Now that you bought your hosting and your domain name, it’s time to make both work together.
Right now, if you try to go to your new domain name, you’ll just see an empty page (probably with the logo of the company you bought the domain name from).
Step One ― Create your SiteGround Website
If you haven’t done it, go back to the last tutorial and make sure to create your SiteGround website!
Step Two ―Link your Domain Name
If you’ve been following me from the beginning, your domain name will be hosted with Namecheap*.
Once you’re on namecheap.com*, click on “Account”.
Log in with the information you used to create your account.
In your dashboard, find your new domain name and click on “Manage”
Scroll down to the “Name Servers” section and select “Custom DNS”. What you’re doing is telling Namecheap that you want the domain name to connect to SiteGround. Otherwise, your domain name is never going to know what it’s supposed to show.
SiteGround’s current DNS names are:
- ns1.siteground.net
- ns2.siteground.net
(You can always find your SiteGround DNS by going to their site to “Websites” > Find your website > “Site Tools” and scrolling to the “Name Servers” section)
Add those and make sure you save!
Congrats, you just linked your hosting and your domain name!
Next, try to access your domain name. If the page you see changes to a SiteGround placeholder page, you know you’ve done it!
Note that it can take up to 48 hours before your domain knows it’s supposed to point to SiteGround. Browser cache can also delay that, so try accessing your site from another computer if you think it’s taking too long.
If you still don’t see your site after a day or two, reach out either to SiteGround or Namecheap’s support and they should be able to assist you. They’re all very nice people!
What if I don’t use Namecheap or SiteGround?
Those are the companies I prefer to use (and that I know how to use) but there are millions of tutorials on the internet for other companies!
Just search for “Pointing [Domain Name Company] domain name to [Hosting Company]” and see what comes up!
And when in doubt, contact the support of either your host or domain name company. They are usually more than happy to help! (And if they’re not helpful, maybe consider switching before you have to renew…)
