Get your own
.com
Nanopage supports custom domains, but we do not sell them. This page walks through buying one, understanding what DNS actually is, and pointing it at your Nanopage site — even if you have never done it before.
What is a domain, actually?
A domain name is the address people type to find your site — like yourname.com. You rent it from a registrar for around $10-15 per year for a .com.
Buying a domain does not get you a website. It is just the address. Nanopage is the building at that address — your site, your content, your hosting.
The thing that connects an address to a building is called DNS. You will add one DNS record. Five fields. That is the whole job.
The three pieces
- 1Domain — bought from a registrar.
- 2DNS record — points the domain at Nanopage.
- 3Website — already built on Nanopage.
1. Buy a domain
Pick a registrar. Search for the name you want. Pay for one year. That is it.
Registrars we like
Any registrar works with Nanopage. We do not have an affiliate deal with any of them — these are just the ones we have personally found least annoying.
What to expect at checkout
- ▸Price: $10-15/year for a .com. Other endings (.co, .io, .shop) can be cheaper or wildly more expensive — check the renewal price too, not just year one.
- ▸WHOIS privacy: hides your personal address from public records. Free at most modern registrars. Always turn it on.
- ▸Auto-renew: turn it on. If your domain expires, your site goes dark and someone else can buy it.
- ▸Skip the extras: you do not need email hosting, website builder add-ons, or premium SSL. Nanopage handles HTTPS for free.
2. Point it at Nanopage
Five short steps. Most people finish in under five minutes.
Log in to your registrar
Open the website where you bought the domain (Cloudflare, Porkbun, GoDaddy, etc.) and sign in.
Find the DNS settings
Look for "DNS", "DNS Management", "Manage DNS", or "Advanced DNS" next to your domain. Every registrar puts it somewhere slightly different, but it is always there.
Add an A record
Create a new record. Set Type = A, Name = @ for the root domain (or www for the www version), and Value = the IP address Nanopage shows you in the dashboard. Leave TTL on the default (or "Automatic").
Save and wait
Save the record. DNS changes usually appear in a few seconds to a few minutes. Some registrars warn it can take up to 48 hours — in practice it is almost always fast.
Click "Verify DNS" in Nanopage
Back in your Nanopage dashboard, click Verify DNS. Once it sees the record, your site goes live on your custom domain over HTTPS. We handle the SSL certificate for you.
The record you are adding
When you are staring at a DNS form for the first time, this is what you are looking for. The exact IP address appears in your Nanopage dashboard — copy it from there, not from here.
Add both rows if you want yourname.com and www.yourname.com to work. You can also attach both in the Nanopage dashboard and we will treat them as the same site.
Glossary
Domain name
The address people type to reach your site (e.g. yourname.com). You rent it yearly from a registrar.
Registrar
A company licensed to sell domain names — like Cloudflare, Porkbun, or GoDaddy.
DNS
The internet phonebook. It maps your domain name to the server that hosts your website.
A record
A DNS entry that points your domain at an IP address. This is what Nanopage needs.
TLD
The ending of a domain — .com, .co, .io, .shop, etc. Pricing varies a lot between TLDs.
TTL
Time to live. How long networks cache the DNS record. The default is fine — do not overthink it.
Apex / root domain
The bare domain without www (e.g. yourname.com). The opposite of a subdomain like www.yourname.com.
SSL / HTTPS
The padlock in the browser. Nanopage issues and renews the certificate automatically — you do not have to buy one.
When it doesn't work
You added the wrong record type
+
Nanopage needs an A record, not a CNAME or TXT. If your registrar already has an A record for @, edit it instead of adding a second one.
You typed the domain into the Name field
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The Name field should be @ (for the root) or www (for the www subdomain) — not the full domain. Most registrars fill in the rest automatically.
Your registrar forces a www-only setup
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A few registrars block A records at the root. If yours does, use an ALIAS or ANAME record at @, or move DNS to Cloudflare or Route 53 — both are free and support apex A records.
You are still seeing the old site
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Your browser or ISP may be caching the old DNS answer. Try an incognito window, a different network (your phone on cellular), or wait a few more minutes.
You forgot to renew the domain
+
Domains expire. Turn on auto-renew at your registrar — losing a domain mid-year because of a $12 charge is the most common own-goal in this whole process.
Stuck? Email us.
If DNS is fighting you and the steps above are not lining up with what you are seeing, send us a screenshot of your registrar's DNS panel. We have seen most of them and can usually tell you exactly which field to change.
No site yet?
Build the site first, attach the domain second. Both take less time than reading this page.
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