Connect a Google domain

You can publish your project to your custom Google domain once you add a site plan to your project.

Before getting started

Before you get started with this tutorial, make sure:

1. You've added a site plan to your Webflow project
2. You own the domain name you want to connect to your site. Or, buy a Google domain through Webflow.
3. You have access to your Google domain 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 Google 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 Google 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).

Can I connect only one of the domains?

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

How can I connect only a subdomain?

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

SSL is enabled by default for projects created after 14 November 2018. If your project was created before that date, make sure to enable SSL under project settings →hosting → Advanced publishing options and save the changes.

Can I switch the SSL off?

You can switch SSL off, however note that sites that don't use SSL may be labeled "not secure" by some browsers, strongly discouraging people from visiting your site.

What happens if I disable SSL on an Ecommerce site?

If you disable SSL on sites using Ecommerce, checkout will be disabled and your online store will not function. The add to cart button as well as other Ecommerce elements will stop working as well.

IMPORTANT! Each time you disable or enable SSL on a Webflow-hosted site, you'll need to update your DNS settings. After you update the SSL setting, follow the steps below to update the DNS and ensure that your site works correctly.

Before you continue

If you’ve enabled SSL hosting on this domain with another Webflow project in the past, you can skip step 3 and move on to step 4.

Step 3 — Updating the DNS

Access your domain's DNS settings.

Make sure “use the Google domains name servers” is set under Name servers.

Adding 2 A records

1. Add an A record for the host @ or edit an existing one
2. Use the value for the first A record from your Webflow hosting tab
3. Edit the A record you just created and paste the value of the second A record from your Webflow dashboard

Adding a CNAME record

1. Add a CNAME record for host www
2. Use the value for the CNAME record from your Webflow hosting tab

Step 4 — Setting the default URL

If you've connected more than one domain, you'll need to set a default domain to redirect all traffic from the other domains to this default one. This is super helpful to avoid SEO issues due to duplicate content. To do that, go back to the Custom domain section of your project’s Hosting settings and click make default next to the domain you want to set as the default domain. Learn more about setting the correct domain as the default domain.

NOTE: You cannot set the root domain of Google domains as the default domain on SSL hosting. 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.

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. Learn more about publishing your project.

Troubleshooting

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 help desk.

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