How to add a CNAME record

Applies to: Domain Names

When you setup a website it is quite common to buy all of the most popular extensions (e.g. .com, .co.uk) to make sure as many people as possible can easily get to your website. Normally you will only have one website but want both domains to point to it. Adding a CNAME allows you to get both the .com and .co.uk version of your domain loading your website. CNAME or Canonical name records are used to map or point one hostname to another, for example to alias www.domain.com to www.domain.co.uk.

1. Log in to your account
2. Click the Domains icon and choose the domain you wish to manage
3. Click DNS Settings in the Current Domain menu on the left
4. Click the Add A CNAME Record button
5. In the Alias field enter the text you want before your domain e.g. www, this will create the full hostname that will be aliased e.g. www.domain.com. The Alias field can't be blank
6. In the Hostname field enter the address of the domain you want to point to e.g. www.domain.co.uk
7. Click Add CNAME Record and allow up to 24hrs for the changes to take effect

New CNAME records will normally start aliasing to the alternative hostname straight away, however if you were running a website for www.domain.co.uk you would also need to configure the web servers virtual host and include a ServerAlias directive listing the domain you've just aliased.

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