Domain Configuration
Once you have purchased your domain from your web domain provider, you will need to assign it to your Funnel.
Please review the documentation for your hosting provider before you adding your CNAMEs to your DNS settings.
Shopify Domains cannot be used with Checkout Champ. If you recently purchased your domain through Shopify, you will have to move the domain to an external DNS host such as GoDaddy, or Google Domains first.
Domains can be compliant with CCPA, GDPR, and LGPD requirements
Adding a Domain
To add a domain to your funnel, edit the funnel you would like to add the domain to and then click the Domain URL dropdown in the middle of the Funnel Visualizer.
Click the “Add New Domain” option and then enter in your subdomain and domain name.
Click the “Add Domain” button when this page is filled out. The screen will load and then will display the CNAMEs which will need to be entered into your DNS settings of your host provider.
Your CNAMEs will be different than the screenshot below. Do not use the below CNAMEs.
After you add your CNAMEs to your DNS settings, you will eventually see that your Domain Status will show as “Deployed” and SSL Status will show as “Issued”
Once this these statues are reached, your published CheckoutChamp pages will display when navigating to your domain.
Please note: You may encounter a 403 error (or other connection errors) until you have published your funnel.
Alternatively, you can add your Domains from the Account settings within the hamburger menu on the top right corner of the Dashboard.
At the bottom of the Account Settings page, you will see your domains.
Select Add New Domain:
Here you can specify your domain.
To use a subdomain, replace the www with your subdomain name.
Once your domain is added you will be able to see your domain details by selecting edit.
Once the Domain is added and the Statuses show as “Deployed” and “Issued”, edit the funnel you would like to add the domain to and then choose the domain from the Domain URL dropdown at the top of the Funnel Visualizer.
After adding the domain to the funnel and Publishing the funnel, your CheckoutChamp pages will display when navigating to your domain. If you encounter a connection error when visiting your live site, and your Domain Status is “Deployed” and your SSL Status is “Validated”, ensure your funnel has been published.
Domain Status:
For your custom domain to work, you will need to log in to where you bought your domain and add both CNAME records in the screenshot above.
Sub Domain Note: Some hosting providers need the CNAME configured differently in their system to handle sub domains. Please refer to your specific hosting vendor’s support resources for clarification on how their system needs to be configured.
CNAME record changes can take up to 72 hours to go into effect, but typically they happen much sooner.
SSL Status:
SSL certificate creation can take up to 72 hours.
DNS Considerations: If you are managing DNS via Cloudflare, you will need to have the proxy setting turned off!
CAA Records - If you have defined CAA records in your DNS settings, you will need to add a CAA record for AWS. If you are registering a subdomain, a CAA will need to be added for the subdomain and the domain to your DNS settings. Please see this article for instructions on how to add a CAA record for AWS: Configure your CAA
For example:
Cloud Flare
When copying your CNAME records into Cloudflare, note that when you save, cloudflare will chop off the end of your “name” record. For Example: The record we give you is
When you paste it into Cloudflare and save, it will chop off the root domain section, appearing as follows:
This is completely normal. When your SSL certificate is deployed, Cloudflare will automatically add your root domain to the end of your record above.
Do NOT proxy your CNAME records in Cloudflare.
Namecheap, GoDaddy, Google Domains, or One.com
Occasionally, the CNAME record is added to the correct DNS configuration, but the DNS provider automatically adds the bare domain to the end of its DNS records
Some DNS providers (Namecheap, GoDaddy, Google Domains) might automatically add the bare domain to the end of the name field of all DNS records. As a result, the bare domain is added to the end of the subdomain IE: “www” becomes “www.example.com”.
This means that your long CNAME record will go from “_long-cname-record.www.example.com” as it appears in Checkout Champ, to “_long-cname-record.www.example.com.example.com”. (note the duplicated bare domain at the end)
In this scenario, the propagated CNAME record added to your DNS configuration is similar to the following:
The certificate request remains in Pending validation until it eventually fails.
To determine if your DNS provider automatically added the bare domain to the end of the CNAME record, run a command similar to the following:
Linux and macOS:
Windows:
If the output returns the value of the CNAME record, then your DNS provider added the bare domain to the end of the name field of your DNS records.
