Your own domain

priyabakes.sitesplaced.site works. priyabakes.in works better: it fits on a visiting card, a customer can say it over the phone, and it tells people you are a business, not a trial. This is the one lesson in the course that costs money — the domain itself, from a registrar, and the Starter plan to connect it.

Why it matters, and when

Three reasons. Trust: a first-time visitor reads a free address as temporary and your own domain as established, before reading a word. Memory: short, your name, nothing else in it — the address people repeat to each other. Ownership: the domain is yours at the registrar, so if you ever move tools, nothing you printed goes stale. When? The moment you are about to print something, run an ad, or quote a client who might look you up. Until then the free address is fine.

Buy the domain

SitesPlaced does not sell domains. Buy from any registrar — GoDaddy, Hostinger, Namecheap, BigRock, Cloudflare — and keep the login handy. The first-year offer is often not the renewal price, so check both before you pay.

.in or .com? .in says India at a glance and is more often still available; .com is what people type by habit. If both are free and cheap, take both and connect one. The name test itself is in Pick a name and a look you can keep.

The plan

Connecting a domain needs the Starter plan or higher (₹199 a month as this is written; the pricing page has the current figure). On the Free plan the editor shows an upgrade prompt where the domain field would be. Starter also removes the badge and adds analytics, AI site copy and a place for tracking code — see What's included. Student portfolios have their own one-time unlock; see that guide.

Connect it: two routes, and you do not choose

In the editor, scroll the left panel to Custom Domain, type your domain, and click Save. The status turns to Pending DNS verification, and what you see next depends on who manages your domain:

• One-click Domain Connect. If your provider supports it (GoDaddy, Cloudflare and IONOS do), a Connect automatically with … button appears. Click it, approve in the popup at your registrar, and the records are written for you. Allow popups first. See One-click Domain Connect.
• Manual DNS. Otherwise the panel shows a short table of DNS records — the settings at the company you bought the domain from. Copy each value exactly from your own screen, edit the registrar's existing parking record rather than adding a second, then click Check Verification Now. Connect a domain manually with DNS has the table and the registrar gotchas.

Connect your own domain is the overview of both routes and what verified and active means.

Then wait, a little

DNS changes have to spread across the internet — usually minutes, sometimes much longer; the dashboard shows the range. Nothing breaks while you wait: your free .site address keeps working, before and after. Once the badge reads verified and active, yourbrand.com and www.yourbrand.com both open your site with HTTPS set up for you, and your dashboard's share links switch over. Then update your Instagram bio and WhatsApp status.

Write down

Domain: ______. Registrar login saved: yes / no. Starter plan from: ______. Next: Get found on Google.