Website Hosting and Management

How to Add a Website to Your Hosting Plan

So, you just got yourself a legit hosting plan with Media Giant Hosting—good choice. Now, let’s get that website up and running. Whether you're launching a fresh new project or moving an existing one, this guide will get you set up in no time.

1. Connecting Your Domain

Your domain is your website's address—like yourawesomebusiness.com. Without it, no one can find you, and that’s just sad. Let’s make sure it’s properly connected to your hosting plan.

What is a Domain Registrar?

A domain registrar is the company where you registered your domain name (your website's address). Think of it like the company you bought your phone number from. Popular registrars include GoDaddy, Namecheap, Google Domains, and NameSilo. Your registrar is where you manage domain settings like nameservers and DNS records.

We support two methods for connecting your domain:

Option A: Update Your Nameservers

If you want full control over your DNS from our hosting control panel, update your domain registrar's nameservers to:

• ns.mediagianthosting.net

• ns1.mediagianthosting.net

This allows you to manage your DNS settings directly within our domain manager.

Option B: Use an A Record Instead

If you prefer to keep your DNS settings with your domain registrar, you can update your domain’s A record instead.

Think of the A record like an entry in the Yellow Pages for your business. The domain name is your business name, and the A record (IP address) is the phone number people call to reach you. To connect your website, you need to update your A record to point to the IP address of your hosting server (found in your Media Giant Hosting dashboard).

Wait for DNS Propagation

DNS changes don’t happen instantly. They typically update much faster—sometimes within a few minutes or hours—but in some cases, they can take up to 48 hours or longer. This isn't something we control—it's just how the internet works. Factors like your ISP’s caching policies, domain registrar settings, and global DNS propagation speeds can affect how quickly the changes take effect. If you don’t see your website after 48 hours, check your DNS settings or move to the next step to troubleshoot.

2. Verifying Your Website Setup

Once your domain is pointing to your hosting, you need to make sure everything is working as expected. Here’s how:

Step 1: Open Your Website

Type your domain into a browser and see if it loads. You should see our "Welcome to Media Giant Hosting" page. If you don’t see it after 48 hours, something’s off.

Step 2: Check Your DNS Settings

If your site isn't showing up, use a tool like DNSChecker.org to confirm your domain is resolving to the correct IP. If it's not, double-check that you've updated your nameservers or A record correctly.

If you're still having trouble, contact our support team. While we can’t fix issues on your domain registrar’s end, we can check your DNS settings from our side and tell you what might be wrong.

Step 3: Add an SSL Certificate

Security matters. We provide FREE SSL certificates through Let’s Encrypt, or you can upload a paid SSL certificate from another provider. Here’s how to enable it:

1. Log into your Media Giant Hosting client area.

2. Click on My Services.

3. Select the hosting plan associated with your domain.

4. Click on SSL Certificates.

5. Click Generate Certificate (this will default to Let’s Encrypt).

6. Fill out the required information about the certificate holder.

7. The system will generate and install the Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate for you.

8. Verify your site now loads with https:// instead of http://.

If you prefer to use a paid SSL certificate, you can upload your own from a third-party vendor in the same SSL Certificates section.

Step 4: Upload Your Website Files or Install WordPress

If you’re manually uploading your site via FTP, follow these steps:

1. Log into your Media Giant Hosting client area.

2. Click on My Services.

3. Select the hosting plan associated with your domain.

4. Click on FTP Access.

5. This screen shows a list of FTP users. You can add, delete, or modify users, except for the default system user.

6. Click Create Account to set up a new FTP user.

7. Fill out the form with a username, password, and directory (set the directory to /httpdocs to ensure your website files go to the correct location).

8. Save the new account and use these credentials in your FTP client.

Once your FTP account is set up, use an FTP client like FileZilla (or any other FTP/SFTP client) to connect to your server and upload your website files to the /httpdocs directory.

If you’re installing WordPress:

• Managed WordPress Hosting Customers: Use WordPress Toolkit in your control panel.

• Shared Hosting Customers: Use the App Installer in your hosting dashboard to install WordPress.

Step 5: Test Everything

• Visit your website from different devices.

• Check for the SSL security padlock (https:// in the browser bar).

• If using WordPress, log in and make sure the admin panel works (yourdomain.com/wp-admin).

Done!

Your website is now live. If you run into trouble, check our Knowledge Base for more guides or open a support ticket—we got your back.