreading across the globe in real time. Genuinely useful during migrations.
DNS issues are often about timing and sequencing but misconfigurations can still happen.
Have you ever done a website move and had this exact panic?
