Setup a Custom Domain with Netlify

Websites are always better with custom domains. Let’s learn how to set up a custom domain with your Netlify app in just a few minutes.

Prerequisites

There are two prerequisites here.

  • have an already purchased domain (I prefer to use Namecheap)
  • have a site already deployed to Netlify (I’ll be using my DevYearbook project)

Add the Domain in Netlify

Inside of the Netlify dashboard, navigate to your domain settings and click “Add custom domain”

Enter the name of your domain and click “Verify”.

Then, acknowledge that you own the domain and click “Add domain”.

After that has finished, click on the options menu next to your new domain and choose “Set up Netlify DNS”.

Follow the steps here by choosing “Verify”, then “Add Domain”, and “Continue”. Then when you get to the screen about domain name servers, copy those name servers.

Then, in the dashboard where you bought your domain (mine is Namecheap), set the DNS to custom DNS and add the DNS names from Netlify.

After that, you should be good to go. Although you may need to wait a few minutes for the settings to propogate, you should eventually see the “Netlify DNS” tag associated with your domain name.