Custom Domains
Your Own Domain, With a Free Certificate
A brand deserves its own address. Mercayo connects a domain you already own, checks your DNS records for you step by step, and gets the secure certificate automatically, while your free Mercayo address keeps working.
- In every plan
- Free for 14 days
Kosha is a demo store on Mercayo. Its products, orders and customers are sample data.
In short
What It Does
Every store has a free address, its name on Mercayo's domain, created at sign-up. It always works and can never be removed.
Your own domain is connected from Settings → Domains:
- Type the name you bought, such as yourbrand.in. Mercayo connects both yourbrand.in and www.yourbrand.in as one domain. A subdomain such as shop.yourbrand.in works too. Indian names like .co.in, .org.in and .net.in are understood.
- The screen lists the records to add at your domain provider (GoDaddy, Hostinger, BigRock, Cloudflare or another), each with its type, name, value and copy buttons: one TXT record that shows the domain is yours, and the records that send the domain to your store.
- Mercayo checks the records by itself, often at first and then less often, for up to 7 days, and shows each record as Found or Not Found Yet. CHECK NOW checks at once.
- Once the records are right, the secure certificate (HTTPS) is issued automatically, usually within minutes, and renewed automatically. It is free.
Each address has a state: Free Address, Waiting for DNS, Getting Certificate, Connected, DNS Changed or Not Working.
The primary address is the one in your links, emails, search results and sitemap. The first own domain you connect becomes primary by itself once it is Connected; you can move the primary back with Make Primary. With One Address on, visitors who open any other of your store's addresses are sent to the primary one with a permanent redirect, so links and rankings are not split.
On Cloudflare? CONNECT CLOUDFLARE takes a token for that one domain (DNS only), and Mercayo adds and checks the records itself.
Your admin at your own address. On Growth and Scale, your team can sign in at admin.yourbrand.in, which opens your store only.
Email from your domain. SET UP EMAIL sends shoppers' emails from an address like orders@yourbrand.in. Mercayo lists the DKIM, SPF and DMARC records (or adds them through Cloudflare) and checks each one before any email goes from it.
For your store
Why It Matters
Shoppers trust yourbrand.in more than a long address with a platform's name in it. It looks like a real business, it is easy to say on a call or print on a packing slip, and it is the address you own even if you ever change platform.
Connecting a domain is usually where small brands get stuck: which records, where, why it still does not work after an hour. Mercayo's screen shows exactly what to add, checks it for you, says in plain words what is missing, and handles the certificate, so you never deal with "Not secure" warnings or certificate renewals.
If you already use Cloudflare for your domain, you keep it. The screen tells you how to set the records while connecting, and the certificate is issued in a way that works through Cloudflare once you turn its proxy back on.
Step by step
How It Works
Connect Your Domain
Open Settings → Domains. In Connect a Domain, type your domain (without https:// or a page) and press CONNECT DOMAIN. The card shows how many domains your plan allows and how many are used. A name that belongs to another Mercayo store, or to Mercayo itself, is refused with a plain reason.
Add the Records at Your Provider
A Set Up yourbrand.in section appears with Records to Add. Sign in where you bought the domain, open its DNS settings and add each record, using the copy buttons. Remove any other A, AAAA or CNAME records for those names, or some visitors would still reach the old site. On Cloudflare, set these records to DNS only (grey cloud) until the domain shows Connected; after that you can turn the proxy back on, with SSL set to Full (strict).
Wait for the Check, or Press CHECK NOW
Each record shows Found or Not Found Yet. Mercayo keeps checking by itself, every minute at first, then every few minutes, then hourly, for up to 7 days; CHECK NOW checks at once. DNS changes usually show within minutes, sometimes a few hours. Once the TXT record has been seen, you may delete it: it is needed only once.
The Certificate Arrives
When the records are right, the state moves to Getting Certificate and then Connected: "Secure and working." The certificate is free and renews itself. The domain becomes your Primary address, unless you have already chosen another; links, emails, search engines and the sitemap now use it. Visitors who type the address with http:// are sent to the secure https:// address automatically.
Keep One Address
Send Visitors to the Primary Domain (in One Address) is on: visitors who open your free address, or the www or bare form of your domain, go to your primary domain. Each address has VISIT and a menu with Make Primary, Check Now and Remove Domain. Removing your primary domain makes the free address primary again at once.
