DNS (Domain Name System) is the internet’s address book that routes your domain name to the server where your website is hosted.
Here’s the simple relationship: your domain is what people type (like yourbusiness.com), DNS is the set of directions that says “send visitors here,” and hosting is the actual server that stores your site files and delivers pages to the browser. If hosting is the building and the domain is the street address, DNS is the map that connects the two.
DNS matters any time you launch a new site, switch hosts, add a CDN, or set up business email. Your hosting provider gives you a target (often an IP address or a hostname). You then update DNS so requests for your domain (and subdomains like www) point to that target. DNS can live at your domain registrar, your host, or a separate DNS provider, but it always controls where the internet tries to find your site and related services.
Most confusion comes from two ways to “point a domain” at hosting: (1) changing nameservers, which hands DNS control to a different provider, or (2) editing individual DNS records (like A or CNAME) while keeping DNS where it is. Both can work, but record edits are usually cleaner when you want to keep email records untouched.
Common DNS records you’ll see
| Record type | What it controls | Common use |
|---|---|---|
| A | Points a name to an IPv4 address | yourdomain.com to your web host’s IP |
| AAAA | Points a name to an IPv6 address | Same idea as A, but for IPv6 |
| CNAME | Points a name to another hostname | www to yourdomain.com, or to a platform hostname |
| MX | Routes email for your domain | Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 mail delivery |
| TXT | Stores text-based verification and policies | Domain verification, SPF, DKIM, DMARC |
| NS | Declares which nameservers are authoritative | Who “hosts” your DNS zone |
If you’re changing hosting for a busy Orlando business (think dental, legal, or medical scheduling), the safe move is to confirm which records power your email first (MX and TXT are the big ones), then only update the web-related records (A, AAAA, CNAME). DNS changes can appear fast or take longer depending on caching and TTL settings, so we plan the cutover when a short window of inconsistency is least painful.
If you want us to handle the hosting side and the DNS cutover cleanly, our WordPress hosting team can coordinate the move so your site and email stay stable.
And if the domain side feels fuzzy, our quick explainer on what a domain name is helps clarify what you own, what you rent, and what you can switch at any time.
