How to register a domain and link it to your hosting

Learning how to register a domain and link it to your hosting is the first step to getting your website and email online. This guide explains, step by step, how to register a new domain name with LJPc and link it to your hosting. It also covers how to link a domain that you already have with another provider. You do not need any technical knowledge to follow along.

What does it mean to register a domain and link it to your hosting?

Your domain name is the address of your website, for example yourcompany.com. Registering means officially recording that address in your name with the registry for the extension, through a registrar. LJPc is such a registrar and arranges the registration for you.

Linking means pointing the domain to the place where your website runs: your hosting. This happens through the DNS system. Your domain's nameservers decide which server manages the DNS data, and the DNS records then send visitors to the correct IP address. When you register your domain with LJPc, we set up this link straight away.

What you need before you start

• Access to the customer portal. If you do not have an account yet, create one first.
• Clarity on whether you want to register a new domain or link an existing one.
• If you already own a domain, make sure you can sign in with your current provider so you can change the nameservers.

Registering a new domain with LJPc

You register a new domain in a few steps through the order wizard in the portal.

1. Sign in to the customer portal.
2. Open the order wizard and search for your domain. Type a name or a keyword; you will immediately see which extensions such as .nl, .com and .eu are still available.
3. Choose an available domain that suits you.
4. Choose what the domain should do: a full hosting package, forwarding to another URL only, or DNS management only.
5. Check your choice and complete the order.

When you register through LJPc, the nameservers are set automatically to ns1.ljpc.network, ns2.ljpc.network and ns3.ljpc.network. Your domain is linked to your hosting package or forwarding package right away, so you do not need to configure anything by hand. Automatic renewal is on by default, so your domain does not expire by accident.

Linking an existing domain you already have elsewhere

Have you already registered your domain with another party? Then you do not have to transfer it to use it with LJPc. There are two ways to do this.

Changing the nameservers to LJPc

With this method your registration stays with your current provider, but you let LJPc manage the DNS. In the order wizard, choose the option for a domain you already have and indicate that you want to keep the domain with your current provider. LJPc then creates a DNS zone for your domain.

Next, sign in with your current registrar and change your domain's nameservers to those of LJPc. The standard nameservers are ns1.ljpc.network, ns2.ljpc.network and ns3.ljpc.network. The portal always shows the exact nameservers to enter on your domain's page. Once the change has been applied, LJPc manages your DNS through your domain's NS records.

Transferring the domain to LJPc

Do you want to move not only the DNS but the registration itself to LJPc? Then you transfer the domain. For that you need an authorisation code, also called an auth code or EPP code, which you request from your current registrar. A nameserver change is not enough for this: a transfer moves the registration itself. The article on transferring a domain to LJPc explains exactly how that works.

Managing DNS records after linking

Where you manage your DNS records depends on the package you chose.

• DNS management only: you edit your DNS records yourself in the customer portal. Think of an A record for your website or MX records for your email.
• Full hosting package: DNS management runs through Plesk, the control panel for your hosting. From the portal you sign in to Plesk with a single click.

Making your domain work with and without www

You usually want both yourcompany.com and www.yourcompany.com to show your website. You arrange this with two DNS records:

• An A record on your root domain that points to the IP address of your hosting.
• A CNAME record for www that points to your root domain.

On the root domain itself you use an A record and not a CNAME, because a CNAME cannot sit alongside other records there. When you link your domain to a hosting package with LJPc, we set these records correctly for you and the server makes sure visitors are sent to the right version.

How long before your domain works?

After a registration or a change to your nameservers, the new information has to spread across the internet. This is called DNS propagation. Allow up to 24 to 48 hours, although in practice it is often sorted within a few hours. A record's TTL (time to live) determines how long other servers remember the old data. You can read more in the article on DNS propagation.

Cannot work it out? Get in touch with support and we will help you register or link your domain.