Yes, you can register your domain with one company and host your website with another, and it’s a normal setup for many small businesses.
Think of the domain registrar as the place that “owns” your domain name (the registration), and the web host as the place that stores and serves your website files and database. DNS is the connector that tells the internet where your domain should go.
| Piece | What it controls | What you typically change |
|---|---|---|
| Registrar (domain registration) | Who controls the domain and where DNS is pointed | Nameservers, registrar lock, contact email, renewals |
| DNS host (sometimes the registrar, sometimes separate) | Records that route web and email traffic | A/AAAA records, CNAME (often for www), MX (email), TXT (verification) |
| Web host | Your website’s server and settings | IP address or target hostname, SSL, caching, redirects, backups |
There are two common ways to connect a domain to a host:
- Change nameservers: In your registrar, replace the current nameservers with the ones provided by your hosting company (or a DNS provider). After that, DNS records are managed wherever those nameservers point.
- Edit DNS records where they are now: Keep your nameservers as-is, then update the DNS records (usually the root “@” and “www”) to point to your new host. Your host will tell you exactly what record values to use.
For most business sites, the “edit DNS records” option is cleaner if you want to keep email untouched, because business email often depends on MX and TXT records that are easy to break during a nameserver change. If you do switch nameservers, copy every existing DNS record first, especially MX and TXT, so your email and verifications keep working.
Timing-wise, DNS updates can appear quickly, but it’s normal for changes to take anywhere from minutes up to about 48 hours to show everywhere due to caching. In Orlando, we often schedule DNS switches after business hours for companies that depend on calls and form leads, and we keep a rollback plan ready in case a record gets missed.
Before you touch anything, grab three items from your web host: the correct IP address or target hostname, whether you need an A record or a CNAME, and any SSL or “primary domain” steps inside the hosting dashboard. If you want a quick refresher on the moving parts, our DNS basics FAQ breaks down what DNS actually does in plain English.
If you’d rather have us handle the domain-to-host connection, SSL, and a clean cutover with minimal disruption, our WordPress hosting team can take care of the DNS updates and the checks that prevent surprise downtime.
