How To Change Squarespace Domain Name

Loss Of Brand Awareness

How to Change your Built in Domain Name in Squarespace

Brand awareness is something that you have more control over when changing your domain name. If you have frequent direct traffic site visitors , you risk losing them when you change your domain name. They may type in your old domain and when the site doesnt load, think that youve gone offline permanently.

You can mitigate this risk by using redirects and messaging. Implement a 301 redirect from your old domain to your new one for a period of at least 120 days.

Many site visitors will catch on and notice the new domain name, but you cant bank on everyone being observant. Instead, think about including a message or pop-up on your site announcing your new domain name or rebrand to make sure they see it and use the new domain name moving forward.

If you havent purchased the domain name you plan to use, do so now by clicking the blue Purchase Domain button at the top right-hand side of your account. If youve already purchased your new domain name, skip to step 4.

Select your new domain name from the drop-down menu.

The Difference Between Web Hosting & Domain Hosting

In order to understand how your Squarespace website operates, you first need to understand the difference between web hosting and domain hosting.

Web Hosting

Imagine for a second that your web content is a person. A web host would be that persons home a place for them to live and exist. So, for example, if you build a Squarespace website, then Squarespace is your web host. They allow your website to essentially live on their servers.

Domain Hosting

Now, think of domains as the address to your websites home. Domains help users locate your website. Domains are the www.yourdomain.com for your site.

All Squarespace websites are assigned a domain when theyre created, and it usually looks something like www.yoursite.squarespace.com. However, if you want to remove the .squarespace.com then you can buy custom domains from several online domain sites like GoDaddy or Hover. Those third-party sites then become your domain host.

Once you own the custom domain you want, you can transfer or connect it to Squarespace.

This is what well dive into next:

Create A Squarespace Account

At this point, Squarespace will prompt you to create an account. Albeit, proceeding to fill and submit the form means that youve agreed to Squarespaces Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. So, you might want to read them up before you proceed.

If youre OK with their ToS and Privacy Policy, then go ahead and create an account.

If you take the Continue with Google route, it will sync with your Google account and log you in immediately. You can also sign up with other accounts apart from Google.

If you prefer to sign up with your Apple, Facebook, or Twitter accounts, click More Options and then select your preferred account. Otherwise, use your email address.

If you select Continue with Email, a signup form will appear. Fill that form if you prefer to create an account with your email address.

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Start Using The New Nameservers Before Transferring The Domain Name

When youre sure youve copied the DNS settings properly, you should switch to using the new nameservers .

This is important to avoid downtime after you transfer the name. Squarespace gets rid of the domain names nameservers soon after the transfer is completed . If you havent specified new nameservers for the domain name in that time, the site wont resolve and any email addresses using that domain name wont work. .

Log back into Squarespace, go to the Domains section, and click on your domain. There should be a button that allows you to modify the nameservers. Change these to the nameservers specified by your registrar .

The change is not instantaneous and could take a day to migrate. Do a whois on the domain name to verify when its done.

After you verify the nameservers have changed, verify that email is working as well .

My Site Is Showing As Not Secure Or Missing The Security Certificate

Connecting a Name.com domain to your Squarespace site Squarespace Help

The SSL security certificate may take some time to generate. We would recommend leaving 24 hours for this to complete but it should be a lot faster. You should also try clearing the cache of your browser in case older results are loading. If you are unsure and still having issues after some time, please contact us.

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Move A Squarespace Domain

If we host your domain, use the steps and information in this section to move your domain to a different site.

Before you begin, ensure that your Squarespace domain meets these requirements:

The domain must be active. It’s not possible to move an expired domain.
You must be the site owner or have Administrator permissions on both sites.
The sites must be on the same Squarespace account. If the site you’re moving to isn’t on your account, request to be added as a contributor with Administrator permissions. If an error message appears when accepting a contributor invitation, view ourtroubleshooting steps for help.

Start with the site where your domain is currently linked:

In the Home menu, click Settings, then click Domains. Or:

If there’s a in the top-left corner, open that menu and click Domains.

If you’re moving a domain from a parking page, start by clicking the domain in your main menu.

Scroll down, and click Move Domain to Another Site.

Note: If you dont see a Move Domain to Another Site button, you dont have another site with an eligible on your account. Review your sites in your account dashboard and upgrade your trial site or switch from your Mobile Start plan to a standard plan, if needed, before moving the domain.

In the pop-up window, click the featured image of the site where the domain will move.

Log into the new site, and click Confirm to complete the process.

Your domain should connect to the new site within 24-72 hours.

Should I Buy A Domain With Squarespace

Where you buy your domain is completely up to you. Squarespace is a fantastic domain host with a low initial cost and a ton of built-in SEO and security features .

However, if you have domains from other third-party sites and want to keep them all in the same place, using a site like GoDaddy, BlueHost, NameCheap, or Google Domains is fine.

