Going live · your domain

Connect your domain to your new site

Your new website is built and ready. The last step is pointing your domain at it. It takes about five minutes at the company where you bought your domain, and we do everything else.

You keep your domainNothing is sold, bought or transferred. It stays in your account.

Your email keeps workingWe copy your email settings over before anything changes.

Old links still workYour old page addresses forward to the right new pages.

Before you start

Your login for the company where your domain is registered (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace and so on). Not sure which? Tell us the domain and we'll look it up.
The phone or email on that account. Most companies send a security code before they let you change anything.
Tell us if you use email on your domain (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and so on), so we can confirm it carries over.
The two nameservers we send you. They look like name.ns.cloudflare.com. Every site gets its own pair, so use the exact ones from our message.

What we do first, on our side

Before you touch anything, we set up your domain on our network, copy every email and verification setting it already has, connect your new site to it, and forward your old page addresses. Nothing changes for your visitors or your inbox until you make the one change below.

GoDaddy, step by step

Go to godaddy.com and sign in to the account that holds your domain.
Open My Products.
Find your domain and choose DNS.
Open the Nameservers tab.
Choose Change Nameservers.
Pick I'll use my own nameservers.
Remove the nameservers that are there now.
Enter the first nameserver we sent you in the first box, and the second in the second box.
Choose Save, then confirm the warning. It's expected.
If GoDaddy asks for a security code, enter the one it sends to your phone or email.
Text or email us "done." That's it for you.

Other domain companies

Every company has the same setting. It's called Nameservers, and you choose the option to use your own (sometimes called "Custom").

Namecheap

Sign in and open Domain List.
Choose Manage next to your domain.
Under Nameservers, pick Custom DNS.
Enter our two nameservers and press the green check to save.

Squarespace Domains (including former Google Domains)

Sign in and open Domains, then your domain.
Open DNS, then Domain nameservers.
Choose Use custom nameservers, enter our two, and save.

Anywhere else

Search your domain company's help for "change nameservers." If you can't find it, send us a screenshot of your domain's settings page, or call us and we'll walk you through it on the phone.

If a web designer or old host manages your website: you don't need their permission if the domain is in your account. The nameserver setting lives where the domain is registered. If the domain sits in their account, ask them to move it into yours first. It's your business name, and it should be in your hands.

Do I need to transfer my domain?

Almost never. Pointing your nameservers (above) is all a new website needs, and your domain stays exactly where it is. A transfer means moving the domain itself to a different company or a different account. You'd only do that if the domain is stuck in someone else's account, or you want everything under one roof.

How a transfer works, start to finish

Unlock the domain at the company that holds it now (look for "Domain lock" or "Transfer lock" and turn it off).
Get the authorization code (also called the EPP or transfer code). Most companies show it in the domain's settings or email it to the owner's address. Treat it like a password and only give it to the company receiving the domain.
Start the transfer at the new company, enter the domain and the authorization code, and pay for one more year (a transfer usually adds a year to your registration).
Approve it from the email the old company sends to the owner's address, or just wait.
It finishes in about 5 to 7 days (sooner if you approve the email). Your website and email keep working the whole time if the nameservers are already pointed.

Good to know: a domain usually can't be transferred for 60 days after it's registered, transferred, or has its owner details changed. Moving a domain between two accounts at the same company (for example, from your old designer's GoDaddy account into yours) is a separate, quicker process, often same-day. We'll walk you through either one.

What to expect after you save

Minutes to 2 hoursThe internet picks up the change. Most domains switch in under 15 minutes.

A few minutesWhile the new security lock (the https padlock) is issued, the site can show an error or the old site. That's normal, and we're watching it.

Right awayYour email keeps working. We copied its settings first.

When it's liveWe check every page on phone, tablet and computer, test your old links, and let you know.

Some people still see the old site for a little while, because their phone or internet provider remembers the old address. It clears on its own, usually within the hour.

Stuck, or want us on the phone while you do it?

Call or text and we'll walk through it with you. It takes five minutes.

Call 833-805-0229 Email us