Nameserver change or DNS record change?

Before you start

• Find the current domain registrar and DNS supplier; they may be different.
• Ask for the new website provider’s connection requirements.
• Identify email, subdomains and third-party verification records that must keep working.

What to do

1. Ask what is actually moving

   A request to connect your website is not enough detail to authorise a nameserver change. Ask whether the plan moves DNS management or only the website destination. Get the account owner and ongoing support contact written down.

2. Compare the two approaches

   Keeping the existing DNS service may allow the administrator to adjust only the required website records. Moving nameservers requires the replacement DNS service to contain the complete set of records needed by the business. Some platform features can affect this choice.

3. Check the prepared replacement

   Before approving a nameserver change, have the administrator compare the old and proposed records, including email and less obvious services. Ask them to check DNSSEC compatibility as part of the plan; this is not a setting to toggle experimentally.

4. Confirm ownership and handover

   Agree who will hold the DNS account, how you retain access and who handles later edits. Keep domain registration and renewal details in your own records. After connection, verify website addresses and email rather than relying on one green status indicator.

What to check

• You know where future DNS changes must be made.
• The website works at the agreed main address and its www alternative.
• Email and other recorded dependencies still work.

Sources and further reading

Platform features can change. Check the provider’s current guidance before changing a live service.

• Cloudflare: DNS concepts and authoritative nameservers
• Wix: nameservers versus pointing