Your website can be alive on a preview URL while your domain still points nowhere useful — or still points at an old host. Connecting the two is a paperwork-and-DNS task, not a redesign. This guide separates registrar from host, explains A and CNAME records in plain language, and argues that you should not transfer your domain unless you independently want a new registrar.

Registrar vs host — two dashboards forever

Registrar: where you rent yourshop.com. You renew it there. You edit DNS there (unless you delegated nameservers elsewhere).

Host (SiteHost): where your files live. You publish zips or GitHub deploys there. You tell SiteHost which domain should map to which website.

Paying SiteHost does not magically move your domain billing into SiteHost. Keeping them separate is normal and healthy. SiteHost does not sell you a VPS or a cPanel suite; it serves the website files you upload and helps you attach names to them.

Before you touch DNS

  1. Publish the site on SiteHost.
  2. Approve the HTTPS preview.
  3. Add the custom domain in the SiteHost UI so you receive the exact records to create.
  4. Only then open the registrar.

If you change DNS while the site is still broken on preview, you will debug two fires. Order matters. How to make a website live, how to publish a website online.

The short trial (~1 day) is enough to prove the upload path before you pay — but you can also connect a domain on a paid plan after you are calm about the preview. Domain annual renewals stay on their own calendar regardless.

A records and CNAME records without mystique

A record. Points a name at an IPv4 address (numbers). Often used for the apex domain (yourshop.com).

CNAME record. Points a name at another name (an alias). Often used for www.yourshop.com pointing at a host target.

Which one SiteHost asks for depends on what the product instructs on screen. Copy the values SiteHost shows. Do not mix a blog post’s generic numbers from 2019 with today’s dashboard.

Common failure: creating a CNAME on the apex when the host expects an A record (or vice versa). Another: leaving old A records that conflict with new ones. Remove obsolete records that send visitors to the previous host once you intentionally cut over.

Deeper propagation notes: how to point DNS to website hosting.

www and naked domain

Decide whether www.yourshop.com and yourshop.com both should work. Many setups create records for both and let the host redirect one to the preferred version. Follow SiteHost’s domain instructions rather than inventing a third variant (http://ww.yourshop.com typos happen — marketing should use one canonical form).

Print that canonical form on cards and invoices. Mixed branding (www in one place, bare domain in another) confuses humans more than DNS does.

Do not transfer unless you want to

Transfer moves registration between registrars. It can involve auth codes, waiting periods, and locked domains. It is unrelated to “can SiteHost serve my site?”

Pointing DNS is sufficient to connect the site. Transfer only if you dislike your current registrar’s UX or pricing.

Certificates wait on DNS

SiteHost preview already uses HTTPS. Your custom domain certificate is issued after DNS verifies. If HTTPS on the custom name is not ready, check:

  • Record values typed exactly
  • Whether you edited DNS at the right place (registrar vs Cloudflare DNS if you use their nameservers)
  • Propagation delay

Free SSL for a small website. There is no built-in CDN required for certificates to work; CDN is a separate, optional layer (Cloudflare later if you want it).

Email warning during domain changes

Website DNS and email DNS share the same control panel and sometimes the same record set. If you delete MX records while “cleaning up,” mail breaks. Change only what SiteHost asks for website mapping. Screenshot your DNS panel before edits.

SiteHost does not include email hosting — another reason not to casually rebuild every record you see. Website hosting without cPanel.

Plans and domains

Any plan that hosts your site can use a custom domain: Starter $9/mo (1 site, 2 GB) through Pro $30 (3 sites, 10 GB, staging), Scale $65 (10 sites, 30 GB), and Business $130 (30 sites, 100 GB, teams). Domain purchase cost remains separate. Trial ~1 day on SiteHost; domains have their own annual cycle.

Example: bakery cutover Saturday morning

Old host still serves risesbakery.com. New files look perfect on SiteHost preview Friday night. Saturday 7 a.m., owner lowers TTL (done two days earlier), adds A/CNAME as shown, waits for SiteHost to verify, confirms HTTPS, then updates Google Business Profile. Mailchimp still sends from the same MX — untouched. Transfer was never on the checklist.

A registrar walkthrough in calm language

Exact menus differ, but the shape repeats:

  1. Log into the company where you pay for the domain.
  2. Find the domain list; open the one you are connecting.
  3. Find DNS management — not “transfer,” not “park,” not “for sale.”
  4. Add the records SiteHost displayed. Match host/name and value/target carefully.
  5. Save. Do not delete MX records.
  6. Return to SiteHost and wait for verification.

If your DNS is actually at Cloudflare because nameservers point there, make the edits in Cloudflare instead. Editing the registrar DNS while nameservers point elsewhere is a classic no-op.

Cutover day communication

Tell staff the domain may flap for some networks. Keep the old host paid until the new HTTPS domain looks right for you and one friend on a different ISP. Update Google Business Profile last among the technical steps — after the certificate works — so Google is not sent to a half-ready name. Printed materials should lag even further if you are mid-migration.

Subdomains for sticky situations

www, staging, and launch are just more DNS rows when used deliberately. Pro customers often put a campaign on a subdomain site slot. Each hostname you add in SiteHost needs a matching DNS record. Do not invent hostnames in ads that were never configured.

Mistakes that look like SiteHost bugs

  • Editing DNS at the registrar while nameservers point at Cloudflare (or vice versa)
  • Creating both an old A record and a new A record for @
  • Typos in CNAME targets — one wrong character fails verification
  • Expecting instant global consistency after a high TTL
  • Changing mail MX while “tidying”

When verification fails, screenshot SiteHost’s required records and your DNS panel side by side. Most failures are mismatches, not platform outages. Plans from Starter ($9/mo) through Business ($130) do not change DNS physics; they only change how many sites and how much storage you can attach names to.

After the padlock appears

Confirm both apex and www if you use both. Update internal link lists and ad destinations to HTTPS. Keep a note of the record values for the next person who helps you. Rollback on SiteHost still only restores files — it will not revert a DNS edit you made at the registrar.

Also update your email signature, social profile links, and any QR codes that still encode the old host or an http:// URL. Certificate success is not the same as marketing consistency.

Example: photographer pointing a .photo name

After galleries look right on the HTTPS preview, a portrait photographer adds linastudio.photo in SiteHost, creates the shown records at the registrar, and waits. She does not transfer the domain from the registrar she already likes. She leaves MX alone so client emails keep flowing. When the padlock appears, she updates her Instagram bio. Image weight was fixed before DNS day — see where to host a photography website — so the new domain does not debut a slow homepage.

Questions people actually ask

Can I connect a domain I bought yesterday?

Yes, once the registrar lets you edit DNS. Some new domains need a short time before DNS edits apply.

Can one domain point to two hosts?

Not sanely for the same hostname. Cut over deliberately.

What about subdomains for campaigns?

Create a subdomain record (launch.yourshop.com) and add that hostname in SiteHost as instructed. Useful on Pro when you isolate campaign sites. Host a landing page online.

Do I need to pay SiteHost extra per domain?

Follow current pricing on sitehost.se; the plans above describe site and storage quotas. Domain registration fees are still at your registrar.

Why does my phone see the new site but my laptop the old?

DNS cache and propagation unevenness. Wait, or flush local DNS / try a cellular network. Avoid flapping records every five minutes.