SiteSmith

Connecting your domain to a new website

SiteSmith · · 5 min read

Connecting your domain to a new website usually means changing two settings: one for the bare address (yourbusiness.com) and one for the "www" version. You make those changes wherever your domain's DNS is managed, and you leave every email setting exactly as it is. Done that way, the new site appears within minutes to a few hours and your email never notices.

The plain picture

Your domain has a short list of settings called DNS records. Think of them as lines on a card that tell the internet where to send people. Some lines say "the website is over there", others say "mail for this business goes over here". To switch websites, you change only the website lines. If you want the fuller explanation first, read DNS explained for small business owners.

Step 1: Find where your DNS is managed

This is the step people skip, and it causes most of the confusion. The company where you bought the domain is not always the company that holds its DNS records.

  1. Look up your domain on ICANN's lookup tool.
  2. Find the nameservers line. The names tell you who holds the records: names with "domaincontrol" are GoDaddy, "registrar-servers" are Namecheap, "cloudflare" is Cloudflare, "wixdns" is Wix, "squarespacedns" or "googledomains" point to Squarespace. Others usually include the company name.
  3. Log in to that company. That is where you will make the change.

If you edit records at your registrar while the nameservers point somewhere else, nothing happens, and you may wait a day for a change that was never going to work.

Step 2: Write down what is there now

Before you touch anything, take a screenshot of the full list of records, or copy them into a document. It is your way back if anything goes wrong.

Then mark the records that belong to your email, so you know not to touch them:

  • MX records. These say where your mail is delivered. Their values often mention google.com, outlook.com, or your email company's name.
  • TXT records starting with "v=spf1". These list who is allowed to send mail as you.
  • TXT or CNAME records with "_domainkey" or "dmarc" in the name. These help your mail avoid spam folders.
  • CNAME records named autodiscover, mail or webmail.

Leave all of these as they are. Why changing your website can break email explains what happens when they get deleted by mistake.

Step 3: Get the values from your new website

Your new website provider will give you the target values. Usually it is one of these:

  • An A record for the bare domain, written as "@" in most DNS screens, with a number like "192.0.2.10" (an IP address, the numeric address of the computer that serves the site).
  • A CNAME record for "www", pointing to a name like "yoursite.provider.com".

Some providers instead ask you to change your nameservers to theirs. That hands them your whole card, email lines included. It can work fine, but only if every email record is copied over to them first. Nameservers vs DNS records helps you decide.

Step 4: Make the change

In the DNS screen where your records live:

  1. Edit the existing A record for "@" and replace its value with the new number. If there are two or more A records for "@", delete the extras, or some visitors will keep landing on the old site.
  2. Check for AAAA records for "@" or "www". These are the newer, longer kind of address. If they point at your old host and the new provider did not give you one, delete them.
  3. Edit the "www" record. If it is a CNAME, change its target. If "www" has an A record instead and your provider wants a CNAME, delete the A record first, then add the CNAME.
  4. Leave TTL on the default or "automatic".
  5. Save, and check that the screen now shows your new values.

Finally, look for any forwarding or redirect setting on the domain, often in a separate section from the DNS records. An old forwarding rule overrides the records you just changed. Turn it off unless your new provider told you to use it.

Step 5: Wait a little, then test properly

Many changes show up within minutes; some take a few hours, because computers around the internet remember the old answer for a while. How long a domain change takes explains the wait and how to check it.

When you test, test the way a customer would:

  • Open your phone, turn Wi-Fi off and type "yourbusiness.com". Then try "www.yourbusiness.com".
  • Check for the padlock in the address bar. Many providers create the security certificate automatically once the records point to them. It can take up to an hour after the records change.
  • Send an email to your business address from a personal account. Reply to it. Both directions should work.
  • Fill in the contact form on the new site and confirm the message arrives.

What usually goes wrong

  • The old site still shows. Usually an extra A record or an AAAA record still points at the old host, or the browser has cached the old page. Try a private window.
  • "www" works but the bare domain does not, or the other way round. One of the two records was not changed.
  • A "not secure" warning. The certificate is still being issued. Give it an hour; if it persists, ask the new provider.
  • Email stops. An MX record was deleted or the nameservers changed without the email records. Put them back from your screenshot.

Each common provider has its quirks. We keep short step-by-step pages for pointing a domain at a new site, with screens for GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace, Wix and others.

Your checklist

  • Look up your nameservers and log in where they point.
  • Screenshot every record before changing anything.
  • Mark the email records and leave them alone.
  • Change the "@" record and the "www" record, and remove extra or old ones.
  • Turn off any old forwarding rule.
  • Test on a phone with Wi-Fi off, check the padlock, and test email in both directions.

If you have not got a new website ready yet, you can see your site rebuilt first, then connect the domain only once you are happy with it.

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