Instant Site default free web address
When you create your eCom account, you get a site with an online store – Instant Site. It has a free web address, or URL, in the form of https://store123.business.shop. You can change that URL in two ways: by editing the subdomain (the “store123” part), or replacing your free subdomain with a custom domain.
Changing free subdomain of Instant site
By default, your free Instant Site web address looks like this: store123.business.shop, where 123 is your store ID. The built-in URL consists of two parts:
- “store123” — a subdomain that you can edit. For example, you can rename it to your brand name or use keywords related to your business: joys-toys.business.shop or coffee-oregon.business.shop.
- “business.shop” — a top-level domain that is constant and can’t be changed.
Renaming your free Instant Site subdomain helps you reflect your brand and feature your business name in the URL.
To change your free Instant Site subdomain:
- From your store admin, go to Website → Domain.
- Click Change Address.
- In the Use our subdomain field, enter a new subdomain for your site.
- Click Save.
- From your online store iOS app, go to Store → Website and Storefront.
- Tap Name and Address.
- In the Domain block, tick Free address on ...
- Find and edit the Website address field.
- Tap Done.
- From your online store Android app, go to Store → Website and Storefront.
- Tap Name and Address.
- In the Domain block, tick Free address on ...
- Find and edit the Website address field.
- Tap Save.
That’s it. Now your Instant Site is available on a new address.
Links to products and your store that appear in the customer order notifications and invoices will be automatically replaced with a new URL. In case you mention your store URL in marketing campaigns or social media, don’t forget to update the URL everywhere since there will be no redirects from the old URL to a new one.
Replacing free subdomain with custom domain
By default, your free Instant Site web address looks like this: store123.business.shop. You can replace a built-in subdomain with a fully custom URL like coffeeshop.com or coffee-in-oregon.org. A custom URL with relevant keywords and a familiar extension like “.com” or “org” influences the audience’s perception of a brand. It also might improve your site position in Google and other search engines.
You can get a custom domain by purchasing it through your store admin on the Website → Domain page. Domain will be connected to your Instant Site automatically. It already includes the WHOIS privacy and a free TLS certificate.
Alternatively, you can buy a domain from a third-party registrar. Domains purchased from a third-party service require manual setup.
After connecting a custom domain to your Instant Site, links in the customer order notifications and invoices are automatically replaced with a custom URL. Your free domain will still be available by the direct link but it won't redirect to your custom domain.