How to Update Your Domain Settings After Switching Website Hosts

/ For landlords, For tenants / By

If you’ve recently switched website hosts, like moving from InMotion Hosting to SiteGround, you may have encountered a step that asks you to “point your domain” or “update your DNS settings” to the new host. If this sounds confusing, don’t worry—you’re not alone! Let’s break it down into simple terms so you can understand what DNS is and how this process works.

What Is DNS?

DNS, or Domain Name System, is like the address book of the internet. Every website has two key pieces of information:

  1. A domain name—this is the user-friendly name you type into a browser, like example.com or google.com.
  2. An IP address—this is a bunch of numbers that represent the actual location of the website on the internet (kind of like a home address). For example, it might look like 192.168.1.1.

Since IP addresses are hard to remember, DNS makes our lives easier by converting these numbers into the domain names we’re familiar with. So, instead of typing in a string of numbers to visit Google, you can just type google.com and DNS will handle the rest.

How Does DNS Work?

Here’s what happens when you type a domain name into your browser:

  1. You type the domain: Your computer asks DNS, “Where is this website?”
  2. DNS finds the IP address: It searches through its directories (like a phone book) to match the domain name with the correct IP address.
  3. Your computer connects to the website: Once DNS finds the IP address, it sends it to your computer, and your computer uses that address to load the website.

In essence, DNS is like a traffic director. It tells your computer how to reach the correct destination (website) based on the name you’ve entered.

Why Do You Need to Update DNS Settings After Switching Hosts?

When you change website hosts, your website moves to a new “home” (server). But your domain name is still pointing to the old host. This is why you need to update the DNS settings to point your domain to the new host, in this case, SiteGround.

Think of it like moving houses: even though you’ve physically moved, you need to let people (and the internet) know your new address. In this scenario:

  • Your domain name is like your home address.
  • DNS settings are like the instructions or directions people use to find your new home (website).
  • Nameservers are the “directories” or “maps” that tell the internet where to look for your website.

How to Update Your DNS Settings (Step-by-Step)

SiteGround, like many hosts, provides specific nameservers that you need to add to your DNS settings. Here’s what to do:

  1. Log into your domain registrar: This is the service where you purchased your domain name (like GoDaddy, Namecheap, or any other provider). If you are unsure which one is yours, click here to find out.
  2. Find your DNS settings: This is usually in a section labeled “DNS management” or “Domain settings.”
  3. Replace the old nameservers: You’ll see the current nameservers (likely from your old host, InMotion). You’ll want to remove those and replace them with the new nameservers provided by SiteGround.
  4. Save your changes: After entering SiteGround’s nameservers, save your settings.

That’s it! Once you’ve done this, it may take a few hours or up to 48 hours for the changes to fully take effect (this is called DNS propagation, you may encounter various errors during this time period). After that, your domain will be fully connected to your new host, and visitors will be directed to your website at SiteGround.

Final Thoughts

DNS is one of those behind-the-scenes systems that makes the internet work smoothly without us even noticing. It’s the reason we can easily access websites with user-friendly names instead of hard-to-remember numbers. And when you switch website hosts, updating your DNS settings ensures that people will still be able to find your website at its new home.

So, the next time you’re asked to “point your domain” or “update DNS settings,” you’ll know exactly what that means and how to do it. It’s a simple process that keeps your website connected and accessible from anywhere in the world!

We hope this information serves as a valuable resource for you. If you’re committed to becoming the best version of yourself and becoming one of our community of like-minded individuals, then subscribe to our free weekly newsletter by submitting the simple form below.

We are looking forward to having you grow and thrive together!