How domain DNS settings work, what you need to provide us, and how long it takes for a custom domain to go live.
When your website is built, it initially exists on a staging URL. Connecting your custom domain (like yourbusiness.com) to the live site requires updating your domain's DNS records. This is something our team handles for you, but we need a few things from you first.
What We Need from You
- Registrar access: Login credentials or access to the DNS management panel for wherever your domain is registered (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Google Domains, etc.). If you're not comfortable sharing credentials, we can walk you through updating the records yourself.
- Confirmation of which domain to point: Just the root domain (yourbusiness.com), the www version, or both? We'll configure all versions to work.
- Timing preference: If you have an existing live website, tell us whether you want a same-day cutover or want the new site ready in staging first.
What Happens After We Update DNS
DNS propagation — the process of the internet's servers recognizing the new settings — takes between 15 minutes and 48 hours depending on your registrar and global cache expiry. During this window, some visitors may see the old site and others the new one. This is normal and temporary.
SSL After Domain Connection
Once DNS propagates, we install an SSL certificate on your custom domain within a few hours. Your site will be accessible over HTTPS before we consider the domain connection complete.