How to Change Your Shopify Domain Name: A Complete Guide

Imagine you come up with the perfect idea for an online store. You create your Shopify account, but you can’t figure out how to change the Shopify domain name to reflect your store’s purpose.

Luckily, changing the domain is pretty easy. You just need to add the domain to your account through purchasing a domain or connecting one you own.

Read on to learn more about Shopify domains and how to update yours.

Shopify Domain Overview

A Shopify domain refers to the address of your online store. You and your customers will type in that domain to access your store; you can edit the store while customers can make purchases.

Shopify assigns all new accounts a free subdomain, such as example.myshopify.com. You can continue to use that URL for your store to log into your backend and to contact Shopify.

However, it’s a good idea to buy your own domain, such as example.com. Think about what you plan on selling, and choose a short, memorable name.

Then, you can buy the domain and connect it to your new Shopify store. The way you do this depends on how you need to go about connecting the domain.

Add a Shopify Domain Name

If you already have a domain, you can add it to your Shopify account. You’ll need to log into your Shopify admin panel and find the Sales channel section.

Next, click on Online Store, and then Domains. Select “Choose existing domain” and follow the prompts on your screen.

Make sure you type your domain correctly and enter any other details. Finally, you’ll want to go to your domain registrar and follow their steps to change the domain’s DNS settings.

The specific steps will depend on which domain registrar you’ve used. You can find tutorials for various registrars online.

Change a Shopify Domain Name

After you’ve connected a new domain to your account, you still need to change it in your settings. Of course, you’ll want to make sure the name makes sense for your store to help you market your business.

Either way, you’ll return to the admin panel. Like when adding a domain, you need to click on Sales channels, Online Store, and Domains.

However, when changing a domain, you should click on “Change primary domain.” This will bring up a list of domains you’ve attached to your Shopify account.

Choose the domain you want to start using, and hit Save to confirm the change.

Purchase a Shopify Domain Name

If you don’t already own a domain, you can buy one through Shopify. The cost to register a domain through Shopify starts at $11 annually, and it goes up based on the type of domain you select.

Some top-level domains (TLDs), such as .shopping, cost more to register. Once you have a domain in mind, you can head to the Domains section of your Shopify admin.

Select the “Buy new domain” option and search for the domain you want. If the name and extension aren’t available, it will suggest similar domains.

Click the buy button next to the domain you want to purchase. Then, you’ll need to fill out your personal and payment details and set the domain to renew automatically each year.

You can also add domain privacy, which will keep your information off of the public WHOIS domain database. After your purchase, you may need to wait a couple of days for the domain to process, but it will connect to your store automatically.

Add an External Domain

Buying a domain through Shopify can be convenient. However, you may want to explore other domain registrars to get the best price on a domain, for example.

If you buy a domain elsewhere, you’ll need to point it to Shopify’s servers to connect it to your store. Consider hiring a virtual assistant (VA) to help with this process.

Whoever adds the domain will need to go to the Domains section of your admin account. Select “Connect existing domain” and type the domain you own.

This will add the domain to your account, but you need to go to your domain registrar and update the DNS settings. Add the IP address for Shopify (23.227.38.32) and save the change.

Give the process two or three days to complete. Some registrars may be faster at updating the settings, but you’ll need to come back later before you can make your domain go live.

Even then, you’ll need to follow a few steps to set up the new domain within your account.

Why Change Your Shopify Domain

When you first start a Shopify store, you’ll get a subdomain to use. However, subdomains can look unprofessional, and you can confuse customers since they may think they’re buying something from Shopify.

Adding your own domain can clear up that confusion. It also allows you to brand yourself with your own business name to look more professional for your customers.

Changing a domain name can also come in handy if you ever decide to rebrand yourself. Maybe you already have a domain name that you use with Shopify, but it no longer accurately represents what you sell.

You can register another domain name and change your store to the new one in your settings. Then, you can update all of your branding to reflect the switch.

How to Change the Shopify Store Name

It’s one thing to know how to change the Shopify domain name. However, you may still want to update the name of your Shopify store, which is the display name on your website.

In your admin panel, you can go to your Settings, then click on General. Near the top, you’ll find the Store details section, and the first setting there is the Store name.

Update that to the new name you want to use, and click on the Save button.

You may need to change the store name when you first set up your store, depending on the default. Of course, changing the name is also helpful if you change from one domain to another so that your store is cohesive.

FAQs

As you figure out how to change the Shopify domain name, you may have more questions.Consider the following things and if they answer your queries.

What Is a Shopify URL?

A Shopify URL is the web page created for your store, such as example.myshopify.com. In general, URLs refer to single web pages, while domains refer to the overall name of the website.

You may come across a domain, like example.com. However, a URL would be something like example.com/example-page.

Shopify assigns a URL to all new stores for free. If you want to use your own domain, you have to pay an annual fee to register it through Shopify or another service.

How Do You Change the Shopify URL?

Unfortunately, you can’t change your Shopify URL to a new URL without deleting your store and creating a new one. This is yet another excellent reason to buy your own domain.

You can choose whatever name you want as long as it’s available. If you want to change the name of your store later, you can buy a new domain.

On the other hand, you can’t change the name within your Shopify URL. That means without your own domain, you can never change the address people use to visit your store.

Do You Get an Email Address With Shopify?

Shopify doesn’t offer email hosting for your own domain. If you want to set up an email address, such as example@example.com, you can set it up as a forwarding email.

Then, you can direct emails to that address to an existing address, such as through Gmail. That way, you can take advantage of email marketing to connect with your customers.

Alternatively, you can use Google Workspace to set up a professional email using your domain. It does cost money, but you can keep your business and personal emails separate.

How Much Does It Cost to Change a Domain Name?

The cost to change a domain name depends on the domain you buy and the registrar you use. Some companies charge less, and some TLDs cost less than others.

If you already have a domain name, you can change to a new one. However, you should consider keeping the old domain and directing it to the new one so that you don’t lose traffic.

In that case, you’d need to pay about double to change your domain name. Before you do so, make sure you select a name you love so that you don’t have to change it again.

Do You Know How to Change the Shopify Domain Name?

Understanding how to change the Shopify domain name is crucial for online store owners. For one, it allows you to use your own name and get rid of the Shopify branding.

However, you can also rebrand your own store in the future. Make sure you know how to add domains to your account and connect them so that you can update the name across your account.

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