Nameservers work behind the scenes to tell your browser where to look on the Internet to find the web server your domain is hosted on. It may sound complicated, but you don’t need any technical knowledge to follow this guide. There are, however, a few requirements. You will need to have a registered domain name, a web hosting account, and the nameserver settings provided by your web hosting company.
Let’s get started! Log in to your domain registrar account (we are using www.GoDaddy.com, but you can use any registrar). If you have a different domain registrar, the interface and names may be slightly different.
From the top navigation menu, rollover the “Domains” button, and select the first option – “My Domain Names”.
This brings up the “Manage Domains” control panel that lets you make any necessary changes to your domains. Select your domain from the domain list, and click on the “Set Nameservers” button.
On the right side of the page, you will now see the Set Nameservers control panel. Select the “Custom Name Servers” option. Next, type in the nameservers provided by your web hosting company. You should have at least two different nameservers. Nameservers usually follow a format similar to: 1.servername.com, A.servername.com, or an IP address (xx.xxx.xx.xxx, where x’s are numbers). Be sure to type these in exactly as given to you!
*If your domain is in “locked” status, as shown with a gold lock icon, you will need to unlock it in order to edit the nameserver. Locking prevents any changes being made. Select your domain from the domain list, and click on the “Set Locking” button in the Manage Domain control panel.
Select the “Unlocked” radio button from the Set Locking control panel, and click Save Changes.
It may take several minutes for the Locking status to update.
Tip: Set your domain locking status back to “locked” when you have finished updating your nameservers.
Once the nameservers for your domain are set, it will take anywhere from a few hours to 48 hours for the settings to propogate across the Internet.
