How Do I Point My Existing Domain to HostGator?
This article will walk you through pointing your existing domain to HostGator. Pointing a domain means you will be connecting your domain to your HostGator servers.
Depending on who your registrar or domain provider is, you always have the option to point your domain to your HostGator account by changing your name servers or DNS records. In the video below, we will show you how to point your existing GoDaddy domain to HostGator as an example.
Please note that you can only change your domain's name servers through your current registrar or domain provider.
How to Change the Name Servers for your Domain
Here are the steps outlined in the video above.
Step 1 - Get your HostGator Name Servers
You will want to make sure you have your HostGator name servers handy, which you can see in your Welcome email, Customer Portal, or cPanel.
Option 1 - Welcome Email
When you purchase a new hosting plan, a Welcome email will be sent to you providing you complete details about your hosting package. Depending on your hosting plan, your Welcome email varies. To know more about it, please check out this article, Customer Portal Welcome Email.
Option 2 - Customer Portal
To know where your HostGator name servers are:
- Log in to your Customer Portal.
- Select Hosting from the left-hand menu.
- Locate your hosting plan and click Manage.
- Click the Settings tab.
- In the Settings section, you will find your server information, including your name servers. Take note of these two name servers.
Option 3 - cPanel
To know where your HostGator name servers are:
- Log into your cPanel.
- On the right-hand side, you will see the General Information section.
- Scroll down a little bit to see your name servers.
Step 2 - Change Name Servers via your Current Registrar
Once you have your HostGator name servers, you will now need to update your domain through your current registrar's account. For this example, we will use GoDaddy.
- Log in to your GoDaddy Domain Control Center.
- In the upper right-hand corner, click on your name.
- Select My Products from the dropdown menu.
- Under the Domains section, you should see your domain listed.
- Locate your domain name from that section, then click the DNS button.
- Scroll down to the Nameservers section.
- Click Change.
- Choose the option Enter my own nameservers (advanced).
- On the next page, enter your two HostGator name servers.
- Click Save or Connect to finalize the changes.
- You may receive a verification email to confirm the change.
- Once confirmed, you can now see your updates by logging back into your GoDaddy account and navigating to the Nameservers section again.
- Your HostGator name servers will now undergo the propagation phase, which may take 24 to 48 hours.
Additional References
- If you have a domain registered with another registrar or need more information on making changes to your DNS records, the following article may help: How do I change my DNS or name servers?
- If you want to point your domain to Hostgator and to use DNS elsewhere, you will find this article useful: Pointing My Domain to HostGator When Using DNS Elsewhere
- You can also transfer your domain registration to HostGator so you can manage your website and domain name with one company. The following articles will assist you with that.