To set up DNS for a website, you add a few records at whoever manages your domain’s DNS: an A record for your root domain pointing to your host’s IP address, and a CNAME for “www” pointing to the root. Your host tells you the exact values. Then you wait for the change to spread, which is usually quick but can take a day or two. This guide walks through each record, the order to do things in, and how to avoid knocking your email offline.
Key takeaways
- Any website reached by a domain name needs DNS. It translates the name into the server’s IP address so browsers know where to connect.
- A simple site usually needs two records: an A record for the root domain and a CNAME for www. Email needs its own records on top.
- Your host decides which record types and values you use, so copy them from the host’s instructions instead of guessing.
- Changes can take from under an hour to 48 hours to show everywhere. Lowering the TTL ahead of a planned switch shortens the wait.
- Changing nameservers moves all of your DNS. Editing individual records at your current provider is safer when email or another site shares the domain.
Table of Contents
- What DNS does for your website
- The DNS records a small business website uses
- A record vs CNAME: which one do you use?
- How to point your domain to your host, step by step
- Do not forget email
- How long DNS changes take, and how to shorten the wait
- Common mistakes that cause downtime
- DNS management basics for a small business
- Our perspective
- When to let someone handle it
- FAQ
- Sources
What DNS does for your website
People type names. Servers use numbers. DNS, the Domain Name System, is the lookup that connects the two. MDN describes DNS as an address book the browser checks before it sends the request for your page. AWS adds that resolvers cache the IP address they get back for a length of time you can set, which matters later when we talk about changes.
So yes, you need DNS for a website. If someone types yourbusiness.com, something has to say which server holds your site. Without a correct record, visitors see an error even if your hosting account is perfectly healthy.
Three parties are involved, and mixing them up causes most beginner confusion:
- The registrar is where you bought the domain.
- The host is where your site files live (or the platform that runs your store).
- The DNS provider is wherever your records are actually edited. This is often the registrar by default, but it can be your host or a service such as Cloudflare.
The nameservers listed at your registrar decide which provider is in charge. Whatever provider those nameservers belong to is the only place where record changes count.
The DNS records a small business website uses
You will see a long list of record types in any DNS panel. A handful cover nearly every small business site. Cloudflare’s overview lists A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, SOA, SRV and PTR as the common types, but you will touch only a few.
| Record | What it does | Typical use on a small site |
|---|---|---|
| A | Points a name to an IPv4 address | Root domain (yourbusiness.com) to your host |
| AAAA | Points a name to an IPv6 address | Same as A, if your host gives you an IPv6 address |
| CNAME | Makes one name an alias of another name | www pointing to the root, or a subdomain pointing to a platform |
| MX | Sends email for the domain to a mail server | Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or your host’s email |
| TXT | Stores text, often for verification and email security | SPF, DKIM and DMARC, plus domain verification codes |
| NS | Names the nameservers in charge of the domain | Set at the registrar, rarely edited by hand |
Cloudflare’s documentation says an A record holds a domain’s IP address and an AAAA record its IPv6 address. Google’s documentation makes the same point and notes that the web host supplies the address you should use. Google also explains that MX records name the mail server for the domain and can be listed more than once for failover.
Vercel’s documentation summarizes the full set in one line each: A and AAAA map a name to an IP address, CNAME aliases one name to another, MX identifies mail servers, and TXT carries text commonly used for verification.
A record vs CNAME: which one do you use?
The difference is what the record points to.
- An A record points a name to an IP address, such as a number your host gives you.
- A CNAME points a name to another name. Cloudflare defines it as an alias to another hostname rather than an IP address.
Google’s own example is the pattern most small sites follow: an A record on the root domain, and a CNAME for www pointing at that root domain. Visitors who type either version end up in the same place, and if your host ever changes the IP address, you edit one A record instead of two.
A practical rule of thumb:
- Your host gave you an IP address? Use an A record.