Also Check: How To Transfer Domain From Shopify To Squarespace

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How To Transfer Squarespace Domain To Shopify

Squarespace is a great website platform. Its a fairly simple tool that is easy to understand and has some pretty great templates that give you a wonderful looking website.

So why transfer to Shopify?

As an e-commerce website, Squarespace simply doesnt compare to Shopify, a website tool built for the purpose of e-commerce. Ive found that Squarespace is better suited for service-based businesses such as graphic designers, acupuncturist, lawyers, etc. If you must use Squarespace for e-commerce, its a great place to start for companies with smaller product offerings.

Sooner or later though, youll run into limitations when trying to grow your business. Squarespace does have a few integrations and plugins, but nowhere near the extent of Shopify. I digress. Ill talk more about when to choose Shopify vs Squarespace another time.

How To Connect Your Custom Domain Without Cloudflare

Squarespace How to Change A Built-in Domain

May 29, 2019 Anyone who has tried to migrate their domain from Wix to Webflow knows When I try to add my DNS server setting from webflow to google domain, its not It could be that your name servers are still set to Wix & not Google.

If youve already registered your own domain name through a third-party, you can and change your DNS settings to the values listed in the Set up your domain

Transferring Your Wix Domain Away from Wix Forward this code to your new domain host. Enter the domain name youd like to transfer. The change may alter the registrant, administrative, or technical contact provided for the registration

Thanks for choosing to move your domain name over to Brighter Vision! Before our team Your Domain. 3. Change Your Domains Privacy Settings to Public

Read Also: How To Verify Your Domain

Five: Add Your First Cname Record

On the first line of your Squarespace DNS Settings, copy the code that appears directly under the Host column. The code will be a random string of numbers and letters that must point to verify.squarespace.com.

In your provider’s DNS manager, create a CNAME with the value listed on your Squarespace DNS Settings.

Squarespace Note: If you’re experiencing issues verifying your domain with a CNAME Record or if your domain provider doesn’t support CNAME Records, verify your domain using a TXT Record.

Squarespace Note: If you don’t add this CNAME, or if it’s entered incorrectly, the domain will unlink from your site after 15 days. If this happens, you can start over to reconnect the domain.

S To Change Domain Name On Squarespace

Look for the domain you want to rename.

Wait for the refund to arrive. According to Squarespaces refund policy, you can get a refund if you cancel the domain within the five-day grace period. If you cancel a free domain that came with the subscription, you wont get a refund, but you can register another free domain.

Type the domain name you want on the search field. Depending on the availability, you will see the following results:

Free â you can get the domain as part of the free one-year domain for new accounts

$20 to $70 â you can purchase the domain for the specified price

Unavailable â the domain is not available to be used

Add the domain name to your cart once youve verified its availability.

Go to your cart and click checkout.

Squarespace protects your privacy by automatically including Whois/Domain Privacy with your subscription. Enter your contact information. This will be used as the registered information for the domain.

Check that everything is correct, and click Save and continue.

Review the Terms of Services.

Check your email. Your bank may ask you to verify the purchase, and Squarespace may ask you to verify your account. Complete the verification within 24 hours.

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Move Your Google Workspace Subscription

When you move your domain to a new site, you can also move over that domains linked Google Workspace subscription, as long as the new site doesnt already have a Google Workspace account. Its not possible to have two active Google Workspace subscriptions on one site.

If youre moving a Squarespace domain, your Google Workspace subscription will move over to the new site automatically. To ensure this happens smoothly, . If the account is suspended, you can go through all the steps to move your domain, but neither the domain nor the Google Workspace account will actually move.

If you have a third-party domain, you must first complete the steps above to move your domain, and then contact us to request the Google Workspace transfer. Include the following information with your request:

Current Squarespace site URL
Squarespace site URL of the site you’re moving to
Custom domain name
Full name and last four digits of the credit card on file for each site

Two: Link Your Domain

Note From Squarespace: If you see a message that says “This domain is already connected to another Squarespace site,” check any other Squarespace sites you manage to determine where the domain is connected. Then disconnect it from that site. For help logging into the correct site, visit Managing multiple sites.

Youll then select your domain provider from the drop-down list that Squarespace provides. If you dont see your domain provider from the list, select other. You will be able to connect your domain even if the provider is mentioned on the list.

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Can I Change My Domain Name On Squarespace

If youre not happy with your domain name, or you want to change it for any reason, you can absolutely do so on Squarespace. Its a very easy process that shouldnt take more than a few minutes. Heres how to change your domain name on Squarespace:

1. Log into your Squarespace account and go to the Domains tab.

2. Find the domain you want to change and click on it.

3. Click on the gear icon next to the domain name and select Edit Domain.

4. Enter the new domain name you want in the Change Domain field and click OK.

5. Click Confirm to confirm the change.

Thats it! Your domain name has now been changed on Squarespace.

