[intro] Before you begin this guide, you need to open an account on EKM Domains - click here to find out how. When you will have completed this guide, you will have claimed your free domain name and pointed it at your EKM online shop. All you will have to do after this task is completed is wait 24-36 hours for propagation to occur and your EKM online shop will officially be live! [/intro]

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[caution]You won't be able to claim a free domain name if your EKM online shop is on the Lite Tier. You will need to upgrade by following the steps in this Guide. [/caution]

If your EKM online shop is on either the Basic, Standard or Advanced tiers, you can claim a free domain name from EKM Domains to help you get your online shop up and running. To do this, you’ll need to open an EKM Domains account which is attached to your EKM online shop account first. Then once you have opened your EKM Domains account and claimed your free domain, you can easily set up emails (which you’ll need to do for the purpose of emailing customers) and claim your free SSL Certificate too.

Claiming your free EKM domain name

1. Enter the first part of the domain name you would like into the yellow search bar on the EKM Domains Dashboard and click the Check button:

2. Click the Add button next to the domain name you would like to apply to your EKM online shop:

3. Click the Continue button:

4. Confirm your details and then press the Continue button:

You don’t have to add an email address yet if you don’t want to, but you do require one for using on your EKM online shop. You can read more about adding an email address to your EKM domain name here.

5. Click the No Thanks button:

6. Click the Checkout button:

7. Click the Checkout Button:

8. You’ll then see the Processing message:

9. Click Continue:

10. You’ll then be returned to the EKM Domains Dashboard.

Pointing your EKM domain at your EKM online shop

When you claim your free domain, or purchase any more domains from EKM Domains, these will automatically be pointed at the EKM online shop linked to your EKM Domains account. The following steps explain where to check to see that your domain name is pointed correctly.

1. Click the Domains icon:

2. You’ll then see your new Domain listed. Click the Domain button:

3. This will display the details of the domain. Click Advanced DNS:

4. Under the A Records header, you’ll see that the A-Records have been created for you automatically, and the domain has already been set to point at EKM online shop. :

5. For the final step, you need to return to your EKM online shop account (which should still be open on a different browser tab) and On the Domain Name page, you should see both versions of your domain name have been listed:

The new domain name is now successfully pointing at your EKM online shop. All you need to do now is wait 24-48 hours for the domain name to propagate fully.

[caution] You can make either version the primary domain by pressing the Make Primary button if this is the only domain name you have pointed at your shop, however if you have an SSL certificate set up on an existing domain name pointed at your EKM online shop this will not be visible if you assign a different Primary domain name and a second SSL Certificate would need to be purchased. [/caution]

[remember] All changes made to domain name settings - regardless of the provider - will always require time for the changes to take effect. Pointing a domain name to a destination can take anywhere between 12 and 36 hours to propagate. [/remember]

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[contact] If you need our help with your EKM online shop, contact your Account Manager or Customer Support, who will be able to point you in the right direction. We're open from 8am-6pm weekdays and 9am-5.30pm on the weekends. If you'd like to suggest a feature or an upgrade on any of the EKM platforms, please let us know on the EKM Suggestions board. If you have a non-account specific question ask the EKM Team, join us in EKM Community.  [/contact]