How to Move a Domain From SiteGround to Vercel

Moving a domain from SiteGround to Vercel is one of those tasks that sounds more complicated than it usually is — but the right approach depends heavily on what you actually mean by "move." Are you transferring domain registration? Pointing DNS records? Hosting a new project on Vercel while keeping your domain at SiteGround? Each path works differently, and mixing them up is the most common source of confusion.

What "Moving a Domain" Actually Means

There are two distinct actions people usually conflate:

• DNS delegation — keeping your domain registered at SiteGround but pointing it to Vercel's servers
• Domain transfer — moving the actual domain registration away from SiteGround to another registrar (or to Vercel itself)

For most developers deploying a project on Vercel, DNS delegation is all that's needed. You don't need to transfer ownership of the domain. You just tell SiteGround's nameservers — or DNS zone editor — to point your domain at Vercel. Full domain transfers are slower, involve authorization codes, and often aren't necessary at all.

Step 1: Add Your Domain to Your Vercel Project

Before touching anything at SiteGround, set up the domain inside Vercel first.

1. Open your Vercel dashboard and navigate to your project
2. Go to Settings → Domains
3. Enter your domain name (e.g., yourdomain.com) and click Add
4. Vercel will display the DNS records you need to configure — typically an A record and/or CNAME record

Write these values down. You'll need them at SiteGround.

Step 2: Update DNS Records at SiteGround 🔧

Log into your SiteGround account and access the DNS Zone Editor for your domain. This is usually found under:

My Websites → Manage → DNS Zone Editor or through cPanel → Zone Editor depending on your SiteGround plan.

You'll need to add or update the following records:

If an existing A record or CNAME is already pointing to SiteGround's hosting, delete or replace it — not just add alongside. Conflicting records cause resolution failures.

Important: Vercel recommends using their A record for the root domain (@) and a CNAME for the www subdomain. If your domain uses Vercel as the primary DNS provider (via nameserver delegation, covered below), the process changes slightly.

Option B: Delegate Nameservers to Vercel

Some developers prefer to let Vercel manage DNS entirely. In this case, instead of editing individual records at SiteGround, you change the nameservers for your domain to point to Vercel.

At SiteGround, go to Domain Manager → Nameservers and replace the current nameservers with the ones Vercel provides. This gives Vercel full DNS control, which simplifies future record management but removes SiteGround DNS as the authority.

Trade-off: If you have other services tied to SiteGround DNS (email hosting, subdomains, etc.), migrating nameservers can break those unless you've already recreated those records inside Vercel's DNS panel.

Step 3: Wait for DNS Propagation

After saving your changes, DNS propagation takes anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours, depending on TTL settings and global DNS caching. Most changes resolve within 1–4 hours in practice.

You can check propagation status using tools like dig, nslookup, or web-based DNS checkers to verify your domain is resolving to Vercel's servers.

What About Actual Domain Transfers?

If your goal is to move the domain registration itself away from SiteGround (not just DNS), the process involves:

1. Unlocking the domain at SiteGround
2. Requesting an EPP/authorization code from SiteGround
3. Initiating the transfer at your new registrar
4. Confirming via email and waiting for the transfer to complete (typically 5–7 days)

Note that domains must be at least 60 days old and not locked for a pending transfer before ICANN allows them to move. SiteGround may charge a transfer fee or require renewal, depending on the TLD.

Vercel is not a domain registrar, so you can't transfer registration to Vercel directly. If you want to consolidate, you'd transfer to a registrar like Namecheap, Google Domains (now Squarespace Domains), or Cloudflare Registrar — then point DNS to Vercel from there.

Variables That Affect Your Specific Setup 🧩

How straightforward this process is depends on several factors:

• What's currently hosted at SiteGround — if you have active email, WordPress, or other services, DNS changes affect those too
• Whether you're using SiteGround as both registrar and host — if yes, you'll need to be careful not to break existing services when editing DNS
• Your Vercel plan — custom domains are available across plans, but certain advanced routing features vary
• The domain TLD — some TLDs have specific transfer rules or longer propagation times
• TTL values — lower TTL values on existing records mean faster propagation after a change

A developer deploying a Next.js app with no existing email or subdomains at SiteGround can usually complete the DNS update in under 10 minutes. Someone running WordPress, business email, and multiple subdomains on the same SiteGround account faces a more careful migration with more potential failure points.

The right path forward depends entirely on what's currently running under that domain and what you need to preserve.