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Custom Domain Setup: From Zero to Live in 10 Minutes

Published: 2026-06-03
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A .pages.dev URL works fine for testing. But when you're ready to be professional, you want your own domain.

I've done this more times than I can count. Here's the fastest path — from buying a domain to having it serve your site with HTTPS.

What You'll Need

  • A domain name (if you don't have one, I'll show you where to buy it)
  • A Cloudflare account (free)
  • An Endeavour site (already published)

Step 1: Buy a Domain (2 Minutes)

Skip GoDaddy and the other big registrars. They'll try to upsell you on hosting, privacy protection, and email — most of which you don't need.

Use Cloudflare Registrar or Porkbun. They sell domains at cost with no upsells.

  • yourname.com — ~$10/year
  • yourname.me — ~$5/year
  • yourname.studio — ~$15/year

Any of these work. Pick one that matches what you do.

[SCREENSHOT: Porkbun or Cloudflare Registrar domain search showing a name and price]

Step 2: Add Your Domain to Cloudflare (3 Minutes)

  1. Log in to dash.cloudflare.com
  2. Click "Add a Domain"
  3. Type your domain name and click "Continue"
  4. Cloudflare will scan existing DNS records (there won't be any if it's a new domain)
  5. Select the Free plan
  6. Click "Continue"

Cloudflare will show you two nameserver addresses. Keep this tab open.

[SCREENSHOT: Cloudflare showing two nameserver addresses after adding a domain]

Step 3: Point Your Domain to Cloudflare (2 Minutes)

Go to your domain registrar (where you bought the domain). Find the DNS settings or nameserver settings.

Replace the existing nameservers with the two Cloudflare gave you:

dns1.cloudflare.com
dns2.cloudflare.com

Save the changes.

[SCREENSHOT: Domain registrar's DNS settings page with Cloudflare nameservers entered]

Pitfall: DNS changes can take a few minutes to a few hours to propagate. Don't panic if it doesn't work immediately. Cloudflare will email you when your domain is active.

Step 4: Connect the Domain in Cloudflare Pages (2 Minutes)

  1. In Cloudflare, go to "Workers & Pages" → "Pages"
  2. Click on your Endeavour project
  3. Go to the "Custom domains" tab
  4. Click "Set up a custom domain"
  5. Enter your domain (e.g., yourname.com)
  6. Click "Continue" and then "Activate Domain"

Cloudflare provisions an SSL certificate automatically. This takes about 30 seconds.

[SCREENSHOT: Cloudflare Pages custom domains page showing the domain as active with SSL]

Step 5: Update Your Endeavour Config (1 Minute)

In your site's endeavour.yaml, add your domain:

domain: yourname.com

Run endeavour site publish . again. Your site now deploys to your custom domain.

Done

Visit https://yourname.com. Your site is live with HTTPS, CDN, and your own domain.

Total time: About 10 minutes, most of which is waiting for DNS to propagate.

Common Questions

"Should I use yourname.com or www.yourname.com?" Both work. Most people set up yourname.com as the primary and redirect www to it. Cloudflare handles this automatically.

"What if my domain doesn't work after 24 hours?" Check: (1) Nameservers at your registrar match Cloudflare's, (2) The domain is added in Cloudflare Pages, (3) You re-published your site.

"Do I need a paid plan?" Custom domains require the Basic plan ($5/month) or Creator plan ($12/month).

Built with Endeavour. Deploy your Markdown in minutes.