Connect your own domain

A domain of your own, such as book.brightdental.com, puts your sites on an address your customers recognise. You add it under Sites › Domains and add the DNS record shown at your domain provider; the app checks it and issues the security certificate. Until then, everything keeps working on your free address.

Before you start

• A domain you own, and a sign-in for the company that manages its DNS.

• A choice between a subdomain (such as book.brightdental.com) and the root domain (brightdental.com). A subdomain is the easiest to point.

• Room in your plan: 1 domain on Free, 3 on Launch, 10 on Growth, unlimited on Agency. More can be added for a monthly fee from your wallet.

Steps

1. Open Sites and choose the Domains tab. The first row is your free address, marked Included.
2. Press Add domain. The Add a domain window opens.
3. Under The domain you own, type the domain, for example book.brightdental.com.
4. Under What it is for, choose Funnel pages (your funnels, websites and stores are served on it). Agencies can also choose The app itself, so clients sign in under their brand.
5. Press Save and show DNS. The window shows the records to add, each with its Type, Name and Value and a copy button. Copy all copies every one.
6. In another tab, sign in to your DNS provider and add each record exactly as shown.
7. Back in the window, press Check now. It also checks every 30 seconds while open. I'll finish later closes it without losing anything.
8. When the record is found and the certificate is issued, you see "… is live." and the domain's status reads Active and Certificate active.
9. Put a site on the domain. See Choose where a site lives.

The records you may be given

• A CNAME record for your domain. This routes visitors to your pages. Every domain gets one.
• A certificate record, usually a CNAME whose name starts with _acme-challenge.. It lets the security certificate be issued and renewed for you. Some domains get TXT records for this instead.
• A TXT record to prove you own the domain. This appears only when ownership cannot be proved from the CNAME alone, which usually means a root domain.

Root domain or subdomain

Some DNS providers do not allow a CNAME record on a root domain. If yours refuses, either use a subdomain such as www.brightdental.com or book.brightdental.com, or ask your provider whether it supports CNAME flattening or an ALIAS record on the root.

What happens next

• DNS changes usually show within minutes but can take up to 72 hours. The app also re-checks every domain every ten minutes, so a domain goes live on its own once its DNS is right.
• The domain only starts serving once its certificate is active, so visitors never see a security warning. Until then, your sites keep answering on your free address.
• Used by lists the funnels and sites on the domain. Each domain's three-dot menu (…) offers Copy DNS record, Re-check and Remove.
• Removing a domain lists what falls back to your free address. Press Keep domain or Remove domain.

For agencies

Add a client's domain inside their account with Sub-accounts › Open.

For white-label agencies

A domain for The app itself lets your clients sign in on your own address, under one of your brands: choose it under Brand it serves, and change it later with Edit…. Until its certificate is active, clients keep signing in where they did before. See Put the app on your own domain.

Troubleshooting

It still says "Waiting for DNS". The record is not visible yet. Check the Value was pasted exactly, and that the Name was not saved with your domain repeated (some providers add it for you, giving book.brightdental.com.brightdental.com). Remove any old record for the same name that points elsewhere.

It says "Failed", with a message under the domain. The message says what went wrong with the check. Fix the record at your DNS provider, then choose Re-check.

"Domain limit reached". Your plan's domains are in use. Remove one, add one more under Need more?, upgrade, or press Use paths instead to share one domain between several funnels.

"… is already connected to an account". That domain is in use in another account. Remove it there first.

"… is not a valid hostname". Check the spelling. A domain has only letters, numbers, dashes and dots, and ends in a real ending such as .com or .co.uk.

"Custom domains aren't included on this plan." Your plan has no domain allowance. Change your plan, or add a domain as an add-on.

Related

• Choose where a site lives: your free address and paths
• Create and manage a website
• Buy an add-on
• Pages not loading on your domain