# Point a domain at an external web service
Source: https://docs.webgee.com/en/domains-dns/how-to-direct-a-domain-to-an-external-web-service



Point your domain's website at an external service — Wix, Squarespace, Shopify,
Webflow — while keeping email on WebGee. Applies to any domain using WebGee's
nameservers.

<Callout type="warn">
  Changing the wrong record takes your **email** down along with the website. Mail
  is controlled by `MX` records and the `mail` hostname; the website is
  controlled by the `A` record for the domain. Change only the second.
</Callout>

## Before you begin [#before-you-begin]

Get the target values from the external service — usually either an IP address
for an `A` record, or a hostname for a `CNAME`. Use exactly what they specify.

## Point the website [#point-the-website]

1. In cPanel, open **Zone Editor** under **Domains**.
2. Select **Manage** beside your domain.
3. Find the `A` record whose name is the **domain itself**, with nothing in
   front of it.
4. Edit it to the IP address the external service gave you.
5. Repeat for the `www` record — usually a `CNAME` to the same target.

Leave everything else alone. In particular do not touch:

* `MX` records — inbound mail
* The `mail` `A` record — your mail server
* `TXT` records — SPF, DKIM, DMARC and verifications

## Some services want a CNAME on the apex [#some-services-want-a-cname-on-the-apex]

A few require a `CNAME` for the bare domain, which conflicts with the `MX`
records that must also exist there. Where a service offers both, **take the `A`
record option** — it avoids the conflict entirely.

## After the change [#after-the-change]

Your domain no longer resolves to WebGee for web traffic, so **webmail and cPanel
must be reached by server hostname** rather than by domain:

| Instead of            | Use                                              |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| `example.com/cpanel`  | The server hostname from your welcome email      |
| `example.com/webmail` | [webmail.webgee.com](https://webmail.webgee.com) |

Mail clients configured with `mail.example.com` continue to work, because that
record is unchanged. If you set any client up using the bare domain, point it at
`mail.webgee.com` — see
[Email server settings](/en/email/manual-configuration).

## Check it worked [#check-it-worked]

```bash
dig +short example.com        # should return the external service
dig +short MX example.com     # should still return WebGee
```

Both must be true. The second is the one people forget to check, and the failure
is silent — mail simply stops arriving.

Allow up to a few hours for propagation.

## Related [#related]

* [Check which nameservers a domain uses](/en/domains-dns/how-do-i-check-what-nameservers-my-domain-is-using)
* [Configure email routing in cPanel](/en/email/how-do-i-configure-my-email-routing-in-cpanel)
* [Email server settings](/en/email/manual-configuration)