Now you have registered your domain name with GoDaddy, the next step is to configure it to work with your web hosting.
If you use GoDaddy for your web hosting, your domain name will work automatically. Otherwise, you must point your domain to your web hosting provider.
Generally, when pointing your domain to your web hosting provider, you have two options:
- Configure DNS settings by setting an A record. A records use an IP address to connect your domain to a website.
- Change your Nameservers to your hosting provider.
Changing your nameservers to your web hosting provider is the easier option and allows for automatic configuration of webmail, subdomains, cPanel subdomains, and more.
In addition, some web hosts now offer premium content delivery networks as part of their offerings. Sometimes, this requires the nameservers to be set to the hosting provider to work.
This tutorial will show how to set an A record using GoDaddy’s DNS management tool.
How To Change your GoDaddy DNS Settings
Most web hosting providers include the server IP address in their welcome email.
The screenshot shows the relevant section of TMDHosting’s welcome email detailing the Server IP.
To log in to your GoDaddy client area, click the “Sign In” menu item in the top right-hand corner and select “Sign In”.
Scroll down the page to the “Domains” section, and select “Manage my domain” next to the domain you wish to configure the DNS records for.
Click the “Manage DNS” link to go to the DNS management page.
To edit the “A” Record for your plain domain, click the edit icon next to the following record:
- Type: A
- Name: @
The “@” indicates the name of your plain domain name (i.e., thewebmaster.com).
Update your “A” record by adding your server IP address to the “Value” box.
You can leave all the settings as they are. Then click “Save”.
It can take up to 48 hours for the nameservers to update. As the TTL is set to 600 seconds for the A record, it should update after that.