Add a second domain to your hosting

September 22, 2026 · 3 min read · Markdown

Your hosting account can run more than one website. In cPanel, an extra domain added this way is called an addon domain: a separate domain name with its own folder and its own files, sitting alongside your main site. This guide covers pointing the new domain at your hosting, adding it in cPanel, and getting the files in place.

You will need your cPanel login and access to the account where the second domain is registered. Hosting plans allow a set number of extra domains, so if the option is unavailable or you see a limit message, your plan has reached its allowance.

Point the domain at your hosting

The domain has to send visitors to your hosting account before anything you add in cPanel will show up.

1. Log in at the registrar where the second domain is registered.
2. Find the nameserver settings for that domain.
3. Replace the existing nameservers with the ones listed in your hosting welcome email, or in the Server Information section of your cPanel sidebar.
4. Save the change.

Nameserver changes usually take effect within a few hours, though they can take up to 48 hours to reach everyone. You do not have to wait before doing the next section. The domain simply will not load from your account until the change has spread.

Add the domain in cPanel

1. Log in to cPanel.
2. In the Domains section, click Domains.
3. Click Create A New Domain.
4. Type the domain name without www in front of it, for example example.com.
5. Leave the option to share a document root with the main domain unticked. cPanel will then suggest a folder of its own, usually something like public_html/example.com. You can accept the suggestion or set a different folder.
6. Click Submit.

cPanel creates the folder, adds the DNS zone, and lists the new domain on the Domains screen. Make a note of the document root, since that is where the new site's files belong.

Put the site in place

1. Open File Manager and browse to the document root you noted above.
2. Upload the site's files into that folder, or, if the new site will run WordPress, open Softaculous Apps Installer and choose the new domain from the domain list during installation.
3. If the second site needs mailboxes, create them under Email Accounts and pick the new domain from the domain list there.
4. Once the domain resolves to your account, open SSL/TLS Status and run AutoSSL so the new site gets a certificate.

Visit the domain in a browser to confirm it loads the right site rather than your main one.

If it didn't work

The domain still shows a parking page or your previous host's content. DNS has not finished updating. Recheck the nameservers at the registrar and give it more time.

cPanel refuses the domain and says it already exists. The name is usually already set up on another account on the server, or as a subdomain somewhere in your own account. Contact us and we can find where it is in use.

The new domain loads your main website. Either the document root was shared with the main domain, or the files went into the wrong folder. Check the document root on the Domains screen and compare it with where you uploaded.

If you are still stuck, open a ticket at /support with the domain name and we will take a look at the account.

Stuck partway through? Support is answered by the engineers who run the servers, around the clock.

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