To resolve this issue, edit your CNAME record to remove the bare domain from the text that you entered for the name field. (see example below)
“_long-cname-record.www.example.com” → “_long-cname-record.www”
This way, after your DNS provider adds the bare domain, there will be only one bare domain present. Now just like how “example.com” was added to the “www”, it will also be added to the end of “_long-cname-record.www”
For troubleshooting regarding registering your CNAMEs with your DNS please see this article: Troubleshoot - DNS Validation Problems
Once the SSL certification has been validated, Publish your funnel once more. Once that is done you can now enter your domain into your URL bar including https:// at the beginning. It is a PCI requirement that sites must not redirected from http:// to https://
GoDaddy Domains
Domains hosted by GoDaddy aren’t much different in the process of setting up. Here’s a quick guide on all the needed steps.
Login to your GoDaddy Account and access your domain settings. Scroll all the way down until you find the “Manage DNS” Setting.
2. Once inside, head over to Checkout Champ and find out the domain info by clicking the icon next to the domain.
3. A new window will popup displaying the DNS records that need to be on your GoDaddy DNS. Again, copy the long CNAME record without the root domain as previously explained.
4. Copy those records over to the GoDaddy DNS as seen in the screenshot below. However, you do not(If you encounter issues pasting your records into GoDaddy’s records, try doing so in an incognito window) Note, you will only need to edit the CNAME’s in this case unless a subdomain is needed. If you are registering a subdomain, a CAA will need to be added for the subdomain and the domain to your DNS settings. Please see this article for instructions on how to add a CAA record for AWS: Configure your CAA.
5. Once your DNS records match what your Checkout Champ Domain Details displays, you will now wait until the system is done deploying the URL and providing an SSL. Note this process can take up to 72 hours to go into effect, but typically they happen much sooner. Once this is done you will see two green boxes with the words Deployed & Issued. This means your domain is ready to be published.
CloudFlare
Cloudflare will truncate the root domain. This is normal and the records will work without it.
Using the root domain (www) in the browser
You may not automatically be able to type your root domain into a browser without also typing “www”. For example, if your website is www.myperfectstoretoown.com, you may not get to your store by typing myperfectstoretoown.com into the browser. This does not affect clicking a link to get to your site, but only typing in the browser. This is a function of the DNS specification, not a limitation in Checkout Champ.
Some DNS hosts provide a workaround to get CNAME-like functionality at the root domain level (the naked domain name) using a custom record type. Such records include, for example:
ALIAS at DNSimple
ANAME at DNS Made Easy
ANAME at easyDNS
CNAME at CloudFlare
Using one of these DNS hosts allows you to maintain full control of your domain. If Checkout Champ was to attempt this then Checkout Champ would take control of your domain. You would not control domain routing, such as if you needed a mail exchange (MX) record. Once you setup your domain at one of these hosts, enter all Checkout Champ CNAME records there also.
If it is not important to access your site without “www”, then you do not need to use one of these hosts.
Connection Error Messages:
When trying to view your live domain, if you see a 403 error or message stating "your connection is not private", make sure you have published your funnel. Once your funnel has been published, it may take a few minutes for your Domain Status to change back to “Deployed” and your SSL Status to change back “Validated”. If you still encounter errors after publishing your funnel and waiting for both Statuses to update, please check the following article:
More Information:
Below are links to popular hosting platforms, along with guides for setting up a CNAME. If you don't see yours below, searching your platform along with the keyword CNAME should point you in the right direction.
Cloudflare (please ensure that the Proxy status toggle is turned off for CNAME record)
Internet.bs (will need to add the AWS CAA record Alias: Company URL, Record type: CAA, TTL:3600, Flag: 0, TAG: Allow both specific hostnames/wild cards, Value: amazon.com)
Test CNAME record
You can use CNAME lookup tools such as Mxtoolbox to test the CNAME record you just added. Successful CNAME setup shows a result (DNS Record found) similar to the one shown below. Once you confirm this, please follow the next step for the final setup.
If your test shows a result DNS record not found, please go back to your CNAME record setup in the domain host’s DNS settings and ensure there are no typos. You can also reach out to your domain host’s support to get help in adding the record.
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