Connecting GoDaddy to HostGator — So the World Can See Your Site
You now have a domain name (registered at GoDaddy), and you’ve signed up for hosting (through HostGator). But at this point, the two don’t know each other exist.
To get your site online, you need to connect your domain name to your hosting account. This tells the internet, “Hey, when someone types in mydomain.com, send them to the website I’m building on HostGator.”
This Is Done Using “Nameservers”
Think of nameservers like a phone book that tells the internet where to find your site.
GoDaddy, by default, uses their own nameservers. But since your website will live on HostGator you must replace GoDaddy’s nameservers with HostGator’s instead, since your site will exist on Hostgator’s platform.
It’s a one-time setup. And fortunately takes less than five minutes to swap.
Here’s What to Do
- Log in to your HostGator account
After purchase, you’ll get a welcome email. Inside it, you’ll find two very important nameserver addresses. They’ll look something like this:
ns1234.hostgator.com
ns1235.hostgator.com
Copy those nameservers
Write them down or keep the email open. You’ll need them in the next step.
- Log in to your GoDaddy account
Go to your domain list and click on the domain you just registered. - Scroll to the “Nameservers” section
Click “Change” or “Manage” depending on the interface version. - Choose “Enter my own nameservers (advanced)”
Replace the existing GoDaddy nameservers with the two from HostGator. - Click Save
That’s it. You’re done.
What Happens Next?
It usually takes a few minutes to a few hours for the changes to fully update across the internet. This process is called DNS propagation. During this time, it’s totally normal if your site isn’t showing up yet or looks blank.
Just give it a little time. You only need to do this once.
Once the update completes, typing in your domain will take visitors directly to your HostGator-hosted website — even if there’s nothing on it yet.
What’s Next?
Now that your domain is pointing to HostGator, we’re ready to install WordPress — the tool we’ll use to actually build your site.
It’s fast, free, and included with your hosting account.