Connecting a custom domain

Every school starts on a Teachable address like yourschool.teachable.com. It works, but your own domain looks more like a business, is easier to remember, and keeps your name in front of students instead of Teachable's.

Plan needed

Custom domains start on the Builder plan. They aren't available on Starter.

Pick the address first

You have two choices, and it's worth deciding before you touch any settings.

  • A subdomain, such as learn.yoursite.com or courses.yoursite.com. This is the right choice if you already have a website at yoursite.com and want to keep it. Your main site stays where it is, and the school lives alongside it.
  • The whole domain, such as yoursite.com. Choose this if Teachable is your website. Teachable supports it, but everything at that address then points to the school.

If you use the whole domain, Teachable recommends picking one version for search engines, yoursite.com rather than both it and www.yoursite.com.

The steps

  1. Find your Teachable address. In your admin, open Site › Domains. Your school's own .teachable.com address is the target you'll point to.
  2. Add a record at your domain provider. Wherever you bought the domain, add a CNAME record that points your chosen address to that .teachable.com address. The next lesson walks through this properly.
  3. Add the domain in Teachable. Back in Site › Domains, click New Domain, enter the address and click Add Domain.
  4. Wait. A subdomain can verify within the hour. Changes to a whole domain can take 24 to 48 hours to spread across the internet.
  5. Redirect the old address. Once the new domain works, set the old .teachable.com address to redirect to it, also in Site › Domains, so old links still land in the right place.
If it doesn't verify

Check the record for typos first. If it still won't verify, Teachable's advice is to delete the domain in Site › Domains and add it again, which makes it check afresh.

After the switch

  • Update your links in emails, social profiles and on your main website.
  • Check any custom code that mentions the old address. Links starting with / keep working; full addresses don't change themselves.
  • Test a purchase on the new domain, from start to finish, before you announce it.

In short

  • Custom domains need the Builder plan or above.
  • Use a subdomain if you already have a website; the whole domain if Teachable is your website.
  • Point a CNAME record at your .teachable.com address, add the domain in Site › Domains, then redirect the old address.
Complete and Continue