How to point your domain to your hosting: nameservers vs A record

You have a domain name and a hosting account, and now the two need to be connected so that visitors who type your address reach your website. There are two reliable ways to point your domain to your hosting: change the nameservers, or edit the DNS records, usually the A record. Both work. The right one depends on where you want to manage DNS and what else your domain is used for, especially email.

A quick DNS refresher

DNS is the internet's address book. When someone visits your domain, their browser asks DNS which server to contact. Cloudflare's guide What is DNS? explains the full lookup if you want the detail.

• Nameservers decide who answers those questions for your domain. Your registrar stores them.
• DNS records are the answers. An A record maps a name such as example.com to an IPv4 address (see DNS A record). Other records handle email (MX), verification (TXT) and aliases (CNAME).

Your registrar is the company where the domain is registered. ICANN's information for registrants explains your rights and responsibilities as a domain holder, including keeping your contact details up to date.

Option 1: change the nameservers

When you point your domain's nameservers to your hosting provider, the hosting company's DNS becomes responsible for every record on the domain. The records needed for your website and hosted email are usually created for you automatically.

Choose this when:

• You want the simplest setup with the fewest manual steps.
• Your website and email will both be hosted with the same provider.
• No other services depend on records at your current DNS provider.

How to change nameservers, step by step:

1. Find the nameservers for your hosting account. They are in your welcome email and in your client area.
2. Sign in to the company where your domain is registered.
3. Open the domain's settings and look for Nameservers or DNS servers.
4. Choose the option to use custom nameservers, replace the existing entries with your hosting nameservers, and save.
5. Wait for the change to spread, then check the result (see below).

If your domain is registered with us, you can change nameservers from the client area on the domain's management page.

Option 2: edit the A record

With this method your DNS stays where it is, and you only change the record that tells browsers where the website lives.

Choose this when:

• Your email is hosted elsewhere, for example Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, and you do not want to touch its records.
• You use a DNS or security service such as a CDN in front of your website.
• Other subdomains point to different services and you want to manage them all in one place.

How to edit the A record, step by step:

1. Find your hosting account's server IP address in your welcome email or client area.
2. Sign in to your current DNS provider and open the DNS zone for your domain.
3. Edit the A record for the root of the domain (often shown as @) and set its value to the hosting IP address.
4. For www, either create an A record with the same IP or a CNAME record pointing www to your root domain.
5. Leave your MX and email-related TXT records unchanged so email keeps working.

Two ways to point your domain to your hosting at a glance

Real-world examples from the UAE and GCC

A new café in Dubai Marina. The owner registers a domain and buys shared hosting with email included. Nothing else uses the domain yet, so changing the nameservers is the quickest path: website, mailboxes and SSL are set up in one place.

A Riyadh consultancy on Google Workspace. The team's email already runs on Google Workspace and the DNS zone holds its MX and verification records. They move the website to new hosting by editing only the A record and the www record. Email is never interrupted.

An agency managing client domains. A web agency in Abu Dhabi keeps each client's DNS with the client's chosen provider and points only the website records to the hosting server. This keeps ownership with the client and avoids surprises with their email or other tools.

A store using a .ae domain. Some extensions, such as .ae, have their own registration rules set by the registry. The DNS steps are the same once the domain is registered: change the nameservers or edit the A record.

How long does it take?

DNS answers are cached around the world for a period set by each record's TTL (time to live). An A record change often takes effect within minutes to a few hours. A nameserver change can take longer, commonly up to 24 to 48 hours, because nameserver information is cached as well.

Tip: if you are planning a move, lower the TTL of the records you will change a day in advance. Changes then spread faster on the day.

Check that it worked

1. Look the domain up with an online DNS checker and confirm the A record shows your hosting IP address.
2. On a computer, run nslookup yourdomain.com in a terminal or command prompt.
3. Visit the site from a mobile network or a private browser window to avoid your own cached results.
4. Send a test email to and from your domain if you changed nameservers.

Common problems and fixes

• The old website still appears. It is usually caching. Wait for the TTL to pass, clear your browser cache or try another network.
• Email stopped working after a nameserver change. The MX records at the old DNS provider were not recreated. Add your email provider's MX and TXT records in the new DNS zone, or use business email hosted with us.
• www works but the root domain does not (or the reverse). One of the two records is missing. Add both.
• The browser shows a security warning. The SSL certificate is issued once the domain points to the server. Give it a little time after DNS has updated, then check the SSL status in your control panel or add an SSL certificate.

FAQ

Should I change nameservers or the A record?

Change nameservers if your website and email will both be hosted with the same provider. Edit the A record if email or other services stay with another provider.

Will my website go offline while DNS updates?

Not if you keep the old hosting active until the change has spread. Visitors reach either the old or the new server during the switch.

Can I point a domain registered elsewhere to Globalhostia hosting?

Yes. You can keep the domain at your current registrar and point it to us with either method, or transfer it later.

How do I find my hosting nameservers and IP address?

Both are in your welcome email and in the client area. If you cannot find them, contact support.

Need a hand?

Register or transfer a domain, compare our web hosting plans, read shared hosting vs VPS if you are still choosing a plan, or visit the help center. Send us your domain name and we will check your DNS for you.