# Point your domain to your hosted social experience

Add a CNAME record at the DNS provider that maps a brand subdomain, such as community.yourbrand.com, to the hosted social experience on Genuin.

The Subdomain White-Label Solution lets your hosted social experience run under your brand's domain while Genuin runs the infrastructure behind it. Visitors see your hostname instead of the default URL Genuin gives you.

| Default URL | White-label URL |
| --- | --- |
| yourbrand.begenuin.com | community.yourbrand.com |

The experience reads as part of your website: consistent branding, familiar navigation, and no third-party URL. Setup takes two parts: a CNAME record at your DNS provider, covered here, and the hostname saved in Brand Control Center (BCC), covered in [White-label your hosted social experience](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/onsite/how-can-you-white-label-your-community-under-your-own-domain). For where this fits in Onsite, see [Onsite: what it does and where to start](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/onsite/onsite-what-it-does-and-where-to-start).

## How the mapping works

A CNAME record makes your hostname an alias of your default domain. For example, `community.yourbrand.com` > `yourbrand.begenuin.com`: visitors see your brand domain, and traffic reaches the Genuin infrastructure behind your social experience.

Use a subdomain, such as `community.yourbrand.com`. An apex domain such as `yourbrand.com` can't carry a CNAME record; contact support@begenuin.com if you need one.

## Add the CNAME record

Genuin must already have created your hosted social experience. You also need its default domain, shown as **Current Domain** under **White label Settings** in Brand Control Center, and access to your domain DNS provider.

The record takes these values:

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Type | CNAME |
| Name, host, or alias | The subdomain label only, such as community. Some providers want the full hostname instead. |
| Target, value, or points to | Your default domain, such as yourbrand.begenuin.com, exactly as shown under Current Domain |
| TTL | The provider's default |

1. Sign in to the control panel of the DNS provider where your domain is hosted.
2. Open the DNS management section. Depending on the provider, it's labelled **DNS Management**, **DNS Settings**, **Manage DNS**, or **Zone Editor**.
3. Find the option to add or edit a CNAME record. Providers call it **CNAME Record**, **Alias**, or **Canonical Name**.
4. Add a new CNAME record with the values in the table.
5. Click **Save**, **Apply**, or **Update**, then confirm the change.

> **Warning** On Cloudflare, set the record to DNS only, not Proxied. A proxied record hides the CNAME and routes traffic through Cloudflare's own certificate, so Genuin can't validate it; switch the record's proxy status to DNS only.

## Find the CNAME setting at common providers

| Provider | Where to add the record |
| --- | --- |
| GoDaddy | Sign in to the Domain Control Center, select your domain to open Domain Settings, scroll to Additional Settings, select Manage DNS, then add or edit the CNAME record |
| Namecheap | Go to Domain List, click Manage next to your domain, open the Advanced DNS tab, find Host Records, then add a CNAME Record |
| Bluehost | In the control panel, go to Domains, select your domain, open the DNS Zone Editor, then add the record in the CNAME section |
| HostGator | In cPanel, go to Domains > Zone Editor, click Manage next to your domain, then click +CNAME Record |
| AWS Route 53 | In the AWS Management Console, go to Route 53 > Hosted Zones, choose your domain, then click Create Record and add the CNAME |
| Cloudflare | Select your domain, open the DNS tab, click Add Record, choose CNAME, then enter the host and target |
| DreamHost | In the web panel, go to Domains > Manage Domains, select your domain, click DNS, then add the CNAME record |

## Verify the record

DNS changes take time to propagate across the internet: a few minutes at some providers, up to several hours at others, and up to 48 hours in the worst case. Until then, some visitors might still reach the previous destination.

Check the record from a terminal:

```bash
dig +short CNAME community.yourbrand.com
```

When the record is in place, the answer is your default domain:

```text
yourbrand.begenuin.com.
```

On Windows, run `nslookup -type=CNAME community.yourbrand.com` instead. If the answer is empty or shows a different target, fix the record before you continue.

## Save the hostname and open it

When the record resolves, enter the hostname under **White label Settings** in Brand Control Center and click **Save**. Genuin checks the record every 4 hours and enables the domain once it resolves to your default domain. For the full steps, see [White-label your hosted social experience](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/onsite/how-can-you-white-label-your-community-under-your-own-domain).

Then open your mapped domain in a browser, such as `https://community.yourbrand.com`. When the setup is complete, it resolves to your hosted social experience and redirects to `/home`, with a certificate for your hostname.

## How a white-label domain affects search

With your hosted social experience on your own subdomain, Google indexes its pages as part of your brand domain, not Genuin's. The content contributes to your domain's authority, and links between your website and your social experience help crawlers move between them. That gives posts and discussions a better chance of ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs) and bringing organic traffic to your domain.

Once the domain is live, the sitemap and `og:url` use your hostname. Submit the new domain's sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, because a sitemap submitted for the default domain doesn't carry over. Learn more in [Optimize your social experience for search and LLM discovery](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/onsite/how-does-genuin-optimize-brand-communities-for-seo-and-llm-discoverability).

## Fix DNS errors

| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| dig returns nothing | The record hasn't propagated, or the name was entered as the full hostname at a provider that wanted the label only | Wait, then check the record's name in the DNS panel |
| dig returns IP addresses instead of a CNAME | The record is proxied through a CDN | Switch the record to DNS only |
| Some visitors still reach the old destination | Propagation isn't complete | Wait up to 48 hours |
| The hostname shows an error more than 4 hours after the record resolved | Validation hasn't run yet, or the target differs from your default domain | Compare the target with Current Domain character by character, then wait for the next check |

## Limitations

- **Subdomains only.** An apex domain needs an A record that Genuin configures by request.
- **Propagation is up to your DNS provider.** It takes from a few minutes up to 48 hours.
- **Validation runs every 4 hours**, so a correct record can take up to 4 hours to go live after you save the hostname.
- **The default domain stays live.** Genuin doesn't redirect it to your white-label hostname.

## See also

- [White-label your hosted social experience](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/onsite/how-can-you-white-label-your-community-under-your-own-domain)
- [Optimize your social experience for search and LLM discovery](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/onsite/how-does-genuin-optimize-brand-communities-for-seo-and-llm-discoverability)
- [How content in your social experience is indexed by search engines and AI](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/onsite/can-brand-community-content-really-improve-seo-and-llm-discoverability)
- [Embed your social experience on your website](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/onsite/can-your-website-become-community-hub-without-building-a-new-platform)