Adding a third-party domain - quick guide

The best way to add use a third-party domain on your Shopify store depends on where you bought the domain.

Domains use a lot of complicated terminology, but in practice there are only two things you need to connect a domain to Shopify:

• The main part of your domain (root domain), such as shopify.com, should point to Shopify's IP address: 23.227.38.65.
• Anything extra before your root domain (subdomain), such as www for www.shopify.com or shop for shop.shopify.com, should point to shops.myshopify.com.

Each domain provider has different requirements for their settings, so you must contact your domain provider or review their documentation on how they need the domain to be configured.

Shopify Support can't access your domain's settings. If you're having trouble setting up your domain, then you must work with your domain provider. Shopify Support can advise only on what you should tell your domain provider.

If you want Shopify to be able to help with your domain settings, then transfer the domain to Shopify instead.

GoDaddy, Google, and 1&1 IONOS domains

If you purchased your domain through GoDaddy, Google, or 1&1 IONOS, then refer to the guide on setting up your domain automatically.

All other domains

Because each domain provider is different, Shopify can't advise on what to put in each field of your domain's settings. Here is what you need to know to review their documentation and determine what to put into each field, or to contact their support team:

• The root domain needs an A record pointing to 23.227.38.65.
• The root domain can't be pointing to any other A records.
• Any subdomain needs a CNAME record pointing to shops.shopify.com.
• The domain's nameservers should be the default for your provider.

After you change your domain settings, it can take 48 hours for the internet to reflect those changed settings.

Check if your domain is ready to add to Shopify

It can take 48 hours for any changes to a domain to be recognized across the internet. You can check to see if your domain is ready to be added to your Shopify account using who.is.

Steps:

1. Go to who.is.
2. Enter the root of your domain, such as shopify.com.
3. Click DNS Records.
4. Look for the following records:
   • Type of A with Content of 23.227.38.65

     

   • Type of CNAME with Content of shops.myshopify.com

     

If those records are not listed, or there is another record on your root domain with a Type of A and a Content of a different IP address, then your domain is not ready to connect to Shopify. If it has been over 48 hours after you changed the settings, then contact your domain provider.

If those records are listed, then you are ready to add the domain to your Shopify account.

Add a domain to your Shopify account

After your domain is ready, you can add it to your Shopify account.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Domains.
2. Click Connect existing domain.
3. Enter the domain that you want to connect, such as johns-apparel.info.
4. Click Next.
5. Click Verify connection.

Connect only a subdomain to your Shopify store

A setup where a root domain points to a different website and a subdomain points to a Shopify store is possible, but it's not supported by Shopify. For example, you could have shop.johns-apparel.com pointing to your Shopify store, but johns-apparel.com pointing to a different website host.

Setup

For this setup, configure your subdomain to have a CNAME record pointing to shops.myshopify.com.

Troubleshooting

If you receive an error about a missing A record when adding the subdomain to Shopify, then complete the following steps.

Steps:

1. Go to Online Store > Domains.
2. Click Connect existing domain.
3. Enter your subdomain, then click Next.
4. Click Verify connection.
5. Click Verify again.
6. In the Connection incomplete banner, click Add domain.
7. On your Domains page, remove the root domain for the domain.