Connecting your NameCheap domain to an Elementor hosted website

Note: Elementor has updated its domain registration process. See Adding a custom domain name to your Elementor hosted website for more details. However, the information here regarding NameCheap is still accurate and can be used to help locate your domain name records on the NameCheap site.

Let’s get started

So you’ve got a brand new NameCheap domain name and want to connect it to your Elementor hoted site? Follow these quick steps and you’ll be hooked up in no time!

1. From your My Elementor dashboard, go to Websites and click the Manage This Website button located on your website’s card to open the site details screen. 
2. From the Manage Domains section, click the Add Custom Domain link. 

A pop-up screen will then appear that looks like this:

Keep this pop-up screen open because you’ll need to copy the information to your Google Domains account.

Adding the DNS records

1. Visit https://www.namecheap.com/ in a seperate browser tab and log into your account. 
2. Navigate to the domain you wish to use on the Domain List screen. 
3. Select Manage.
   

   

   
   
4. Go to the Details page from your Domains. 
5. Go to the Advanced DNS tab. 

Add an A record

Under the Advanced DNS settings, you will create an A record for your domain. 

Important: If your domain’s DNS record has an AAAA (IPv6) record set, it needs to be deleted because IPv6 is not compatible with Elementor hosted websites yet.

If your domain DNS record already has an A record set to Parked, or another address, you should delete it first.

1. Navigate to the Type field, use the dropdown to select an A record.
2. Go to the Host Name field and enter the primary domain or ‘@’ symbol (root).
3. Find the Value field and enter the IP address of your Elementor hosted website. You can find this IP address on your My Elementor website dashboard page.
4. Leave the TTL field as the default value.
5. Click the green checkmark icon to apply the record.

Providing a CNAME record for the www address

In order to also direct the “www” address to your Elementor hosted website, you have to create a CNAME record with the host name set to “www”. In some cases, you may already have a CNAME record for “www” set to your domain. If so, you may leave it as is. If you do not have one in your list, you will need to add it as described below.

1. Navigate to your Advanced DNS settings tab.
2. Click Add New Record.
3. Go to the Type dropdown menu and select CNAME.
4. Enter “www” in the Host name field.  
5. Enter your primary domain as the target in the Value field. 
6. Leave the TTL field as the default value.
7. Click the green checkmark icon to apply the record.

Alternative CNAME method

You can also add a CNAME record that connects your domain to your Elementor hosted website domain. 

For example, if your domain name is example.com and your Elementor hosted website is example.elementor.cloud, create a CNAME record with example.com that points to example.elementor.cloud.

Wait for the DNS changes to apply

DNS servers across the world periodically check for any changes to the DNS records. A DNS change generally requires up to 72 hours to apply worldwide, although this typically happens within a few hours or minutes.

Return to the My Elementor website dashboard

1. Go to the Elementor Dashboard browser tab. 
2. Click the green accept button. 
3. Click Add Custom Domain Button if the popup has been closed.

Adding your custom domain name in Elementor 

1. Enter your domain name without “www” in the next pop-up window.
   

   

   
   
2. Set your domain as the Primary Domain if needed. 
3. Create the web address “www”.

Wait for Elementor to connect to your domain

Sit back and relax. Once you’ve completed the steps above, Elementor will attempt to connect to your Google account DNS records. This process could take anywhere from a few minutes to 72 hours. 

Setting the custom name as primary

1. Click Set Primary Domain beside your custom domain name. A pop-up window will open.
2. Select Set Primary. The popup window will close. 
3. Check your inbox for an email notification when everything is ready. It takes 30 seconds to several minutes for the changes to appear. 

The bottom line

In this how-to we’ve taken you through the steps you need to follow to direct web traffic to your website. Once you’ve completed the steps, we’ll check that your DNS is available along with the SSL certificate for your website. This process can take up to 72 hours due to the time it takes for changes to apply. When your domain is ready, you’ll be notified by email.

To get the most out of Elementor, check out the Elementor Academy for helpful learning resources. If you come across any issues or need help, please contact our Support Center.