Connecting your own domain to your website

This guide walks you through connecting a domain you already own to your 1smart.link website — adding it, entering the DNS records at your registrar, verifying them, waiting for the securing step, and finally making it your main address. Do this when you want your website to load on your own domain instead of the address it was given when you created it.

Note: You need a domain you already own and access to the place you bought it — your registrar — so you can add DNS records. Your website keeps working on its current address the whole time.

Step 1 — Add the domain

Open the Website tab and scroll to the Addresses section.
Click Use my own domain. The panel reads: "Type a domain you already own. We will show you the DNS records to add at your registrar. Your site keeps working on its current address the whole time — nothing moves until you verify."
Type the domain on its own, without http:// and without any path. For example, type mystore.com.
Click Add domain.

The tab confirms: "Added. Add the DNS records shown below, then click Verify now." Nothing has changed for your visitors yet — this step simply tells us which domain to expect.

Step 2 — Add the DNS records at your registrar

The tab now shows a table of the records you need to create. It has four columns:

Column	What it means
`Type`	The kind of record to create at your registrar
`Host / Name`	What to type in the host or name box
`Value / Target`	What the record should point to — copy this exactly
`For`	Which spelling of your address the record covers

There are two records. One is for the domain itself — Type A, Host @. The other is for the www version — Type CNAME, Host www.

Open your registrar in another tab and find its DNS settings.
Create the first record using the Type, Host / Name and Value / Target shown in the table. Copy each Value exactly as it appears.
Create the second record the same way.
Look through the rest of your DNS records. Remove any other A or CNAME record for the same Host that points somewhere else — two records fighting over the same host will stop verification from passing.
Save the changes at your registrar.

Warning: In the Host / Name box, type exactly what is shown. @ means the domain itself, and a few registrars want this box left blank instead. www is just the www part — your registrar adds the domain for you. Never type the full address.

Step 3 — Verify

Come back to the Addresses section in the Website tab.
Click Verify now. The tab shows "Checking your records…" while it looks.
Watch the table. Each spelling gets a record found pill once its record is in place.

If something is not ready, the tab explains which record it is and what it needs — for example, that no record was found yet, or that a record points somewhere else. Fix the record at your registrar, then come back.

DNS changes take a little while to spread, so a record you have just saved may not be visible straight away. Wait a short while and click Verify now again.

Step 4 — Securing

Once both records are correct, the address shows an amber Securing pill and the message: "Your records are correct. We are securing … with a certificate so it loads safely — this usually takes a few minutes, and your current address keeps working until it is ready."

There is nothing to do here. It is usually a few minutes. Occasionally it takes longer, and it is retried automatically — you do not need to click anything or start again.

When it finishes, each spelling shows secured and the address shows Live. At this point your domain works, but it is not yet your main address.

Step 5 — Make it your main address

Find your new domain in the Addresses section.
Click Switch to this address.
Confirm by clicking Switch.

Your website now identifies as the new domain, and your other addresses redirect to it. Every address you have keeps working, so any link someone saved earlier still takes them to the right page.

Article #69 covers switching back to a different address and choosing between the www and non-www spelling.

Result

Your website loads on your own domain, it is secured with a certificate, and it is the address your site identifies as. Older addresses redirect to it automatically, so nothing you have already shared is broken.

Rules to know

One custom domain per website. To change to a different domain later, switch your main address to your free address, remove the old domain, then add the new one — see "Managing your website addresses: main address, www, subdomains and removing a domain".
1smart.link addresses cannot be used for websites. These are reserved for short links and bio pages.
A domain already used by your short links or bio pages must be moved or deleted there first. When this applies, the tab tells you how many links and pages are currently using that domain, so you know exactly what to clear.
A domain already used by another website on 1smart.link cannot be added. Free the domain on the other website first.

Troubleshooting

Verification keeps saying no record was found

Check that you saved the record at your registrar and that the Host / Name box contains exactly @ or www, not the full address. Then wait a little longer and click Verify now again — DNS changes need time to spread.

Verification says a record points somewhere else

There is an older A or CNAME record for the same Host still in place. Delete it at your registrar, keep only the record shown in the table, then click Verify now again.

The domain will not add at all

The domain may already be in use by your short links or bio pages, or by another website on 1smart.link. Move or delete it in the other place first, then add it here.

If verification keeps failing after all of this, Article #74 goes through the checks in more detail.

Article #69
Article #28
Article #43
Article #74