1 minute read

I wanted something a little more professional than https://[USERNAME].github.io for my website name. Come on, https://bendirt.com is at least memorable!

I mostly just followed this amazing guide. I recommend checking out that whole four part series, although it uses Docker, which I didn’t touch for my site… Another thing for future Ben.

Let me summarize the steps:

  1. Go to your favorite place to buy domains and find a good one. I bought mine for 12/year from google domains.
  2. Add a file called CNAME (no extension) to your https://github.com/[USERNAME]/[USERNAME].github.io website directory. That file will contain the name of your domain (e.g., www.bendirt.com).
  3. Go the DNS settings on your google domain page and add github’s servers and the repository to the “Resource records”:
    • Host name: [YOUR DOMAIN].[YOUR EXTENSION] (e.g., bendirt.com); Type: A; TTL: 1h; Data:
      • 185.199.108.153
      • 185.199.109.153
      • 185.199.110.153
      • 185.199.111.153
    • Host name: www.[YOUR DOMAIN].[YOUR EXTENSION] (e.g., www.bendirt.com); Type: CNAME; TTL: 1h; Data: [USERNAME].github.io
  4. Go back to your repository “Settings” > “Pages”, and you should see your domain as the deployment location!

You need to be patient for a bit, but once the domain is ready you can also check “Enforce HTTPS” to protect visitors to the website

If you are having problems, github has a good troubleshooting page.