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How To Link A Domain

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No worries if you already have a cool domain name purchased with another company. You can still use it with your Gator website.

The process of linking or pointing a domain is relatively simple and carried out through the control panel with the company you bought the Domain through.


Pro Tip: Thinking of transferring your Domain instead? Check out the Difference Between Linking and Transferring article for more information about both processes.
 

Before contacting the other company, though, you'll want to run through the following steps:

  1. Log in to your Gator account and select Domains from the left-hand menu to link a domain.
  2. On the new page, you'll see three areas:
    • Add a new Domain: Register a new Local domain name.
    • Connect a current domain: Link a new 3rd Party Domain.
    • My Domains: To manage Local and Linked 3rd Party Domains.
  3. Click the Connect Your Domain button from the Connect a current domain card.
    Connect your domain label
  4. A window will open for you to enter your Domain name.
    Enter your Domain name
  5. Click Connect to proceed.
    Click connect to proceed
  6. The next screen provides instructions for your Registrar account - this refers to the company where you purchased your Domain or where you have 'registered it.' Select Next to move to the next step.
    Select next to move to the next step
  7. Choose if you would like to assign one of your site designs to the Domain and click Next when your desired option is selected.
    Choose if you would like to assign one of your site designs to the Domain
  8. Click Finish to submit your Domain to Gator account.
    CLick Finish to submit

Next, connect your domain from your current registrar

Once you've finished with those steps in your Gator account, you'll also need to complete the following with your domain registrar account:

  1. Log in to your registrar account, which is the company where you purchased your Domain.
  2. Find the DNS management section in their dashboard or control panel.
  3. Follow the steps to add an A Record that points to our IP address.


Pro Tip: Some domain providers require you to have the full Domain in the host; some do not. When changing A records, be sure you have TWO records. The first one will have @ as the host and IP address as Value, and the second will have www or www. (yourdomain). (com, net, org) as the host and the IP address as value. The A records are the only thing we need to worry about. Check to ensure there is only one @ host in the A records. If there are any others, delete them, as an additional A record with the @ host can interfere with the verification.
 

If you have questions about adding the A Record to your registrar account, you should refer to that company's instructions and support for information on completing this process.


Note: When changing DNS records, such as linking a domain, your site may take up to 48 hours to propagate. "Propagation" is when there is a  delay for data to travel from the sender to the receiver. In this case, information needs to come from your local computer to your hosted server, and then it needs to be distributed across the global network of servers so that your content can be viewed on the internet. We recommend allowing up to 48 hours from when changes are made before reaching out to support regarding issues that may be related to Propagation.