How To Connect Your Domain Name And Hosting
If you have purchased the domain name and hosting separately from two different companies, here I will show you two ways – how to connect domain name and hosting account.
Most people do this and I also recommend that you should purchase the domain name and the hosting from two different companies. There are a couple of reasons for doing this, the one reason is most of the domain registrar are not good at providing quality web hosting and it’s the same vice-versa as well, most of the hosting companies are not good to buy the domain name, you actually get stuck with those hosting companies if you buy both from the same company.
If you have purchased a domain name from a reliable company, you may never need to change your domain registrar company. But, it often requires changing the web hosting company, there could be different reasons for doing this, maybe if you are not happy with the hosting services or may be due to the increase in the renewal prices. Changing the hosting company is easier but it’s slightly difficult and takes time to move to a different registrar and may sometimes cost you as well.
In my previous posts, I have explained how to buy a domain name from GoDaddy and how to buy hosting from A2 Hosting. So if you have also purchased the domain name and the web hosting from two different companies, you need to connect them to host your blog or website. It’s very easy and it will not take more than 5 minutes to connect both. In this post, I am going to show you, how to connect domain name and hosting. There are actually two ways, I will show you both the ways.
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How To Connect Domain Name And Hosting
To help you connect domain name and hosting, here in this tutorial, I will be connecting a domain name purchased from GoDaddy and the hosting purchased from A2 Hosting. I highly recommend GoDaddy for purchasing the domain name and A2 Hosting for hosting your blog or website. The process will be more or less the same for other domain registrar and hosting companies. So, you can use the same process if you need to connect a domain name from other registrars to any other hosting company.
Before we start this tutorial, take into account that the DNS changes can take up to 24 hours to fully propagate worldwide.
There are actually two ways you can connect your domain name to the hosting. Either you can do this by updating the A Record in the domain DNS or else you can just update the hosting name server at your domain registrar. I will explain to you both methods step-by-step, both processes are simple and easy, you can follow any of the methods you are comfortable with. So, let’s get started.
METHOD 1: By Updating The A Record (DNS)
1. First, you need to login to your cPanel account to find the IP address of your hosting. Either you can directly login to your cPanel account or with A2 Hosting, you can directly login to your cPanel account from the A2 Hosting Dashboard.
- Log in to your A2 Hosting Account then click on “cPanel Login”
- You will find the IP address of your hosting in the right side box, you need to copy the (Shared) IP address given there.
2. Now you need to update the IP Address in the A Record of your Domain DNS.
- Log in to your GoDaddy account, you will see your domain name there on the “my products” page, you need to click on the DNS button given there.
- On the next page, you will see the DNS records of your domain name, click on the “pencil” icon to edit the A record of your domain name.
- Enter the IP address you copied from the hosting and hit the “Save” button.
That’s it, now you have connected your domain name with your hosting, you need to wait for some time so that the DNS gets propagated properly, it may take a few minutes to few hours. Once it’s connected you can host your blog or website. Also, do note that if you are hosting emails with your host or somewhere else, you need to also update the MX Records given by your host or email service provider.
METHOD 2: By Changing The Name Servers
Once you sign up with with A2 Hosting or with any other web hosting company and purchase their hosting plans, you will get an email from the company with all the details about your hosting. The details also include the “name servers” records. You need to copy the name servers and update it with the GoDaddy.
- Log in to your GoDaddy account, you will see your domain name there on the “my products” page, you need to click on the DNS button given there.
- On the next page, scroll down a bit, you will see the default “Nameserver”, you need to click on the “Change” button to modify the nameservers.
- On the next page, click on “Enter my own nameserver”, then on the next page, enter your both nameservers and hit the save button.
That’ it, you have not connected your domain name with your hosting. Again you need to wait for some time to get the records updated and then you can host your blog or website. Do note that, with this method, the DNS is managed by your web host so if in case you are using a third party email service provider, you need to update the MX Records given by your email service provider in your hosting DNS.
How To Check If Domain Name and Hosting Is Connected?
Once you have connected the domain and hosting, you need to wait for some time to get the DNS records propagated properly. It may take a few minutes to a few hours. If you want to know how to check if the domain name and hosting are connected, there is a simple online tool. With the help of this tool, you can easily check if your domain name and hosting are connected or not.
- Go to whatsmydns.net and enter your domain name.
- If you have used Method #1 i.e. updated the A Record, select the “A” from the dropdown, or if you have used Method #2 i.e. changed the name servers, select the “NS” from the dropdown and then click on “Search” button.
- If the records are propagated globally, you will see the respective records alongside the country name below. It will show blank or old records for the country where the records are not yet propagated, so you may still need to wait.
FAQs (Connecting Domain Name And Hosting)
Here are some of the most common and frequently asked questions that many people ask when they try to connect the domain name and hosting account. I thought to compile all those questions and answer them here to help you and all our other users so that you can connect your domain name with your hosting easily. Check these questions and their answers, they might be helpful for you as well.
Do I still need to connect domain name and hosting if purchased from the same company?
In most of the cases, you won’t need to connect domain name and hosting, if you have purchased the hosting and the domain name from the same company. But, if it requires, it only involves the method one given above. You need to consult the domain and hosting company for further assistance.
Why It is recommended to buy the domain name and hosting from two different companies?
It’s often not required and sometimes it’s not easy as well to change the domain registrar. But, it often requires changing the web hosting company. You can easily change the hosting company if and when needed and that’s the reason it’s recommended to buy domain name and hosting from different companies.
I have connected the domain name and hosting using the methods above, it’s still not showing, what to do?
It takes some time to reflect on the changes you have made. It may take a few minutes to a few hours to properly propagate the DNS records globally. Thus, you need to wait for some time and check again, if you have done everything correctly as per the steps given above, it should reflect properly after some time.
How much time it takes to connect domain name and hosting?
It won’t take more than 5 minutes from your end to connect domain name and hosting. But, do note that it takes some time to propagate the records properly. It usually gets propagated in a few minutes but it can also take up to 24 hours, it all depends on your domain registrar, so you need to wait and check again after some time.
Which of the two methods given above is better to connect domain name and hosting?
Both of the methods given above works exactly the same, you won’t notice any difference in working of your blog or website. In the first method the DNS is managed by domain registrar and in the second method, as you have changed the name server, the DNS is being managed buy the hosting company.
Conclusion
Now that we have come to the end of this tutorial, I hope that by now you have got to know how to connect domain name and hosting. You can use either of the methods to connect your domain name with your hosting. If you follow the steps properly, you can easily connect your domain name and hosting and then you can Install WordPress and can host your blog or website. In case if you have any questions or queries regarding connecting your domain name to your hosting or anything related to this post, you can ask your questions in the comment section below.