If you have any questions or need any help, you can always contact Squarespace support. Theyre available 24/7 and will be happy to assist you.

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Switching Domain From Squarespace To Webflow

Hi all,

Ive had a squarespace account for the last year but Im using webflow now. Im just about finishing up my site and want to be able to keep using the same domain. Is there a way for me to switch it over?

Jess

Hi Jess, did you happen to purchase your domain through a domain registrar or through Squarespace directly?

If you purchased through Squarespace, there is unfortunately an intermediate step youll need to take, but in the long term its much more beneficial for you. You will need to:

Follow Squarespaces instructions for unlocking your domain:

Once your domain is transferred over, you can then follow the directions for linking it to your Webflow site, which you can find here:

Because Squarespace doesnt allow transferring a domain less than 60 days after registration, its not possible for us to create a test domain and walk through all the steps and create a tutorial for you. But it would be AMAZING if you documented the steps you took and posted them here for future ex-Squarespacers to benefit from!

Hi, I am having same problem here as well. What if I have the domain more than 60 days after registration with Squarespace? Do I still need register Godaddys service as the intermediate step?

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How Do You Know What Your Built In Squarespace Domain Is

In the domains menu section that we found above, you will find a list of all domains associated with your Squarespace website. At the bottom of this list you will find your built in domain name – the one given to your site when you first started your trial. This never expires, even if your other domains do.

Can You Change Domain Name On Squarespace

How to change your Squarespace domain // Change Squarespace Website Domain

You can absolutely change your domain name on Squarespace! In fact, its a pretty simple process. Heres how to do it:

1. Log in to your Squarespace account and go to the Settings tab.

2. Under Site Management, click Domains.

This will take you to your accounts Domains page.

3. Click the Change Domain button next to the domain you want to change.

4. Enter your new domain in the popup window and click Check Availability. If the domain is available, youll be able to proceed with the purchase.

And thats it! Once youve completed these steps, your domain will be updated and you can start using it for your Squarespace website.

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Transferring Vs Connecting Domains

There are two ways to use a custom domain from a third-party for your Squarespace-built website. You can transfer the domain to Squarespace, or you can connect it.

Transferring a Domain

This is Squarespaces recommended way to use a custom domain for their websites. If you transfer your domain, you can manage and control both your domain and website through Squarespace.

Note: In order to transfer a domain, it must be included on Squarespaces list of available TLDs.

Squarespace makes transferring a domain super simple. Just visit this site and follow the prompts.

Connecting a Domain

Sometimes, users want to keep their domain name with their current third-party provider, yet still use it for their Squarespace site. This is possible by connecting your domain. Just note: youll have to manage your domain and website on each separate platform.

If you choose to go this route, heres how youd accomplish it:

In the Home Menu of your Squarespace website, click Settings, then clickDomains.

Enter the fulldomain nameyou’reconnectingin theDomain Namefield, then click Continue.
Select yourdomainprovider from the drop-down menu
Then clickConnect Domain.

What Is A Built

When created, every Squarespace website comes with a built-in domain that looks like this: yoursiteid.squarespace.com

If you want, you can keep this domain and it will remain as your website address. If you do transfer over a custom domain, users will no longer see your built-in Squarespace domain .

Its important to note that once you add a custom domain, thats your website address. Your built-in Squarespace domain will not automatically redirect.

If you want to keep your Squarespace built-in domain but change it from whats assigned to you, you can do it by following these steps:

In theHome Menu, clickSettings, and then clickDomains.
UnderBuilt-In Domain, click the domain.

Enter a newSiteID. This becomes the first part of your built-in domain before the.squarespace.com.

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What Is The Concept Of Shopify Domain Forwarding

Domain forwarding refers to the process of connecting a third-party domain to your Shopify store. In other words, you want to configure the domain DNS settings so that it points to your store whenever someone tries to access it. By connecting your store to a pre-existing domain, you can continue using the same hosting service you are comfortable with and avoid unnecessary hassle. Furthermore, should you require Shopify migration services, you can get in touch with a Shopify web development company.

How long does it take to transfer the domain to Shopify?

The speed of transfer changes from host to host, but, for the most part, it can take between 24 hours to 15 days. For more information, you can contact the Shopify support and maintenance services of a development company.

Changing domain hosting providers is a big decision and should not be taken lightly. Therefore, whether you want to move to or away from Shopify, consider hiring a Shopify web development companys services. In doing so, you get access to Shopify migration services, Shopify web design services and Shopify support.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I buy my domain through Shopify?

What will happen to my domain if I close my Shopify store?

If you purchased a standard domain name through Shopify, the domain would shut down along with the store. On the other hand, if you procured a custom domain name, you have the option of transferring it to a new CMS of your choosing.