- Your host gave you a hostname (something like shops.example-platform.com)? Use a CNAME for a subdomain. Cloud 66’s instructions say exactly that: a CNAME for a subdomain pointing to the host-provided hostname, or an A record for an apex domain pointing to the host-provided IP address.
- Your host wants a hostname on the bare root domain? Some platforms ask for A, AAAA, ALIAS or CNAME records depending on the setup. Squarespace, for example, says a web-hosting connection may need A, AAAA, ALIAS and CNAME records. Cloudflare puts it plainly: the record type and value for the apex depend on the provider hosting the site. Follow your platform’s page to the letter.
How to point your domain to your host, step by step
The screens differ between providers, but the sequence does not.
1. Find out where your DNS is managed
Log in to your registrar and look at the nameservers for the domain. If they belong to the registrar, edit records there. If they belong to your host or to Cloudflare, edit records in that account. This single check prevents the classic mistake of changing records in a panel that nothing reads.
2. Write down what exists today
Open the current record list and screenshot or copy it. Look for MX and TXT records in particular, because those usually mean email is running. Vercel recommends reviewing existing records and TTL before you switch anything.
3. Get the values from your host
Your host’s setup page gives you an IP address or hostname. Copy it exactly. Do not reuse an old IP from a previous host.
4. Add or edit the records
For a typical shared hosting plan, Namecheap’s guide describes an A record for the root (@) pointing to the hosting IP, and a CNAME for www pointing to the root domain. In most panels, that looks like this:
| Type | Host / Name | Value |
|---|---|---|
| A | @ | The IP address from your host |
| CNAME | www | yourbusiness.com |
Delete any old A record for the same name that points to a previous server, so visitors do not get split between two.
5. Keep or change nameservers on purpose
Namecheap advises keeping current nameservers and changing only the needed records when the domain must also support another website, an external email provider or existing DNS management. Switching nameservers hands over every record at once, so anything you did not recreate at the new provider stops working.
If you do move to a service like Cloudflare, its setup instructions cover adding and reviewing records in the new zone first, then updating the registrar’s nameservers and verifying the change.
6. Check the result
Load the site in a private browser window, on your phone over mobile data, and with both the www and non-www versions. If one works and the other does not, the missing record is almost always the CNAME or the A record on the root.
Do not forget email
Website records and email records live in the same list, and moving one can break the other. Namecheap warns that keeping your nameservers while moving website hosting does not configure email on its own: MX plus SPF, DKIM and DMARC records have to be set up separately.
A safe habit: never delete MX or TXT records unless you know which service created them. If you are adding business mailboxes for the first time, our walkthrough on business email setup covers the mailbox side, and the DNS records it asks for are the MX and TXT entries described above.
How long DNS changes take, and how to shorten the wait
Nobody can give you one number, because it depends on caching. AWS shows why: a resolver walks from the root to the top-level domain to your authoritative server, then keeps the answer for the configured TTL. TTL, or time to live, is that cache lifetime in seconds.
Published guidance gives a useful range:
- Namecheap says changes often take effect in 30 to 60 minutes but may take longer, and that the site or email may not work reliably while this happens.
- HostGator says nameserver changes can take up to 48 hours, while A, MX and CNAME changes may keep old cached values for roughly 4 to 8 hours.
- Vercel says changes can take up to 24 to 48 hours to fully propagate and points to whatsmydns for checking progress.
Lower the TTL before a planned move
If you are replacing a live site, do not change the IP and hope. Akamai advises checking the current TTL, then lowering it to five minutes (300 seconds) 48 to 96 hours before changing an IP address, and waiting out that period before making the change. Vercel notes that shorter TTLs get changes recognized sooner while longer ones improve caching. After the move settles, you can raise the TTL again.
If the old site still shows
Akamai suggests a hard refresh, a different browser, or a hosts-file preview, and cautions that a browser refresh cannot override every upstream cache. In plain terms: if your phone on mobile data shows the new site and your laptop does not, the records are right and your laptop is simply holding an old answer.
