Custom Domains

Custom Domains

Configure custom domains for your podcast website on Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, or Vercel.

Cloudflare Pages

Step 1: Add Domain

1. Cloudflare Pages → Your project
2. Click “Custom domains”
3. Click “Set up a custom domain”
4. Enter domain: yourpodcast.com or www.yourpodcast.com
5. Click “Continue”

Step 2: Configure DNS

If domain is on Cloudflare DNS:

• DNS configured automatically ✅
• CNAME record added automatically

If domain is elsewhere:

Add CNAME record at your DNS provider:

Type: CNAME
Name: @ (for root domain) or www (for subdomain)
Value: your-project.pages.dev
TTL: Auto or 3600

For apex domain (no www):

Some DNS providers require:

Type: CNAME
Name: @
Value: your-project.pages.dev
Proxy: Enabled (if supported)

Or use ALIAS/ANAME record (if supported):

Type: ALIAS
Name: @
Value: your-project.pages.dev

Step 3: SSL Certificate

Cloudflare provisions SSL automatically (5-10 minutes):

Check status:

⏳ Pending validation
⏳ Pending certificate
✅ Active

Force HTTPS:

1. Custom domains → Domain → “Always use HTTPS” → ON

Step 4: Update Site URL

Update environment variable:

PUBLIC_SITE_URL="https://yourpodcast.com"

In Cloudflare dashboard:

1. Settings → Environment variables
2. Edit PUBLIC_SITE_URL
3. Change to your custom domain
4. Save
5. Trigger rebuild

Step 5: Redirect www

Redirect www → non-www (or vice versa):

Create Page Rule:

1. Cloudflare Dashboard → Your domain
2. Rules → Page Rules
3. Add rule:

   URL: www.yourpodcast.com/*
   Setting: Forwarding URL (301 - Permanent Redirect)
   Destination: https://yourpodcast.com/$1

Or use _redirects file:

public/_redirects

https://www.yourpodcast.com/* https://yourpodcast.com/:splat 301

Netlify

Step 1: Add Domain

1. Site settings → Domain management
2. Click “Add custom domain”
3. Enter domain: yourpodcast.com
4. Click “Verify”

Step 2: Configure DNS

If domain is on Netlify DNS:

• Configured automatically ✅

If domain is elsewhere:

Add records:

# Root domain
Type: A
Name: @
Value: 75.2.60.5 (Netlify's load balancer)

# www subdomain
Type: CNAME
Name: www
Value: your-site.netlify.app

Or use CNAME (if supported):

Type: ALIAS/ANAME
Name: @
Value: your-site.netlify.app

Step 3: HTTPS

Netlify provisions SSL automatically via Let’s Encrypt.

Enable HTTPS:

1. Domain settings → HTTPS
2. Toggle “Force HTTPS” → ON

Step 4: Update Site URL

# In Netlify dashboard
PUBLIC_SITE_URL="https://yourpodcast.com"

Vercel

Step 1: Add Domain

1. Project → Settings → Domains
2. Enter domain: yourpodcast.com
3. Click “Add”

Step 2: Configure DNS

Add records at your DNS provider:

# Root domain
Type: A
Name: @
Value: 76.76.21.21 (Vercel)

# www subdomain
Type: CNAME
Name: www
Value: cname.vercel-dns.com

Step 3: Verify Domain

1. Vercel checks DNS records
2. Wait for verification (5-10 minutes)
3. Status changes to “Valid”

Step 4: SSL

Vercel provisions SSL automatically.

Step 5: Update Site URL

# In Vercel dashboard
PUBLIC_SITE_URL="https://yourpodcast.com"

DNS Records Explained

CNAME Record

Points domain to another domain:

yourpodcast.com → your-project.pages.dev

Pros:

• Simple setup
• Automatic updates

Cons:

• Some providers don’t support CNAME for root domain

A Record

Points domain to IP address:

yourpodcast.com → 75.2.60.5

Pros:

• Universally supported
• Works for root domain

Cons:

• IP address might change (rare)

ALIAS/ANAME Record

Like CNAME but works for root domain:

yourpodcast.com → your-project.pages.dev

Pros:

