There are several common situations that require you to change your DNS settings: moving your website to a new hosting provider, setting up professional email on your domain, adding a CDN, or verifying your domain with Google Search Console or another service. This guide explains how to make these changes safely and what to expect when you do.

Where Are DNS Settings Managed?

DNS settings for your domain are managed at your domain registrar — the company where you registered your domain. This may be your hosting provider (if you bought your domain and hosting together) or a separate registrar.

Log in to your registrar's control panel, find your domain, and look for a DNS management section. This is often labelled "DNS Settings", "Manage DNS", "Zone Editor", or similar.

Note: if your domain's nameservers have been changed to point to a third-party provider (like Cloudflare), DNS records may be managed through that provider's dashboard rather than your registrar.

How to Point Your Domain to a New Web Host

There are two ways to point a domain to a new hosting provider:

Option 1: Change nameservers. Your new host will give you two or more nameserver addresses (e.g. ns1.yourhost.com, ns2.yourhost.com). Update these in your domain registrar's control panel. All DNS records for your domain will then be managed through your new host. This is the simplest option if you are moving everything (website and email) to the same new provider.

Option 2: Update A record only. If you only want to move the website but keep email at the current provider, update just the A record — the DNS record that points your domain to an IP address. Your new host will give you the IP address to use. This leaves your MX records (email) untouched.

How to Add an MX Record for Email

If you want to use a third-party email service (such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365) while keeping your website at your current host, you need to add MX records. Your email provider will give you the MX record values to add. In your DNS management panel:

  1. Delete any existing MX records for your domain
  2. Add the new MX records provided by your email service, including the priority values
  3. Also add any TXT records for SPF and DKIM that your email provider specifies

How to Verify a Domain with Google, Facebook, or Another Service

Many services require you to verify that you own a domain. They typically ask you to add a TXT record to your DNS. In your DNS management panel, add a new TXT record with the value they provide (usually a long string beginning with something like "google-site-verification=..."). Once propagated (usually within minutes to an hour), click verify in the service's dashboard.

DNS Propagation: What to Expect

Changes to DNS settings do not take effect instantly. Each DNS record has a TTL (Time to Live) that determines how long it is cached. After making a change, expect 30 minutes to a few hours for most changes to take effect, and up to 48 hours in rare cases.

During propagation, some visitors may see your old site and some the new one, depending on which DNS server they are using. This is normal. You can check propagation status at tools like whatsmydns.net.

Common Mistakes

  • Changing nameservers and individual DNS records at the same time. These can conflict. Decide on one approach — either change nameservers or update individual records — and stick to it.
  • Not backing up existing DNS records first. Before making any changes, note down your current DNS configuration so you can restore it if needed.
  • Changing DNS just before a bank holiday or weekend. If something goes wrong, you want to be able to get support quickly. Make DNS changes at a time when you can monitor the results.
  • Not reducing TTL before a planned migration. If you know you are moving hosts soon, reduce your DNS TTL values a day or two in advance to speed up propagation when you make the switch.

DNS changes are rarely complicated once you know what records to update and what to expect. Take your time, back up your settings, and allow for propagation time — and the process should be smooth.

Need hosting with a clear DNS management panel? View our hosting plans at Eazyhosting.

Looking for professional email on your own domain? Explore Eazyhosting business email hosting for small businesses, with domain email, webmail, spam filtering and practical support.