What You Need
- Access to your domain registrar (where you bought the domain — GoDaddy, Namecheap, Google Domains, etc.)
- DNS settings from your hosting provider or website platform
Step 1: Get Your DNS Records
Your hosting provider will give you either:
- Nameservers — Two or more addresses (e.g., ns1.host.com)
- A Record — An IP address to point your domain to
- CNAME Record — An alias (e.g., cname.vercel-dns.com)
Step 2: Log Into Your Domain Registrar
Sign in to the site where you purchased your domain and find the DNS Management or Nameserver settings.
Step 3: Update DNS Records
Option A — Nameservers: Replace the existing nameservers with the ones from your host.
Option B — A/CNAME Records: Add an A record pointing @ (root domain) to the IP address, and a CNAME record pointing www to the alias.
Step 4: Wait for Propagation
DNS changes can take 15 minutes to 48 hours to propagate globally. Most changes are live within 1-2 hours.
Step 5: Add SSL
Most modern hosts (Vercel, Netlify, Squarespace) automatically provision SSL certificates. Verify your site loads with https://.