• Works for root domain
• Automatic updates

Cons:

• Not all DNS providers support

Subdomain vs Root Domain

Root Domain (Apex)

yourpodcast.com

Pros:

• Shorter URL
• More professional

Cons:

• Requires ALIAS/ANAME support (or A record)

Subdomain

www.yourpodcast.com
podcast.yourdomain.com

Pros:

• Easy CNAME setup
• Universally supported

Cons:

• Slightly longer URL

Recommendation

Use both:

yourpodcast.com (primary)
www.yourpodcast.com (redirects to primary)

Domain Verification

Verify Ownership

Platforms verify you own the domain:

Cloudflare: Automatic (if using Cloudflare DNS)

Netlify: Add TXT record:

Type: TXT
Name: _netlify
Value: [verification token]

Vercel: Add TXT record:

Type: TXT
Name: _vercel
Value: [verification token]

Check Propagation

DNS changes take time to propagate:

Check DNS:

# Check A record
dig yourpodcast.com

# Check CNAME record
dig www.yourpodcast.com

# Check from specific DNS server
dig @8.8.8.8 yourpodcast.com

Online tools:

• dnschecker.org
• whatsmydns.net

Propagation time:

• Minimum: 5 minutes
• Typical: 30 minutes - 2 hours
• Maximum: 48 hours

SSL/HTTPS

Automatic SSL

All platforms provision SSL automatically:

• Cloudflare: Universal SSL (instant)
• Netlify: Let’s Encrypt (5-10 minutes)
• Vercel: Let’s Encrypt (5-10 minutes)

Force HTTPS

Redirect HTTP → HTTPS:

Cloudflare:

• SSL/TLS → Edge Certificates → Always Use HTTPS → ON

Netlify:

• Domain settings → HTTPS → Force HTTPS → ON

Vercel:

• Automatic (no configuration needed)

Certificate Renewal

Automatically renewed before expiration:

• Let’s Encrypt: 90-day certificates, auto-renewed at 60 days
• Cloudflare: Auto-renewed

Multiple Domains

Add Secondary Domains

Point multiple domains to same site:

yourpodcast.com → Main site
yourpodcast.net → Redirects to .com
yourpodcast.org → Redirects to .com

Setup redirects:

Cloudflare:

public/_redirects

https://yourpodcast.net/* https://yourpodcast.com/:splat 301
https://yourpodcast.org/* https://yourpodcast.com/:splat 301

Netlify:

netlify.toml

[[redirects]]
  from = "https://yourpodcast.net/*"
  to = "https://yourpodcast.com/:splat"
  status = 301
  force = true

Branch Domains

Deploy branches to subdomains:

main branch → yourpodcast.com
staging branch → staging.yourpodcast.com
dev branch → dev.yourpodcast.com

Troubleshooting

Domain shows “Site not found”

Check 1: DNS records are correct

dig yourpodcast.com  # Should show CNAME or A record

Check 2: Domain is added in platform dashboard

Check 3: DNS has propagated (wait 30 min - 2 hours)

SSL certificate pending

Check 1: DNS points to platform

dig yourpodcast.com
# Should show platform's IP/CNAME

Check 2: No CAA records blocking Let’s Encrypt

dig CAA yourpodcast.com
# Should be empty or include letsencrypt.org

Check 3: Wait longer (can take up to 24 hours)

www not redirecting

Add redirect:

Cloudflare:

public/_redirects

https://www.yourpodcast.com/* https://yourpodcast.com/:splat 301

Netlify:

netlify.toml

[[redirects]]
  from = "https://www.yourpodcast.com/*"
  to = "https://yourpodcast.com/:splat"
  status = 301

Mixed content warnings

Ensure all resources use HTTPS:

<!-- ❌ HTTP (causes warning) -->
<img src="http://example.com/image.jpg" />

<!-- ✅ HTTPS -->
<img src="https://example.com/image.jpg" />

Related

• Cloudflare Pages - Deploy to Cloudflare
• Environment Variables - Configure variables
• Netlify - Deploy to Netlify

Next Steps

• Environment Variables - Update site URL
• Performance - Optimize performance (coming soon)
• Monitoring - Monitor your site (coming soon)