Custom domain setup

Using www.yourbusiness.com instead of yourbusiness.trailerbase.site makes your site feel like yours, helps with brand recall, and improves email click-through. Setup takes about 15 minutes of waiting and about 5 minutes of clicking. SSL is fully automatic.

Advanced plan feature. Custom domains are included on the Advanced plan and higher.

Before you start

You will need:

• A domain you already own. You do not need to transfer it to TrailerBase — we only need DNS records to point at us.
• Access to your domain registrar's DNS settings (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, Google Domains, etc.).
• About 15 minutes for DNS to propagate after you make the change.

Step 1 — Add the domain in TrailerBase

1. Go to Settings > Website > Custom Domain.
2. Click Add domain.
3. Enter the domain exactly as you will use it — for example www.yourbusiness.com or yourbusiness.com.
4. Click Continue.

TrailerBase generates a CNAME target that looks like sites.trailerbase.app. Leave this tab open — you will come back to verify.

Step 2 — Update DNS at your registrar

Open a new tab and sign in to your registrar. Find the DNS or "Manage DNS" section for the domain.

If you are using www.yourbusiness.com

Add a CNAME record:

• Type: CNAME
• Name / Host: www
• Value / Points to: the CNAME target TrailerBase gave you (e.g. sites.trailerbase.app)
• TTL: auto, or 3600

If you are using the root domain (yourbusiness.com, no www)

Most registrars do not allow CNAMEs at the root. Instead use one of:

• An ALIAS or ANAME record pointing to the target, if your registrar supports it.
• A CNAME flattening option (Cloudflare supports this by default).
• Or add an A record pointing to the IP address TrailerBase shows you alongside the CNAME target.

You should also add a www CNAME so both versions work.

Removing conflicting records

Delete any A, AAAA, or CNAME records for the same name that point somewhere else (an old Wix site, GoDaddy parking page, previous host). Leaving them in place causes intermittent errors where some visitors land on the old site.

Step 3 — Verify in TrailerBase

Return to the Custom Domain tab in TrailerBase and click Verify. One of three things happens:

• Green check — DNS is correctly pointed. Proceed to SSL.
• Yellow pending — DNS change has not propagated yet. Wait 5-10 minutes and click Verify again.
• Red error — a typo, a conflicting record, or the wrong record type. Fix it at the registrar and re-verify.

DNS propagation is usually fast (1-5 minutes) but can take up to an hour depending on your registrar.

Step 4 — Automatic SSL via Let's Encrypt

Once the domain verifies, TrailerBase automatically requests an SSL certificate from Let's Encrypt. Provisioning takes about 10-15 minutes while the certificate is issued, installed on our edge network, and propagated globally.

You will see three statuses in order:

1. Requested — we asked Let's Encrypt for the cert.
2. Issued — the cert exists and is installed.
3. Active — visitors hitting your domain get a secure, green-lock connection.

Once Active appears, your site is live on your custom domain. HTTPS is forced for every visitor automatically.

Let's Encrypt certificates are renewed automatically every 60 days. You never see a "certificate expired" warning.

Step 5 — Choose a primary domain

In Settings > Website > Domains, set one URL as your primary. Every other verified domain (the old subdomain, www vs. non-www variants) will 301-redirect to the primary. This is important for SEO — you do not want Google indexing the same pages at two addresses.

Troubleshooting

• "Still showing the old site" — clear your browser cache and try an incognito window. Local caching often lingers for an hour.
• "SSL stuck at Requested" — usually a lingering AAAA record or a DNSSEC conflict. Delete extra records and click Retry SSL.
• "My email stopped working" — email uses MX records, which are separate from the A/CNAME records you changed. MX records should be untouched. If email broke, you accidentally edited the wrong record — restore the MX records and email returns.

Once live, update every external link pointing at the old subdomain (Google Business Profile, directories, social bios) to use your new custom domain.