If Something Changes Later
Mercayo checks connected domains every day. If a domain's records stop pointing to your store, it shows DNS Changed: "Fix its records, or it stops opening your store after 3 days." A domain that never connects within 7 days shows Not Working; fix its records and check again. The usual cause is a change at your domain provider, such as moving the domain to a new provider without copying its records.
Your shoppers
What Your Shoppers See
Shoppers see your store at your own address, yourbrand.in, with the padlock of a secure connection and no warning in the browser. They can say it on a call, type it from a packing slip or a poster, and remember it. Old links to your free Mercayo address, or to the www or bare form of your domain, open the same page at your primary address, so nothing they bookmarked or shared breaks. Order emails, shared links and search results use your own domain too.
Settings
Settings You Control
All are under Settings → Domains → One Address.
Mercayo
Mercayo's Controls
Mercayo decides two things per store: whether it may connect own domains at all (on to start with; switched off, its own domains stop opening the store at once and the free address keeps working), and how many it may connect, which comes from your plan (a trial includes none). Mercayo's team can also fix the One Address switch for a store; a fixed setting shows "Set by Mercayo" with its reason. Mercayo never buys or holds your domain: it stays yours, at your provider. Mercayo changes its DNS only through a Cloudflare token you connect, and then only the names your store uses. A certificate is only ever issued for a domain whose TXT record proved it is yours.
Limits today
Good to Know Before You Start
- Mercayo does not sell domains: you buy one from a domain provider and connect it.
- Records are added by you at your provider, except on Cloudflare, where Mercayo adds them once you connect a token for that domain.
- Email from your domain is for shoppers' emails; your team's emails (alerts, invitations, password resets) come from Mercayo.
- A trial does not include an own domain; how many you may connect depends on your plan.
Questions
About Custom Domains
Do I pay for the certificate?
No. The secure certificate for your domain is issued and renewed automatically, at no cost. You pay only your domain provider for the domain itself. It is renewed before it runs out, with nothing for you to do, and the Domains screen shows if a domain ever stops working.
Which records will I add?
One TXT record that proves the domain is yours, and records that send the domain to your store (a CNAME for the www address and an A record for the bare domain, or what the screen shows). The Domains screen lists the exact names and values with copy buttons.
I use Cloudflare. Does that work?
Yes. Set the records to DNS only (grey cloud) while connecting. Once the domain shows Connected, you can turn the proxy (orange cloud) back on, with SSL set to Full (strict). Mercayo can still check your domain behind the proxy.
What happens to my free Mercayo address?
It always keeps working and cannot be removed. With One Address on, it sends visitors to your primary domain, so old links never break. It is also the address your store falls back to if your own domain is removed or stops working, so your store is never unreachable.
Can I use the same domain on two stores?
No. A domain can be connected to one store only. If another store has connected your domain, contact Mercayo support. A name that belongs to Mercayo itself is refused too. A domain and its www address always belong to the same store.
Can my admin and emails use my domain too?
Yes. In Settings → Domains, ADD ADMIN ADDRESS opens your admin at admin.yourbrand.in (Growth and Scale), and SET UP EMAIL sends shoppers' emails from your own address once its DKIM, SPF and DMARC records check out.
Help Centre
In the Help Centre
Related
Related Features
- Search EnginesClean addresses, your own titles and descriptions, product details Google can read, a sitemap and link previews for WhatsApp, on every store.
- URL RedirectsSend old addresses to new ones by hand or from a Shopify-style CSV, and get automatic redirects whenever a product or page changes its address.
- Opening-Soon PageUntil you launch, your store is hidden from search engines and, if you like, behind a password, while your team sees everything and tests real orders.
- Plans and BillingA free trial, then a monthly or yearly plan: your use against its limits, every payment with its GST invoice, and nothing deleted if a payment is late.
- Encrypted KeysRazorpay keys, courier sign-ins and ad tokens are encrypted with a key kept outside the database, bound to your store, and never shown again.
More in Online Store: Product Pages · Product Stories and Details · Collections and Filters · Store Search · Shop by Fit · Wishlist · Customer Accounts · After the Order · Content Pages and Blog · Personalisation · Shoppable Videos · Languages and Currencies · Installable Store · Page Speed · Search Engines · URL Redirects · Opening-Soon Page
Try It on Your Own Store
Every feature is in every plan, free for 14 days.