To connect a custom domain, you go to the Domain Settings section in your Zoho Sites dashboard and enter your domain name. Zoho Sites then provides the CNAME or A records you need to add at your domain registrar, such as GoDaddy, Namecheap, or the registrar where you purchased the domain. Once the DNS records propagate, typically within a few hours but sometimes up to 48 hours, your site becomes accessible at the custom domain. Zoho Sites also provisions an SSL certificate automatically so the site loads over HTTPS.
Any business that wants a professional online presence should connect a custom domain rather than using the default Zoho subdomain. Customers and partners are more likely to trust a website at a branded address, and a custom domain also contributes to consistent branding across email, social media, and print materials. It is a one-time setup that pays off in credibility immediately after launch.
Custom domain connection requires a paid Zoho Sites plan. DNS propagation time is controlled by your registrar and your domain’s TTL setting, so plan for a window of up to 24 hours before the domain fully resolves. If your domain registrar uses a web-based DNS manager, update the records there directly rather than contacting support, as most changes can be made in under five minutes.
A garment exporter in Tiruppur built their site on Zoho Sites and connected their existing .com domain registered through GoDaddy. They added the CNAME record in GoDaddy’s DNS manager, and the site was live at their custom domain by the next morning. The SSL certificate activated automatically, so clients in international markets saw the padlock icon from day one.
Zoho Sites allows you to add one primary custom domain per site. You can set up domain forwarding at your registrar to redirect additional domain names to the primary one, but only one domain is directly hosted.
Yes. Once your custom domain is connected and DNS has propagated, Zoho Sites automatically provisions a free SSL certificate via Let’s Encrypt so your site is served over HTTPS without any extra configuration.
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