Custom domain setup — DNS for every registrar, walked through

Your bio page deserves your domain — not a linkos.bio/yourname URL. This guide walks through pointing a custom domain at Linkos in under 10 minutes, covering every major registrar with screenshots, the two DNS records you actually need, and the three errors that trip up most people on their first try.

If you already own a domain, you can do this today. If you don't, the last section covers what to buy and where.

Why a custom domain actually matters

Three things change the day you put your Linkos page on your own domain.

• Brand recall. maya.shoots reads as one of millions of usernames on a third-party platform. maya.shoots on mayashoots.com reads as a brand. Pitch decks, business cards, and email signatures all want a real domain on the line that says "find me here."
• Trust on outbound links. When you DM a prospect a link, linkos.bio/whatever triggers spam filters and instinctive caution. Your own domain doesn't.
• Portability. If you ever leave Linkos (sad face), your domain stays yours — you just point it somewhere else. Every link you ever shared keeps working. That's leverage no platform-owned URL can match.

For working creators, this is the single highest-leverage 10 minutes you'll spend on your page setup. Below is the playbook.

What you need before you start

Two things:

1. A domain you own. Subdomains count — bio.yoursite.com works fine if you already have yoursite.com for something else.
2. Access to wherever you bought it — Namecheap, GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Google Domains, Vercel, etc. You need to be able to edit DNS records, which is just a settings page on every registrar.

That's it. No coding. No file uploads. No support tickets.

The two records you'll actually add

Linkos uses standard DNS records, the same ones every modern hosted platform uses. You'll add one of these two combinations, depending on whether you're setting up an apex domain or a subdomain.

For a subdomain (e.g. bio.yoursite.com):

Type	Name	Value	TTL
CNAME	bio	proxy.linkos.bio	3600

For an apex domain (e.g. yoursite.com):

Type	Name	Value	TTL
A	@	76.76.21.21	3600
A	@	76.76.21.93	3600

If your registrar supports it, ALIAS or ANAME records pointing at proxy.linkos.bio also work for the apex — Cloudflare and Namecheap both call this "CNAME flattening." Use that if available; it's strictly better than the two A records.

Per-registrar walkthroughs

The downloadable PDF has full screenshots for the five registrars below. Quick text version:

Cloudflare — DNS → Records → Add record → pick CNAME → name bio → target proxy.linkos.bio → turn proxying OFF (the orange cloud → gray cloud). Save. Done.

Namecheap — Domain List → Manage → Advanced DNS → Add new record → CNAME Record → host bio → value proxy.linkos.bio → save the green checkmark.

GoDaddy — My Products → DNS → Add → CNAME → name bio → points to proxy.linkos.bio. Save.

Google Domains — Resource records → CNAME → host bio → data proxy.linkos.bio. Note: Google sold its domain product to Squarespace mid-2024 — the UI is now under your Squarespace dashboard, but the same fields apply.

Vercel — Domains → Add → enter the domain → Vercel reads the CNAME for you and tells you exactly what to paste where. Easiest option if you're already on Vercel for other projects.

Wiring it up in Linkos

Once your DNS record is saved at your registrar:

1. Open your Linkos workspace → Settings → Custom domain
2. Type in the full domain (bio.yoursite.com or yoursite.com)
3. Hit Verify
4. You should see a green check within 60 seconds — DNS sometimes takes longer to propagate, up to 24 hours in extreme cases, but most providers update in under 5 minutes

SSL is handled automatically. We provision a Let's Encrypt certificate the moment your domain verifies. You don't configure HTTPS; it just works. The certificate auto-renews every 90 days.

The three errors that trip up most people

We've seen the same three issues thousands of times. If your verify fails, it's almost certainly one of these.

1. Cloudflare proxy still on. If you use Cloudflare and the cloud icon next to your record is orange, Cloudflare is intercepting traffic before it reaches us. Turn the proxy off (gray cloud). Try verify again.
2. Wrong record at the apex. A CNAME pointing @ at proxy.linkos.bio violates the DNS spec on apex domains and most registrars silently reject it. Use the two A records (or ALIAS/ANAME) instead.
3. DNS not propagated yet. If you just added the record and tried to verify, the change might not have hit the global DNS cache yet. Wait 5 minutes. Try dig bio.yoursite.com (Mac/Linux) or nslookup bio.yoursite.com (Windows) — if it returns the right target, propagation is done.

What about email and other subdomains?

Custom domain on Linkos only affects the specific subdomain or apex you point at us. Email, your main website, and other subdomains all keep working untouched.

• Have yoursite.com running on Squarespace + want your Linkos bio at bio.yoursite.com? The CNAME at bio is independent of whatever's at @. Add it. Squarespace doesn't care.
• Pointing your apex at Linkos? Your MX records (email) sit at a different record type, so email keeps flowing. Nothing changes.

If you don't have a domain yet

The two cheapest places that don't try to upsell you 12 things during checkout: Cloudflare Registrar (at-cost pricing, no markup, usually $9-12/year for a .com) and Porkbun (slightly more, but the UI is friendly).

Avoid GoDaddy if you can help it — their privacy protection is an upsell, the renewal pricing jumps after year one, and the DNS UI is built for a 2009 internet. Cloudflare is the better default for anyone shipping a brand seriously.

Once your custom domain is live, generate a QR code pointing at it — printable, scannable, perfect for business cards.

What happens next

Save the PDF, follow the walkthrough for your registrar, point the DNS at us, and verify in Linkos. Most people complete the full flow in under 10 minutes from "I should do this" to "live."

If a step fails and the three common errors above don't fix it, email contact@linkos.bio with your domain + registrar + a screenshot of the DNS records. We respond within a day, usually the same morning.