When you begin a Bandzoogle free trial account we provide a permanent trial URL for your website. Example: projectname.bandzoogle.com

After you upgrade from the 30-day free trial plan to a paid membership plan, you can set up the custom domain name of your choice. We are happy to register one for you (free of charge) or you can add a custom domain that you already own.

This Help article includes:

  • Adding a new domain
  • Adding an existing domain (one you already own from another host or domain registrar)
  • Adding an additional domain
  • Renewing an additional domain
  • Detailed instructions to change nameservers for major domain registrars

Adding a new domain

After you’ve upgraded to a paid website plan, we will register one free custom domain name for you. We will renew this domain for you each year for free, as long as your Bandzoogle website plan is active.

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click the arrow next to your username in the top right corner
  2. Select ‘Account Details’ from the drop-down menu
  3. Click ‘Set up my domain’
  4. Click ‘Register new domain’
  5. Enter the domain name of your choice
    • Include the domain extension you’d like. Options: .com, .net, .org, .name
  6. Click ‘Check Availability’
    • If that specific custom domain is not available to be registered, you will see a ‘Sorry, not available’ message. You can enter a new domain until you find an available option. (Example: Instead of ‘myband.com’ try ‘mybandmusic.com’ or ‘mybandofficial.com’)
    • If available, you will see an ‘Available’ message.
  7. Click ‘Register this domain’ to complete the regsitration

Once registered the new domain will load your website within 24 hours (but usually within the hour). Within 24-48 hours of that, we will issue an SSL certificate for your domain name. Once done, you will see https in the web browser's address bar beside your domain name. This will also remove any 'insecure' warnings you may see.

Notes:

  • We will renew this domain for you each year for free, as long as your Bandzoogle membership is active. The domain must be set to ‘Primary’ in the ‘Account Details’ tab for it to renew automatically. If it is the only domain on the account registered through Bandzoogle, it defaults to ‘Primary’.
  • If you register additional domains through us, it will be $14.95 to register, plus $14.95 to renew each year, per additional domain. -You are able to register or connect a domain during a promotional trial for a one-time fee of $14.95.
  • Because country-specific domains (ending in extensions like .co.uk, .ca, and .com.au) require proof of residency, we can't register them for you. If you’d like to use a country-specific domain, you’ll need to register it with a different domain registrar then set it up as an existing domain here. Country-specific domains also cannot be transferred to us. You will simply point the domain to us using DNS settings.
  • If you’d like to add a custom domain-based email address (example: info@myband.com), please view the ‘Website Email Address’ Help article.

Adding an existing domain

If you have already registered a domain name elsewhere, you can connect it to your Bandzoogle website. You must have a paid account in order to set up a domain.

PART 1 - Adding the domain to your Bandzoogle account

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click the arrow next to your username in the top right corner
  2. Select ‘Account Details’ from the drop-down menu
  3. Click ‘Set up my domain’
  4. Click ‘Connect existing domain’
  5. Enter your current domain name and click ‘Check domain’

    Note: This must be a domain name you own and have access to in order to make changes to the settings.

  6. Click ‘Use this domain name’
  7. Next to ‘DNS settings’, make a selection:
    • Bandzoogle - DNS Hosting is included in your membership (Recommended)
    • Other - This is an advanced option for members who want to host their own DNS
  8. Click ‘Connect ‘yourdomain.com’

PART 2 - Changing the settings to point the domain to your Bandzoogle account

  1. Log in to your account with your domain registrar, and change the domain nameservers to point to us:
    • dns1.sitezoogle.com
    • dns2.sitezoogle.com
    • dns3.sitezoogle.com
    • dns4.sitezoogle.com

Once your domain name has been pointing to our servers, we will issue an SSL certificate for it. This can take an additional 24-48 hours. Once done, you will see https in the web browser's address bar beside your domain name. This will also remove any 'insecure' warnings you may see.

IMPORTANT: After you update the nameservers, it can take up to 24 hours for the domain to start loading your Bandzoogle website. If, after 24 hours, your domain isn’t loading your Bandzoogle website, please contact our support team.

Note: If you already have a custom domain-based email address (example: info@myband.com), please view the ‘Website Email Address’ Help article.

PART 3 (OPTIONAL) - Transferring the registration to Bandzoogle

If you’d like for Bandzoogle to manage your existing domain, you can transfer the domain registration over to us. To learn more about this option, please see ‘Transferring A Domain’.

Adding an additional domain

We provide one free domain setup per paid Bandzoogle membership. You can set up additional domains through the ‘Account Details’ tab if needed. The cost is $14.95 per year for each new domain we register.

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click the arrow next to your username in the top right corner
  2. Select ‘Account Details’ from the drop-down menu
  3. In the ‘Domain manager’ section, click ‘Add new domain’
  4. Click ‘Register new domain’
  5. Enter the domain name of your choice
    • Include the domain extension you’d like. Options: .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, .name
  6. Click ‘Check Availability’
    • If that specific custom domain is not available to be registered, you will see a ‘Sorry, not available’ message. You can enter a new domain until you find an available option. (Example: Instead of ‘myband.com’ try ‘mybandmusic.com’ or ‘mybandofficial.com’)
    • If available, you will see an ‘Available’ message.
  7. Click ‘Register this domain’
  8. On the next screen, click ‘Register mybandname.com’ and follow the prompts in the Stripe checkout portal to complete registration

Note: If you’d like to connect an additional domain that you have already registered externally, there is a one time fee of $14.95 to add it to your account. You would renew the domain with your current domain registrar each year.

Renewing an additional domain

If you registered an additional domain through your Bandzoogle account, you’ll need to renew the domain annually. We’ll send reminders to your account email address in advance. To renew your domain, follow these steps:

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click the arrow next to your username in the top right corner
  2. Select ‘Account Details’ from the drop-down menu
  3. In the ‘Domain manager’ section, click ‘Renew’ next to your domain
  4. Follow the prompts in the Stripe checkout portal to renew your domain

Nameserver instructions for common domain registrars

The process for changing nameservers varies depending on the company that registered your domain. Not sure who your registrar is? You can find out here: WHOIS search

Note: If your domain registrar is not on this list, or if you need more help with changing the nameservers, please contact your domain registrar directly.

For more information on other domain options, please view the ‘Domain Names’ Help article.