A Record

It’s the most basic DNS record. Your web hosting has an address on the internet — a string of numbers called an IP address. The A record points your domain at it.

When someone tells you to “point your domain” at new hosting, this is usually the record they mean. Change it, and your domain starts serving the website from the new server — once the update spreads, which can take up to 48 hours.

One caution: an A record change moves your website only. Your email is controlled by a different record — the MX record — so leave that one alone unless you’re deliberately moving email too.