To use your own web address for a Typeform Page instead of a default URL, you have to connect a custom domain. However, some domain providers can’t connect a root domain to another platform like Typeform. A root domain is the main, core web address. For example, in www.acme.com, the root domain is acme.com.
If this is the case with your provider, you can use the workaround explained in this article to get your root domain, for example, acme.com, connected to your Typeform Page.
What you'll need:
- Access to Typeform Pages (beta)
- Admin access to your domain provider (for example, GoDaddy)
- Organization owner or admin permissions in Typeform to set up custom domains
Before proceeding, make sure you’ve read the guide to setting up custom domains for Typeform Pages. If you’ve run into an error while trying to set up a root domain for your Page, you can troubleshoot it by following the steps in this article.
Am I affected by the issue described here?
You’ll most likely run into the issue described here if you've entered your root domain (e.g., acme.com) in Typeform and have seen any of the following issues:
- Typeform Pages couldn’t finish connecting your domain automatically via Entri.
- You’ve tried the manual setup, but your provider refused to save the CNAME record.
- You’re seeing an error about the host, the name, or the @ symbol representing the root domain.
- You’ve saved the record successfully, but your domain remains Unauthorized in Typeform, even after 48 hours.
Why is my root domain not supported by my provider?
When someone types your web address, the browser first needs to find out which server hosts the web page in order to display your website. It does this by looking up the address in a DNS lookup, which then returns a DNS record with the information needed to display your website.
Typeform custom domains use a record called CNAME. Rather than returning an answer directly, a CNAME record acts like a forwarding address. It says, "Don't look for the answer here; look it up under Typeform's address instead." The browser will then find the right server and load your Typeform Page. This is happening in the background, so your visitors won't see any of it.
The limitation is that a CNAME record can only act as a forwarding address and can't also store other information needed to display your Typeform page. Your root domain needs to store information such as who manages it, which can't be removed. Therefore, your root domain can't be changed to a CNAME record.
However, an address with something in front of it, like www.acme.com or try.acme.com, has its own storage with nothing essential in it. It can become a CNAME without conflict, allowing you to connect it to Typeform without issues for domain providers.
Some providers work around this with a special record type, usually called ALIAS, ANAME, or CNAME flattening. If your provider offers one of those, your root domain will connect normally, and you can follow the steps in the custom domains article. Providers that offer it include Cloudflare, Amazon Route 53, DNSimple, Hostinger, and Namecheap.
Other providers, for example, GoDaddy or the DNS section of a standard IONOS domain plan, don’t offer these special record types. With these providers, a root domain can’t be connected directly to Typeform, no matter how the record is entered. These providers will point you to domain forwarding instead, which is what the rest of this article covers.
The workaround here will be to connect www (or any other subdomain of your choice), then forward your root domain to it. Instead of connecting your root domain to Typeform, you’ll connect www.yourdomain.com, then tell your provider to send anyone who types the bare domain yourcompany.com over to the www version. This will ensure that visitors will get to your Typeform Page either way.
Make sure to complete the steps here in the following order:
- Connect www (or any other subdomain of your choice, like try) in Typeform first and confirm that it has been authorized.
- Set up forwarding with your domain provider. Setting up forwarding first can interfere with the records Typeform needs to verify.
Connect the www version of your domain to your Typeform Page
- In the Typeform page builder, click the Settings (gear) icon.
- Click the Publish settings tab.
- Select New domain from the dropdown list and enter your domain starting with www in the Custom domain field. For example, make sure to add www.acme.com, not acme.com, as seen in the example below. Click Save.
- Wait until the status of the custom domain shows Authorized. This can take up to 48 hours. You can click Authorize to check its status.
- Wait until www.yourdomain.com opens your Typeform Page in a browser, then continue with forwarding your root domain with your domain provider.
You can find out more about the automated or manual setup of custom domains for Typeform Pages in the How to set up custom domains for Typeform Pages guide.
