How can I connect a third-party domain to my new online store?

[vlad-k]

Hello,

I want to connect my domain to my new shopify store. My domain is bought through a third-party provider.

Shopify help docs say I should change some DNS records through my domain provider, but the only settings I can change there are the nameservers.

I only have the option to edit DNS records through my *hosting* provider, and from my experience so far it has always been the same (DNS records found in the hosting provider or cloudflare).

I'm a bit confused - do I have to keep my current hosting plan with a third-party provider? As far as I know, shopify stores are self-hosted.

I might be missing something.

Would appreciate any guidance, thanks!

[Blair]

Hi @vlad-k,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community!  I'm happy to provide some assistance with connecting your domain, to ensure this gets resolved.

To successfully complete this, I'd encourage you to check out our Connecting Third-Party Domains document. It shares step-by-step instructions on how you can successfully connect a custom domain to the shop. 

Prior to connecting your domain to the shop however, you will want to confirm that the DNS Records are correctly pointing to Shopify. These settings can be located by heading over to your domain provider. If you're having some troubles with this, I'd encourage you to connect with the third-party domain provider directly as they will be able to share more information with you. 

These DNS Records include: 

• Point the A record to the Shopify IP address 23.227.38.65.
• If necessary, change the Host name to the @ symbol.
• Delete any other A records on the domain if there are any present.
• Point the CNAME record with the name www to shops.myshopify.com

Once successfully completed, you can then connect the domain to the Shopify admin. To acheive this, you can: 

• Head to Settings > Domains, from the Shopify admin. 
• Click Connect existing domain.
• Enter your domain, such as johns-apparel.info, and then click Next.
• To confirm that your domain is connected to your Shopify store, click Verify connection.

It's important to note that it might take up to 48 hours for your domain to be verified. After it's verified, your domain is listed in the THIRD-PARTY DOMAINS section of the Domains page with the status Connected.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.