How to Publish Your Site and Connect a Domain (AI Site Builder)

Publishing puts your site on the internet. It goes live at a free web address straight away, and you can connect your own domain (like www.yourbusiness.com (opens in a new tab)) whenever you’re ready. Your site keeps working on the free address while the domain connects, so there is never a gap.

Before you start

Open your site in the editor (Tools > Website > Edit website).
To connect your own domain you need to be able to sign in where you bought it (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace and so on) and change its DNS settings.

Steps

Publish for the first time

Choose Publish at the top right of the editor. The Publish your website sheet opens and checks your site.
Check Your web address. It is a free address on sites.landscapingsoftware.com. To change it, choose Change address, type a new one (letters, numbers and hyphens) and choose Save address.
Read Before you publish. Things that are in place are ticked. Anything that must be fixed first is listed with a short reason and a button that takes you straight to the fix (Add, Fix, Choose, Change or Set up). For example:
- your business name, or a phone number or email, is missing
- there is no contact form, or no address set for where its messages go
- an offer, or the offer bar at the top of your pages, whose last day has passed (visitors no longer see it; change the date or remove it)
- a stock photo, or your logo, that is no longer available (choose another)
If your AI team has tips, a line says how many, for example 3 tips from your AI team. Tips never stop you publishing. See tips opens them. See Your AI Team.
Choose Publish now. It is greyed out while anything is left to fix, and the bottom of the sheet says how many things are left. Publishing usually takes a few seconds.
When it says You’re live!, use the link to open your site, Copy link to share it, or scan the QR code with your phone. The next steps listed there include Check your business details, which opens Business details in the editor (under Tools on a phone).

If you just made a change, wait for All changes saved before you choose Publish. Otherwise the sheet asks you to wait and try again.

Publish changes to a live site

Edit your site as usual. The status changes to Live · changes not published yet. Visitors still see the published version.
Choose Publish (on a computer the button reads Publish changes once your site is live). The sheet is called Publish your changes and lists What changed in plain words.
Choose Publish changes. Your current site stays live until the new version is ready. If your site already matches your draft, the sheet says there is nothing new to publish.

Throw away unpublished changes

Choose Publish, then Discard changes.
Confirm. Your draft goes back to what is live now.

Take your site offline

Choose Publish, then Take offline. You can also choose Take offline on your site’s row on the Websites page, or on its Settings page.
Visitors see a short “coming soon” page. Your content is kept, and you can publish again at any time.

See your live site

Choose View live site on the Websites page, at the top of any of your site’s pages, or in the editor’s Site menu. It opens your main domain if you connected one, otherwise your free web address.

Connect your own domain

Open Web address and domain: choose Connect a domain in the publish sheet, or open the editor’s Site menu (on a phone: Tools > More tools, under Site) and choose Web address and domain. You can also choose it from the … button on your website’s card on the Websites page.
Type your domain, using the www version (for example www.yourbusiness.com), and choose Add domain.
The domain card lists two records, each with a copy button and a note on what it does:
- a TXT record, which proves you own the domain
- a CNAME record, which points the domain at your website
Sign in where you bought your domain, open its DNS settings (often called “DNS settings” or “Manage DNS”) and add both records. Some domain companies add your domain to the name for you; if yours does, type only the part before it (for example www).
Back on Web address and domain, choose Check now.

The table of records shows each record’s Type, Name or host, Value or points to and What it does.

Each domain shows a status chip:

Chip	What it means
Waiting for DNS	We can’t see your records yet. DNS changes can take up to an hour.
Verifying certificate	Your records are found and the secure (https) certificate is on its way.
Connected	Your site is live at this address.
Failed	Something went wrong. The card says why.

If you connect more than one domain, choose Make main address on the one you want visitors to end up at.

Using a domain without www

Most domain companies can’t point a bare domain (yourbusiness.com with no www) at a website builder. Choose one of these:

Connect www and forward the bare domain (easiest). Connect www.yourbusiness.com on Web address and domain, then turn on domain forwarding from yourbusiness.com to www.yourbusiness.com in your domain company’s settings.
Move your DNS to Cloudflare. Cloudflare’s free plan can point a bare domain directly. Move your DNS there first, then add the records shown on Web address and domain.

What happens next

After you go live, the dialog suggests next steps: connect your own domain and send a test message through your contact form to check it reaches you. See Contact Form and Messages.

Tips

Publish early. You can keep improving the site after it is live; nothing changes for visitors until you choose Publish.
Changing the free address breaks old links. If you shared the address on business cards or social media, those links stop working after a change.
Use the www version of your domain when you add it. It works with every domain company.

Troubleshooting

Publish now is disabled: something under Before you publish still needs fixing. Use the button next to it.
“We couldn’t publish just now”: your previous site is still live. Choose Try again.
“That address is already taken”: try another free address.
My domain stays on Waiting for DNS: check the records match exactly (copy them with the copy buttons), wait up to an hour, then choose Check now again.
My domain shows Failed: read the reason on the card. If it doesn’t help, remove the domain, add it again, and contact support if it fails again.
The domain page says custom domains are not available: connecting your own domain is turned off for your account. Your site still works on its free address. Contact support.