Connect your own domain to your FrontDesk
Your own address.Your website stays.
Give your FrontDesk an address on your own domain, such as ask.yourbusiness.com, and your website stays exactly where it is at yourbusiness.com. You add one record at the company that manages your domain, and nothing else on your domain changes: your website, your email and your other addresses keep working.
The one rule
Connect a new address that starts with a short word of your choice, like ask, book, chat or hello. Never connect yourbusiness.com or www.yourbusiness.com while your website lives there, because that address would then open your FrontDesk instead of your website.
Your yourname.360frontdesk.com link keeps working too, so links and QR codes you have already shared still open.
Before you start
You need three things, and about 10 minutes.
A plan with your own domain
Included in Pro ($29.99 a month) for business FrontDesks, and in the Signature and Wedding packages for event pages.
Access to your DNS settings
The account where your domain is managed, usually the company you bought it from. If a web designer or IT person looks after it, send them this page.
The address you want
One short word in front of your domain, such as ask.yourbusiness.com or book.yourclinic.com. Choose one your website does not already use.
Step by step
Most businesses are live within an hour. Keep two browser tabs open: your FrontDesk editor and your domain provider.
Open your editor
Sign in at app.360frontdesk.com and choose Edit on the FrontDesk you want to connect.
Enter your address
Under Custom domain, type the address without https://, for example ask.yourbusiness.com, then choose Save domain.
Note the record you are shown
The editor shows one record to add, with three parts:
- Type
- CNAME
- Name
- The first word of your address, for example ask
- Points to
- The value shown in your editor. Copy it exactly.
Open your DNS settings
In the other tab, sign in to your domain provider and open the DNS settings for yourbusiness.com. Providers call this DNS records, Manage DNS, Advanced DNS or Zone editor.
Add the record
Choose to add a new record, pick CNAME, enter the Name and the Points to value from step 3, leave TTL as it is, and save. Do not change or delete any record that is already there.
Check it
Back in your editor, choose Check verification. When the record is found, the editor shows Live at ask.yourbusiness.com and your secure https address is set up for you. It is often a few minutes, and can take a few hours while the change spreads across the internet.
Share it
Put the new address on your website, your social profiles, your WhatsApp Business profile, business cards and printed QR codes.
Where to add the record
The record is the same everywhere; only the menu and the field names change. Menus move from time to time, so look for the field names below.
| Provider | Where to add it | Name field | Points to field | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GoDaddy | Your domain, then DNS, then Add New Record | Name | Value | Nothing special |
| Namecheap | Domain List, Manage, then Advanced DNS, then Add New Record | Host | Value | Nothing special |
| Cloudflare | Your domain, then DNS, then Records, then Add record | Name | Target | Set Proxy status to DNS only (grey cloud), or it will not verify |
| Squarespace Domains (includes former Google Domains) | Your domain, then DNS, then Custom records | Host | Data | Nothing special |
| Wix | Domains, your domain, then Manage DNS Records, CNAME section | Host Name | Value | Only works when your domain uses Wix's nameservers; otherwise add it where the domain is registered |
| Any other provider | Its DNS or zone settings | Name, Host or Alias | Value, Target, Points to or Data | Some providers add your domain to the name for you: then enter only the first word, such as ask |
Keep your website, and bring your FrontDesk into it
Your website keeps doing its job, and your FrontDesk answers the questions it cannot. Four ways to connect the two, from simplest:
| Way | What visitors see | Plan | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| A link or button | "Ask us" or "Book" in your menu or on your contact page, opening ask.yourbusiness.com | Every plan | Add a link to your new address in your website builder |
| Chat bubble | A chat button in the corner of every page of your website, opening your FrontDesk | Pro | In your editor, under Embed on your site, choose Copy bubble code and paste it once into your website's custom code setting |
| Chat inside a page | Your FrontDesk's chat placed inside one page, such as Contact | Pro | Under Embed on your site, choose Copy inline code and paste it where the chat should appear; a height of 560 to 600 works well |
| QR code | A code to scan at your counter, on menus, flyers and signs | Every plan | From the share box under your FrontDesk on your dashboard |
Website builders keep custom code in their settings: WordPress through your theme or a header and footer plugin, Wix under Settings and Custom code, Squarespace under Code injection, Shopify in your theme. Some builders only allow custom code on their paid plans.
If something does not work
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| Still not verified after an hour | Check the record type is CNAME, the Name is only the first word (ask), and the Points to value is copied exactly, with no spaces. Then choose Check verification again. |
| "A record with this name already exists" | That address is already in use by your website or another service. Pick a different word, such as book or hello, and save it in your editor instead. |
| Cloudflare, and it never verifies | Set the record's Proxy status to DNS only (grey cloud). |
| The browser warns the address is not secure | The secure certificate is created right after verification. Wait 15 minutes and reload. If your domain has CAA records, they need to allow letsencrypt.org. |
| Your website stopped opening | Your main address or www was connected instead of a new word. Choose Remove in your editor, then put back the record your website had (your website host can give you its value). |
| Worried about your email | This record never touches email. Do not change your nameservers or MX records for this. |
| No website, and you want yourbusiness.com itself | You can connect the main address: use the A record shown in the note under the record in your editor, instead of the CNAME. |
Still stuck? Message us on WhatsApp or email hello@360frontdesk.com with your address and a screenshot of your DNS records, and we will check it with you.
Your address. Your FrontDesk.
Open your editor, add your domain under Custom domain, and follow the steps above.