Pointing your domain's DNS to your hosting

What you'll learn: how to tell the internet that your domain should load your hosting account.

What's DNS, in 30 seconds?

When someone types yourbusiness.com into a browser, their computer asks "where does this name live?". DNS is the answer system — it points names to the actual server hosting your site. Until DNS is set, your domain doesn't know where to send visitors.

Two ways to do this

Option A — Set DNS records at your registrar (most common)

This means logging in to wherever you bought your domain (Namecheap, GoDaddy, Google Domains, Cloudflare, etc.) and adding a record that points the domain at your server.

You'll add an A record:

Name / Host: @ (means "the root of the domain")
Type: A
Value: your server's IP address (your hosting provider can tell you this — it's also shown in your panel)
TTL: leave default (or 3600)

Most people also add a second A record for www:

Name / Host: www
Type: A
Value: the same IP

Save, and you're done.

Option B — Use the panel as your DNS host

You can change your domain's "nameservers" at your registrar to point at your hosting provider's nameservers, then manage all DNS records inside the panel.

Your hosting provider can tell you whether they offer this and what nameservers to use.

How long does it take?

DNS changes can take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours to spread across the internet. This is normal — it's called propagation. Have a coffee and check back.

How to check if it worked

In a terminal:

ping yourbusiness.com

If it shows your server's IP, you're good. From your browser, visiting your domain should now load your site (or a default placeholder if you haven't built a site yet).

Tips

Lower the TTL before you make changes. If you're planning a future change, drop the TTL to 300 (5 minutes) a day before. Changes will then spread faster when you make them.
Don't change too many things at once. Add the A record, confirm it works, then think about email records or anything else.
Don't panic about caches. If your computer's been told the old answer recently, it might keep using it for a while. Try a different browser or your phone on cellular data to test.

If something goes wrong

Visiting the domain still shows the old site — DNS hasn't fully spread yet, or your browser is caching. Wait, or try from a different network.
Visiting the domain shows an error — the A record might be wrong. Double-check the IP.
You can't find DNS settings at your registrar — search "[your registrar name] add A record" — every one has a help page.

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