Skip to content
English
Customer portal
Go to dentalmarketing.com
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

How to Update Your Domain’s Nameservers

In this article, you will find step-by-step instructions for pointing your domain to the new nameservers we send you, for the most common domain providers.

We're moving your website to a faster, more secure home. To finish the move, your domain needs to point to two new nameservers. Nameservers are the setting that tells the internet where to find your website and your email. Think of it as updating the forwarding address for your domain.

  • Your website will look exactly the same. Only the behind-the-scenes address changes.
  • We copy all of your existing DNS settings first, including email, so everything keeps working after the switch.
  • Changes take a few hours to kick in, and can take up to 24–48 hours to fully update everywhere. That's normal.
  • If your email acts up (messages not arriving or bouncing back), contact us right away so we can fix it on our end.

Your new nameservers (we'll send you these two values for your domain):

 

 

Nameserver 1: ____________________

Nameserver 2: ____________________

They'll look something like name.ns.cloudflare.com. Copy and paste them exactly. If you don't have them yet, reply to our email and we'll send them.

Not sure which company your domain is with? Jump to Unknown or Other Registrar.

In this article

  1. GoDaddy
  2. Squarespace Domains (including former Google Domains)
  3. SiteGround
  4. Hostinger
  5. Bluehost
  6. Wix
  7. Unknown or Other Registrar
  8. How Do I Know It Worked?
  9. Need Help?
  10. For Our Team: Cloudflare Setup

GoDaddy

Step 1 | Change your nameservers

  1. In your Domain Portfolio, select your domain to open Domain Settings.
  2. Select DNS, then Nameservers.
  3. Choose I'll use my own nameservers.
  4. Remove the existing nameservers and enter Nameserver 1 and Nameserver 2 from the box at the top of this article.
  5. Select Save, then Continue.
  6. If GoDaddy asks you to verify it's you, enter the code sent by text, from your authenticator app, or to your account email.

Good to know: GoDaddy may warn that changing nameservers can affect your website or email. That's expected. We've already copied your settings.

Official GoDaddy help: Change my domain nameservers · Turn DNSSEC on or off

Squarespace Domains (including former Google Domains)

If your domain used to be with Google Domains, it's now managed by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/login, click Continue with Google, and pick the Google account you used for Google Domains.

  1. Open your domains dashboard and click your domain name.
  2. Click DNS, then Domain Nameservers.
  3. Click Use Custom Nameservers.
  4. Enter your Squarespace password (or complete two-factor authentication) and click Continue.
  5. When asked to disable DNSSEC, click Continue. (This is required.)
  6. Enter your new values in the Nameserver 1 and Nameserver 2 fields.
  7. Click Save.

Good to know: Squarespace will say the domain will "disconnect from your site" and that its DNS records will no longer apply. That's expected, because your new website and email settings live with us now.

Official Squarespace help: Review, change, or reset your domain's nameservers · DNSSEC for Squarespace domains · About the Google Domains migration

SiteGround

These steps work if your domain is registered with SiteGround.

  1. Log in and go to Client Area > Services > Domains.
  2. Click Settings next to your domain.
  3. Open the Name Servers tab and click Manage.
  4. Under Nameserver Type, choose Custom.
  5. Enter your two new nameservers in the Nameservers fields.
  6. Click Confirm.

Good to know: If your website is hosted at SiteGround but the domain was bought somewhere else, change the nameservers at the company where you bought the domain instead.

Official SiteGround help: How to change the name servers of my domain?

Hostinger

  1. Log in to your Hostinger dashboard (hPanel).
  2. In the left sidebar, click DNS and select your domain (or click Manage next to the domain in your domain list).
  3. Open the DNS / Nameservers tab.
  4. Click Change Nameservers.
  5. Select Change nameservers (not "Use Hostinger nameservers").
  6. Clear out the existing values and enter your two new nameservers. Leave any extra fields blank.
  7. Click Save.

Good to know: For .de domains, Hostinger asks you to run a DENIC check first. Let us know if your domain ends in .de and we'll help.

Official Hostinger help: How to change nameservers at Hostinger

Bluehost

  1. Log in to your Bluehost Portal.
  2. In the left-hand menu, click Domains. If you have more than one domain, click the one you want to update.
  3. Click Nameservers in the top menu.
  4. Click Change Nameservers.
  5. Replace the existing nameservers with your two new ones.
  6. Click Save.

Good to know: Ignore the Custom Nameservers section at the bottom of that page. That's for something different. Use Change Nameservers.

Official Bluehost help: Managing nameservers

Wix

You can keep your domain registered with Wix. You don't need to transfer it.

Before you start

  • Wix needs both nameservers entered.
  • If your domain is still attached to a Wix site, Wix asks you to unassign it from the site first. If you're not sure how, reply to us and we'll walk you through it.

Change your nameservers

  1. Go to Domains in your Wix account.
  2. Click the Domain Actions icon (three dots) next to your domain.
  3. Select Manage DNS records.
  4. Scroll down to the Nameservers section and click Use custom nameservers.
  5. Enter your values in the Nameserver 1 and Nameserver 2 fields and click Continue.
  6. Review the information on screen, tick the checkbox to confirm, and click Switch nameservers.

Good to know: If your domain was bought somewhere else and only connected to Wix, don't change anything in Wix. Change the nameservers at the company where you bought the domain (see the sections above, or Unknown or Other Registrar).

