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Connect a custom domain

A two-step setup at your domain registrar that takes 2–5 minutes. Your existing email keeps working.

Two ways to connect. This page covers the CNAME method (works with every registrar). For ~30% faster image loading, our recommended path is Full DNS, which involves changing your nameservers. See Full DNS vs CNAME — which should I pick? for the trade-offs.

What you’ll do

  1. Add one DNS record at your registrar so www.yourdomain.com points to your site.
  2. Set up URL forwarding at your registrar so yourdomain.com (without the www) redirects to https://www.yourdomain.com.

That’s it. We handle SSL certificates automatically once DNS propagates.

Where to get the value for Step 1. The exact CNAME target for your site is shown in your dashboard under Domains → Your Domains when your domain status is AWAITING DNS. Copy and paste it from there — every site has its own unique target.

Step 1 — Add the CNAME record

In your registrar’s DNS panel, add one record:

Type:  CNAME
Name:  www
Value: <the value shown in your dashboard>
TTL:   Automatic (or 300 / 5 minutes)

Save the record. Don’t add anything for the bare domain (@) here — the forwarding step handles that.

Step 2 — Set up URL forwarding

In your registrar’s Web Forwarding, URL Redirect, or Domain Forwarding panel (the exact name varies by registrar), add a forward:

From: yourdomain.com
To:   https://www.yourdomain.com
Type: 301 (Permanent)

This makes yourdomain.com redirect to the www version. Visitors who type the bare domain in their browser still land on your site — the redirect happens before they see anything.

Step 3 — (Optional) clean up old records

If you previously had an A or ALIAS record on @ (the bare domain), you can delete it now. The Step 2 forwarding handles that route.

Leave any MX, TXT, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records alone — those handle your email and stay exactly where they are.

Registrar walkthroughs

Hostinger

  1. Log into Hostinger → Domains → click your domain.
  2. DNS / Nameservers → Manage DNS records → Add new record. Fill in CNAME / www / the value from your dashboard. Save.
  3. Back on the domain page, find Web Forwarding (in the left sidebar) → Add new forwarding. Forward your bare domain to https://www.yourdomain.com, type 301. Save.

GoDaddy

  1. Log into GoDaddy → My Products → DNS next to your domain.
  2. Under DNS Records, click Add. Choose CNAME, name www, value from your dashboard. Save.
  3. Scroll to Forwarding → click Add under Domain. Forward to https://www.yourdomain.com, type Permanent (301). Save.

Namecheap

  1. Log into Namecheap → Domain List → Manage next to your domain.
  2. Open the Advanced DNS tab. Add new record → CNAME Record → host www → value from your dashboard. Save.
  3. Open the Domain tab. Under Redirect Domain, click Add Redirect. Source: bare domain. Destination: https://www.yourdomain.com. Permanent (301). Save.

Squarespace Domains / Google Domains

  1. Open the DNS tab. Add a CNAME record: host www, value from your dashboard.
  2. Open the Website settings or Forwarding tab. Forward the bare domain to https://www.yourdomain.com with a 301.

Cloudflare (you already use Cloudflare for DNS)

Cloudflare flattens CNAMEs at the apex automatically, so you don’t need the forwarding step:

  1. Add a CNAME record: name www, target from your dashboard. Make sure the proxy (orange cloud) is off.
  2. Add a second CNAME record: name @, target from your dashboard. Proxy off.

When will it go live?

Most setups go live within 5–30 minutes. The dashboard shows AWAITING DNS until DNS propagates, then switches to LIVE. SSL certificates are issued automatically as soon as the DNS record is verified — you don’t buy or install anything.

If it’s been more than an hour, see Troubleshooting.

Why www and not the bare domain?

It’s a technical limitation that affects every modern hosting platform — Squarespace, Vercel, Netlify, GitHub Pages, all of them. The bare domain (yourdomain.com with no www) can’t accept the same kind of DNS record that the www version can. The universal workaround is URL forwarding, which is why Step 2 exists.

From your visitors’ perspective it doesn’t matter — they type whichever form they want, and they end up on the same site.

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