Connecting your own domain

Your website should live on your own domain. In heyhey you connect your own address, for example www.yourbusiness.ae, for your public pages, landing pages, blog and member area. Your heyhey dashboard itself always stays at the same address, whatever domain your website uses.

You do everything in one place: open Settings, then the Domain tab.

You connect a subdomain, not a bare domain

Pick a prefix from the list, which suggests www, hello, help, blog, app, pages, shop and go among others, or type your own. Next to it, enter a domain you own. A preview line shows the exact address you are about to create. Subdomains work with every registrar, and that is exactly why bare domains aren’t offered.

Add the DNS record

Once you add the domain, the tab shows the record to create, broken down into Type, Name or Host, and Value or Target. It is usually a CNAME record. Log in wherever you bought your domain (your domain registrar or DNS provider) and add exactly that record.

Then click Check status. The badge on the tab tells you which stage you are at:

• Pending. The record hasn’t been detected yet. This is normal right after adding it.
• Active. Everything works. The tab shows a confirmation and a clickable link to the address, and your published pages can use it.
• Error. Verification couldn’t be completed.

Give it time. DNS propagation can take anything from a few minutes to a few hours, depending on your DNS provider and the TTL of the old record. Click Check status again rather than removing the domain and adding it from scratch.

HTTPS is taken care of

There is no certificate to buy, upload or renew. Once the domain passes verification, secure HTTPS serving is set up automatically, so your website works over https straight away.

What usually goes wrong

• The record was added under the wrong host. The Name or Host field must match the value shown exactly.
• The record value was copied with a trailing space. Paste it exactly as the screen shows it.
• An old record with the same name still exists. Delete the conflicting A or CNAME record first.
• The domain is already connected somewhere else. You’ll see a message saying it is already connected, and it won’t be added.
• Your plan has a domain limit. If you have reached it, adding is refused with an explanation. See Your plan and limits.
• You are checking too early. Wait and check again.

If the domain stays unverified for more than a day, double-check that the record matches the instructions exactly and sits on the right host. If you still need help, see Domain not verifying or contact support.

Removing a domain

Removal is immediate. The bin button asks you to confirm by typing the domain name. The address stops serving your pages straight away.

Website domain vs sending domain

Your website domain and your email domain are two separate setups on the same settings page. Verifying one doesn’t verify the other, although the email setup will suggest your website domain. See Email sending settings.