A custom domain for your online store: .com vs .com.bd, buying, and connecting it

Your store's address is the first thing a customer judges. yourbrand.com says a business; yourbrand.something.com says a trial. That is not fair — the store behind both addresses can be identical — but it is how people read it, and it is why every serious store eventually buys a domain.

The good news is that a domain is cheap, buying one takes ten minutes, and connecting it to a hosted store is a matter of two DNS records. The confusing parts are the choice between .com and .com.bd, what all the DNS terminology means, and what to do when it does not work on the first try. This post covers all of it.

Why a domain matters more than it seems

Beyond looking like a business, a domain does three things a subdomain cannot:

• It is portable. If you ever change platforms, the address goes with you and the customers who bookmarked it, printed it on packaging or saved it on WhatsApp are not lost. A subdomain belongs to the platform.
• It builds search reputation that belongs to you. Every month your store is online, Google learns more about it. That history attaches to the domain. On a subdomain, it attaches to an address you do not own.
• It goes on things. Packaging, invoices, Facebook ads, business cards. A short, memorable address gets typed; a long one gets abandoned.

Start on a free subdomain by all means — on Eazifiy every store starts as yourname.eazifiy.com — but plan to connect a domain within the first month or two.

.com vs .com.bd

.com is the default for a reason. Customers assume it, it is bought online in minutes from any registrar with a card or (from some local resellers) bKash, renewal is automatic, and it works with any platform. If your brand name is available as a .com, take it.

.com.bd (and .bd) is Bangladesh's country domain, administered by BTCL. It signals "Bangladeshi business" clearly, and some brand names taken as .com are free as .com.bd. The trade-offs: registration goes through BTCL's own process rather than an instant online checkout, it requires business documentation, and renewals need attention. Many local businesses use both — the .com for the store and the .com.bd as a redirect, or vice versa.

Practical advice: if you are starting out and the .com is available, buy the .com. Add the .com.bd later if you want the local signal or need to protect the name.

Other endings — .shop, .store, .xyz — are cheaper in the first year and often much more expensive on renewal. Check the renewal price, not the promotional price, before buying one.

Where to buy a domain

For .com: any international registrar (Namecheap, GoDaddy, Cloudflare Registrar, Porkbun and others) or a Bangladeshi hosting company that resells domains, several of which accept bKash. What to check:

• Renewal price, not just the first-year price.
• Who owns it — the domain should be registered in your name or your business's, not the reseller's. Ask for access to the registrar account.
• DNS management — you need to be able to edit the domain's DNS records yourself. Any reputable registrar provides this.

For .com.bd: through BTCL's domain registration process. Check their current requirements and fees.

What DNS records are, in one paragraph

A domain is a name. DNS is the directory that says which server that name points to. When you "connect a domain" to a hosted store, you add one or two entries in that directory:

• An A record points the bare domain (yourbrand.com, written as @) to a server's IP address.
• A CNAME record points a subdomain (www.yourbrand.com, written as www) to another hostname.

That is all connecting a domain involves. The platform tells you the IP and hostname; you type them into your registrar's DNS page; within minutes to a few hours the name points to your store.

SSL: the padlock

Customers expect the padlock in the browser bar, and browsers warn loudly without it. SSL certificates used to be a separate purchase and installation. On a modern hosted platform they are issued automatically once the DNS points to the store. There is nothing to buy and nothing to renew.

One thing to know: if you use Cloudflare for DNS, its "proxy" (the orange cloud) can interfere with certificate issuance. Set the record to DNS only (grey cloud) until the certificate is issued, then turn the proxy on if you want it.

Connecting a domain to an Eazifiy store

Custom domains are on the Premium plan. The steps:

1. In the admin, go to Settings and find the domain section. Enter your domain — yourbrand.com, or a subdomain like shop.yourbrand.com — and save it.
2. At your registrar, add an A record for @ pointing to the IP address shown in the admin (76.76.21.21).
3. Add a CNAME record for www pointing to cname.vercel-dns.com.
4. If you use Cloudflare, set both records to DNS only (grey cloud) for now.
5. Back in the admin, click Check DNS. When the records have propagated the status changes to Verified and live, and the SSL certificate is issued automatically.

Your yourname.eazifiy.com address keeps working, so nothing breaks while DNS propagates. bKash, courier settings and everything else are tied to your store, not to the address, so none of it needs to change.

When it does not work

• "DNS not verified yet." Records can take from a few minutes to a day or so to propagate. Check that the A record is for @ (not www) and the CNAME is for www (not @), and that there are no old A records for the same name left over from a previous host.
• Padlock missing or a certificate warning. Usually Cloudflare proxy turned on before the certificate was issued. Switch to DNS only, wait, check again.
• Domain works without www but not with, or the reverse. One of the two records is missing.
• Registrar page looks nothing like "A record" and "CNAME". Some resellers hide DNS behind a "manage domain" or "advanced DNS" link. If you truly cannot find it, ask the reseller for DNS access — you are entitled to it.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a domain to start selling? No. Every Eazifiy store starts on a free yourname.eazifiy.com address with the same bKash, COD and courier setup. Add a domain when you are ready.

Can I use a domain I already own? Yes. Point its DNS records at the store as above. If it currently points to another website, the change replaces that.

Does moving to a custom domain affect my Google ranking? The store's search history so far is on the subdomain, so there is a short reset when you move — one of the reasons to connect a domain early rather than late.

Do I need hosting too? No. Hosting is part of the platform; the domain is just the address. This is one of the cost lines that a hosted platform removes — see what an ecommerce website costs in Bangladesh.

Can I connect more than one domain? One primary domain per store. Point any others to it with a redirect at your registrar.

Custom domains are included on the Premium plan (৳1,890 a month; the first 2 months are ৳200 a month on any plan) — see pricing.