DNS propagation is a term used to describe the time period required for changes to your domain name server’s settings to take effect. It may take as long as 48 hours for internet service provider nodes across the world to update their caches with your updated DNS information. If you are launching a new website on a different web server, some visitors might still be directed to your old server (website) for a period of time, while others will see the new website shortly after the change.