How to Deploy Your Website on Vercel with a Custom Domain

Introduction

This step-by-step guide walks you through the complete process of deploying a website on Vercel, connecting a custom domain, configuring DNS records, and securing your site with SSL.

Whether you want to deploy, publish, or host your website on Vercel, this guide covers the entire process from buying a domain to going live — with real screenshots from Cyvora Studio.

If you're a developer, blogger, or someone building a personal brand, launching your own website is more than just a technical task — it's a milestone. It's that moment when your ideas move from local files on your laptop… to something the entire world can access.

In this guide, I'll take you through my end-to-end journey of deploying a website using GitHub, Vercel, and a custom domain. This isn't just about clicking buttons — it's about understanding the complete flow.

By the end, you'll have a clear, practical roadmap to launch your own website confidently and professionally.

Choosing a Custom Domain

Before touching any technical tools or the hard coding part lets cool our heads to come up with a name shall we, because coming up with a name for the website is a big task compared to the technical aspects.

When I started choosing a domain name, I researched so much to come up with this abstract name called "CYVORA" — I almost spent 2 hours on it. The catchy names I came up with were either taken, and I've noticed that even the most abstract domains get bought quickly. My quick suggestion: if you have an idea, implement it and buy that domain name immediately.

This is your identity on the internet, so choose wisely. Here are some tips for choosing a great domain name:

• Easy to remember and spell
• Relevant to your niche
• Professional and scalable
• Unique with low keyword competition

🛒 Buying a Domain

Once the domain name is fixed, the next step is buying your domain. Popular registrars include:

• GoDaddy — popular and widely supported (I also bought my domain here)
• Namecheap — affordable and beginner-friendly
• Google Domains — simple interface, integrated with Google
• AWS Route 53 — for advanced users

After purchase, your domain will show an IDLE status, which means it's registered but not yet connected to any hosting. No need to worry — that will change once we connect it to Vercel.

🧾 Setting Up GitHub

Think of GitHub as your source of truth.

It stores your website's code, tracks changes, and integrates seamlessly with Vercel for automatic deployment.

• index.html — Main page
• styles.css — Styling
• script.js — Functionality
• README.md — Documentation

GitHub serves as your version-controlled source of truth, allowing you to track changes, collaborate, and easily deploy your site.

To set up your GitHub repository, you need a GitHub account. If you don't have one, sign up here: Sign up for GitHub

Now create a new repository for your project:

• Go to GitHub and click "New Repository"
• Name your repository (e.g., "my-website")
• Choose Public or Private
• Initialize with a README (optional)

It's recommended to use an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) — I personally recommend Visual Studio Code due to its vast library of extensions and GitHub Copilot integration.

Here's a simple file structure for a basic website:

my-website/
├── index.html
├── styles.css
├── script.js
└── README.md

• index.html — The main HTML file that serves as the entry point of your website.
• styles.css — A CSS file to style your website and make it visually appealing.
• script.js — A JavaScript file to add interactivity and functionality.
• README.md — A markdown file to document your project.

After creating the repository, clone it to your local machine:

git clone https://github.com/username/my-website.git
cd my-website

Then push your local website code to GitHub:

git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit: website setup"
git push origin main

Deploying with Vercel

Why Use Vercel?

• Free hosting for personal projects
• Automatic deployments from GitHub
• Global CDN
• Free SSL certificates
• Simple custom domain setup

Vercel makes deployment incredibly simple:

Sign in to Vercel using your GitHub account. Once signed in, follow these steps to deploy your website:

1. Go to vercel.com and sign in with GitHub
2. Click "Import Project"
3. Select your GitHub repository
4. Configure build settings (usually auto-detected)
5. Click "Deploy"

Within seconds, your site is live at project-name.vercel.app. That's the power of modern deployment platforms!

Connecting Your Custom Domain to Vercel

Connecting a custom URL (your own domain name) to Vercel is completely free on Vercel's Hobby plan. You only pay for the domain itself at your registrar.

To add your custom domain to your Vercel project:

1. Go to your Vercel Project Settings
2. Navigate to the Domains section
3. Click "Add Domain"
4. Enter your custom domain (e.g., example.com)

Initially, you'll see "Invalid Configuration" status. This is normal and expected before DNS is configured in your registrar.

DNS Configuration (Critical Step)

To make your domain work with Vercel, you need to update DNS records in your registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.). There are two methods — A/CNAME records or Nameserver delegation.

Method 1: A Record and CNAME Record

A Record (Root Domain)

CNAME Record (www subdomain)

Step-by-Step: Connect GoDaddy Domain to Vercel

1. Log in to GoDaddy and go to My Products → Domains
2. Click the DNS button next to your domain
3. Under A Records, edit the existing @ record and set the value to 76.65.34.54
4. Scroll to CNAME Records, add a new record with Name = www and Value = cname.vercel-dns.com
5. Save the changes and return to your Vercel dashboard
6. Vercel will detect the records and the domain status will change to Valid — usually within a few minutes, but can take up to 48 hours

Alternative: Use Vercel Nameservers

Instead of adding individual A and CNAME records, you can delegate your entire domain to Vercel's nameservers. This gives Vercel full control over your DNS and is the recommended approach if you bought your domain through Vercel.

Vercel Nameserver Values

How to Update Nameservers in GoDaddy

1. Log in to GoDaddy → My Products → Domains
2. Click Manage on your domain
3. Scroll to Nameservers and click Change
4. Select Enter my own nameservers
5. Enter ns1.vercel-dns.com and ns2.vercel-dns.com
6. Save — propagation takes 1–48 hours

SSL & HTTPS Setup

Good news: Vercel automatically provisions an SSL certificate for your domain using Let's Encrypt — at no cost and with no configuration required.

Once DNS propagation completes, your site will be secured with:

• Green lock icon in browser
• HTTPS protocol (automatic)
• Auto-renewal of certificates

Vercel handles the entire HTTPS setup automatically. You don't need to install anything or pay for a certificate separately.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Domain Still Shows "Invalid Configuration"

This means DNS changes haven't propagated yet. DNS propagation can take 5 minutes to 24–48 hours. Check that your DNS records are correctly entered in your registrar's dashboard and wait.

Domain Redirects to Wrong Site

Ensure you're using the correct A and CNAME records provided by Vercel. Typos in DNS values are the most common cause. Double-check the IP address and CNAME value character by character.

HTTPS Not Working

Wait for DNS propagation to complete, then refresh. Vercel needs to verify DNS ownership before issuing the SSL certificate. If it still doesn't work after 48 hours, remove and re-add the domain in Vercel settings.

www and non-www Both Working?

This is actually fine — both work. You can set a redirect from one to the other in Vercel's Domain settings if you prefer a canonical URL.

GoDaddy Nameservers Not Updating

After changing nameservers in GoDaddy, it can take up to 48 hours to propagate globally. You can check propagation status at dnschecker.org.

Next Steps

Congratulations on deploying your website! Here are recommended next steps:

• Set up Analytics — Use Vercel Analytics or Google Analytics to track visitors
• Configure Environment Variables — For API keys and sensitive data
• Enable Auto-deployments — Deploy automatically on every GitHub push
• Set up Email — Add contact forms and email forwarding
• Optimize Performance — Use Vercel's built-in performance tools
• SEO Optimization — Add meta tags and structured data