Congratulations, you did it! You found the perfect domain name and made it yours. It’s an exciting first step. But after the celebratory high-five, a question might pop into your head: “…now what?”
It’s a common feeling. Buying a domain name is like getting the street address for a new house. You have the official location, but you still need to build the house itself and make sure the mail knows how to get there. That’s where two important concepts come into play: DNS and hosting. Don’t worry, they sound more technical than they are. Let’s walk through exactly what you need to do next to bring your vision to life.
What You Actually Own When You Buy a Domain Name
When you buy a domain name, you’re not purchasing a piece of digital real estate in the traditional sense. What you’ve actually done is registered the exclusive right to use that specific web address for a set amount of time, usually one year. Think of it as leasing a unique spot on the internet.
Your domain registrar, the company you bought the name from, adds your domain to a massive global database. At this point, the domain just sits there. It’s officially yours, but it doesn’t do anything on its own. Typing it into a browser will lead to a blank page or a temporary page from your registrar. To make it functional, you need to give it instructions.
Understanding DNS (The Internet’s Phone Book)
This brings us to the first crucial piece of the puzzle: the Domain Name System, or DNS. The simplest way to think about DNS is as the internet’s phone book. When you want to call a friend, you look up their name to find their phone number. DNS does the same thing for websites.
Every website on the internet has a unique IP address, which is a long string of numbers (like 192.0.2.146). This is the website’s actual location on a server. Since nobody wants to remember long strings of numbers, we use easy-to-remember domain names instead. DNS is the system that translates the human-friendly domain name you type into a browser (like yourwebsite.com) into the computer-friendly IP address.
This translation is handled by nameservers. Nameservers are like the operators for the phone book. When you bought your domain, it was assigned your registrar’s default nameservers. To get your website live, you’ll need to tell your domain which servers to point to, specifically, the nameservers of your web hosting provider. You can typically find and change these settings right in your registrar account dashboard, usually under a section called “DNS Management” or “Nameservers.”
Why You Need Web Hosting
If your domain is the address, web hosting is the plot of land and the house itself. It’s the physical space where all the files that make up your website, your text, images, videos, and code, are stored. A web hosting company provides a server, which is a powerful computer that’s always connected to the internet, to store these files.
When someone types your domain name into their browser, DNS points them to your hosting provider’s server. The server then sends all your website files to the visitor’s browser, and just like that, your website appears on their screen. Without hosting, you have an address with nowhere to send people.
There are a few different types of web hosting, but here are the most common:
- Shared Hosting: This is the most popular and affordable option. You share server space with other websites. It’s perfect for new websites, blogs, and small businesses.
- VPS (Virtual Private Server) Hosting: This is a step up. You still share a physical server with others, but you have your own dedicated section of it. This gives you more control and resources.
- Dedicated Hosting: You get an entire server all to yourself. This is for large-scale websites with very high traffic.
- Cloud Hosting: Your website is hosted on a network of connected servers. This provides great flexibility and scalability, as you can easily access more resources if you get a sudden spike in traffic.
Many companies, like Wix, offer both domain registration and web hosting, which can simplify the entire process. However, you can also buy your domain from one company and your hosting from another. It’s completely up to you.
Connecting Your Domain to Your Hosting
Alright, it’s time to connect the dots. You have your address (domain) and your land (hosting). Now you need to make sure they’re linked. This is done by “pointing” your domain to your hosting provider.
Here’s a simple step-by-step guide:
- Find Your Host’s Nameservers: Your hosting provider will give you at least two nameserver addresses. They usually look something like ns1.hostingcompany.com and ns2.hostingcompany.com. You can find these in your hosting account dashboard or in the welcome email they sent you.
- Log In to Your Domain Registrar: Go to the website where you bought your domain and log in to your account.
- Navigate to DNS Settings: Look for a section labeled “DNS,” “Manage DNS,” or “Nameservers.”
- Update Your Nameservers: You’ll see the current (default) nameservers. Choose the option to use custom nameservers and replace the existing ones with the nameservers from your hosting provider.
- Save Your Changes: Save the new settings, and you’re done!
After you save, the change isn’t instant. It needs to “propagate” across the internet, which means all the DNS phone books around the world need to be updated with your new information. This process can take anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours. During this time, your website might be accessible to some people but not others. You can use an online tool called a “DNS checker” to see how the propagation is going.
Other Things You Can Do With Your Domain
Your domain is more than just a home for your website. Here are a few other powerful things you can do with it:
- Set Up Professional Email: Instead of using a generic email address, you can create one that matches your domain (e.g., [email protected]). This looks much more professional and helps build trust with customers.
- Create Subdomains: A subdomain is like an extension of your main domain. For example, you could create blog.yourwebsite.com for your blog or shop.yourwebsite.com for an online store.
- Add a “Coming Soon” Page: While you’re building your full website, you can put up a simple “coming soon” page. This lets you start capturing email addresses from interested visitors before you even launch.
- Forward Your Domain: If you have multiple domains, you can forward them all to your main website. You can also use forwarding to redirect an old website address to your new one.
Your Site is Cleared for Takeoff
Let’s recap: you start with a domain name (the address). You point it to your web host (the land and house) using DNS settings (the mail-forwarding instructions). When all three are working together, you have a live website that anyone in the world can visit.
Your next steps are to start building your actual website on your hosting account. Whether you use a website builder, install a platform like WordPress, or code from scratch, you now have the foundation in place. And one last friendly reminder: set a calendar alert for your domain renewal. You don’t want to lose your hard-earned address after a year
