Point your domain at your hosting (nameservers and A records)

Once you've registered your domain and set up hosting, you need to point the domain at your hosting server. There are two main methods: updating nameservers or adding A records. Nameservers are the simplest approach.

Method 1: Update your nameservers (recommended)

Nameservers tell the internet where to find all DNS records for your domain (website, email, etc.). This is the easiest and most common method.

Step 1: Get your hosting nameservers

Contact your hosting provider or check your hosting account for your assigned nameservers. They typically look like:

ns1.yourhost.com
ns2.yourhost.com

Your hosting provider will have given you the exact nameserver addresses.

Step 2: Update nameservers at your domain registrar

1. Log into your domain registrar's account (where your domain is registered)
2. Find the DNS, Nameservers, or Domain Settings section
3. Replace the existing nameservers with the ones from your hosting provider
4. Save the changes

Step 3: Wait for DNS to propagate

DNS changes take 4–48 hours to fully propagate worldwide. During this time:

• Your site may be intermittently unavailable or show a blank page
• Old DNS records may still resolve for some users
• Wait before making other DNS changes

Step 4: Verify the change

After 24 hours, you can verify nameservers are active:

1. Visit your domain in a web browser
2. You should see your website hosted on your new server
3. Alternatively, use an online DNS checker tool and search for your domain

Method 2: Add an A record directly (advanced)

If you cannot change nameservers (rare), you can add an A record to point directly to your server's IP address. However, this only works for the website—email and other services require nameserver setup.

Prerequisites

• Your server's IP address (provided by your hosting company)
• Access to your domain registrar's DNS/record management

Steps

1. Log into your domain registrar
2. Navigate to DNS Records or Advanced DNS Settings
3. Add a new A record with:
- Name/Host: @ (or leave blank—this means the root domain)
- Type: A
- Value/Points to: your-server-ip (e.g. 203.0.113.45)
- TTL: 3600 (or the default)
4. Save the record
5. Wait 24–48 hours for the change to propagate

For the www subdomain

To also point www.yourdomain.com at the same server:

1. Add another A record with:
- Name/Host: www
- Type: A
- Value: your-server-ip
- TTL: 3600

Or, add a CNAME record instead:
- Name: www
- Type: CNAME
- Value: yourdomain.com

Verify your setup

After DNS propagates (usually within 24 hours):

1. Open your domain in a web browser
2. Your website should load from your hosting server
3. Check both yourdomain.com and www.yourdomain.com

If your site doesn't load

Common causes and fixes:

• Wrong IP address — double-check the IP with your hosting provider
• DNS hasn't propagated yet — wait 24–48 hours, then try again
• Old DNS cached locally — flush your browser cache or try an incognito window
• Website not yet configured on the server — contact hosting support to confirm the site is active
• Firewall or server issue — ask your hosting provider if the server is accepting web traffic

Next steps

Once your domain points to your hosting:

• Set up email (if your host provides it) — see DNS record types explained for MX records
• Configure SSL/HTTPS for security
• Check that all your site pages and files are accessible

For help with specific DNS records, see DNS record types explained.