How to Point Your Domain at Your Hosting (DNS Explained for Business Owners)
Sagar Sethi is the founder of Web Hosting People and Xugar, and the author of The Business Knight.
Published 19 October 2026 Last reviewed 19 October 2026 Domains and DNS
To point a domain at your hosting you change either the nameservers or the individual records.
Change the nameservers and the domain uses your host's DNS entirely. That is the simplest method, and it keeps the website and email records in one place. Change the individual records and you keep DNS where it is, moving only what the website needs. That is the right choice when something else on the domain, usually email, has to stay exactly as it is.
Those are the only two methods. Everything below is the detail that decides which one you want, and the checks to run when a change seems not to have worked.
Method one: change the nameservers
This is the recommended approach when the domain has nothing else pointing at it.
- Log in at the company you registered the domain with, not at your hosting account.
- Find the DNS or nameserver settings for the domain.
- Replace the existing nameservers with the two shown in your welcome email.
- Save the change, then wait.
You are handing the domain's entire DNS to the host. Records for the website, email, subdomains and anything else set up for you stay in one place from then on. Nothing has to be recreated by hand, and there is no forgotten record left behind to break something later.
Method two: keep DNS where it is and point the records
Use this when the domain has mail or another service managed by a different provider that you do not want to move. Create an A record for the root domain pointing at the IP address of your hosting account, which you will find in the client area or in cPanel. Then create a CNAME for www pointing at the root domain.
The rule that matters most: leave your MX records alone if your email is staying where it is. MX records are what deliver mail, they apply to every address on the domain at once, and changing them moves your mail whether you meant to or not. If email stays with the current provider, change only the web records.
What each record actually does
| Record | What it does | What breaks if it is wrong |
|---|---|---|
| A | Points a hostname at an IP address. The root domain's A record tells the internet which server holds your website | The site does not load, or it loads the old host's copy |
| CNAME | Points a hostname at another hostname, commonly so www follows the root domain | One of the two versions of your address stops working |
| MX | Tells the internet where to deliver email for the domain | Mail bounces, or is delivered to the old provider |
| TXT | Holds text information, most often for verification and email security, including SPF and DKIM records | Mail is more likely to be filtered as spam, and service verifications fail |
| NS | The nameservers for the domain, meaning who is authoritative for every record above | Everything on the domain depends on this one being right |
Our Knowledge Centre article on DNS records goes through A, CNAME, MX and TXT in more depth, including the habit worth copying: keep a copy of your current records before you change anything, so a mistake is straightforward to reverse.
Why a change seems not to work for a while
Nothing about DNS is instant, and a change nobody has seen yet is not a failed change.
TTL stands for time to live, and it is a countdown, not a speed setting. Every record carries a TTL, which is the number of seconds a resolver is allowed to cache the old answer before asking again. At a TTL of 24 hours, a change can take that long to be seen everywhere, no matter how quickly you made it.
Two consequences worth knowing before you start:
- Lower the TTL in advance, where your DNS provider lets you set it. Changing it to a short value such as 300 seconds a day before the switch means resolvers are already checking often, so the change is seen soon after you make it rather than hours later.
- Two versions existing at the same time is normal. During the window, some visitors reach the old server and some reach the new one. That is the mechanism working, not a broken change, and it settles on its own.
On timing, our own guide to pointing a domain at your hosting says most changes take effect within a few hours and almost all are complete within 48 hours. That matches what you should expect from any provider, because the mechanism is the same everywhere.
How to check whether it has changed
You can check whether the change has landed yourself, but be careful about where you check from.
- Look the record up directly. An online DNS lookup tool shows which value a resolver returns. If it shows the old value, the change has not reached that resolver yet.
- Check from somewhere else. Your own computer and your own network cache DNS aggressively. A phone on mobile data is a genuinely independent check, and it will often show the new version while your desktop still shows the old one.
- Check the site, not just the record. Once the record is right the site should load and the certificate should be valid. If the site loads but the padlock shows a warning, the certificate has not finished issuing for the domain yet, which is a matter of waiting rather than a fault. Our certificates are issued and renewed automatically for domains pointed at the hosting, so this clears once the domain resolves to the new server.
If it is still wrong after 48 hours
Three things are worth checking, in this order. The change was never saved at the registrar. The records were changed at a provider that is not authoritative for the domain. Or the nameservers were changed and the old records were left behind at the previous DNS host.
Getting it right first time
- Write down what you had before. A screenshot of the zone takes ten seconds.
- Change one thing at a time. Nameservers, or records. Not both.
- Never touch MX unless you intend to move mail. This is the setting that takes mail down.
- Expect the window. A few hours of mixed results is the mechanism working.
- Check the certificate after cutover. It follows the domain once the new server answers for it.
Frequently asked questions
Do I change the nameservers at my registrar or at my host? At your registrar, the company you bought the domain from. They are the ones who tell the internet which nameservers are authoritative for the domain.
Will changing DNS affect my email? Only if you change the MX records. Changing nameservers moves DNS management to the host, and the host's default MX records then apply, so if mail has to stay where it is, use the record method and leave MX alone.
How long does it take? A few hours in most cases, 48 hours at the outside, and minutes if the TTL was lowered in advance of the change.
Can I point a domain at two different hosts? Not usefully for the same record. You can point a subdomain at a different host, for example a store on a subdomain hosted elsewhere, but the root domain resolves to one place.
What if I get it wrong? Change it back. Nothing about a DNS change is permanent, and the only real risk is doing it in a peak period or without a copy of the original records.
Do I need to move the domain to change where the site is hosted? No. You can keep the registration where it is and change only the records or the nameservers.
What if the domain is registered with you? Then there is nothing to change. A domain registered alongside hosting is pointed at that hosting automatically.
Point your domain with us
Domains held with us include DNS management and email forwarding, so the records sit beside the hosting they belong to. New domains registered on a hosting plan are pointed at it automatically. If you are moving a domain you already own, the records can be looked at with you rather than guessed at.
Phone 1300 565 610 between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday, or email hello@webhostingpeople.com.au, which is answered 24/7.
Primary action: Manage your domain and DNS with us