A record
A DNS record that points a domain name to the numeric IP address of the server hosting your website.
An A record is one of the basic records in your domain’s DNS. It connects a name, like yourbusiness.com, to an IP address, the numeric address of the server that hosts your website. The “A” stands for address.
A related record, the AAAA record, does the same job for newer IPv6 addresses.
Why it matters to a small business
Your A record decides where visitors land when they type your web address. When you move to a new web host, the A record is usually the main thing that changes. If it’s wrong or missing, your website won’t load, even though the site itself is fine on the server.
The A record only affects the website. Email is handled separately by MX records. Changing the A record correctly shouldn’t affect email at all.
Example
A landscaping company moves to managed hosting. The new host gives them an IP address. They update the A record for their domain, and often a CNAME record for “www”, to point to the new host. Within a few hours, as old cached answers expire, visitors see the site on the new server. Email continues as before because the MX records weren’t touched.
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