Step 6: Launch Your Site - Update DNS
Congratulations, you are ready to start the process of taking your website live!
In this article, we will cover the steps to activate your billing/subscription with Clinic Sites and adjust the DNS settings of your domain to point it to our servers.
Launch Step 1: Activate Your Billing:
Step 1: Go to Site Settings
At the top of your page, while logged in, click on the "Admin" button, and choose "Settings" in the dropdown menu.
Step 2: Go to "🚀 Launch Site" and Set Up Your Billing
On the far left you will see a menu option that says "🚀 Launch Site". Go ahead and click on that. Now input your billing information to begin your monthly subscription.
Step 3: Add Domain
Next, click the button that says “Add Domain” and go ahead and add in the new domain that you want to use. Then hit "Save Domain".
Once you have completed these steps, you are now ready to move onto the next stage:
Adjust Your DNS / Point Your Domain to Clinic Sites
Don't have a domain for your business?
To launch your website you will need a domain. If you do not yet have a domain, please register a domain through a 3rd party such as Hover.com (or other domain provider of your choice).
Not sure where your domain is registered?
If you're unsure where your domain is registered you can using one of the following tools to determine where it is registered:
• mxtoolbox.com/DNSLookup.aspx
More often than not using these tools will allow you to find where the domain is registered and sometimes even who has registered it (whois.net). Please note that sometimes this information is not available. You may need to contact your current website provider to find out if they can assist.
Launch Step 2: Adjust Your DNS / Point Your Domain to Clinic Sites
This portion of the process can be a bit technical, but it's very doable. Please follow the directions carefully. And if at any point along the way, you would like assistance from our team, we would be very happy to help.
To point your DNS towards the Clinic Sites servers, so that your new website is connected to your domain, there are two options: Let us help you or do it yourself.
Option 1: Book a call with us
Click here to book a launch call with someone from our team. We will walk you through every step of the process.
Option 2: Do It Yourself
To take your site live in just a few clicks, you will want to gain access to your DNS Zone records.
You can do this by logging in to your domain registrar (GoDaddy, BlueHost, Network Solutions, eNom, etc) and adjusting two records. Please note that everything within quotation marks does not need to include the quotes when entered into your domain registrar's website.
Step 1:
Find the "A" record for your website and set the value to "52.89.243.208". If you don't have an "A" record, create a new record and make sure the type is set to "A", the name is set to "@" and the value is "52.89.243.208"
Step 2:
Find a "CNAME" record for "www" and set the value to "loadbalancer.clinicsites.co". If you can't find it, then create a new record of type "CNAME" with a name, or host name of "www" and set the value to "loadbalancer.clinicsites.co"
Note: If you end up with duplicate value in place for the "@" and "www" records, different than what is specified above, you will want to delete the duplicate record.
Here's a tutorial from one of the most popular domain providers, Go Daddy. Learn how to update your DNS records here.
Contact you Domain Host for Support
If you need help updating your DNS records, call your Domain Host (GoDaddy, BlueHost, etc) and ask their customer service team to help you go through it.
Here's your script you can say with them (even if you're not sure, they'll know what you're talking about):
I would like some help changing the DNS records for my domain (say your URL here). Please point my root A record to 52.89.243.208. Next, I'd like my "www" CNAME record set to point to loadbalancer.clinicsites.co.
Once that step is done, your Clinic Sites website will be active on your domain within the next 24 hours! Often your website is live within 10 minutes of this update.
Once your domain is successfully directing to Clinic Sites, you are now ready for this final step:
Launch Step 3: Mark Your Domain as "Primary"
Navigate to your Domain Settings area (Admin > Settings > Domains)
Hover over your new domain that you added in the first Launch Step, and click the three horizontal dots on the right side. Choose the option "Make Primary".
If this article didn't completely answer your question, or if you have any other questions, email us at anytime at support@clinicsites.co and we'll be more than happy to help you out!