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How to Link a Domain to a Hosting/Service Provider

This article offers a basic overview covering how to connect your domain to your host. As you will see, there are a few possible options. We recommend asking your hosting provider(s) for instructions as only they can tell you what is required to link your domain to their service.

Using your host's name servers

Many hosts will provide you with name servers to use. Please note that when you use your host's name servers, that they are then entirely responsible for DNS. This means that they are the company you would need to contact with any questions regarding why your web site is not loading, email is not being delivered, etc. If your host has provided name servers to use, please follow these instructions showing how to set name servers for your domain. Note also that name server changes can take up to 48 hours to globally propagate, so please wait up to that much time before checking to see if the name server update had the desired effect. Please contact your host with any questions regarding your web site, email, etc. when using their name servers.

Using our DNS templates

We offer easy one-click integration with several popular services. You can find a list of these services here. If you use one of the services that are listed, you can find instructions for easily linking your domain.

Using our system for DNS records

Some hosting providers request that you link to their service via DNS record(s) as opposed to using their name servers. If this is the case with your host, you will need to set your domain to use our name servers and then use our system for setting up the required DNS record(s). You can find instructions here for managing your DNS records.

One common way of linking a domain to a host via DNS is to point to the host's IP address. If your host gave you an IP address to point your domain to, please see the instructions for pointing your domain to an IP address.

Again, as detailed above, please note that we will not know the DNS records required to integrate with your host. You need to ask your hosting/service provider(s) for the correct DNS record(s) to use to integrate your domain with their service. Only they can provide the required DNS records. Please do not ask us what DNS records are required as we will not know.

Troubleshooting

We offer a very helpful web site troubleshooter. Simply enter your domain and the troubleshooter will help diagnose common problems and also offer recommend steps to fix any problems.

What if I have multiple service providers?

Some domains utilize multiple hosting/service providers. For example, a domain may have a web site with a host and email service through a different provider. If your domain utilizes multiple service providers, you first need to determine where you will be handling DNS for the domain. In short, you need to decide if you will be using our name servers, your host's name servers, or a third-party's name servers. The decision concerning where you will run DNS will dictate where you need to setup the requisite DNS record(s) to link to each of your service providers. If you do not know the answer to where you should run DNS, please ask your host or a technical person that you trust to help.