Before visitors can access your content, they need to know your domain, something like yourwebsite.com. The domain is what you type in your browser to navigate directly to your site.
I already own a domain
If you already have a domain, that’s great! The first thing we'll need to know is the platform where you bought your domain, known as a "registrar". Find your login credentials to the registrar where you purchased your domain, then proceed to the next article. If you know you own your domain, but you’re not sure where you got it, then use this lookup tool. Once you know your registrar, go to their website to recover your login credentials.
If you bought your domain from CloudFlare, you can skip the following steps and get in touch with our support team to set up your hosting with Winnable. If you think you got your domain on CloudFlare, use this look up tool to confirm. It’s rare to buy domains on CloudFlare (though you might use it for other purposes).
I want to get a new custom domain
If you don’t have a domain yet, check out what’s available here. You can purchase a domain from any trustworthy registrar, like GoDaddy or Hover.
Domain recommendations
When choosing your domain, avoid using special characters, like $#@. Try to use the name of your campaign or organization if possible. Your domain will probably use a .com or a .org extension. (The extension refers to the end of the domain, like .com or .org).
Your registrar might offer you something called an SSL Certificate. This is a small file that adds security when visitors interact with your site. Winnable handles all security concerns for you, so you do not need to purchase an SSL from the registrar. Only add this certificate in the registrar if it comes at no additional cost, otherwise it’s not worth it.
Make sure you don’t lapse on your payments to the registrar. If you aren’t keeping up with the costs of registering your domain, it will be made available to others to purchase, which would really be a whole mess. Basically, pay for your domain or your site will stop working.
Up next
After you’ve purchased your domain, remember your login credentials to your registrar - we’ll use these in the next section.
© 2023 Winnable PBC