Connect your domain in Studio

Enter your domain, pick your main address, add every record in one sitting (website, payments & contracts, email sending), and Studio turns on HTTPS automatically.

You can do this in about 10 minutes. You need: a published website, and the login for wherever you bought your domain.

Video walkthrough · 72s · captions on. Uses an illustrated example domain (yourstudio.com).

  1. 1

    Open Domains

    In Studio go to Profile → Domains (or click “Connect your domain” on the Website page). The Launch checklist at the top shows what’s left before your site is ready.

    Champion StudioIllustration
    StudioDomains
    Your domain
    yourstudio.com
    ● yourstudio.com Recommended
    ○ www.yourstudio.com
    Connect domain
    Start here
  2. 2

    Enter your domain and pick the main address

    Type your domain (like yourstudio.com). Choose whether visitors should see yourstudio.com or www.yourstudio.com — the other one redirects. Leave “Payment pages & contracts” (pay.yourstudio.com, sign.yourstudio.com — you can rename them) and “Sending email” ticked so everything is set up in one go.

    Champion StudioIllustration
    StudioDomains
    Your domain
    yourstudio.com
    ● yourstudio.com Recommended
    ○ www.yourstudio.com
    Connect domain
  3. 3

    Add every record at your provider — in one sitting

    Studio shows one table grouped into Website, Payments & contracts and Email sending, with a Copy button on every value and “Copy all” for the whole list. It detects where your domain is managed and shows the exact steps for that provider. Add all the rows at once and you’re done.

    Champion StudioIllustration
    StudioDomainsyourstudio.com
    A@162.159.140.98Found ✓
    A@172.66.0.96Found ✓
    CNAMEwwwchampion-studio-knb4s…Not found yet
    Check again
  4. 4

    Wait for the green checks

    Each record shows “Found ✓” (or “Verified ✓” for email) when the internet can see it. HTTPS turns on by itself for your site, pay. and sign. When everything is green you’ll see “Your site is live at …”, and your payment, contract and email links switch to your domain.

    Champion StudioIllustration
    StudioDomainsyourstudio.com
    Your site is live at https://yourstudio.com
    🔒 yourstudio.com — Secure ✓
    🔒 www.yourstudio.com — Secure ✓ (redirects)

Questions

How long does it take?

Most providers update within 5–30 minutes. Occasionally it takes a few hours (rarely up to 48). Studio re-checks every 30 seconds while the Domains page is open, and your HTTPS certificate is issued automatically 5–30 minutes after the records are found.

Why do I have to turn off forwarding?

Forwarding (sometimes called "redirect" or "parked page") tells your provider to answer visitors itself and send them to another website. It overrides the records that point at Champion, so your site can’t load until it’s off.

Will this affect my email inbox?

No. Receiving email uses MX records, and Champion never touches them — leave them exactly as they are. The email records Studio lists (pm-bounces, DKIM, _dmarc) only help email Champion sends for you reach the inbox. If your domain has no MX records, you don’t have an inbox at that domain yet; setting one up (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365…) is separate.

What are pay. and sign. for?

Your payment pages open at pay.yourdomain and your contracts, booking and signing links at sign.yourdomain — so clients only ever see your brand. You can rename them (for example “checkout” or “contracts”) in Studio. Links switch over automatically once each address is secure.

Do I need an SPF record?

Not for Champion. The pm-bounces CNAME covers SPF for mail we send for you. If you already have an SPF record (v=spf1 …), keep it as it is — and never add a second SPF record, because two break each other.

I already have a DMARC record

Keep it. Studio shows “Your existing policy kept ✓” and doesn’t ask for another. If you don’t have one, add the suggested _dmarc TXT (p=none only monitors — nothing gets blocked).

www or no www?

Either works, and Studio connects both. Pick one as your main address (we recommend the shorter one without www). The other automatically sends visitors to it, so nobody lands on an error.

It says “Issuing certificate…” — is something wrong?

No. Once your records are found, Champion asks a certificate authority for a free SSL certificate (the padlock). That usually takes 5–30 minutes. If it’s still pending after an hour, double-check the records and click Check again.

Do I need a TXT verification record?

Not for your website. The two TXT records in the list (DKIM and _dmarc) are for email sending. Add them in the same sitting so everything is done at once.

What if I want to undo it?

Disconnect the domain in Studio and put your old records (or forwarding) back at your provider. Your Champion site stays available at its studio.champion.io address the whole time.