DNS records when you host your entire website with Hubspot. This post will explain how you can host your entire website, root domain and all, with HubSpot. This is especially useful for any organization using CPanel. This will help you Redirect your root domain effectively to a CName record which is the technical language for making your entire website host properly with HubSpot.
Why would you need to do this?
If you are hosting your entire website with HubSpot. Hubspot doesn’t host Root domains, only subdomains like www, blog, info, etc. This means you can’t use an A Record to direct all traffic to your HubSpot Hosted Website. This is an a-typical setup, so it is even more confusing.
There are two ways to redirect the root domain to www subdomain:
1. HubSpot has a terrific Knowledgebase article here (https://knowledge.hubspot.com/cos-general/update-your-dns-records)
However, if you don’t use one of these hosts, what do you do?
Have no despair, the fix is quite simple…just be patient. If the HubSpot DNS setup for Root Domains Knowledgebase article didn’t do the trick, you can either contact your IT or WebHosting company or update the records yourself.
2. Setup and A record pointing to your WebHost or DNS Server (the location of your .htaccess file).
In many cases, this is where your DNS is hosted. If you are using CPanel and want to redirect your root domain to HubSpot, make sure the record reads @.yourdomain.com. (replace yourdomain.com. with your actual domain) and the IP Address of your DNS host server.
Step 1: Launch Cpanel for your domain
Step 2: Launch DNS Zone Editor – You can type “DNS” in the search at the top. Either Manage or Add the necessary A Records and C Names.
Step 3: Return to Cpanel main page
Step 4: Launch “Redirects” – You can type redirect in the search at the top.
Step 5: Add a Permanent (301) Redirect
Type = Permanent (301)
Https?://(www.).? = “your domain name” Select from Drop Down Box
/ = <leave blank>
Redirects to = https://www.<rest of your domain>
www. redirection: “Redirect with or without www.
Wild Card Redirect = do not select.
Click Add
Step 6: Let it propagate, can take up to 48 hours, but if you are in the US and hosting with a top-level provider, it can take less than 15 minutes.
Why is this more complicated?
A simple explanation of DNS, CNames, ARecords. Hubspot website hosting is unique because it only uses CName records which are references to logical addresses without fixed IP addresses. Think of your house being known as “Your House” and not your street address. When someone wants to find “Your House” they don’t have a physical address, they only have a reference to an address. This requires additional entries in some database that connects the words “Your House” with your physical address.
If you think it is confusing, well, it can be, and this is why if not setup precisely it will lead to the dreaded, site not found, or unable to load pages. Scary stuff when you have clients trying to find your website and it appears down.