Official Wix help: Changing Nameserver (NS) Records for a Wix Domain

Unknown or Other Registrar

Step 1 | Find out where your domain is registered

  • Go to lookup.icann.org, type your domain (for example, yourpractice.com), and click Lookup. Look for Registrar in the results. That's the company you need to log in to.
  • Search your inbox for renewal notices or invoices that mention your domain name. They usually come from the registrar.
  • Ask whoever set up your website originally, or check your credit card statements for a yearly domain charge.

Step 2 | Find the nameserver setting

Every company's dashboard is a little different, but nameservers usually live in one of these places:

  • Domains > Manage (or My Domains) > your domain
  • Domain settings, DNS, or DNS Management
  • A tab or button called Nameservers, Name Servers, or Change Nameservers
  • An option called Custom nameservers, Use my own nameservers, or Custom DNS

Step 3 | Make the change

  1. Turn off DNSSEC first if your registrar shows it (often under DNS, Advanced DNS, or Security).
  2. Choose the custom nameserver option.
  3. Remove all old nameservers. Only our two new nameservers should be listed.
  4. Paste in Nameserver 1 and Nameserver 2 exactly as we sent them.
  5. Save, and complete any confirmation email or verification code the registrar sends.

Can't find it?

No problem. You can either give us delegate access to your domain account so we can make the change for you (see How Do I Grant DentalMarketing.com Access To My GoDaddy Domain? for GoDaddy), or book a quick call and we'll do it together on screen: [booking link].

How Do I Know It Worked?
  • Wait a few hours, then visit your website. It should look the same as always.
  • Send a test email to your practice address and reply to one. Both should go through.
  • We'll also confirm on our end once the switch is complete and let you know.

If something looks off, or email isn't arriving or is bouncing, contact us right away so we can fix it on our end.

Need Help?

We're happy to help with any step.

Please let us know by email once you've updated your nameservers so our team can confirm everything is working.

For Our Team: Cloudflare Setup

Internal reference for the DentalMarketing.com team. Clients can skip this section.

1 | Add the domain to Cloudflare

  1. Log in to the Cloudflare dashboard and go to Domains.
  2. Select Onboard a domain, enter the apex domain (for example, yourpractice.com), and choose how to add DNS records (quick scan or import).
  3. Select Continue and choose a plan.

2 | Review DNS records before the switch

  • The quick scan is not guaranteed to find every record. Compare against the old DNS provider record by record.
  • Best option: export a zone file from the old DNS host and import it via DNS > Records > Import and Export. Untick Proxy imported DNS records if you don't want records proxied. Record targets for CNAME/MX/NS/SRV need fully qualified names with a trailing dot.
  • Verify the website records: apex (@) and www point to the new GitHub-hosted site per the hosting setup.
  • Verify email: all MX records, SPF (TXT v=spf1...), DKIM (TXT/CNAME under selector._domainkey), and DMARC (TXT at _dmarc).
  • Verify Google Workspace / Microsoft 365 verification records (TXT such as google-site-verification= or MS=, plus Microsoft 365 CNAMEs like autodiscover), and any other third-party verification TXT/CNAMEs.
  • Set mail-related and verification records to DNS only (gray cloud).

3 | Get the two assigned nameservers

  • They're shown during onboarding and on the zone's Overview page. Standard full setup uses two values in the format <name>.ns.cloudflare.com.
  • Assignments are per zone and can't be changed. Never reuse a pair from another domain. Copy, don't retype (typos like cloudfare.com are a common cause of stuck zones).
  • Paste them into the client's nameserver box at the top of this article before sending.

4 | Before the client switches

  • Make sure DNSSEC is off at the registrar (stale DS records block activation and can make the domain unreachable). Check with dig DS yourpractice.com.
  • All old nameservers must be removed. Only the assigned Cloudflare nameservers can be listed for a full setup.

5 | Check activation status

  • Zone shows Pending Nameserver Update until Cloudflare confirms the delegation. Checks run automatically (first after about 60 seconds, then at growing intervals).
  • To request an earlier check, use the re-check nameservers option on the zone's Overview page. It's rate-limited and queues a check rather than activating instantly.
  • When active, Cloudflare emails the account and the domain shows Active on the Domains page.
  • Free-plan zones still pending after 28 days are deleted automatically, so follow up with clients.

6 | Verify after the switch

  • Check delegation: dig ns yourpractice.com @1.1.1.1, dig ns yourpractice.com @8.8.8.8, or dig +trace yourpractice.com NS +noall +authority +nodnssec. On Windows: nslookup -type=ns yourpractice.com 1.1.1.1.
  • Use whatsmydns.net to see NS propagation across regions (results may be cached).
  • Load the site on https:// for both apex and www.
  • Send and receive a test email with the client, and confirm SPF/DKIM/DMARC still pass.
  • Once active, re-enable DNSSEC in Cloudflare and add the DS record at the registrar if desired.

Domains registered at Cloudflare Registrar

  • Domains registered with Cloudflare Registrar always use Cloudflare nameservers. Custom/third-party nameservers can't be set there.
  • No nameserver change is needed. The domain already uses Cloudflare DNS. Manage records directly in that zone (or move the domain to our account if it's in the client's own Cloudflare account).
  • To use different nameservers, the domain would have to be transferred to another registrar.

Cloudflare docs: Set up a primary zone (Full setup) · Zone stuck in Pending Nameserver Update · Zone status · Import and export records · Registrar FAQ