How to connect your .CA domain to a Weebly website

Have a great website you want to share with the world? Make sure your chosen domain properly reflects your brand and target audience.

What does it take to get a great domain for your Weebly site? Let’s find out.

Time

About 0.5 hours.

Tools

• Weebly website
• .CA domain

Cost

Varies. $84 CAD/year (minimum).

Weebly plans:

• Free: Gives you basic features and doesn’t let you connect a custom domain name
• “Personal” (allows you to connect custom domain): $7/month ($84/year)
• “Professional”: $15/month ($180/year)

Domain prices

Weebly domain pricing

Similar to other web building platforms like Wix and Squarespace, Weebly lets you search for and purchase domains for an annual fee.

Better yet, if you want to show that your website is proudly Canadian, Weebly offers .CA domains directly. Here’s how their domain plan prices shake out:

Registering a domain directly through Weebly is the quickest, more straightforward route, as this gets you online instantly and includes domain hosting while Weebly handles everything else behind the scenes.

If you’d prefer to register your domain with another third-party provider, the good news is that Weebly makes it fairly straightforward to transfer and connect domains purchased elsewhere.

How to connect a domain name to Weebly

1. First, create and log in to your Weebly account. Remember – you’ll have to upgrade to at least a $7/month “personal” account to connect a custom domain.
2. Click “Settings” at the top of the page.
3. Under the “Site Address” section, click the “Change” button. This will bring you to a “Choose Your Website Domain” screen.
4. Click “Use a Domain You Already Own,” type in your domain name and then click “Continue.”
5. Select “Connect Your Domain” and then “Continue.”
6. If you haven’t already selected a paid monthly plan, you’ll be prompted to upgrade. Otherwise, move right along to the next step!
7. Now, you’ll have to update your domain’s DNS settings so that it connects seamlessly with your Weebly website.
8. Log in to your account (with your domain provider) and find the section to change your domain’s DNS settings.
9. Create two A-Records that point to Weebly’s IP address (199.34.228.59) and then you should be set!

Note: Weebly offers specific instructions on connecting your domain to major domain providers like Google, GoDaddy, WordPress and more.

Not comfortable making the DNS changes manually?

Contact your domain registrar’s support department, tell them you wish to use your domain with a Weebly site and request that they point your domain’s name servers to the DNS addresses listed above. 

Be patient

It might take up to 48 hours for your domain to appear linked to your Weebly website. If you’re still stumped, not to worry – Weebly offers a fairly straightforward support article on getting your domain connected.

And of course – always keep in mind that the company you choose as your domain registrar is where you manage your domain (e.g. renewing your domain before it expires, updating your contact information, etc.).

Transferring a domain to Weebly

If you’ve already purchased a domain from a third party and now want to transfer it to Weebly to manage your website and domain all in one place, you can do a domain transfer. Here’s the basic process:

How to transfer a domain to Weebly

1. Visit the “Domains” page in your Weebly account and click the “transfer” button. This will bring up a window. Go ahead and enter your domain name. An important thing to keep in mind is that Weebly only accepts .com, .net and .org domains for transfer. So, if you’re registering a .CA domain, you’ll have to connect it to your Weebly site using the process outlined above.
2. If your domain is eligible to be transferred, a green checkmark will appear in the window. Click the “Next” button so you can proceed to the checkout screen and add a year to your domain’s registration.
3. Log in to your current domain provider account and ensure WHOIS privacy protection is turned off. Also be sure to disable the registrar lock and double check to make sure your contact email address is correct.
4. Get your domain’s EPP code the current provider and enter it so that the transfer process is authorized.
5. Hop back on to your Weebly account and decide where you’d like to connect your domain.
6. At this point, you should receive emails from your current domain provider and from Weebly. Be sure to follow up on any and all instructions in those emails. You should also get a Form of Authorization.
7. Once your domain transfer is complete, you’ll receive a confirmation email from Weebly.

Visit the Weebly Support page for more information.

Hopefully you’ll have your .CA domain connected to a brilliant Weebly site in no time.