You must have heard about nameservers and the need to change them while hosting your website. But what are nameservers exactly? Why do you need to change to Bluehost nameservers when you use our services? Let’s find out.
What are Nameservers?
Nameservers help in connecting your website’s URL with the IP address of the web servers and are an important part of the Domain Name System or DNS. When you type the URL of a website you wish to visit, it needs to be connected to the webserver that powers it and this is done via nameservers.
So, if you are using Bluehost to host your website or manage your domain at Bluehost.in you will need to use our nameservers.
How do you connect to a website with the help of nameservers?
While it may seem that you get connected to a website instantaneously, the process involves several steps:
- You type bluehost.in the address bar
- The browser sends a request to that domain’s name server (generally there are two or more)
- The name server (that holds and stores the DNS records) responds and provides the IP address of the website’s server
- The browser seeks the website content from that IP address, retrieves it and displays it
The following are Bluehost’s nameservers:
- ns1.bluehost.in
- ns2.bluehost.in
How to use Nameservers?
Nameservers and DNS records are used to point a website’s domain name towards your hosting service provider. These nameservers could be located with your domain registrar or your hosting service provider.
If you have registered your domain name through a domain registrar, your domain is pointed towards the registrar’s name server. You can edit these nameservers at your domain registrar.
Now you have two options:
- You can leave your name server at your domain registrar
- Edit the DNS records to point your domain name towards your web hosting.
We, at Bluehost, recommend that you change your domain’s nameservers to the ones provided by us. This can be done by using the interface at the domain registrar where you purchased your domain name.
Reasons to switch to the Hosting Service Provider’s Nameserver?
When you move your website from one hosting provider to another hosting provider, it is recommended that you change the name server also. When you update nameservers you are determining who will have the power to control your domain’s DNS.
However, if you decide to keep your domain name with the old hosting company, all the visitors to your website may not get directed to it. This problem is best solved when you change the domain’s nameservers which means you are transferring the DNS control of your domain name to your hosting provider. So, when you buy a domain name for your website do check whether they allow you to change your nameservers when required.
How to change your nameservers to the Bluehost ones?
Steps to change your nameservers to the Bluehost nameservers:
- Login to your domain name registrar (the place where you bought your domain).
- Go to the option to set your domain’s nameservers in your domain management or domain overview. You need to enter the name of the nameservers in the relevant fields.
The changes take effect after a certain period which is referred to as DNS propagation. The whole process can take up to two days. You can try to speed up the process by flushing your DNS cache. If your domain is registered with Bluehost you can choose custom nameservers or default Bluehost nameservers.
Steps for choosing your nameserver in your BlueRock account:
- Login to your Bluehost account and go to cPanel
- Go to the Domains Tab
- Click on the ▼ icon next to the domain name that you wish to update. Go to Manage, then choose DNS from the drop-down menu that appears
- Select the DNS tab
- Go to the nameservers section and click edit
- Select Bluehost nameservers or custom nameservers for the setup type and enter the nameservers for your account
- Save the changes
Steps for choosing your nameserver in your legacy account:
- Go to the Domains tab
- Scroll down to the domain management tab
- Select the domain and go to domain summary
- Go to the nameserver tab and choose the nameserver-custom or Bluehost
- Click on save nameserver settings
Once you have changed to the Bluehost nameservers, you can be assured that you do not miss out on any traffic to your website.
