Connecting a custom domain

Besides publishing your project to yoursite.webflow.io, you can also publish your project to any custom domain you own (yourdomain.com) once you add a hosting subscription to your project.

Before getting started

Before you get started with this tutorial, make sure:

1. You've added a hosting subscription to your Webflow project.
2. You own the domain name you want to connect to your site. Or, buy a domain through Webflow.
   
3. You can update your DNS records.
4. You've reset your DNS settings if you've previously hosted your domain elsewhere. This helps minimize and even eliminate any issue or conflicts that might require troubleshooting DNS settings later.

Getting started

You can point your custom domain to Webflow and connect it to your Webflow project in five steps:

1. Adding a custom domain
2. Enabling SSL
3. Updating the DNS
4. Setting the default URL
5. Verifying the domain

Step 1. Adding a custom domain

To add your custom domain(s) to your Webflow project, open to the Project Settings of that specific project and go to the Hosting tab.

In the Custom domain section, add your root domain (yourdomain.com) under Add existing domain. This will add both the root domain (yourdomain.com) and the full domain (www.yourdomain.com). 

Good to know

• You can remove either of the domains if you only wish to use one of them.

If you want to connect only the full domain (www.yourdomain.com) or another subdomain to your Webflow project, check out the Connecting a subdomain tutorial.

Step 2. Enabling SSL

Switch the Enable SSL button to on. (Recommended)

Good to know

• ‍Sites that don't use SSL may be labeled "not secure" by some browsers, strongly discouraging people from visiting your site. However, if you do not wish to enable SSL, just leave the switch off.

Step 3. Updating the DNS

Access your domain's DNS settings.

If you’ve enabled SSL hosting on this domain with another Webflow project in the past, you can skip this step and move on to step 4.

If you've enabled SSL and want to redirect all traffic to the root domain, please continue reading Setting the root domain as the default domain.

Adding 2 A records

• Add an A record
• Set the host to @
• Use the value for the first A record from your Webflow hosting tab

Add another A record for host @ with the value of the second A record in your Webflow dashboard.

Good to know

• Google domains have a different way to set A records. Check out connecting a Google domain tutorial.
• Some DNS hosting services prefer that you set the root domain (yourdomain.com) as the host instead of @. We recommend that you check the "Adding an A record" documentation of your DNS host.

Adding a CNAME record

• Add a CNAME record
• Set the host to www
• Use the value for the CNAME record from your Webflow hosting tab

Good to know

• Some DNS hosting services prefer that you set the full domain (www.yourdomain.com) as the host instead of www. We recommend that you check the "Adding a CNAME record" documentation of your DNS host.

Step 4. Setting the default URL

Now, go back to the Custom domain section of your project’s Hosting settings and click the home icon next to domain you want to set it as the default domain. This will send all trafic from all domains connected to this project to the default domain.

Good to know

• If you've enabled SSL, you'll need to set the full domain (www.yourdomain.com) as the default domain. The default domain on SSL must be served on a domain that has a CNAME record.
• If you've enabled SSL and want to redirect all traffic to the root domain, please read Setting the root domain as the default domain.

Step 5. Verifying the domain and publishing

To verify that your DNS settings are correct, and that your domain is correctly pointing to Webflow, click check status under each of your domain names.

The final step is to simply publish your website. You should see your new custom domain in the publish dialog.

Good to know

• It may take up to 48 hours before changes are successfully made from your DNS host. 
• If your domain is not working correctly after 48 hours, troubleshoot your DNS settings or contact your domain provider’s helpdesk.

If your DNS settings are correct, but you’re still experiencing issues with your published site, contact us and we’ll help you resolve any issues.