Connect your business domain to FutureHost

1. Have the website ready first

Publish and review your site at its free FutureHost address before changing DNS. Check the homepage, service pages, contact details and enquiry form on a phone. Keep that address available while you connect your own domain.

A custom domain connection needs Website or Business. Website is £12/month and includes one connection; Business is £39/month and includes five. Registration and renewal of the domain are separate. You can keep a domain registered with your existing provider.

2. Add the domain in your dashboard

Open Domains in your FutureHost dashboard and choose the option to connect a domain you already own. Enter the domain you want customers to use. FutureHost shows the ownership and routing records for this specific connection.

If you need a new name, use the domain search when registration is available for your account. Review the registration charge and renewal price before paying. Buying a name and paying for a website subscription are separate purchases.

3. Copy the records from your own connection

Sign in to the service that manages DNS for your domain. Add the ownership record exactly as shown, then apply the website routing records. Use the CNAME option where your DNS provider supports root flattening; otherwise follow the A-record option in the dashboard.

Keep any proxy or CDN switched off until HTTPS is active. Leave unrelated records, including the MX records for existing email, in place. Do not copy an IP address from another customer or an old article: the dashboard supplies the correct values for your site.

• Record type: select the exact type shown, such as TXT, CNAME or A.
• Name: check whether your DNS provider expects the full domain or only the host label.
• Value: copy the full value without adding spaces or quotation marks unless your provider requires them.

4. Check DNS, SSL and the live website

Return to Domains and select Check again. DNS changes can take time to become visible; the dashboard shows DNS, SSL and site-routing progress separately. When the connection is active, open its HTTPS address and check the correct site loads.

If progress stalls, compare each record with the dashboard. Check that you edited the authoritative DNS provider and that an old routing record is not conflicting. Keep the original host running while resolving a migration. If you need help, send support the domain and the visible error, without account passwords.

5. Make the address consistent

When the domain is active, make it primary if it should be your main website address. Update the link on your business profiles, advertising and email signature. Visit the exact address you publish and submit one final test enquiry.

Connecting a website does not move existing email. Set up business email as a separate step only when you are ready to change mail delivery.