- In Netlify: Domain management → "Add a domain" → type your domain → accept the offer to use Netlify DNS. It shows you four "nameservers" (they look like
dns1.p03.nsone.net). - In your registrar: find the Nameservers setting and replace the defaults with Netlify's four. At Namecheap: Domain List → Manage → Nameservers → choose Custom DNS → paste all four → save (the little checkmark).
- Wait 30–60 minutes (occasionally a few hours). Netlify shows a green check when connected and switches on the HTTPS padlock automatically. Nothing for you to configure.
Checkpoint: your real address loads your site, with a padlock in the browser bar. You're live.
Real snag from our build — caught after launch
The site looked perfect on a computer. On a phone, the company name was cut off mid-word in the header — the parent-brand logo and the business name were fighting for a strip of screen half as wide. The owner sent one phone screenshot; the fix was a stacked two-line header that only appears on small screens.
The lesson: desktop previews lie. After every launch — and every update — open your site on your actual phone. Most of your visitors are on one. A screenshot of anything odd is a complete bug report.
Living with your site (the honest maintenance list)
- Updating the site = ask Claude for the change → download the new zip → unzip → drag the folder onto Netlify's Deploys page. That is the entire maintenance routine.
- Keep a punch list of what's still placeholder. Ours at launch: real client reviews, two payment links, and a required legal registration line from the parent company. Placeholders are fine — forgotten placeholders are not.
- Use every asset you provided. Late in our build the owner asked, "where is the photo of me on the boat?" — five uploaded photos had gone unused. Ask the AI to confirm every photo you gave it has a home, and to show you a labeled review sheet of how each one is cropped.
- Check every update on your phone. The two-minute habit that catches what desktop previews miss.
- Renew your domain once a year (~$10–12). Set it to auto-renew so your address never lapses.