Common mistakes that cause downtime
- Editing records at the registrar while nameservers point elsewhere. Nothing happens because that panel is not in charge.
- Switching nameservers without copying MX and TXT records. Website works, email vanishes.
- Leaving an old A record in place. Some visitors reach the old server.
- Typing the host value wrong. One digit in an IP address sends traffic nowhere. Paste, do not retype.
- Forgetting www. The root loads, the www version errors, or the reverse.
- Changing DNS the same hour you cancel the old host. Keep the old hosting live until the new site loads everywhere you test.
If the move is part of a bigger site rebuild or platform change, the DNS switch is the last step, not the first. Our SEO migration checklist covers what to protect so rankings survive the cutover, and the guide to moving Wix to WordPress shows the same sequence on a small-site example.
DNS management basics for a small business
DNS management just means owning the list of records and keeping it accurate. For most small businesses that comes down to a few habits:
- Know who controls it. Record which account holds your registrar login and which holds your DNS. Many owners discover this only when a freelancer disappears.
- Keep a copy of the record list. A screenshot after every change is enough.
- Turn on two-factor authentication at the registrar and DNS provider, since whoever controls DNS controls where your domain points.
- Change one thing at a time and test after each change.
- Review it yearly. Old verification TXT records and abandoned subdomains pile up.
Our perspective
Most DNS problems we see are not technical failures. They are ownership problems: the domain was bought years ago by a former employee or web guy, nobody knows which panel is live, and email quietly depends on a record nobody documented. When we launch a small business site, we treat DNS as part of the handover, not a footnote. We write down which records exist, why each exists, and who holds the logins, so the owner is never locked out of their own business.
We also tell clients to plan the switch around email first and the website second. A site that is down for an hour is annoying. Lost customer emails are worse. Setting the TTL low in advance, copying MX and TXT records before touching anything, and keeping the old host running for a few days is boring work that prevents nearly every emergency call.
— George
When to let someone handle it
Doing this yourself is realistic for a single site with no email on the domain. It gets riskier with a store taking orders, several mailboxes, or an older domain with unknown records. In those cases an hour of expert time is cheaper than a day of lost orders.
Red Rock Webscapes builds and launches sites for small businesses and handles the domain connection as part of the launch. Our Website Launchpad program lists a $99 standard business build setup fee and managed care from $79 per month with Managed Core, and our hosting page covers where the site will live. Business email is $29 per month. If you are in Las Vegas or nearby, you can also see our web design services in Las Vegas.
FAQ
Do I need to change nameservers to point my domain to a host?
Not always. You can keep your current nameservers and edit only the A and CNAME records your host specifies. Changing nameservers moves every record to a new provider, so do it only when you intend to manage all DNS there and have copied the existing records first.
What is the minimum set of DNS records for a simple website?
An A record for the root domain pointing to your host’s IP address, plus a CNAME for www pointing to the root, is enough to serve a basic site. If you use email on the domain, you also need MX records and usually SPF, DKIM and DMARC TXT records.
Why does my site work for me but not for a customer?
Different devices and networks cache DNS answers for different lengths of time. Until the old TTL expires, some visitors may still get the previous address. Test on another network, wait out the TTL, and recheck.
Can I use a CNAME on my root domain?
It depends on your DNS provider and host. Many providers expect an A record on the root and offer an ALIAS or flattened CNAME as a workaround, and some hosts specify which to use. Follow the instructions from the platform hosting your site.
Sources
- How the web works, MDN
- What is DNS?, AWS
- DNS records, Cloudflare Learning Center
- Resource record types, Google Domains Help
- Working with DNS, Vercel
- Configuring DNS and IP addresses, Cloud 66
- DNS records for web hosting, Squarespace Help Center
- Change your nameservers (Full setup), Cloudflare DNS docs
- Shared Hosting Getting Started, Namecheap
- DNS Troubleshooting Guide, HostGator
- Troubleshooting DNS records, Akamai
