When you buy a domain name (yourblogname.com) from a domain registration company, the domain name is set up to point at the domain registration company’s own servers.
The servers are where the files for your blog/website live.
If you are setting up your blog/website through the domain registration company this is fine.
But if you have arranged blog/web hosting through a different company (e.g. a web hosting company), you must set up the domain for your blog/website so that it points at the correct server.
Setting up your blog/website so that it points at the right server is known as changing the nameserver.
I buy most of my domains from 123Reg and the screens below show screen grabs from 123Reg.
Follow these steps to change your nameservers
To change the name server, log into the membership panel of the domain registration company’s website.
Under ‘Manage Active Products’, choose your domain from the drop-down list under the ‘Domains’ section.
Click ‘manage’.
On the next screen, under the ‘Advanced Domain Settings’ section, select:
This will take you to a screen showing the nameservers (Nameserver management).
The format of the nameserver is ns + number + dot + hosting company domain name.
Remove the default nameserver information:
Add the nameserver details for your hosting company.
You can get your hosting company’s nameserver information from your hosting company.
For example ns1.dreamhost.com.
Be sure to copy the nameservers correctly into the boxes. You will have 2 or 3 nameservers to enter into the boxes but must enter at least 2 of the nameserver boxes.
Click ‘Update’ and you’ll see this message:
It can take up to 48 hours for the nameserver changes to be complete.
Want to avoid changing the nameservers?
If you prefer not to make changes to the nameservers, you could instead buy your hosting from your domain registration company.
In my opinion, buying your hosting from your domain registration company can be a pricier option, particularly if you’re planning to host more than one domain name.
If you buy hosting from your domain registration company, you won’t need to change the nameservers because your domain will already be pointing at the correct servers (in other words the domain registration company’s own servers).
The next step is to
