Buy a custom domain through Webflow

If you do not own a custom domain, you can purchase a domain from any domain name provider, or you can buy a domain and connect it to your site automatically in Site settings > Publishing tab > Production.

Before you get started: Make sure you’ve added a Site plan to your site. Learn more about Webflow Site plans.

Important: The instructions in this lesson follow best practices to set the www subdomain (e.g., www.yourdomain.com) as the default domain. Setting the root domain (e.g., yourdomain.com) as the default requires a different setup for your DNS records. If you’d like to set the root domain as the default, you’ll need to manually configure your DNS records after purchasing your domain. Learn more about setting the root domain as the default on SSL hosting.

In this lesson, you’ll learn:

1. How to search for and buy a new domain
2. How to verify and publish your site

How to search for and buy a new domain

Once you’ve added a Site plan to your site, you can search for and buy a new domain: 

1. Go to Site settings > Publishing tab > Production
2. Click Add a custom domain 
3. Click Buy new domain 
4. Enter the domain you want to buy (e.g., yourdomain.com) 
5. Click Search 
6. Follow the steps to purchase your domain from IONOS 
7. Click Done when you’ve been redirected back to Site settings > Publishing tab

You’ll need to sign into your IONOS account or sign up for a new account during the checkout process.

This flow adds both your root domain (e.g., yourdomain.com) and your www subdomain (e.g., www.yourdomain.com) to your site. 

Important: Your default domain is set to the www subdomain (e.g., www.yourdomain.com) by default. Setting the root domain (e.g., yourdomain.com) as the default requires a different setup for your DNS records. Learn more about setting the root domain as the default domain on SSL hosting. 

‍Note: DNS changes may take up to 48 hours to propagate in all geolocations as the DNS cache expires, although this typically occurs within a few hours.

How to verify and publish your site

Before you can publish your site to your custom domain, you’ll need to verify ownership of any custom domains you’ve purchased and/or connected to Webflow. When you connect a custom domain using the Buy new domain option, Webflow automatically adds a TXT record to your DNS settings that contains a one-time verification code to confirm that you own the connected domain. 

To complete the verification process and publish your site from Site settings: 

1. Click Verify domain
2. Wait for the “Custom domain verified” confirmation message
3. Click Publish to open the publish menu
4. Check the domain(s) to which you want to publish your site
5. Click Publish to selected domains

Important: If you add a new domain or subdomain after your default domain has been set, the new domain or subdomain won’t appear within the publish menu. To resolve this, go to Site settings > Publishing tab > Production and click Make default next to the default domain. Then, publish your site to the new domain or subdomain, and set the default domain again. 

Learn more about publishing your site.