Google Domains

Publishing a Webflow site to a custom domain requires a registrar, and Webflow hosting doesn't include one. If you bought your domain from Google Domains, that registrar no longer exists. Google's own notice records that Squarespace took over every Google Domains registration on September 7, 2023, and that all domains had migrated by July 10, 2024. Your domain now lives in a Squarespace account you may never have logged into.

To point that domain to Webflow, use the DNS settings in the Squarespace Domains dashboard. Once the required records resolve, both the root and www serve your Webflow site.

Freelancers can point a client's domain at a fresh build, and agencies can rebuild a Squarespace site in Webflow through the dashboard. IT admins can keep email running through the cutover. After the DNS work is done, developers can use the Webflow Data API endpoints to script publishing.

How to integrate Google Domains with Webflow

What is Google Domains? Google Domains was Google's domain registrar until Squarespace bought the registrations and moved every one of them to Squarespace Domains. Squarespace Domains is an ICANN-accredited registrar and DNS host with more than 400 TLDs. It supports A, AAAA, ALIAS, CNAME, and TXT records, custom nameservers, DNSSEC, domain forwarding, and up to 100 email forwarding addresses.

Teams reach for this combination when the domain predates the site. A startup registered its .com through Google Domains years ago, runs Google Workspace email on it, and now wants a Webflow marketing site on the same name. The Squarespace Domains FAQ confirms you can use Squarespace "solely for hosting your domains, and the provider(s) of your choice for website or email hosting." Webflow hosting accepts a domain from any registrar, so the two fit without a transfer.

Manual DNS records in the Squarespace Domains dashboard point the root domain and www at Webflow without writing code. Domain forwarding rules at Squarespace Domains can redirect a secondary domain to your Webflow site with a 301 or 302. After the DNS work, the Webflow Data API can list connected domains, publish to them, and send site_publish webhooks, but it requires server-side development.

Use Webflow DNS records for the primary domain. Use Squarespace forwarding for a secondary domain that should redirect to the primary site; do not configure conflicting forwarding and Webflow DNS records on the same hostname. The API scripts publish once the primary domain resolves.

Point your Squarespace domain to Webflow with DNS records

You need a paid Site plan for every site you connect to a custom domain, and one plan covers multiple domains on the same site. In the Squarespace Domains dashboard, configure an A record on the root, a CNAME on www, and a TXT record that proves you own the domain. Budget 24 to 48 hours for propagation before you judge the result.

Copy the DNS values from Site settings

The site-specific DNS values live in one place. Sites created before April 21, 2025 that haven't received an in-app migration notice may still list two A records. Copy what your own site shows rather than a value from a forum post.

To get the values:

1. Go to Site settings > Publishing > Production.
2. Click Add a custom domain, then Manually add domain.
3. Enter your root domain and www, then note every DNS value Webflow provides.

If your site still shows two A records, add both of them rather than picking one.

Add the A, CNAME, and TXT records in Squarespace Domains

Squarespace Domains applies custom records only when the domain is registered there or connected through Nameserver Connect. A migrated Google Domains registration meets that condition by default. Delete the Squarespace Defaults first, because a second A record on the root conflicts with the Webflow IP. Keep unrelated records in place. Squarespace won't accept a CNAME with @ in the Name field, which is why the root domain uses an A record.

To add the records:

1. Open your Squarespace domains dashboard and click the domain name.
2. Click DNS in the side panel, then DNS Settings, and scroll to Custom Records.
3. Delete the Squarespace Defaults plus any A record on @ or CNAME on www that isn't Webflow's.
4. Click Add record, authenticate, select A in Type, enter @ as Name and 198.202.211.1 as the value, then click Save.
5. Add a CNAME record with www as Name and cdn.webflow.com as the value.
6. Add a TXT record with _webflow as Name and the full one-time-verification= string from Webflow.
7. Return to Site settings > Publishing > Production and click Check status.

Squarespace's DNS editing guide puts propagation at 24 to 48 hours on a default 4-hour TTL. If you're moving a live site, lower the TTL on the existing records at least 24 hours before the switch, and track propagation on a global DNS checker.

Keep the default nameservers

Some Google Domains customers ran custom nameservers with Google's built-in forwarding, and that forwarding broke after migration. Switching Squarespace Domains to custom nameservers also disables every record in the Squarespace DNS panel, turns off DNSSEC, and forces you to re-add MX and DKIM records at the new provider. Webflow hosting works from the registrar's default nameservers, so there is no reason to delegate.

To reset a domain that's still on custom nameservers:

1. Open the domains dashboard and click the domain name.
2. Click DNS, then Domain Nameservers.
3. Click Use Squarespace nameservers and reauthenticate.

Nameserver changes take up to 48 hours, according to the nameserver guide, so do this before adding the Webflow records.

Check CAA records so SSL can issue

SSL is on by default for sites created after November 14, 2018, and a certificate issues once your DNS points at Webflow. Certificates renew on their own for as long as the records stay pointed at Webflow and the site keeps loading from Webflow servers. Certificates issue through Let's Encrypt and Google Trust Services (via Cloudflare). If your Squarespace DNS has any CAA records, both authorities must be listed or issuance fails.

To allow both certificate authorities:

1. In Custom Records, look for existing CAA records. If there are none, skip this section.
2. Add a CAA record with the value 0 issue "letsencrypt.org".
3. Add a second CAA record with the value 0 issue "pki.goog; cansignhttpexchanges=yes".

