Custom domains can be transferred or pointed to Yola. This article is about pointing a domain to your Yola website by changing the domain’s DNS records (CNAME and A record). This way, your custom domain remains registered with your domain provider but is connected to your Yola website.
Each domain provider has different instructions when it comes to adding DNS records. For instance, with some providers, you may need only www as the CNAME Name record, while others require your domain name with www appended, e.g., www.yourdomainname.com. We strongly recommend checking your provider’s requirementsor contacting them directly for advice before adding DNS records.
Note: You can publish your Yola site to a pointed domain when your account has one of our paid hosting plans (Yola Bronze, Yola Silver, or Yola Gold).
Step 1: Amend CNAME and A records
To point your domain located at another provider to Yola, you need to amend CNAME and A records to ensure that your domain routs to Yola’s servers. For that, access your domain’s DNS management area on the side of your provider and enter the information below.
CNAME record:
- Name: www or www.yourdomainname.com
- Value: syndicatedhosting.yolasite.net. (the point after net is part of the syntax)
A record:
- Name: @ or yourdomainname.com
- Value: 184.72.229.176
When adding the records, make sure to replace yourdomainname.com with your actual domain name.
Once you have added the records, please allow time for DNS changes to propagate worldwide. It might take up to 48 hours, but it usually takes less.
Step 2: Connect your domain
Then, follow these steps to connect your domain to a Yola-built site:
- In the My Yola dashboard, click Domains on the Topbar.
- Scroll down and expand the Want to keep your domain registered with another registrar? section.
- Type your domain name in the Domain field.
- Select the site which you want to use with this domain in the Use this domain for dropdown list.
- Click Add.
Our system may take a couple of minutes to establish the connection. If there is no success message after 5-10 minutes, please contact our customer support team so they can check your domain DNS records and guide you further if required.
If you face any difficulties pointing your domain, you may also consider transferring your domain (available only for .com, .net, .biz, and .org domain extensions) to Yola so we can manage your domain’s DNS records. Here’s a tutorial with more information: Transferring a domain to Yola.
FAQ
My domain is not pointing. What should I do?
Pointing usually takes 5-10 minutes. If the progress is not changing, please check if the A and CNAME records were entered correctly. Also, make sure everything is spelled correctly.
Once your custom domain has been successfully connected to the website, it might take some time for the site to be online.
If I already have a CNAME with www Name, should I delete and replace it or just change the Value?
It should work both ways. We suggest you always check the instructions of your domain name provider before making any changes.