Connect a domain manually with DNS

If your registrar isn't supported by one-click connect — or you simply prefer to do it yourself — you can connect any domain by adding a couple of DNS records: an A record for yourbrand.com and a CNAME for www, copied from the table SitesPlaced shows you, then clicking Check Verification Now. This works everywhere: GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Namecheap, BigRock, Hostinger and the rest, and it takes about five minutes plus a wait for the records to spread.

Add the records SitesPlaced shows you

After you save your domain, the panel headed Add these DNS records in your domain provider lists a Required Records table with three columns — Type, Name / Host and Value / Points to — plus a short Optional Records table. Each name and value has a copy button. Always copy the values shown on your own screen rather than from this article: they're generated for your domain, and the exact values can differ.

The records, explained

• A record — Name `@` → Value `76.76.21.21` (or whatever address your screen shows). This points the bare yourbrand.com at your site. It's the record that matters most; the label under it reads *Points yourbrand.com to your site*.
• CNAME — Name `www` → Value `cname.vercel-dns.com` (your screen may show a slightly different target). This makes www.yourbrand.com work too.
• TXT — Name `_vercel` — only listed if your domain is still attached to another Vercel account (for example an old site you hosted on Vercel yourself). If you see it, add it exactly as shown; it clears an ownership check.
• TXT — Name `_sitesplaced-verify` — listed under *Optional Records*. It proves ownership on its own but doesn't send any visitors to your site, so the A or CNAME record is still needed. Add it if your registrar makes that easy; skip it if not.

1. 1In SitesPlaced, go to Settings → Store details (stores) or the Custom Domain section of the website builder, type your domain in Your Domain, and click Save.
2. 2Leave that screen open — it lists the exact records to add. If SitesPlaced recognises your DNS provider, it says *We detected your DNS is managed by Hostinger — follow the steps below* (with your provider's name) and adds a short How to add these records on … guide with an Open … DNS settings link.
3. 3In a new tab, sign in to your registrar (where you bought the domain) and open its DNS settings (sometimes called *DNS management*, *Advanced DNS* or *DNS zone*).
4. 4Add each Required record exactly as SitesPlaced shows it — match the Type, Name/Host and Value carefully. If a record of the same type and name already exists, edit it rather than adding a second one.
5. 5Save the records at your registrar.
6. 6Back in SitesPlaced, click Check Verification Now. The button reads *Checking DNS…* for a moment; once the records are found, the badge changes to yourbrand.com is verified and active and your domain is connected.

Reading the status column

Each required record has a status on the right of the table, refreshed every time you click Check Verification Now:

• Set (green tick) — this record is correct. Leave it alone.
• Add it (red cross) — nothing of this type exists yet for that name. Add a new record.
• Replace (amber warning) — a record already exists with the wrong value. The table shows *Currently …* with what's there now. Edit that existing record to the value above; don't add a second one, and don't delete it outright or the domain stops resolving entirely.

Give it a little time

After you save the records, the change needs to propagate — spread across the internet. This is usually quick (minutes), but the dashboard warns it can take *5 minutes to 48 hours*. If Check Verification Now comes back with *No DNS records found for yourbrand.com. The domain may not exist or DNS hasn't propagated yet…*, wait ten minutes and try again. Your free yourname.sitesplaced.com address keeps working throughout.

Common gotchas

• Wrong host name — for the root/apex, the host is @ (some registrars want it left blank, or want the full yourbrand.com); for www it's just www, not www.yourbrand.com. SitesPlaced tells you which to use.
• The registrar's parking record — new domains at GoDaddy, Hostinger and others come with an A record on @ that points at the registrar's own parking page. SitesPlaced flags this as *Wrong A record detected!* and marks the row Replace. Edit that record's value to the one in the table. This is the number-one cause of a security warning on the new domain.
• Namecheap's URL redirect — delete Namecheap's default *URL Redirect* record on @ before adding the A record; the two can't coexist.
• Cloudflare proxy on — set Proxy status to *DNS only* (grey cloud) for both the A and CNAME records. The orange *Proxied* setting breaks HTTPS on your site.
• Only the TXT record is in — you'll see *Ownership verified via TXT, but your domain is not pointing to Vercel yet*. That means the A or CNAME is still missing; add it.
• Nameservers point somewhere else — if your domain's DNS is managed by a different service than the one you bought it from (for example you moved it to Cloudflare), add the records there, not at the registrar. The *We detected your DNS is managed by …* line tells you where SitesPlaced is looking.
• Connecting a subdomain such as shop.yourbrand.com — enter the full subdomain as your domain, then at your registrar use shop as the host instead of @ for the A record (or a CNAME from shop to the CNAME value shown). The www row isn't needed for a subdomain.

Provider-specific steps

SitesPlaced detects your DNS provider from your domain's nameservers and tailors the instructions for GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Namecheap, Hostinger, BigRock, IONOS, Wix, Squarespace (Google Domains), Amazon Route 53, DigitalOcean, Vercel, Porkbun, Name.com, Network Solutions and OVH — including a direct Open … DNS settings link to the right page. If your provider isn't recognised you'll see the generic paths instead: Hostinger *Domains → DNS / Nameservers → DNS Records*, GoDaddy *My Products → DNS → DNS Records → Add*, Namecheap *Domain List → Advanced DNS → Add New Record*.

Tried everything and it still won't verify? Contact support with your domain name and a screenshot of your DNS records, and we'll help you get it live. For other things that can look like a domain problem — an unpublished site, a stale browser cache — see Troubleshooting.