Why custom domains matter (and what they actually do)
Every Marcus project starts with a subdomain like yourproject.aimarcus.love. That works immediately, costs nothing, and proves your site to stakeholders. But the moment you want credibility with customers, you need your own domain. People trust getfreshbread.com more than freshbread.aimarcus.love. Search engines give established domains more weight. Email from hello@getfreshbread.com doesn't land in spam.
A domain is just a human-readable pointer. When someone types getfreshbread.com, DNS servers translate that into an IP address where your site lives. Marcus handles hosting; you handle pointing the domain to us. The connection between the two is a DNS record, and getting that record right is what this guide solves.
Most builders make you guess. Marcus tells you exactly which records to add, then watches for them to propagate. Once DNS is correct, we provision a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate automatically. The entire flow takes 10 minutes of your time and 20 minutes of DNS propagation you can ignore.
Where to buy your domain (and what to avoid)
You need a domain registrar. This is the company that sells you the right to use a domain for a year or more. Do not buy from your hosting provider unless that provider is also a dedicated registrar. You want the domain in a separate account so you can move hosting later without re-buying the domain.
Reliable options: Namecheap, Porkbun, Cloudflare Registrar, Google Domains (now Squarespace Domains). All charge €10-15 per year for a .com. Avoid GoDaddy—their upsells are aggressive and their DNS manager is cluttered. Avoid bundled "free domain with hosting" offers; you lose control when you want to leave.
Check the renewal price before buying. Some registrars sell .xyz or .online domains for €1 the first year, then €30 on renewal. Read the renewal column on the pricing page. If you're registering 5+ domains for a client roster, Cloudflare Registrar sells at cost with no markup.
What about privacy protection?
WHOIS privacy hides your name and address from public domain lookups. Most registrars include it free. If yours charges extra, switch registrars. Your personal details shouldn't be scrapeable just because you own a domain.
DNS basics: A records vs CNAME records
DNS has dozens of record types. You need to understand two: A and CNAME. An A record points a domain or subdomain directly to an IP address. A CNAME record points a domain or subdomain to another domain, which then resolves to an IP. Think of CNAME as an alias.
Example: Marcus gives you an IP address like 178.128.140.22 and a hostname like lb.aimarcus.love. You can create an A record pointing getfreshbread.com to the IP, or a CNAME pointing getfreshbread.com to the hostname. Both work. A records are faster by one DNS lookup. CNAMEs let Marcus change the underlying IP without you touching DNS again.
We recommend CNAME for www subdomains and A records for the root domain (also called the apex domain or bare domain). Why? DNS specs forbid CNAME records at the root if any other records exist there, and most domains need MX records for email. Some registrars support ALIAS or ANAME records that work like CNAME at the root—use those if available.
What Marcus actually requires
In your Marcus project settings under Domains, you'll see the exact records to add. Typically:
- An A record for
@(the root domain) pointing to our IP - A CNAME for
wwwpointing tolb.aimarcus.love - Or just a CNAME for a subdomain like
app.yourdomain.com
Copy these exactly. DNS is case-insensitive but typos break everything. If the IP is 178.128.140.22 and you type 178.128.140.2, visitors see nothing.
Adding DNS records in your registrar's control panel
Log into your registrar. Find the DNS settings page. Labels vary: "DNS Management," "Advanced DNS," "Name Servers," "Zone File." You're looking for a table with columns like Type, Host, Value, TTL.
Click "Add Record." Select A or CNAME from the dropdown. In the Host field, enter @ for the root domain or www for the www subdomain. In the Value field, paste the IP address (for A) or hostname (for CNAME). Set TTL to 3600 seconds (1 hour) or leave it at default. Save.
If you're moving an existing domain from another host, delete old A and CNAME records pointing to the previous server first. Stale records cause DNS conflicts. Some panels make you edit instead of delete-then-add—either works, just ensure the final value matches what Marcus gave you.
Common registrar quirks
Namecheap shows the domain name already, so you type @ or www, not the full domain. Cloudflare auto-enables proxying (orange cloud icon) which breaks SSL provisioning—click the cloud to gray before saving. Google Domains appends the domain automatically; if you type www.yourdomain.com in the Host field, it creates www.yourdomain.com.yourdomain.com. Just type www.
SSL certificates and Let's Encrypt (Marcus handles this)
HTTPS requires an SSL/TLS certificate. Without it, browsers show "Not Secure" warnings and block form submissions. Let's Encrypt is a free certificate authority that issues certificates valid for 90 days and auto-renews them. Every serious host uses Let's Encrypt now. Marcus does too.
You do not request the certificate yourself. Once your DNS records point to Marcus and propagation completes, our system detects the domain, validates ownership via an HTTP challenge, requests a certificate from Let's Encrypt, installs it, and starts serving your site over HTTPS. This happens automatically within 10 minutes of DNS propagating.
