How DNS & hosting fit together
Learn how your domain name connects to your hosting server through DNS, and why this matters when making changes to your site.
Your domain name and your hosting are two separate things — but they have to be connected for your website to work. That connection is made through something called DNS. Understanding how this works will save you a lot of confusion.
Quick summary
DNS (Domain Name System) is like the internet's phone book. It translates your domain name (like yourbusiness.com) into the IP address of your hosting server. When you change hosts, you update your DNS records to point to the new server. This takes time — usually a few hours — called DNS propagation.
The three things that make a website work
Most websites involve three separate services:
- Domain registrar — where you registered and own your domain name (e.g. GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare).
- DNS provider — manages the records that tell the internet where to send requests for your domain. Often the same as your registrar, sometimes separate (e.g. if you use Cloudflare for DNS).
- Hosting provider — the server where your website's files actually live (e.g. Flywheel, WP Engine, Kinsta).
All three must be configured correctly for your site to appear when someone types your address.
How DNS connects your domain to your hosting
When someone types yourbusiness.com in their browser, here's what happens in order:
The browser asks a DNS server: "Where is yourbusiness.com?"
The DNS server looks up your A record — a record that maps your domain to a specific IP address (the address of your hosting server).
The browser connects to that IP address. Your hosting server receives the request.
The server sends back your website's files, and the browser displays your page.
This entire process takes milliseconds. The DNS lookup is cached temporarily so it doesn't happen for every single request.
The DNS records that matter most for hosting
| Record type | What it does |
|---|---|
| A record | Points your domain name to your server's IP address. This is the most important record for hosting. |
| CNAME record | Points one domain name to another (e.g. www.yourbusiness.com → yourbusiness.com). |
| MX record | Points your domain to your email provider. Has nothing to do with hosting — but easy to accidentally affect when making DNS changes. |
| TXT record | Holds text data — used for email security (SPF, DKIM) and domain verification. |
Don't change MX records when updating hosting
Email uses separate DNS records (MX records) from your website. If you're changing hosting, don't touch the MX records. See hosting vs email: why they're separate.
What happens to DNS when you change hosts
If you move to a new hosting provider, we need to update your DNS records to point to the new server. Here's the process:
We set up your site on the new host. Everything is tested before DNS changes.
We update your A record (or nameservers) to point to the new server's IP address.
DNS propagation begins. This is the period where the change spreads across the internet's DNS servers. It usually takes 1–4 hours, but can take up to 48 hours in rare cases.
During propagation, some visitors may see the old site and some may see the new one — depending on which DNS server they're using.
Propagation completes and all visitors see the new site.
Nameservers vs individual DNS records
There are two ways to manage your DNS:
- Using your registrar's nameservers — you update individual DNS records (A, CNAME, MX, TXT) through your registrar's control panel.
- Delegating to another provider's nameservers (e.g. Cloudflare) — the other provider manages all your DNS records. Faster propagation and better performance.
We'll handle this for you and explain which approach we're using for your site. See domains & DNS for a deeper explanation.
Common questions
Related guides
- What is web hosting?
- What is DNS?
- DNS records explained
- DNS propagation
- Hosting vs email: why they're separate
- What happens when we migrate your host
Need a hand?