How To Assign a Domain Name - A Record, Name Servers, HTML Page

Once you have registered your domain name, you must assign it to your hosting account so your website can be accessible to users. The instructions outlined in this article will help you assign your domain to your hosting account.  

Your domain must point to your Bluehost hosting account using either Nameservers or the A Record for it to function correctly. Before assigning the domain, the Nameservers or A Record should be pointed to Bluehost to minimize update time. 

Currently, we can register domains with the following extensions: 

• com 
• .net 
• .org 
• .us 
• .biz 
• .info 

All additional domain extensions must first be registered with a registrar that allows registration of your preferred domain extensions. You should then be able to use our hosting services by setting your nameservers to point to us. 

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• Access the Domains Tab
• Assigning the Domain Name
• Troubleshooting
• Summary

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Access the Domains Tab

1. Login to your account.
2. Once logged in, find and click the Domain Name tab on the left side of your Account Manager dashboard.
   

Assigning the Domain Name

New Hosting – With New Domain and Hosting

If you purchase a new hosting and domain within the same order, the system will auto-assign the domain name to the configured default site. Nothing needs to be done on your end.

New Hosting – External Domain

If you are purchasing a new hosting with us but looking to use a domain name with another domain registrar, you'll need to change the domain name associated with the default site that's configured at purchase. You need to change it because the default site will be associated with the temporary domain.

Follow the steps below to assign a your domain name. 

1. From the hosting overview page, click the Welcome link for the site, which will take you to where you will see all the hosting control panel options.
   
2. Click the Settings button.
   
3. Under the Domain Name & Site URL section, click the Change link. 
   
4.  Connect your domain. 
   1. Enter the desired domain name in the Enter Domain Name text field.
   2. Click the Continue button.
      

      Note:

      • If you are using an externally registered domain, please be advised that you'll need to point the domain name to Bluehost name servers to finish the setup.
      • Due to propagation, you will be unable to verify the connection or finish the setup. Make sure to update your DNS settings and wait 24-48 hours for DNS propagation to complete. Once done, you can log in to your account manager and go into the hosting section to click Finish Setup under the Settings section. 

Existing Hosting - New Domain With Existing Website

If you want to add a new domain to an existing website or installation, you can do so at any time from the Domain settings.

1. From the Websites page, click the Settings button for the hosting plan or website you wish to add a domain name to.
   
2. Click the Domains tab, then click the ADD DOMAIN button.
   
3. Enter the domain you want to add, then click CONTINUE.

Removing a Domain Name

If you wish to remove a domain from a website or installation, you can do so from the Websites page.

1. From the Websites page, find the website you wish to update.
2. Click the vertical elipses (three dots) icon, then click Remove Domain from Site.
3. Confirm the removal to complete the process.

Troubleshooting

There are a handful of possible reasons you can't add or assign a domain to your account through the domain manager. Let's go through the causes and see which one applies to your situation.

• The ownership can't be verified. Verify that you have followed one of the procedures necessary to establish ownership.
• Have you made an A record or modified the name servers (NS) recently for the domain you're trying to assign? If yes, please note that it can take 4–8 hours for individual record changes and 24-48 hours for nameservers changes.
• Our system is prevented from requesting information from that page. This happens when you decide to construct the page to confirm your ownership but fail to do so. 
• The text you need to type needs to be corrected. An upper and lower case makes a difference. For example, 0e259158 differs from 0E259158. 
• Your email service provider has your email on a greylist because they believe it to be spam. This happens when you tried to send a verification code to your address and it didn't arrive. You can either Alter the Admin and Registrant email addresses in the whois, or contact us to resend the email.
• If you see an error that your domain is already linked to a different account, you need to remove it from that account first. This means you'll have to contact the person who owns that account. If you've just bought the domain, either as a new purchase or from an auction, and can't remove it from the other account on your own, you'll need to ask for help from support. You'll also have to prove that you're the real owner of the domain. Solving this issue through legal steps might take at least three days.

If the NS records still need updating,  please change them to point to:

Bluehost Nameservers
ns1.bluehost.com	162.88.60.37
ns2.bluehost.com	162.88.61.37

Summary

After registering a domain name, you must assign it to your hosting account to make your website accessible online. This process involves ensuring your domain points to your Bluehost hosting account via Nameservers or the A Record. For new domains and hosting purchased together, Bluehost automatically assigns the domain to the default site.

If you're using an external domain, you'll need to manually connect it by changing the domain associated with the default site to your external domain and ensuring it points to Bluehost's Nameservers. Lastly, troubleshooting issues may involve verifying ownership, waiting for DNS propagation, correcting text entry errors, resolving email greylisting, or detaching the domain from another account. For a successful setup, update DNS settings and allow 24-48 hours for DNS propagation.