The CAA configuration article notes that leaving out either entry blocks both new certificates and renewals.

Set the default domain

Connecting both the root and www means you have to say which one is canonical. The default domain is the one every other connected domain redirects to, which is how you keep the same pages out of search results twice. Webflow's guidance is to make the www subdomain the default: setting the root as the default without adjusting your DNS settings can produce redirect loops and a "too many redirects" error that stops readers and crawlers reaching the site.

To change the default:

1. Go to Site settings > Publishing > Production.
2. Click Make default to the right of the domain you want.
3. Publish the site.

The default domain article covers switching between root and www later without touching Squarespace.

Forward a secondary domain to your Webflow site

With forwarding, a visitor who enters a spare .net or a misspelling registered at Google Domains lands on the destination URL at your primary .com, and the address bar changes. For the primary domain, stick with the DNS records above.

To add a forwarding rule:

1. Open the domains dashboard and click the spare domain.
2. Click Website and scroll to Domain Forwarding Rules.
3. Click Add rule, choose a 301 or 302, and enter the destination URL on your Webflow site.

Squarespace's forwarding guide documents what a rule can do:

• Destination types: A rule can send visitors to a root domain, to a subdomain, or to one specific page on any site.
• Root and www: Enter @ in the Subdomain field for the root, then click Add subdomain and enter www to cover both.
• Path handling: Under Path Forwarding you choose whether the original URL paths carry across to the destination or are dropped.
• Propagation: A new or changed forwarding rule takes up to 48 hours to start working.

Setting up forwarding removes the Squarespace default records, blocks DNS edits while the rule is active, and can't coexist with conflicting A, AAAA, ALIAS, or CNAME records on the same hostname.

Build with the Webflow Data API

Squarespace Domains has no public API for DNS or domain management, so record changes stay a manual dashboard task. The same FAQ lists Dynamic DNS and ACME DNS API among the features Squarespace does not carry over, and the Commerce API overview documents no Domains endpoint. You can script the Webflow side. Once a domain is connected, the Data API v2 can list it and publish to it, with each publish reported through a webhook. All of this runs on a server or serverless function that holds a bearer token.

The relevant endpoints:

• Get Custom Domains: This endpoint returns each connected domain's id, url, and lastPublished, and needs sites:read.
• Publish Site: The publish endpoint takes an array of custom domain IDs and is rate limited to one successful publish queue per minute.
• Create Webhook: Webhook registration subscribes an endpoint of yours to site_publish, with a limit of 75 registrations per trigger type per site.
• Get Site: The site endpoint exposes lastPublished if you would rather poll than run a listener.

Every endpoint sits under https://api.webflow.com/v2 and needs the sites:read or sites:write scope.

Publish to a connected domain from a deploy script

The domain must first be added to the Webflow site. Configure and verify its Squarespace DNS records before relying on it for production publishing. A CI job or content-approval workflow can then trigger a publish to your Squarespace-registered domain without anyone opening Webflow.

To publish programmatically:

1. Obtain a bearer token with the sites:write scope.
2. Call GET https://api.webflow.com/v2/sites/{site_id}/custom_domains and read customDomains[].id.
3. Call POST https://api.webflow.com/v2/sites/{site_id}/publish with the body { "customDomains": ["<domain_id>"], "publishToWebflowSubdomain": false }.
4. Treat a 202 response as confirmation that the publish was queued.

The request must include at least one of customDomains or publishToWebflowSubdomain, or the publish endpoint rejects it.

Receive site_publish notifications with webhooks

Each site_publish event includes the domains that just went live. Your backend can use that payload to purge a CDN cache, log deploys per client domain, or post to Slack. Registration requires a bearer token from a Data Client App with sites:write.

To set up the webhook:

1. Call POST https://api.webflow.com/v2/sites/{site_id}/webhooks with triggerType set to site_publish and your endpoint URL.
2. On each request, read payload.domains, payload.publishedOn, and payload.publishedBy.
3. Verify the request by computing a SHA-256 HMAC of timestamp + ":" + JSON.stringify(request_body) and comparing it to the x-webflow-signature header.
4. Reject any request whose x-webflow-timestamp is more than 5 minutes old.

The webhook guide works through signature verification in both JavaScript and Python.

What you can build with the Google Domains Webflow integration

Everything below starts from the same position: the domain is already registered, it now sits in a Squarespace account, and the DNS panel is the only lever you need. None of it requires transferring the registration away from Squarespace.

• A Squarespace site rebuilt in Webflow on the same domain: Rebuild on the yoursite.webflow.io staging subdomain, add 301 redirects for every old URL, then swap the Squarespace Defaults for Webflow's records as the final step. The Webflow migration guide classifies this process as a rebuild.
• A campaign landing page on a subdomain: Add a CNAME for launch at Squarespace Domains pointing at a separate Webflow site with its own Site plan, while www keeps serving the main site. A single site can't publish specific pages to specific subdomains, so the second site is required.
• A marketing site with Google Workspace email untouched: Follow the record-preservation guidance during setup. Squarespace's Google Workspace MX preset can add the records if they're missing.
• Agency-built client sites on client-owned domains: The client keeps the domain in their own Squarespace account and pays for the Site plan through client payments. Later you can transfer the site, and the Site plan travels with it into their Workspace.

The registrar name on the invoice is the only thing that changed in 2024, so if you are starting fresh rather than repairing an old setup, read the Squarespace Domains page instead of this one.