Connect a subdomain

Note: We’re transitioning to Workspaces, and are in the process of updating our content. Visit the Workspaces blog post to read more about these updates and changes, or visit our updated lesson on connecting a subdomain. You can also learn how to check if your account is on Workspaces.

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Note: using the root domain (e.g. yoursite.com) requires CNAME flattening. This process is different than connecting your custom domain and using the subdomain (e.g. the www in www.yoursite.com). CNAME flattening does not use A records.

Besides publishing your project to yoursite.webflow.io, you can also publish your project to your own custom subdomain (eg. blog.yourdomain.com).

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. You can buy a domain through Webflow or from any domain name provider.
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 subdomain to Webflow and connect it to your Webflow project in five steps:

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

Step 1. Adding a custom subdomain

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

In the Custom domain section, type your subdomain (www.yourdomain.com or subdomain.yourdomain.com) under Add existing domain.

Can I connect more than one domain to my project?

You can add as many domains and subdomains as you want. This is a good way to redirect your old domains to the new subdomain. Just make sure to set a default domain to ensure that all domains connected to this project are redirected to that URL. This is necessary to avoid being penalized by Google for having duplicate content on the web.

The entire project will be published to all domains and subdomains connected to that project. If you've set a default domain, the project will be published to that domain and all other domains will be redirected to the default URL.

Can I publish different pages to different subdomains?

It's not possible to publish specific pages to specific domains or subdomains. If you need to publish different pages to different subdomains, you'll need to set up separate projects for each page. Then, you'll add a separate site plan to each project and add the specific custom domain(s) or subdomain(s) to each project.

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 subdomain 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.

Adding a CNAME record

• Add a CNAME record
• Set the host to yoursubdomain
  be sure to use your subdomain's actual prefix, not yoursubdomain! For example, for blog.webflow.com, enter blog.
  
• 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.

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 your domain name.

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

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 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.