What is DNS?
Definition
DNS, short for Domain Name System, is the internet's address book. It turns a domain name people can remember, like yourbusiness.com, into the numeric address of the computer that holds your website, and tells email where to go. The instructions are stored as DNS records at the company that manages your domain.
DNS meaning for a small business owner
You'll rarely think about DNS, but you'll meet it at the big moments: connecting a domain to a new website, setting up business email, proving to Google that you own your site, or moving away from an old web designer. Each of those means adding or changing a few records. Get them right and everything just works; get one wrong and your site or your email can go quiet.
Four kinds of record cover most of what a small business does. An A record points your domain to a server's numeric address. A CNAME points one name at another, often www at your main domain. MX records say where your email is delivered. TXT records hold short notes that prove you own the domain or protect your email, like the ones Google and email providers ask you to add.
For law firms, the email records matter most: a careless MX change can stop client email arriving, so change website records and leave email ones alone. For restaurants, the domain login often sits with whoever built the first site, sometimes a former manager; find it before you need it, or a simple move stalls for weeks. For churches, keep that login with the church office, not one volunteer.
How to change DNS records safely
- Find where your DNS is managed; it's usually where you bought the domain.
- Copy or screenshot every existing record before you change anything.
- Add or edit only the records your new service gives you.
- Leave MX records and email TXT records alone unless you're moving your email.
- Give the change time to spread before you decide something's wrong.
- Afterward, open your website and send yourself an email to check both still work.
How Future handles it
Connecting a domain you already own to Future means pointing it at your new site, which is a DNS change at the company that manages your domain. Once the records point at Future, the https certificate follows automatically, and a real person can help on any plan if a record doesn't look right.
A free first-year domain with yearly plans is Coming soon. Until then, keep your domain with the company you bought it from, and connect it to your Future site from there.