Your Podia account comes with a free podia subdomain that you can customize (e.g. yourstore.podia.com).

However, if you want to use your custom website domain instead of your podia.com subdomain - like Sander does at www.georegulus.com - we make that easy, too! 😃

How to set up a custom domain name on Podia

Step 1: Buy a web domain

If you already have your own domain name, skip ahead to Step 2.

If you don't already have a domain name, you'll need to buy one. We recommend Namecheap or GoDaddy, as they're both affordable and easy to manage.

Step 2: Add your custom domain to Podia

Here's how to add your custom domain to Podia:

From your Podia dashboard, click on Settings in the sidebar menu and select the Domain sub-option.
Click on Edit next to the Custom domain option.
From there, enter the custom domain you'd like your Podia Site to live on under the Custom domain field.
Click on Add domain to start the custom domain connection request.

You can either link up:

a root domain (e.g. www.yourdomain.com)
a subdomain (e.g. courses.yourdomain.com, learn.yourdomain.com, shop.yourdomain.com, etc.)

Step 3: Add a CNAME record with your domain registrar

The process will vary from registrar to registrar, but, overall, it would still be pretty similar.

These are the values you should add:

Host/Name

www (if you'd like to use a root domain such as www.yourdomain.com) OR
courses, academy, learn (that will depend on the subdomain you'd like to use, such as: courses.yourdomain.com, academy.yourdomain.com, learn.yourdomain.com, etc.)

Value/Points To

sites.podia.com (this is the exact value you need to add "sites.podia.com". Do NOT change this to your Podia subdomain or it will not work)

Note: some registrars require a period at the end of the link being pointed to. In that case, you would enter: sites.podia.com.

Example: Here's how it would look like if you'd like to connect a domain such as www.yourdomain.com to Podia:

And here's how it would look like if you'd like to connect a domain such as academy.yourdomain.com to Podia:

Here's a list of common domain registrars and instructions for setting up a CNAME:

Step 4: Confirm 🎉

Usually, your custom domain name will be ready in 24-48 hours.

P.S. even if you're using a custom domain, your Podia storefront will be safe and secure, as we provide a free SSL certificate to all Podia customers. 🔒

Once your custom domain is connected, all existing pages you had under your Podia subdomain will be automatically redirected to the custom domain you have set up 🥳

A note on custom domains connected with 'www' as the CNAME

If you would like to have access to your site via the non-www version of your address you will need to set up a redirect or forward with your domain registrar in order to indicate that the non-www version should load the www version of your site.

For example, if you connected your custom domain to Podia with www.mysite.com, you would need to go into your domain registrar and set up a redirect for mysite.com to direct to www.mysite.com.

If your domain provider requires an IP address for a redirect or forward, we highly recommend using something like Redirect Pizza.

It's free for a single domain and they'll provide an A record/ IP address that you can add for the redirect that will work for your Podia site! 🙌

Here is a step-by-step guide to set up Redirect Pizza with your www domain.

Troubleshooting custom domain connection issues

I have confirmed the CNAME record is correct, but my domain is still not working...

If you have added the correct CNAME records but your domain is still not working, let's try to refresh the connection request!

From your Domain Settings, click on Remove Domain to get your custom domain removed.

Next, add the domain again.

This step will restart the domain validation process, which is particularly useful if there was a mistake in the CNAME record that has now been corrected.

Changes can take up to 20 minutes to take effect.

My custom domain connection isn't working!

If 48 hours have passed and your custom domain isn't working, double-check that you have the correct values in the right fields. It needs to be sites.podia.com. No other value will work.

If you're still having no luck, send us an email and include a screenshot of your DNS settings within your registrar/hosting company. We will be happy to take a closer look!

FAQs

Will my existing Podia links that contain my subdomain redirect to my custom domain?

Yes, when you add a custom domain, your prior links that contained your Podia subdomain will redirect to your new custom domain.

What happens if I disconnect my custom domain?

If your custom domain is disconnected, your site won't be available anymore through the custom domain you previously had set up. This domain will no longer point to your Podia site.

Your site will become available only through its Podia subdomain.

What happens if I change my connected custom domain?

If you disconnect your current custom domain and connect a new one, it's important to note that an automatic redirect won't be established. Consequently, your old custom domain will no longer work.

The positive aspect is that your page slugs, which determine the structure of your URLs, will remain unaffected. However, the actual domain name will switch to the new one you've linked.

To ensure a seamless transition, you have a few options:

Redirect the old domain to your newly connected one via your domain registrar
Employ a 301 redirect
Utilize a service like https://redirect.pizza/ to manage the redirection process.

These choices will help you maintain consistency when transitioning to your new custom domain.

Does Podia host my domain?

Podia does not directly host your web domain. What we do to connect your custom domain to Podia is to set up a CNAME record pointing to your Podia site.

With that said, it would be imperative to keep up an active domain package with your domain registrar to be able to fully link it to your Podia site.

Can I have your IP address?

An IP address won't be necessary if you are looking to connect your domain to Podia.

We rotate IPs of our servers regularly, as our developers are always rolling out updated servers with the latest security patches and software updates.

It's a measure that keeps you and your audience more secure 💪

We can sometimes do this multiple times a day, and if you were to rely on that specific IP, then your storefront would go down once we stop using a name.

A CNAME will help automatically ensure you're on the latest server and keep your storefront up and running.

What happens to links in emails if I change my custom domain?

If you change your custom domain, any links in emails you’ve already sent will no longer work. That’s because those links are tied to the domain that was connected at the time the email was sent.

Changing your custom domain breaks the connection for those past links.