In this article, you will learn more about how to:

  • Purchase a new domain through BookingKoala
  • Connect a new domain
  • Set up an existing domain

 

Why change my domain?

Your website domain is an integral part of your business, connecting your customers to your services.  As a result, domain names can change as your business does.

For example, you may be rebranding and would like your domain to reflect new services or industries. Perhaps you would like a more abbreviated version of the BookingKoala subdomain you receive when you first signed up.  Or, maybe your original domain contains a mistake that you need to correct.

Whatever the case may be, you can connect and manage multiple domains for your BookingKoala account inside the Design Forms & Website menu.

 

Purchase and Set Up a New Domain

If you do not own a custom domain yet and would like to purchase one through BookingKoala, you can easily buy and connect the domain right from inside your account.

 

Buy a Custom BookingKoala Domain

To buy a custom BookingKoala domain, please go to:

Settings > Design Forms & Website > Change Your Domain

Your primary domain will be listed under the "Domain Name" column.  This is the BookingKoala subdomain that was generated when you first created your account.   

If you would like to buy a new domain through BookingKoala, click the green "Buy New Domain" button in the top right corner of the page. 

 Type your desired domain name WITHOUT the "www." into the box at the top of the page. The bottom half of the page will display results and availability for that name, including alternative extensions.  

To view additional extensions, click the blue "Load More" button.  

Once you've decided which domain to select, click the green "Buy" button to the right of the name. This will take you to the Add Payment Information screen.  

You can use your "Existing credit card" or select "New credit card" to add a new card for payment. Then, click the blue "Buy" button to complete your purchase.  

 

Verify the New Domain

Next, you'll need to verify your domain. Go back to the main Domain dashboard by clicking the grey "<-- Domains" button at the top left side of the page.  

You will see your recently purchased domain has been added to the list. Click the orange "Verify" button to verify the new domain.  

This will bring you to a "Verify Domain" page.  Click the blue "Verify" button.  

You may see this red message in the top right corner of the page when you try to verify your domain.

There is no reason for alarm if so; it can take up to 12 hours for your domain verification process to be completed.  Please wait and then check back again to try again.  Once verified, the status will read as "Connected".

 

Setting the Primary Domain

Once the domain has been verified, you can set it as your primary domain. This is important and ensures your system email and SMS notifications contain the domain you want customers to see.  

To the right of the new domain, click "Options", "Make Primary".

A pop-up window will appear, asking if you are sure you want to make this your primary domain. Click "Yes to continue.

Your new domain will now have the blue "Primary" label next to it.  

Your new domain has now been successfully connected to your account! To view what customers will see when they type in the domain, click the eye icon/"View" button.

Click the blue "Copy Link" button and then paste it into a private/incognito browser to see what your customers see when they navigate to your website.  

 

Connect an Existing Domain

If you already own a domain for your website, you can easily set it up as your primary domain in BookingKoala.  

Connect Your Domain

To connect your domain, go to:

Settings > Design Forms & Website > Change Your Domain

Your primary domain will be listed under the "Domain Name" column.  This is the BookingKoala subdomain that was generated when you first created your account. 

To connect an existing domain, click the blue "Connect " button in the top right corner of the page. 

This will bring you to a "Connect Existing Domain" page.  Type your domain into the box WITHOUT the "www." and then click the blue "Next" button.  

Follow the instructions on the screen to edit the A record in your domain's dashboard.  

This next step takes place outside of your BookingKoala account, inside the account for your domain's registrar/website host.

To view how-to guides for some of the most common registrars we see, click the links below.

If you do not see your host listed here, we recommend logging into your account and searching their help center for questions like "How to Change DNS Records" or "How to Edit A Records", or contact a member of customer support.  

Depending on your registrar, you may need to "add an A record" before you can edit it.  Ask your site's support team for more instructions on how to do this.

Regardless of where your domain/site comes from, the A record will always look like:

   Record Type         Name                    IP                        
A                    @             18.188.223.178

Adding or updating an A record can take anywhere from 1-48 hours, so you may need to be patient while your A records populate.  You can use the What's My DNS tool to check when the process has been completed.

Enter your domain name into the first box, and select "A" for the record type. Then, click "Search". 

Look at the IP addresses in the boxes below and check that they are all pointing to 18.188.223.178 and have a green checkmark.  You can refresh this page at any time to look for updates.  Once the same IP address is shown in every box, you can proceed back to BookingKoala to complete the next step.  

Back under the Connect Existing Domain page in BookingKoala, click the grey "Verify Connection" button to check that the A record has been updated properly.

Please give the system a few moments to verify the records. Please do not refresh the page while the screen is loading.  

If the connection was successful, you will now see your custom domain listed below the original domain with the status "Connected".  

 

Setting the Primary Domain

Once your domain has been connected, you can set it as your primary domain. This is important and ensures your system email and SMS notifications contain the domain you want customers to see.  

To the right of the new domain, click "Options", "Make Primary".

A pop-up window will appear, asking if you are sure you want to make this your primary domain. Click "Yes to continue.

Your new domain will now have the blue "Primary" label next to it.  

Your new domain has now been successfully connected to your account! To view what customers will see when they type in the domain, click the eye icon/"View" button.

Click the blue "Copy Link" button and then paste it into a private/incognito browser to see what your customers see when they navigate to your website.