What happens if I’ve already added my root domain in Typeform?
If you’ve added the bare domain earlier and it’s stuck as unauthorized, you’ll need to disconnect it. To do this, click the three dots next to your Custom domain in your Page Settings, and select Disconnect domain.
As you can only configure up to three custom domains, it’s also worth removing the one that can’t be connected. To delete the custom domain from your Typeform account, please contact the Support team.
Forward your root domain to www with GoDaddy
- Sign in to your GoDaddy Domain Portfolio and select your domain to open Domain Settings.
- Select DNS, then Forwarding.
- Select Add Forwarding, then choose Domain (not Subdomain).
- Set the destination to https:// and enter www.yourdomain.com.
- Select Permanent (301) as your forwarding type.
- Click Save.
If your domain has Domain Protection, GoDaddy will ask you to verify your identity before saving. You can find out more about forwarding your GoDaddy domain in the GoDaddy Help Center.
Important: Don’t select Forward with masking. Masking keeps your root domain in the address bar by loading your Page inside a frame. This will break the secure padlock, hurt your search ranking, and stop parts of your Page from working. Use Permanent (301) instead, and visitors will see the www address, which is normal and expected.
Note: Don’t point your www CNAME at @. GoDaddy’s own forwarding instructions suggest this, but it would overwrite the record connecting www to Typeform and take your Typeform Page offline. Leave your www record exactly as Typeform set it.
Forward your root domain to www with IONOS
- Log in to IONOS and click the Domains & SSL tile, then select your domain.
- On the Details tab, click Adjust Destination.
- Click Domain Forwarding and select Arbitrary URL as Type.
- Enter https://www.yourdomain.com as the destination.
- Choose HTTP redirect and click Save.
- Make sure to leave the www option switched off.
You can find out more about forwarding a domain to a different domain with IONOS on the IONOS Help Center.
Important: IONOS offers a setting called Domain forwarding for the www. subdomain. Make sure not to enable this setting. It would forward www.yourdomain.com as well, overriding the record that connects it to Typeform and taking your Page offline. You only want the root domain to be forwarded, and the www left alone.
Note: Avoid Frame redirects for the same reason as masking on GoDaddy. IONOS will recognize it as bad for search engines, and it will interfere with your Typeform Page.
Forward your root domain to www with other providers
- The approach described here works with other providers as well; only the name of the feature will be different.
- Look for Domain forwarding, URL redirect, or URL Redirect Record in your provider’s settings, and point your root domain to https://www.yourdomain.com using a permanent (301) redirect, without masking, cloaking, or frame redirects.
- Make sure the redirect applies only to the root domain and not to www.
How can I check that forwarding my domain has worked?
Most DNS changes take effect within an hour, but it can take up to 48 hours.
Once your domain is live, you can do the following to test it:
- Typing yourdomain.com in a browser should land on your Typeform Page, with the address bar switching to www.yourdomain.com.
- Typing www.yourdomain.com should open your Typeform Page directly.
- Both should show a padlock in the address bar.
Now you can share the www address of your Typeform Page in campaigns and links. The root domain will keep working for anyone who types it.
Things to keep in mind about forwarding your domain
- Forwarding takes over your root domain. While it’s active, your root domain can only forward, but it can’t host anything else.
- GoDaddy locks the root A record of your domain. If you want to unlock your domain later, you must remove the forwarding first.
- Your other records will remain unaffected. Emails, subdomains, and everything else will keep working because forwarding only changes where the bare domain points.
- GoDaddy may switch your nameservers. If your domain isn’t already using GoDaddy nameservers, adding forwarding moves it to them. If another provider manages your DNS, you can set up the redirect there instead.
- Paths will still work in Typeform Pages. If your Typeform Page uses a path, for example, www.acme.com/summer-campaign, you can point the forwarding to your root address, and visitors typing the full path with the www prefix will be able to reach it as usual.