Guide
Putting a client's site on their own domain.
Four steps, about five minutes of work, then some waiting. The part that trips almost everyone up is step 3 — it is not the A record you have seen in other tutorials.
What you end up with
The client's site loads at theirbusiness.com with a padlock, and nothing on the page mentions Sitebric. The certificate is issued for you — you never touch SSL.
Before you start
Two things have to be true.
- 1The site is finished and published. The domain box does not appear until a site is published — if you cannot find it, this is why.
- 2Somebody already owns the domain. You or the client bought it from a registrar — Namecheap, GoDaddy, Google Domains. Sitebric does not sell domains.
You need the login for wherever the domain was bought. If the client bought it, you will need them on the phone or their account details. This is the single most common reason a handoff stalls for a week — sort it out before you start.
Step 1 of 4 · In Sitebric
Publish the site.
Open the site in your dashboard and hit Publish. Until you do, the domain field is not on screen at all.
Why it works this way
A domain points at a live site. There is nothing to point at until the site is published, so the field stays hidden rather than letting you connect a domain to a blank page.
Step 2 of 4 · In Sitebric
Type the domain, press Connect.
A field appears under the published site. Enter the domain and click Connect domain.
Exactly like that
Nothing before it, nothing after it. Just the domain.
Not like this
https://theirbusiness.com, www.theirbusiness.com, or a trailing slash. Any of those will fail.
Step 3 of 4 · At the registrar
Change the nameservers.
Log in where the domain was bought. Find Nameservers — usually under DNS, or "Domain settings". Switch it from "Default" or "Basic DNS" to Custom, and enter these two:
Read this if you have watched a YouTube tutorial
You are not adding an A record. You are not adding a CNAME. Most guides online describe those because most hosts work that way — Sitebric does not. If you add an A record and leave the nameservers alone, nothing will ever happen.
Step 4 of 4 · Waiting
Now leave it alone.
Nameserver changes take a few minutes to a few hours to spread across the internet. There is no button that speeds this up.
What happens on its own
The domain starts serving the site, and the SSL certificate is issued automatically. The padlock appears without you doing anything.
While you wait
You may see a “this domain isn’t connected” page, or the registrar’s parking page. Both are normal mid-change. Check again in an hour.
Still nothing after 24 hours? Something is genuinely wrong — go back and check the nameservers actually saved. Many registrars silently discard the change if you forget to hit Save on that specific panel.
Important · not a step
If the client uses email on that domain, stop.
This one actually breaks things
Changing nameservers moves all of that domain's DNS, not just the website. If the client has email at that address — mike@theirbusiness.com through Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or their registrar — their email will stop arriving the moment the change takes effect.
It is fixable: their mail records (MX, and usually SPF and DKIM) have to be recreated on the new nameservers. But find out before you switch, not after a plumber calls you because he has stopped receiving quotes.
Always ask: “do you use email on this domain?” If the answer is yes, get their current DNS records written down first.
Troubleshooting
Why it usually isn't working.
Quick reference
The whole thing, in one card.
Steps
1. Publish the site in Sitebric.
2. Enter the bare domain, click Connect domain.
3. At the registrar, set nameservers to the two below.
4. Wait. Minutes to hours. SSL is automatic.
✓ Ask about email on the domain before switching.
✓ Bare domain only — no https://, no www.
✓ Nameservers, never an A record.