Connect a custom domain overview

In addition to the Webflow staging subdomain (e.g., yoursite.webflow.io), you can publish your site to any custom domain (e.g., yourdomain.com) or subdomain (e.g., subdomain.yourdomain.com) you own. Using a custom domain or subdomain promotes your brand, increases SEO discoverability, and makes it easier for people to find and remember your site. 

Webflow provides several different options for connecting a custom domain in Site settings > Publishing tab > Production, depending on whether you want to connect an existing domain or purchase a new domain, whether you want to use the root or www subdomain as the default domain, etc. 

Note: You’ll need a paid Site plan for every site you want to connect to a custom domain.

In this lesson, you’ll learn when to use: 

1. Quick connect domain
2. Quick connect subdomain
3. Manually connect domain
4. Buy new domain

Quick connect domain

The Quick connect domain option may be the right option if you: 

• already own your domain
• don’t need to set the root domain (e.g., yourdomain.com) as the default domain
• want to quickly and automatically connect your domain to your Webflow site without manually configuring your DNS records 

Note: This option follows best practices to set the www subdomain (e.g., www.yourdomain.com) as the default domain. If you want to set the root domain as the default, you’ll need to manually connect your domain. Learn more about setting the root domain as the default on SSL hosting.

For detailed instructions, check out our lesson on quick connecting a domain. 

Quick connect subdomain 

The Quick connect subdomain option is similar to the Quick connect domain option, except it allows you to connect a subdomain (e.g., blog.yourdomain.com). This may be ideal if you: 

• already own your subdomain 
• want to quickly and automatically connect your subdomain to your Webflow site without manually configuring your DNS records

For more information, visit our lesson on quick connecting a subdomain.

Note: If you prefer, you can also manually connect a subdomain. 

Manually connect domain

You can use the Manually connect domain option to connect either a domain or a subdomain. This option may be ideal if you: 

• already own your domain
• (optionally) want to set the root domain as the default domain
• are comfortable manually configuring your DNS records

For detailed instructions, follow our guide to manually connecting a custom domain or manually connecting a custom subdomain. If applicable, you can also reference our guide to setting the root domain as the default on SSL hosting. 

Buy new domain 

The Buy new domain option allows you to purchase a custom domain from IONOS and connect it directly to your Webflow site. This may be the right option if you: 

• don’t yet own a custom domain 
• want to purchase a custom domain 
• don’t want to set the root domain (e.g., yourdomain.com) as the default domain 
• want to purchase and automatically connect your domain to your Webflow site without manually configuring your DNS records 

Note: This option follows best practices to set the www subdomain (e.g., www.yourdomain.com) as the default domain. If you want to set the root domain as the default, you’ll need to purchase your domain outside of Webflow and then manually connect your domain. Learn more about setting the root domain as the default on SSL hosting.

For more information, check out our lesson on buying a new custom domain.