A simple guide to understanding your website address and how we connect it to your new site.
A domain name is your address on the internet (e.g., NexAssist.com). It is what customers type into their browser to find your business.
Just like a physical business, you need two things to exist online:
1. The Building (Hosting): Where your website files live. (We handle this for you).
2. The Address (Domain Name): How people find the building. (You need to own this).
If you do not have a domain name, you will need to buy one from a "Domain Registrar" (a company that sells web addresses like GoDaddy or Namecheap).
Why do I have to buy it?
It is an industry best practice for the business owner to buy their own domain name. This ensures that you legally own your business name online. If a developer buys it under their name, they technically own your web address.
We recommend Squarespace Domains, Namecheap, or GoDaddy.
Find an available name (like NexAssist.com) and purchase it. It usually costs about $12 to $20 per year.
It is very common for business owners to buy a domain years ago and completely forget where it is hosted. If you don't know what company controls your domain name, here are the four best ways to track it down:
Every domain has a public record. Go to lookup.icann.org and type in your domain name. Scroll down to the Registrar Information section. Look for the "Name" (e.g., GoDaddy.com, LLC or Namecheap, Inc). This tells you exactly what website you need to log into.
Once you know the name of the company from step 1, go into your email (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) and search for their name, or search for terms like "Domain", "Registration", or "Renewal". Look for an old receipt or welcome email to find out which email address you used to create the account.
Domain names must be renewed every year (usually costing between $12 and $20). Search your credit card or bank statements for an annual charge from companies like GoDaddy, Network Solutions, Bluehost, or Squarespace.
If you still can't find it, there is a high chance a previous web developer, agency, or IT person purchased it on your behalf under their own account. You will need to contact them and ask them to transfer ownership of the domain back to you.
Once you track down the company and the email address used, go to their website and perform a "Forgot Password" reset to regain full access to your domain account.
Now that you have access to your domain account, we need to "point" it to your new website.
The industry standard way to do this is by updating your DNS Records (specifically the A-Record and CNAME). This ensures your website traffic comes to us, while keeping your existing business emails intact.
Log into your registrar's dashboard. In the navigation menu, click on DNS, then click on Records (or "Manage DNS").
Look at the list of existing records. If you see an existing A record with the name yourdomain.com (or @), or a CNAME record with the name www, click the Edit button next to them, and then click Delete.
(Warning: Never delete MX or TXT records. Those control your email!)
Click to add a new record. Fill out the form exactly like this:
Click to add another record. Fill out the form like this:
Close the window. It usually takes 15 to 30 minutes for the internet to see these changes. Your website will automatically go live, and your emails will continue to work perfectly.