How do I point my domain at a new website?

Your domain (the name people type) and your hosting (the server the site runs on) are two separate things. Moving to a new site or a new host means telling the domain where to send visitors. That is done through DNS records, usually at whoever you bought the domain from.

The records that matter

• A record / CNAME — points the website (example.com and www.example.com) at the new server.
• MX records — point email at your mail provider. If you only change the website records, email keeps working. If you replace all the records without copying these across, email stops.
• TXT records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) — let other servers trust your email. These need to come across too, or your mail starts landing in spam.

Doing it without downtime

1. Lower the TTL on the existing records a day or two before the switch (to 300 seconds). This means the change propagates in minutes, not hours.
2. Build and test the new site on the new host first, using a temporary URL.
3. Copy every existing record into the new setup before changing anything, especially MX and TXT.
4. Change the website records, then watch. Because DNS is cached, some visitors see the old site for a short while, which is why step 2 matters, both should work.
5. Put the TTL back up once everything looks right.

If your email breaks

It is almost always because the MX records were not carried over. Add them back exactly as they were and mail flow returns, though a backlog can take a little time to clear.

If this feels risky, it often is, DNS mistakes are the most common cause of a bad website move. Get in touch and we can plan or run the switch for you.