Domain Names Explained

A domain name is your website’s address on the internet — for example, yourschool.co.uk. It is what people type into their browser (or click from Google) to reach your site. Domain names are registered through domain registrars and need to be renewed annually.

What Is DNS?

DNS (Domain Name System) is like the internet’s phone book. When someone types your domain name, DNS translates it into the IP address of the server where your website lives. Without DNS, visitors would need to type a number like 35.242.60.123 instead of your domain name.

📡 How It Works

When you type a domain name, your browser asks a DNS server 'where does this domain live?' The DNS server responds with an IP address, and your browser connects to that server to load the website. This all happens in milliseconds.

Common DNS Records

DNS uses different types of records for different purposes:

Record Type Purpose Example
A Record Points domain to a server IP address yourschool.co.uk → 35.242.60.123
CNAME Points a subdomain to another domain www → yourschool.co.uk
MX Routes email to your mail server mail handled by Google Workspace or Microsoft 365
TXT Verification and security records SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for email authentication

Who Manages Your DNS?

For most InnerMedia clients, we manage DNS through Kinsta DNS or Cloudflare. If you need to update DNS records, contact us and we will make the changes for you. DNS changes typically take 15 minutes to 48 hours to propagate worldwide, though most changes take effect within an hour.