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How to buy a domain name, connect it to your site, and go from yoursite.vercel.app to yourname.com.
When you deploy your site, you get a free URL like yourproject.vercel.app. This works fine for testing and sharing with friends. But if you want to look professional, a custom domain like yourname.com makes a big difference.
Get a custom domain when:
Skip it for now when:
A domain costs about $10-15/year. Here are the best places to buy one:
Cheapest option. No markup — you pay the wholesale price. Free DNS and SSL included.
~$10/yr
Simple interface, good support. Free WhoisGuard privacy protection included.
~$12/yr
Buy directly from your hosting dashboard. Zero DNS setup — it just works instantly.
~$15/yr
Shorter domains are easier to type, remember, and share. Aim for under 15 characters if possible.
Hyphens are hard to say out loud ('my dash site dot com') and people forget them. Stick to letters.
People automatically type .com. If the .com version isn't available, consider a different name rather than a different extension.
Before you buy, search for the same name on Twitter/X, Instagram, and GitHub. Matching handles build trust.
Don't include brand names like 'Google' or 'Nike' in your domain. You could get a legal takedown notice.
If your domain is unusual, consider buying the common misspelling too and redirecting it. Costs $10/yr for peace of mind.
Go to Cloudflare, Namecheap, or Vercel and search for the domain you want. If it's available, purchase it.
Go to your Vercel, Netlify, or Cloudflare Pages project settings. Find the "Domains" section.
Type in your new domain (e.g., yourname.com). The platform will show you DNS records to add.
Go to your domain registrar's DNS settings. Add the records your hosting platform gave you (usually an A record or CNAME).
DNS changes take 5 minutes to 48 hours to spread across the internet. Usually it's under 30 minutes.
Your hosting platform automatically sets up HTTPS (the padlock icon). No extra steps needed.
You just bought yourname.com from Cloudflare for $10. Your portfolio site is already deployed on Vercel at yourname.vercel.app. Now you want visitors to see yourname.com instead. You add the domain in Vercel's dashboard, copy the DNS records Vercel gives you, paste them into Cloudflare's DNS settings, and within 10 minutes your site is live at your custom domain with HTTPS automatically enabled.
Build this with AI
"I bought the domain yourname.com from Cloudflare Registrar. My site is deployed on Vercel at yourname.vercel.app. Walk me through connecting the domain step by step. What DNS records do I need to add in Cloudflare? Should I use an A record or CNAME? How do I set up both yourname.com and www.yourname.com? And how long until it works?"
Connect a custom domain
"I bought the domain mysite.com from Cloudflare. My site is deployed on Vercel. Walk me through connecting the domain step by step — what DNS records do I need to add and where?"
Set up www redirect
"Set up my domain so both mysite.com and www.mysite.com work, with www redirecting to the root domain. I'm using Vercel for hosting and Cloudflare for DNS."
