Use Your Own Domain

Your own domain typically looks like yourbrand.com, yourbrand.tw, or yourbrand.co. In Kanorio, these are referred to as custom domains.

Unlike free domains like yourname.kanorio.com, custom domains use your brand name exclusively. They are ideal for established companies, stores, personal brands, and portfolios, but not a necessity for your first website launch.

Custom Domains in a Nutshell

A custom domain is a website address that you own and control. For example:

• Free Kanorio domain: mellowcoffee.kanorio.com
• Custom domain: mellowcoffee.com

The former lets you start immediately; the latter allows your brand name to be reflected in your web address.

Why Use Your Own Domain?

Brand Consistency

When your domain, logo, social media handles, and email signatures all use the same brand name, visitors can remember you more easily. Custom domains are also perfect for printing on business cards, packaging, event posters, and QR codes.

Enhanced Recognition and Trust

Visitors tend to quickly confirm a website as official when they see a yourbrand.com address. While free domains are safe and usable, custom domains serve as a more professional and long-term external gateway.

Concentrated Domain Authority

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) involves a series of practices to help search engines understand and index your website better. A custom domain itself won't immediately boost your search rankings, but consistently using a primary domain helps consolidate link shares, external backlinks, and search engine signals to a single address.

Once your primary custom domain is active, Kanorio will redirect your free domain and any other secondary domains to it, preventing duplicate content issues across different addresses.

Which Path Should You Choose?

Select the option that best fits your current situation:

Kanorio's domain purchasing feature is still under development and not yet available for registration and payment within Kanorio. If you need to buy a new domain now, please purchase it from an external registrar and connect it to Kanorio; don't delay your website launch waiting for this feature.

What Plan Do You Need for a Custom Domain?

The free plan allows you to use a Kanorio free domain but does not support adding custom domains directly from the website management settings.

Here are the custom domain limits for our website plans:

These limits apply per website, not per account. If you have two websites, each can use a different plan and its own set of custom domains.

If you purchase a domain through Kanorio in the future, its ownership and assignment to a website will be managed in My Domains. The exact assignment methods will be detailed on the screen and in plan descriptions at that time. If you encounter discrepancies in limits or assignment status, please contact support for assistance before deleting any existing domains.

For a full comparison of plan features, please read Choose the Right Plan.

Root Domain, WWW, and Subdomains: What's the Difference?

These terms are common, but they don't need to be complicated:

All three types of full addresses can function as custom domains. This means yourbrand.com can be added to Kanorio and set as your primary domain, just like www.yourbrand.com or shop.yourbrand.com. Each requires individual setup.

Every full address intended for public access needs to be added and configured separately. For instance, yourbrand.com and www.yourbrand.com are distinct addresses; the system won't automatically create one for the other.

DNS settings for root domains can sometimes differ from www domains. Follow Kanorio's instructions. If your DNS provider doesn't support CNAME records for root domains (pointing one domain to another), use the provided A record instructions (pointing a domain to a specific IP address) instead.

To ensure your site is accessible whether visitors type www. or not, add both the root domain and the www domain to your custom domain list and complete their respective DNS setups. Each will consume one custom domain slot.

Primary and Secondary Domains

A website can have one primary domain and multiple secondary domains:

• The primary domain is the official address you want visitors, social media, and search engines to use.
• Secondary domains will automatically redirect to the primary domain.

For example, if you set yourbrand.com as your primary domain, www.yourbrand.com or yourbrand.tw can be secondary domains. Visitors accessing via a secondary domain will be seamlessly redirected to the primary domain using a 301 permanent redirect.

A 301 redirect is a signal understood by browsers and search engines indicating that an address has permanently moved. It prevents visitors from landing on different versions of the same site.

In the 'Custom Domains' section of your website management, the first domain in the list will be designated as the primary domain. After reordering, remember to save and confirm that the new primary domain shows 'Active'.

Path Redirects: Changing URLs Within the Same Site

Domain redirection manages which domain is the official entry point; path redirects manage which specific URL paths should be sent elsewhere.

For example, if you change /about-us.html to /about, or migrate numerous old URLs from a previous site, you can add redirect rules in the dashboard under 'URL Management → URL Settings' to automatically send visitors from old paths to new ones.

This is a different function from the system automatically redirecting secondary domains to the primary one. For detailed steps, choosing between 301/302 redirects, and quota information, please read Setting Up URL Redirects.

How Do Free Domains and Custom Domains Work Together?

You don't need to delete your free domain. The process for custom domains typically involves:

1. Keeping your free domain accessible.
2. Adding your custom domain in website management.
3. Adding DNS records at your domain registrar.
4. Waiting for the custom domain status to show 'Active'.
5. The system will then begin redirecting your free domain to your primary custom domain.

Until DNS and SSL certificates are fully configured, your custom domain will show 'Waiting for DNS propagation'. During this period, your free domain remains functional and can be used as a safe testing and sharing portal.

What Happens When You Downgrade Your Plan?

If you downgrade your website from Pro or Business to the Free plan, your custom domain will stop serving traffic, and the site will revert to using the Kanorio free domain. Your custom domain settings will be preserved, allowing you to resume configuration if you re-subscribe to a paid plan later.

Upon re-subscription, your custom domain will undergo the verification process again. If your original DNS records are still in place and correct, it usually just requires system re-activation. If records were changed, you'll need to re-check the DNS.

Downgrading does not automatically cancel your domain registration with external registrars or Kanorio. Domain renewal and ownership are separate matters; please check your expiration dates and auto-renewal settings with your domain registrar.

Quick Tips

• When first using a custom domain, keep your free domain active until the new domain is fully functional.
• Choose the shortest, most brand-aligned domain as your primary; use other variations as secondary domains.
• If you have a company email, do not delete existing MX, SPF, DKIM, or DMARC records. These are for email delivery and anti-spoofing, not website records.
• Domain purchases, renewals, and website plans are separate costs and processes; pay attention to each individually.

Related Documents

• Kanorio Free Domain
• Setting Up URL Redirects
• Purchase a Domain with Kanorio
• Connect Your Existing Domain
• DNS Setup and Troubleshooting
• Choose the Right Plan