Custom Domain Not Showing Your Focal Site? How to Fix It

If your domain isn’t loading your Focal website, your Focal dashboard can tell you why. Open Domains in your dashboard at app.bookfocal.com and click Check connection. Focal looks up each of your domain’s DNS records and marks each one Set up right, Works, Waiting for DNS or Needs fixing, with what to change.

This guide explains each fix. You make the changes at your domain provider: the company you bought your domain from, or where you manage its DNS, such as GoDaddy, Squarespace or Cloudflare.

What Your Domain Needs

Your Domains page lists the exact values to copy. In short, your domain needs:

• An A record for your bare domain (host @, or left blank) for each Focal address on your Domains page. There are three, so that’s three A records.
• A CNAME record for www, pointing to customer.site.bookfocal.com.
• A CNAME record for booking, pointing to customer.bookfocal.com.

The booking record matters even when your website looks fine. The links you send clients for bookings, galleries and packages use booking.yourdomain.com.

Delete Records That Point Somewhere Else

If the check says to delete an A record because the address isn’t Focal’s, something else is still attached to your domain. New domains often come with a parked page, and an old website leaves its records behind. While both are there, some visitors reach Focal and some reach the other address.

Delete every A record for your bare domain that isn’t one of Focal’s addresses. If your provider has domain forwarding or a parked page turned on, turn that off too.

Replace Focal’s Old Address

If your bare domain points to 35.223.182.163, that’s Focal’s old address. It still works, but replace it with the three addresses on your Domains page so your site doesn’t depend on it.

Remove AAAA Records

AAAA records hold IPv6 addresses. Focal doesn’t have one, so an AAAA record sends visitors on IPv6, which includes many phones, to whatever it points to instead of your site. Delete any AAAA record for your bare domain, www or booking.

Point www and booking at Focal

• If www or booking points to another service, such as a previous website builder, change the record’s value to the one on your Domains page.
• If either record is missing, add it.
• If either one is an A record, replace it with a CNAME. An A record works today, but it stops working if Focal’s addresses change.

If Your Domain Uses Cloudflare

Set each Focal record to DNS only, the grey cloud. A proxied record, the orange cloud, hides where it points and stops Focal from setting up your site’s security certificate.

CAA Records

A CAA record limits which companies can issue security certificates for your domain. Focal’s certificates come from Let’s Encrypt, so if your domain has CAA records, add one more: 0 issue "letsencrypt.org".

Waiting for DNS

Your records are right. Public DNS is still holding the old answer, and your Domains page shows roughly how long that has left. There’s nothing to change: check again once that time has passed.

Security Certificate Not Ready

Focal sets up your site’s security certificate automatically the first time someone visits after your records are right. Give it a few minutes, then check again.

Nothing Answers for Your Domain

If the check says nothing in DNS answers for your domain, check these at your provider:

• The domain on your Domains page is spelled right.
• It hasn’t expired. Look for its renewal date.
• Its nameservers are set.

An expired domain can usually be renewed for a short time after it lapses, sometimes for a restore fee. After that it’s released, and anyone can buy it.

Moved Your Domain to Another Website?

If you’ve pointed your domain at a different website, or stopped using Focal for your website, open Domains and click Clear Focal domain settings. Your client links go back to Focal’s own address. Your bookings, packages and galleries aren’t affected.

Still Stuck?

Email contact@bookfocal.com with your domain name and a screenshot of your DNS records, and we’ll take a look.