How to Point a Custom Domain to Shopify

You can use the domain that Shopify provides free of cost for your store. However, it ends '.shopify.com'. For most store owners, this is unattractive as it may appear unprofessional to their customers. 

In order to allow shoppers to find your store with a custom domain like www.abchatstore.com, you will need to change the settings accordingly within the websites of your ecommerce host, ie Shopify and domain provider, ie GoDaddy in this case. The domain setup has the following 3 steps which will be detailed below.

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Step 1: Set up your custom domain as the primary domain on the Shopify website

IP address:

Step 2: Get the host (ie Shopify) IP address from Shopify

Step 3: Apply that IP address to the domain provider's (GoDaddy's) 'A' records (aka 'address' of the host or the address where the domain will be found. So 'A' refers to the hosting)

CName:

Step 2: Get the CName from Shopify

Step 3: Apply that CName to the domain provider's  (GoDaddy's) 'CName' records 

STEP 1

• In Shopify, select the 'Online Store' icon (that looks like a globe)
• 'Domains'
• In the 'Set Your Primary Domain' field, enter your custom domain
• Tick the field 'Redirect all traffic to this domain'

STEP 2 - IP Address

In Shopify, select the 'Online Store' icon (that looks like a globe)

'Domains'

In the 'Manage Domains' section, the following prompt will appear

• On first line 'name.com' (NOT www.name.com) with the prompt 'Setup required', click the button 'Complete Setup' to get the IP address. The information will appear as follows.

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STEP 3 - IP Address

• Log in to your GoDaddy account
• Select the domain in which you are interested
• Select 'DNS zone' (ie the 'Domain Name Server' that 'serves' the domain from the provider to wherever the domain will be hosted. AKA 'DNS Records', 'Resource Records' or 'DNS Zone Files')

In your domain provider account (example GoDaddy), you must now apply Shopify's IP address (as displayed in the image above) to the domain's 'A' records (for your chosen host which is Shopify in this case).

• Click 'Add record'
• Select 'A (Host)' when asked the type of record. The following dialog box appears. 
• As suggested below, you will need to enter Shopify's IP address in the field, 'Points to'. You can leave the other fields empty. 
• Click 'Finish'

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STEP 2 - CName

• Back in Shopify, click the second line for which set up is required. It reads 'www.name.com' (NOT name.com)

• Copy the text that is highlighted below. (It is your Shopify's domain without the www)

STEP 3 - CName

• Back in your GoDaddy account, note the CName record with the 'www' host label. 
• As shown below, tick the edit icon 

• As shown below in the dialog box that appears, enter the Shopify domain name
• Click 'Finish'

• This process often takes a few minutes. However, it may take up to 24 hours before taking affect. When done, the 'Domain' screen on Shopify (referenced above) will look like this.

How to check a Godaddy cashparking account

Godaddy's Cashparking service allows you to earn money on parked domain names (ie domains that you own that do not have content). If you associate a parked domain with a Godaddy cashparking account, Godaddy's advertising team will automatically display advertisements that are relevant to your domain name and or categories that you specify.

In other words, although you do not have a website, a web page will appear if visitors typed your domain name. However, people will usually land on the web page because of the relevance of their keyword searches. When visitors click on displayed advertisements, you will receive a share of the click-through revenue based on your cashparking plan (usually 60% or 80% of generate revenue).

This service carries a monthly fee. For instance, if you chose to park a domain for 24 months, the rate (September 2013) is USD 3.99. In light of this cost, it would be prudent to verify whether you are indeed exceeding your monthly cashparking expense. The following steps show how this is done.

1. Log in to your Godaddy account
2. Hover the mouse over 'HI, [your name]' to see the dropdown menu
3. Select 'Visit my account'
4. Scroll down the the 'Cashparking' section highlighted below
5. To choose only one of various of your cashparking plans, click the '+' symbol (on the far left side) OR to review revenues for an aggregate of all your cashparking plans, click the green 'Launch' button (on the far right side), 
6. If you chose to review only a single cashparking plan, you will see a list of your plans. Go to the line that interests you (as shown below numbered 1) and click the green 'Launch' button for revenue details for that specific plan. The revenue details will appear in the format numbered 2 in the diagram below.
    
   
   
   
   
7. If you chose to review an aggregate, revenue details will appear in the format numbered 2 in the diagram below.