Buy a custom domain through Webflow

Updated

Purchase a custom domain and connect it to your Webflow-hosted site.

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 > Production.

Before you get started

Make sure you’ve added a Site plan to your site.

Important

The instructions in this guide 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.

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 > 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

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) as the default. Setting the root domain (e.g., yourdomain.com) as the default requires a different setup for your DNS records. Setting the root domain (e.g., yourdomain.com) as the default requires a different setup for your DNS records.

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

Note

If you add a new domain or subdomain to your site after you’ve already set a default domain, the new domain or subdomain won’t appear within the publish menu. To resolve this, go to Site settings > Publishing > 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.

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