A domain name is your online address. Netlify or Github Pages provide you with a free address containing their branding. However, a personalized domain name helps visitors find you online, adds credibility to your brand and instantly makes your site look professional.
We highly recommend Namecheap for registering a domain, as they provide great value for money whilst providing fast support and privacy protection. Using a service like Namecheap provides you with a future-proof solution so that you have flexibility to easily change your deployment provider (e.g. Netlify) in the future without affecting your domain.
To find a good domain that is available, try a mix of your first and last names or initials, with either a .com or .me ending.
After you have registered your personalized domain, remember to login to GitHub to update baseurl in your config/_default/config.yaml with your new URL. Netlify will then regenerate your site with the new URL. Otherwise, if you deploy with another provider, run Hugo to regenerate your site.
For Netlify deployments, once your domain is registered, navigate to the Custom domains section of the Netlify admin panel and then follow their wizard to assign your domain to your site.
For Github deployments, you’ll need to login to your domain registrar to point your domain to Github, and create a CNAME file in the static folder of your website, so that Github knows your intentions. For more information, check out the domains guide by Github.
As with any new domain, it can take up to around 24-48 hours for global networks to recognize your new address (DNS propagation).
