Connect a Domain to YWT Hosting
End-to-end guide for connecting a YWT-registered domain to a site hosted on YWT's static hosting platform.
Connect a Domain to YWT Hosting
This guide walks you through connecting a domain you own to a site you have created on YWT's hosting platform. Once connected, visitors can reach your site at your custom domain (like example.ch) instead of the default yoursite.ywt.app hostname.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, make sure you have:
- A YWT account with at least one registered domain. If you need a domain, see Register a domain.
- A hosted site on YWT. If you have not created one yet, see Create a site.
- A hosting plan that allows custom domains.
- Access to the DNS provider for the domain. If the domain uses YWT nameservers, you can manage the records in YWT. If it uses external nameservers, create the records at that provider.
How it works
When you connect a domain to a YWT hosted site, YWT verifies ownership, checks that DNS points to the YWT edge, and provisions HTTPS after the domain becomes active.
Connect your domain
Open your site's Domains page
Log in to your YWT account and navigate to Website hosting. Select the site you want to connect a domain to, then open the Domains page.
Add a custom domain
Click Add domain. The dialog lets you choose a domain already registered in your YWT account or enter a third-party hostname.
Select or enter the hostname you want to use, such as example.ch, www.example.ch, or blog.example.ch.
Click Add to confirm.
Add the verification record
YWT shows a TXT record named _ywt-challenge.{hostname}. Add this record wherever the domain's DNS is managed. This proves that you control the hostname before YWT serves content for it.
Point traffic to YWT
Add the traffic record shown in YWT:
- Apex domains such as
example.chuse an A record to162.55.181.224. - Subdomains such as
www.example.chuse a CNAME record torouter.ywt.ch.
See Manage DNS records if the domain uses YWT nameservers.
SSL certificate provisioning
YWT automatically provisions a certificate for your custom domain after ownership and DNS verification pass. Once the certificate is active, your site is accessible over HTTPS.
SSL certificates are provisioned and renewed automatically. You do not need to configure anything. If the certificate is still pending, you will see a status indicator on the site's Domains page. It is usually ready within minutes after DNS and ownership verification pass.
Verify the connection
After a few minutes, visit your custom domain in a browser. You should see your hosted site served over HTTPS with a valid certificate.
Back on the site's Domains page, the domain row will show when DNS verification and SSL provisioning are active.
Adding multiple domains
You can connect more than one domain to the same site. This is useful if you own both example.ch and example.li and want them to serve the same content.
Repeat the steps above for each additional domain. Each domain will get its own SSL certificate.
Using a subdomain only
If you want to host your site on a subdomain like blog.example.ch rather than the root domain, type the full subdomain when adding the custom domain. YWT will show a CNAME record for that subdomain instead of an A record for the root.
Removing a custom domain
To disconnect a domain from your site, open the site's Domains page, find the domain, and click Remove. Then remove or update the DNS records at your DNS provider if you no longer want the hostname pointing to YWT.
Troubleshooting
Domain shows "Pending DNS" for a long time. DNS propagation can take up to 48 hours in rare cases, but it usually completes within minutes for YWT-managed DNS. If you are using external nameservers, double-check that the records are correct. See Manage DNS records.
SSL certificate is not provisioning.
The certificate can only be issued once the domain resolves to YWT's servers. Make sure the DNS records are in place and have propagated. You can check propagation using a tool like dig or an online DNS checker.
Site works on the subdomain but not the root domain (or vice versa).
Make sure you added each hostname you want to serve. The root domain (example.ch) and www subdomain (www.example.ch) are separate hostnames and may need separate domain entries and DNS records.
Next steps
- Learn how to manage DNS records if you need to add other records alongside your hosting configuration.
- Set up email for your domain by adding MX and TXT records.
- Read about common DNS setups for more advanced configurations.