How does DNS connect my domain to my website?
DNS is the internet's address book. Records in it tell browsers where your website lives and tell other mail servers where to deliver your email.
People remember names. Computers find each other by numbers. DNS (the Domain Name System) is the address book that connects the two. When someone types your domain, their device asks DNS where your website lives, gets back a numeric address, and loads the page from there. It all happens in a fraction of a second.
The parts, in plain words
- Your domain is the name, like yourbusiness.com. You rent it from a registrar.
- Nameservers hold your domain's address book. Your registrar records which nameservers are in charge. Sometimes that is the registrar itself, and sometimes it is another service.
- DNS records are the lines in that address book. Each one answers one question, like "where is the website?" or "where does email go?"
The records you hear about most
| Record | What it answers |
|---|---|
| A record | Where is the website? It points your domain to a numeric server address. |
| CNAME record | Is this name another name for something else? It is often used for www or a subdomain. |
| MX record | Where should email for this domain be delivered? |
| TXT record | A short note other services read, usually to prove you own the domain or to list who may send email for you. |
Why one wrong record can cause big problems
Your website and your email both depend on these records. Changing the wrong one can take your site offline or stop email from arriving. That is why we handle changes to the records that run your website and email ourselves, and why we test them before and after.
Why changes are not instant
Servers around the world save copies of your records for a set time so lookups stay fast. After a change, it takes a while for those copies to expire and refresh. See our guide on why a domain change is not showing yet.
We can do this for you. Open a request in your client portal and tell us what you need, such as pointing your domain to a new site or connecting a new email service. Our team will make the change.
Common problems
- If a service asks you to "add a DNS record," check with us first. We can tell you where your records live and add it for you.
- If your website and email broke at the same time, a nameserver or record change is the likely cause. Open a request right away.
- If you are not sure who controls your DNS, we can look it up. You do not need to share any login to find out.
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