Ok, so you are ready to take that next step and make your Landing Page URLs alluring to potential leads. Well, this article should get you started!

To set up a custom domain and your landing page URLs, you need to complete a few steps:

1. Purchase a domain from a domain hosting service
2. Setting up your Domain
3. Adding a Custom Domain in Unbounce
4. Customize your Landing Page's URL [VIDEO]

For more background information, you can read all about URLs and CNAMEs over here.

What you will need:

There are a few things you will need before we get started, namely:

• A domain (If you don't have one, you can easily purchase and connect one from iWantMyName.com)
• Administrative access to your domain’s DNS
• An Unbounce account with an available Custom Domains slot

Setting up your Domain:

Before your Custom Domain can work with Unbounce you will need to tell the world that your domain uses Unbounce. Don’t worry, you don’t actually have to tell anyone, though we certainly won’t stop you!

To do this, you’ll need to create a CNAME record with your domain host which might initially seem daunting, but after you've done it once you'll be a pro.

1. Sign in to your domain hosting service
2. Navigate to your DNS Management page
3. Find the CNAME record settings
4. Create a new CNAME record
5. Enter a value for your sub-domain in the host field (www for a root domain).
6. Enter unbouncepages.com. as the destination or address.
7. Save the changes to your DNS records.
8. Go back to Unbounce and add your domain. 

Note: Changes to your CNAME records can take up to 24hrs to propagate.

If you want to use your naked domain as well (the domain without the 'www') such as yourdomain.com, see this knowledge base article.

We also have specific instructions for the following popular hosts:

• iWantMyName
• 1&1
• BlueHost
• DreamHost
• GoDaddy [VIDEO]
• HostGator
• MediaTemple
• NameCheap
• Network Solutions
• For providers that use cPanel (e.g. LunarHost, Monster Host, SiteCloud, JustHost) you can follow these cPanel set up instructions

Adding a Custom Domain in Unbounce

Ready to finally add your custom domain to your Unbounce landing pages!? Great! Just follow the steps below and any new landing pages you create will start using the new domain.

1. Log in to Unbounce
2. Select the sub-account you wish to add a custom domain to
3. Open the Domains tab from the side navigation bar
4. Click Add a Domain
   
   
   
5. Select the type of Custom Domain, either a root domain or a sub-domain
6. Type in your domain name
   
   
   
7. Click Continue to confirm and test your domain

Note: If you already have a custom domain setup on another sub-account you may need to increase your custom domain limit.

That’s it, you should be all set! New pages will default to your new domain, and any existing pages can be updated to use the new domain!

Customize your Landing Page's URL

Lastly, you need to tell your landing page which address you want it to show up at. The following video demonstrates how to do this:

1. Log in to Unbounce.
2. Open the page overview for the relevant landing page.
3. Click Change URL on the left hand side of the page URL.
   
   
   
4. Select the custom domain you wish to use for this page.
5. Customize your landing page's final URL as desired.
   
   
   
6. Click Change URL to save your changes.

Note: When you change the URL of a published page it will be moved to the new URL, and the old URL will no longer send people to your page.

Helpful Terminology:

• Uniform Resource Locator (URL):
  
  A URL is simply put the address to a web page.
  
  Example: http://www.somecompany.com/a-specific-page/
• Domain:
  
  A domain is provides a way to uniquely identify your website on the web with a distinct URL of your choosing.
  
  Some example domains: unbounce.com, www.somecompany.com, happyhippos.ca, anything-you-can-think-of.co.nz
• Root domain:
  
  A root domain is arguably the most important part of any website; it is the Google of google.com, the Unbounce of unbounce.com. Associating a root domain with your Unbounce account is ideal for when you have an empty website and you want to use your Unbounce pages for your homepage and/or subsequent pages.
  
  Examples: www.mysite.com or www.mysite.com/promo
• Sub-domain:
  
  A sub-domain is allows you to have multiple unique URLs associated with your root domain. For instance the ‘app’ in app.unbounce.com is a sub-domain of unbounce.com. Sub-domains are very useful when you want to use your root domain, but already have a website on it.
  
  Examples: try.mysite.com or try.mysite.com/promo
• Domain Hosting Service:
  
  The company that hosts your domain, some examples are GoDaddy, DreamHost, and 1&1.
• Domain Name Service (DNS):
  
  This makes sure everyone on the web knows your address, kind of like the yellow pages of the internet.
• Canonical Name Record (CNAME record):
  
  A CNAME record is used to set up an alias for your domain, by adding a CNAME record to your domain’s DNS you can direct visitors to your webpages to Unbounce’s servers.
  
  Still a bit fuzzy? If you think of a URL as a sign and a web server as a building, then a CNAME record is like putting a sign on the side of a building. The building is still at the same address, and the sign is now the first thing people see.

If you have followed these steps and are experiencing any difficulties with your custom domain, you can follow these steps to verify that your CNAME Record is set up correctly or contact us at support@unbounce.com.