If HTTPS doesn't appear after an hour, the issue is DNS. Either the records aren't correct, or they haven't propagated to the Let's Encrypt validation servers yet. Check the next section.
Forcing HTTPS redirects
Marcus redirects http:// requests to https:// automatically once the certificate is live. You don't configure this. If you want to redirect www to the root domain (or vice versa), configure that in Marcus project settings under Domains after both records are added.
Testing DNS propagation (and what to do while you wait)
DNS changes aren't instant. When you save a new A record, your registrar's authoritative name servers update within seconds. But thousands of recursive DNS servers worldwide cache the old answer. TTL (time to live) controls how long they cache. A TTL of 3600 means servers can cache for an hour before checking again.
Use dig or an online tool like WhatsMyDNS. Enter your domain and select A or CNAME. The tool queries DNS servers in different countries. If 8 out of 10 return the correct IP, propagation is progressing. If all return the old IP or NXDOMAIN, double-check your DNS panel.
Command-line check on Mac or Linux:
dig getfreshbread.com
Look for the ANSWER SECTION. If it shows your Marcus IP, DNS is live from your location. If it shows an old IP, flush your local DNS cache or wait. On Mac: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder. On Windows: ipconfig /flushdns.
Propagation usually completes in 15 minutes to 2 hours. Worst case: 24 hours if you recently changed name servers. Lower your TTL to 300 (5 minutes) a day before making DNS changes if you need faster updates.
Connecting your domain inside Marcus
Open your Marcus project. Go to Settings → Domains. Click "Add custom domain." Enter your domain exactly as you want it to appear: getfreshbread.com or www.getfreshbread.com or app.getfreshbread.com. Marcus checks if DNS points to us. If not, you'll see the records you need to add (covered in the previous sections).
If DNS is correct, Marcus shows "Verifying..." then "SSL provisioning..." then "Active" with a green badge. The whole flow takes 3-8 minutes. If it stalls at "Verifying," DNS hasn't propagated to our validation endpoint yet. Wait 10 more minutes and refresh the page.
Once active, visit your domain in a browser. You should see your Marcus site with a locked padlock in the address bar. Click the padlock to confirm the certificate is from Let's Encrypt and valid for your domain. If you see a certificate warning, you're still hitting a cached DNS result—clear browser cache or try incognito mode.
Setting your primary domain
If you added both getfreshbread.com and www.getfreshbread.com, pick one as primary. Marcus redirects the other to it. This matters for SEO—Google treats them as separate sites unless you redirect. Go to Settings → Domains, click the star icon next to your preferred version. Save. Test by visiting the non-primary version in a browser; it should redirect instantly.
Troubleshooting when DNS or SSL won't cooperate
Domain shows "DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN": The domain doesn't resolve at all. Check your registrar's name server settings. If you switched name servers to Cloudflare or another DNS provider, update them in your registrar's control panel. Name server changes take 2-24 hours to propagate.
Domain loads old site or parked page: Old A record still in place, or DNS cached locally. Delete the old A record. Flush your DNS cache. Wait 20 minutes. Check with dig from a different network (mobile hotspot).
SSL provisioning stuck or shows "Challenge failed": Let's Encrypt couldn't validate ownership. Common causes: Cloudflare proxy enabled (turn it off), firewall blocking port 80, incorrect A record. Check Marcus shows "DNS verified" before SSL starts. If DNS verified but SSL fails, contact support—rarely a Let's Encrypt rate limit issue.
Certificate shows different domain: You're hitting the wrong server. Run dig yourdomain.com and confirm the IP matches what Marcus gave you. If it matches but the certificate is wrong, clear browser cache and try incognito. Browsers cache HTTPS certificates aggressively.
Works on desktop, not mobile: Mobile devices cache DNS longer. Reboot the phone or switch from wifi to cellular. If cellular works, your wifi router cached the old DNS—restart it.
What this costs and how to maintain it
Domain registration: €10-15/year for .com, renewable annually. Marcus hosting: €29/month on Builder, €290/month on Studio (both include unlimited custom domains). SSL certificate: €0, auto-renewed every 60 days by Marcus.
Set a calendar reminder 30 days before your domain expires. Registrars send renewal emails, but they often land in spam. If your domain expires, it enters a 30-day grace period where renewal costs double, then a redemption period where it costs 10x, then it's auctioned off. Don't lose a domain over a missed €12 charge.
Enable auto-renew at your registrar if you plan to keep the domain long-term. Keep your payment method current. If you're managing client domains, store renewal dates in a spreadsheet and bill clients 60 days early.
DNS records don't need maintenance once set. If Marcus changes infrastructure, we'll email you with new records. That happens roughly once every 18 months. When it does, update the A record IP, wait for propagation, and SSL auto-renews to the new server.