Requirement:
- A Premium Account from Strikingly
- A custom domain (if you don't have a domain yet, you can purchase from us)
This guide walks you through the process of hooking up your www and root domain to your Strikingly site. You can send this tutorial to your registrar if you need help. If you're connecting a subdomain, you can visit Connecting Subdomains to Your Strikingly Site. Or if you'd like us to connect your domain for you, send us the information here!
- Step 1: Connect to Your Custom Domain on Strikingly
- Step 2: Find Your Registrar's DNS settings
- Step 3: Add a CNAME record
- Step 4: Add an A record
- Step 5: Wait for the Records to Take Effect
- Specific Guides for Third-party domain providers
Step 1: Connect to Your Custom Domain on Strikingly
1. Go to your Strikingly site editor, click "SETTINGS > Domains".
2. Put your custom domain in the "Custom Domain/Subdomain" box, such as "www.yourdomain.com" (without https:// or http:// or /).
3. Click "UPDATE".
Note:
- Type your domain in lowercase to avoid the "Page not found" error when accessing your site.
- Choose your registrar after you click "UPDATE" and continue the setup from your registrar.
Step 2: Find Your Registrar's DNS settings
*If you purchased your domain from Strikingly, you're done! No need to do the following steps. We'll take care of the rest for you!
1. Sign in to your domain registrar's account.
2. Find the DNS Settings for your domain. (It can also be called DNS, DNS manager, DNS records, host record, zone settings, zone file, etc.)
Note: It's not NameServer. Do not change your nameserver!
Step 3: Add a CNAME record
1. Look for existing CNAME and A records for www.
2. Delete the existing CNAME and A records (only for www).
3. Add the following CNAME record (different registrars have different name or labels):
CNAME/Alias/Host/Name | Value/Record/Address/Points to | TTL |
www or www.yourdomain.com | www domain + .s.strikinglydns.com | Default |
www domain in the value field "www domain + .s.strikinglydns.com" should be your domain name. Here are some examples of how the value should be:
- Your domain is www.xxx.com, the value should be: www.xxx.com.s.strikinglydns.com
- Your domain is www.abc.net, the value should be: www.abc.net.s.strikinglydns.com
- Your domain is www.yourdomain.com, the value should be: www.yourdomain.com.s.strikinglydns.com
Tip: If you can't add a www CNAME record, look for an existing CNAME and A records for www and delete them (only for www).
Step 4: Add an A record
A record | Record/Value/IP Address/Points to | TTL |
@ or yourdomain.com |
54.183.102.22 | Default |
(yourdomain.com is just an example, please change it to your domain name.)
If you can't add A record, you can use forwarding or redirection settings. Forward the naked domain (e.g. yourdomain.com) to the www subdomain (e.g. www.yourdomain.com). Please make sure:
- Masking/masked forwarding/iFrame is not selected (in other registrars, this is called stealth forwarding.)
- Do not forward to http://xxx.mystrikingly.com. Your Strikingly URL should not appear anywhere in your domain settings.
Alias/Host/Name | Forwarded to | Forward Type |
@ or yourdomain.com | http://www.yourdomain.com | Permanent 301 |
Step 5: Wait for the Records to Take Effect
Now that you've set up the domain records. Please allow a few up to 48 hours for the changes in the domain records to take effect globally. Once it's done, HTTPS/SSL will be automatically activated within 24 hours. Be sure to clear your browser cache before you check to see if the domain is working.
Related Articles:
- Connecting Subdomains to Your Strikingly Site (e.g. info.domain.com, shop.domain.com)
- Live Site Error "Page not found"
- Live Site Error: "Your connection is not private/secure"
- Troubleshooting: Site is Down
- Standard Troubleshooting Steps
Specific Guides for Third-party domain providers
If you own a domain from one of the following providers, instead of following the general instructions, you can check the step-by-step guides for your own providers:
- 101 Domain
- 1&1 IONOS
- 123 Reg
- Bluehost
- cPanel
- Crazy Domains
- Gandi
- GoDaddy
- G Suite
- Name.com
- Namecheap
- Microsoft 365
- Network Solutions
- OVH
- Register.com
- Squarespace
- Wix
- WordPress.com
- Yahoo!
If your site doesn't go online after 48 hours, contact us at support@strikingly.com or chat with us and include a screenshot of your domain settings so we can help!