How to Set Up a Custom Domain

You bought a domain. Now you need it to point at a hosting platform — static site host, Heroku, a VPS, whatever. The DNS setup is the same shape regardless of where you're hosting.

The five records most sites need

1. A or CNAME at root. Points example.com at the hosting provider. A record for an IP; CNAME for a hostname (and CNAME-at-root is supported by Cloudflare, Route 53, and some others — not RFC-strict but widely tolerated).
2. A or CNAME at www. Points www.example.com at the same place, or 301-redirects to root.
3. MX if you're receiving mail.
4. TXT for SPF if you're sending mail.
5. CAA for security (optional but recommended).

Verification

After setting records, wait a TTL cycle and run DNS Propagation Checker to confirm the change is live across resolvers. Then run the full audit — it'll flag any missing email or TLS records.