If you own a domain name with Bluehost, you can use that domain name with your WordPress.com site. This guide will show you how to connect a Bluehost domain name to your WordPress site on WordPress.com.
Connecting a domain name from Bluehost is free with any paid WordPress.com plan. Connecting a Bluehost domain name to your WordPress.com site means:
- Your domain will show the site you created on WordPress.com, without the WordPress name in the address.
- You will continue to renew the domain name with your registrar (Bluehost) unless you decide to also transfer the domain to WordPress.com.
- Starting from your WordPress.com dashboard, navigate to Upgrades → Domains (or Hosting → Domains if using WP-Admin).
- Click the “Add a domain” button and select “Use a domain I own” from the drop-down menu:
- Type the domain name you own and click the “Next” button.
- On the next screen, you will find two options: transfer or connect. Click the “Select” button next to “Connect your domain”. It may take a few moments to be redirected to the next screen.
- Click the “Start setup” button on the connect screen.
If you have connected multiple domain names to your WordPress.com site, you may be prompted to verify that you own the domain name before starting the setup process.
The setup process will walk you through updating your domain name’s name servers to point to WordPress.com.
Updating your name servers means your DNS records will be managed in your WordPress.com account. If you have an existing email service from your domain provider or another company, you will want to set up additional DNS records on WordPress.com to continue using that email service.
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If you already use email with your domain name from another provider, your email may stop working upon changing the name servers. To avoid this, add the necessary DNS records to the DNS in WordPress.com before changing the name servers. See this guide for step-by-step instructions.
You have two options for updating your name servers to point to your WordPress.com site: update them yourself or contact your domain registrar’s support. We’ll explain each method below.
You can log into your Bluehost account and replace any existing domain name server (DNS) addresses with the custom name servers for WordPress.com.
The name servers for WordPress.com are:
ns1.wordpress.com
ns2.wordpress.com
ns3.wordpress.com
Remember to remove your old name servers when adding the WordPress.com name servers. Your name servers should be set to only the three values listed above.
Use all three name server values above – one per line. Some registrars may appear to only accept two values but often reveal a third box once you have entered the first two name servers.
To update your name servers on Bluehost, follow these steps:
- Log into your Bluehost Domain Center.
- Navigate to the Domain Name section.
- Scroll down to the Advanced Tools options.
- Choose the “MANAGE” option next to “nameservers.” Enter the following WordPress.com name servers to connect your domain to your WordPress.com site, and manage your DNS with us on WordPress.com.
ns1.wordpress.com
ns2.wordpress.com
ns3.wordpress.com
- Click Save.
You can contact Bluehost support here to make the DNS changes or help you make them. Here is a sample message you can send to them:
I would like to use my Bluehost domain name with a WordPress.com site. In order to do this, I need to point my domain’s name servers to the following:
ns1.wordpress.com
ns2.wordpress.com
ns3.wordpress.com
After changing the name servers, give it time for the change to take effect. After changing the name servers, the domain name might not load right away. It is usually up and running within a few hours, but it can take up to 72 hours for the DNS to fully update across global servers and internet service providers.
To confirm the domain name is connected to your site, try visiting the domain name in a new tab in your browser. If it loads your WordPress.com website, then it’s working! You can also visit Upgrades → Domains (or Hosting → Domains if using WP-Admin) and look under the Status column to the right of your domain name. It should say “Active“, like this:
If it still says “Verifying“, try waiting a few hours before taking the next step. Once you see the status change to Active, then your domain name is connected. If the domain name is still not loading the correct site, you may need to clear your browser’s cache to see the changes.
The final step is to go to Upgrades → Domains (or Hosting → Domains if using WP-Admin) in your WordPress.com account and select your newly-connected domain name as the primary address of the site. See Set a Primary Address for more.
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Transfer your domain name to WordPress.com
Want to manage your domain name and website all in one place, instead of with two separate companies? Transfer your domain’s registration to your WordPress.com account, which you can do before or after connecting the domain name. You would no longer pay any domain registration fees to your current domain provider, and would instead renew both your domain and website plan here at WordPress.com.
