How to transfer my domain away from HostGator to ETNHost?

Here at ETNHost, we recommend that you keep your domain name where you host your website. It is easier to manage, fewer passwords to worry about, better security, and last but not least this way you get a piece of mind. You will receive regular notifications from us through e-mail when the renewal date for your domain name is due and you will not miss to renew the domain name and risk your website to become inaccessible. 

Extra:

Once the domain name is transferred to us, you will get one year of a free domain name renewal as a bonus.

Transfer of domain names may take anywhere between 3 and 10 days until completion. Before initiating a domain name transfer of a domain name registered with HostGator, you will need to make sure that the following conditions apply:

• The domain must be more than 60 days old. This is not an ETNHost, nor HostGator, specific rule, but rather a rule implemented by ICANN, the organization that governs domain registrations. 
• The domain has been Unlocked for transfer from HostGator.
• The domain is showing your current e-mail for the admin contact in the whois as that is where the authorization email will be sent.
• The domain must not be too close to its expiration date, as HostGator will normally auto renew domains 15 days prior to expiration.

Notes:

The 60-day holding period only applies to domain transfers between registrar providers when a domain is either newly registered or recently transferred. If you just ended site services with another provider (without transferring the domain to another registrar), then the 60-day hold shouldn't apply at all. If the hold did apply, it still shouldn't prevent you from pointing it to another host service to start up a new site.

To prepare your domain name  to be transferred away from HostGator you must engage in the following steps:

Important:

HostGator has created a new domain control panel at http://register.hostgator.com which gives you access to add and manage all of your HostGator domains from a single control panel. The following instructions will show you how to change and manage the WHOIS information for your domains using this tool. If your HostGator domain does not appear in this tool, it may be a Hostgator/eNom domain requiring management via Registry Rocket.

1. Log into your HostGator Domain Portal
2. Unlock your domain

To do that go to Manage Domains and click on the domain name you wish to transfer to highlight it. On the left side, you will see different tabs. To unlock the domain for the transfer simply click on the Domain Locking tab.

3. Disable domain privacy

To do that go to Manage Domains and click on the domain name you wish to transfer to highlight it. On the right side, you will see different tabs. To disable the domain privacy simply click on the Domain Privacy tab. 

4. Change the contact information if needed

• To do that go to Manage Domains.
• Click on the domain name you wish to transfer to highlight it. By clicking on a domain name, you can get to the Domain Overview which will show more details about the selected domain and provide access to several other functions.
• On the left side, you will see different tabs. To change the contact information simply click on the Contact Info tab. You can then change the WHOIS contact information from this section. Pay close attention if the Administrative contact is in check. 
• The contact information is separated into registrant, administrative technical and billing contacts. You may input different data into each contact or click the Use for all contacts check box to use the same registrant information for all four contacts.
• Once all the contact information has been filled out (don't forget to double-check for accuracy), click Save Contact Info to save your changes.

5. Obtain the EPP code

• To do that go to Manage Domains and click on the domain name you wish to transfer to highlight it. You will see a list of domains that you have registered through HostGator. 
• Click the one for which you would like the EPP code.
• Under Overview, you will see EPP code in the list of details for your domain name. This will be the EPP code you want.

After completing the preparation, let some time pass (a day or so) before you initiate the transfer. You can also check the Whois info for your domain. You can do this at http://www.whois.net or http://whois.domaintools.com or similar sites, to make sure everything shows up and is correct.

Once ready, you can now submit a transfer request for the domain:

• Start within your ETNHost account .
• Proceed with posting an order for the domain name transfer by clicking on the Domains tab.
• Upon the request of the domain name transfer, you will need to enter the Authorization/EPP code. Once the code is entered then the process will begin.

Note that you will also receive a transfer approval email to the listed administrative contact for the domain. After the transfer is confirmed the losing registrar (HostGator) has 7 days to release the domain. If everything is ok, the domain will be released and added to the Domains Section in your ETNHost account.

Notes:

Once you start a domain name transfer you must remember that you can't change your DNS, Whois info, contact info and so on.