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Set up a custom domain

Serve your BakeBase site on your own domain — like shop.sarahbakes.co.uk instead of bakebase.co/site/sarah-bakes.

Custom domains make your bakery look more professional and give customers a URL
they can actually remember. This guide walks you through the whole setup — two DNS
records, a verify click, and Cloudflare for free SSL. Most bakers get it working in
under 20 minutes.

Before you start

You need:

  • Your own domain, bought from a registrar (Namecheap, Google Domains, GoDaddy, 123-reg — any of them)
  • A BakeBase Standard or Pro plan — custom domains are a paid-plan feature
  • Around 15 minutes, plus a bit of DNS propagation time (usually 5–30 min, sometimes longer)

If you haven't bought a domain yet, Namecheap or Cloudflare Registrar are the
simplest places to start. A .co.uk is typically £8–£12 per year.

Step 1 — Add your domain in BakeBase

  1. Sign in and go to Company settings (cog icon in the sidebar, top-left)
  2. Scroll to the Custom domain section
  3. Type your domain — just the hostname, no https:// and no trailing slash. Examples:
  4. shop.sarahbakes.co.uk
  5. orders.mybakery.com
  6. sarahbakes.co.uk (the root domain — also fine)
  7. Click Save domain

BakeBase will show you two DNS records to add next. Leave that page open — you'll
come back to it.

Step 2 — Add the DNS records at your registrar

Sign in to wherever you bought the domain, and find its DNS settings (sometimes
called "Nameservers", "DNS zone", or "Manage DNS"). You need to add two records.

Record 1 — the CNAME (sends traffic to BakeBase)

Field Value
Type CNAME
Host / Name the subdomain part — e.g. shop for shop.sarahbakes.co.uk, or @ for the root
Target / Value the target shown on your Company settings page
TTL 3600 or "Auto"

Note. If you typed a root domain like sarahbakes.co.uk (not a subdomain),
not every registrar supports CNAME at the root. If yours doesn't, either use a
subdomain (recommended: www.sarahbakes.co.uk or shop.sarahbakes.co.uk) or
check whether your registrar supports "ALIAS" or "ANAME" records — those work
the same way.

Record 2 — the TXT (proves you own the domain)

Field Value
Type TXT
Host / Name _bakebase-verify (plus the subdomain if you're using one — the Company settings page shows you the exact value)
Value the long bakebase-verify=... token shown on your Company settings page
TTL 3600 or "Auto"

The token is long. Copy it with the Copy button on the settings page — it only
needs to match exactly once.

Step 3 — Wait for DNS to propagate

DNS changes take anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours to spread across
the internet. In practice, most registrars push them out within 5–15 minutes.

You don't need to wait around. Make yourself a cup of tea, and come back when you
see an email, or just after the kettle boils.

Step 4 — Click Verify

Back on the Company settings → Custom domain section, click Verify now.

If your DNS has propagated:

  • The card turns green with a ✓ Verified & live
  • Visitors to your domain will now see your BakeBase site

If it's not ready yet, you'll see a message like:

No TXT record found at _bakebase-verify.sarahbakes.co.uk. DNS may still be propagating — give it a few minutes and retry.

That's normal — wait 5–10 more minutes and click Verify again. The check is free
and you can retry as often as you like.

Step 5 — Turn on HTTPS (important!)

At this point your site works, but only over plain http:// — which modern browsers
will warn customers about, and which breaks the Stripe deposit flow.

The easiest fix is to put your domain behind Cloudflare with proxied DNS.
Cloudflare will issue a free SSL certificate automatically, keep it renewed for
you, and speed up your site at the same time.

Setting up Cloudflare (free)

  1. Create an account at cloudflare.com (it's free)
  2. Click Add a site and enter your domain (sarahbakes.co.uk)
  3. Pick the Free plan
  4. Cloudflare will read your existing DNS records — make sure the CNAME and TXT
    records you added in Step 2 are there. They should be. If they're not, re-add
    them inside Cloudflare.
  5. Crucial step: for the CNAME row, make sure the cloud icon is orange
    (proxied). The TXT record should stay grey (DNS only).
  6. Cloudflare will give you two nameservers to update at your registrar. Copy
    them, go back to your registrar, and replace the existing nameservers.
  7. Wait for Cloudflare to send you an "Active" email. This can take a few hours
    (but usually arrives within the hour).

Once Cloudflare is active, your domain will serve over https:// automatically,
forever. Nothing more to do.

Already using Cloudflare? Just make sure the CNAME to BakeBase is
proxied (orange cloud). That's the bit that enables SSL.

Troubleshooting

"No TXT record found"

  • DNS hasn't propagated yet — wait 10 minutes and retry
  • The TXT was added to the wrong name — check that the Host field at your
    registrar matches what BakeBase shows exactly
  • Some registrars add your domain to the end automatically — so typing
    _bakebase-verify becomes _bakebase-verify.sarahbakes.co.uk at save time.
    That's correct.

"Found TXT but value didn't match"

  • You probably have an old token cached. Re-copy the value from the Company
    settings page (the big Copy button beside the token) and paste it into
    the TXT record. Save. Wait a minute. Click Verify again.
  • Some registrars wrap your TXT value in extra quotes — that's fine, our check
    handles that.

"Another baker has already claimed that domain"

  • Only one BakeBase account can own a given domain at a time. If you actually
    own it (e.g. you're moving from an old account), email
    support and we'll move it for you.

The domain doesn't load after verifying

  • If you haven't done Step 5 (Cloudflare), you'll only get HTTP, and your
    browser may be auto-upgrading to HTTPS and failing. Do Step 5.
  • DNS caching on your laptop can make your-domain.com feel broken even
    though it works. Try an incognito window, or visit from your phone on 4G.
  • Give it up to an hour after verification — a few CDN layers may need to
    catch up.

I typed the wrong domain

  • Click Remove on the Company settings card, then re-add the right one.
    This generates a new verification token, so you'll need to update the TXT
    record too.

What happens when bakers visit your site

  • https://shop.sarahbakes.co.uk/ → your home page
  • https://shop.sarahbakes.co.uk/p/about → your About page (or any page you've made)
  • https://shop.sarahbakes.co.uk/order → your order form
  • https://shop.sarahbakes.co.uk/enquire → your custom cake enquiry form

Nothing changes in the BakeBase dashboard — you still manage everything at
bakebase.co. Your custom domain is just a nicer front door to the same shop.

Need help? Email support@bakebase.co with your
domain name and we'll take a look.