Setting your domain is one of the first steps to improving your practice’s online discoverability. In today’s virtual world, your domain is how potential clients will find you online, so it’s important to select a domain that identifies your practice.

In this guide, we'll cover:

• Using domains
• Setting a Default Domain
• Setting a Custom Domain
  • Purchasing a custom domain
    • GoDaddy
  • Connecting a custom domain 
    • GoDaddy
    • Google
    • Other domain providers
    • Troubleshooting your Custom Domain 

Using domains

In SimplePractice, your domain is the web address where your Client Portal and/or Professional Website can be accessed. You can customize the domain using the Default Domain included in your account, or you can choose to connect a Custom Domain hosted by a third-party domain provider.

Note: SimplePractice doesn’t host custom domains or direct domains to third-party websites. 

The Professional Website and Custom Domain are only available with the Plus and Essential plans. Additionally, the Custom Domain feature is only available if you’re using the Professional Website. For additional details, see Can the Custom Domain be used only for the Client Portal? 

For more information on the Professional Website, see Setting up your Professional Website. 

Setting a Default Domain

The Default Domain included in your SimplePractice account allows you to customize a portion of the URL used for accessing your Client Portal and your Professional Website. You may choose to include your name, your practice’s name, or whatever else you’d like to use to identify your business. We recommend keeping the domain as short as possible, to maintain easy access for your clients.

Tip: If you’re looking for more customization beyond the free text field that’s included in the Default Domain, you may want to establish a custom domain with a third party domain provider. See Setting a Custom Domain to learn more. 

To customize the Default Domain, start by going to Settings > Domains.

• Under Default Domain, if you haven't already locked the domain, you can easily customize it by clicking the text field

• After you’ve finalized your default domain, you will want to lock it. As long as the URL you’ve entered is available, you can click Save & Lock to update your domain

Important: Saving and locking the Default Domain can't be undone from your SimplePractice account. This is designed to prevent clients from losing access to your website by attempting to reach an outdated domain. To unlock your Default Domain, please contact our support team.

Once you've locked your default domain, click View Link to see the client’s perspective when landing on your site, or you can click the copy icon to share the link elsewhere.

Setting a Custom Domain

Setting up and connecting a Custom Domain is a great step toward building your practice’s online presence. Your domain is an extension of your brand, how people will find you online, and the first impression for potential leads landing on your site.

In this section we’ll walk through the process of purchasing a custom domain from a third party domain provider, and connecting a custom domain to your SimplePractice account.

Purchasing a custom domain

There are various domain providers to choose from when purchasing a custom domain. In this section, we’ll walk through the steps for GoDaddy, one of the most popular providers used by our customers. 

Tip: If you already have an actively registered custom domain, you can jump ahead to our steps for Connecting a Custom Domain.

Important: You don't need to purchase an SSL certificate with your domain. When you connect your domain to Simple Practice, it will be automatically provided.

Purchasing a Custom Domain from GoDaddy

• Navigate to GoDaddy.com and click find your domain
• Use the search bar to find an available domain name that suits your practice
• Click Add to cart and follow the onscreen prompts to purchase the domain name. You can choose the basic package without adding on any of the additional features that are offered by GoDaddy

Connecting a custom domain

Now that you’ve purchased a custom domain through a third party provider, you can follow the steps below to connect your Custom Domain to your SimplePractice account.

We’ve outlined the specific connection steps for connecting domains hosted by GoDaddy and Google Domains, but the same setup requirements will apply for other providers. If you have any specific questions about connecting a custom domain from a different third party domain provider, you may need to work with your domain provider’s support team so they can help you to navigate their platform.

Note: After these steps are complete, it’ll take some time for the new connection to process. This will typically take 24 hours but, in some instances, may take up to 72 hours. Please keep this timing in mind when planning your target go-live date for linking your custom domain to your Professional Website.

Connecting a Custom Domain hosted by GoDaddy

• Sign into your GoDaddy account
  • Need help logging into GoDaddy? Find your username or password
• Click your name in the top right corner and choose My Products

• Scroll down to All Products and Services
• Locate the Domains section
• Next to the domain you want to connect to your SimplePractice account, click DNS

Note: Your options may look slightly different depending on your GoDaddy account settings.

• Review the table under DNS Records to check if you already have a listing with the following properties:
  • Type: A
  • Name: @
• If so, click Edit to the right of it

• If there are no records with the Type: A, click Add and enter the record to match the information below
• Edit the information to match the following:

• If you can’t edit an existing A record, it may be because you have domain forwarding enabled.  To remove domain forwarding:
  • Scroll down the page to the Forwarding box
  • Select the Edit pencil icon
  • Delete the existing forwarding

Note: If you didn’t have, or removed forwarding and still cannot edit the A record, contact GoDaddy support for additional steps to edit your A record.

• Next, review the DNS Records section to check if you already have a listing with the following properties:
  • Type: CNAME
  • Name: www
• If so, click Edit to the right of it
• Edit the information to match the following:
  

• When completed, you should have at least two records in the table with fields matching the CNAME and A records below:

Return to your SimplePractice account.

• Navigate to Settings > Domains
• In the field at the bottom, enter your full custom domain name including the www. at the beginning
• Click Connect Domain

Note: Until the connection processes and is linked successfully, you’ll see the status indicated as Pending. We’ll notify you via email if the connection is successful, or if there are any other steps you’ll need to take in order for it to be set up properly.

Important: If you make any changes to your domain settings after clicking Connect Domain, you'll need to disconnect the domain and connect it again. Changes in domain settings are not frequently sent to SimplePractice, and are received by SimplePractice during the 72 hour connection process.

Connecting a Custom Domain hosted by Google

• Click this link to view your My Domains page in Google
  • Need help logging into Google? Find your username or password
• Next to the domain you want to connect to SimplePractice, click Manage
  • If you only have one domain you’ll be in the manage domain page by default

Note: Your options may look slightly different depending on your Google account settings. 

• In the menu on the left, choose DNS

• Scroll down until you get to the Custom resource records section

• Create a custom record
• In the fields at the top, add the following information:

• Select Website from the menu options on the left
• Click Forward domain
• In the Forward from section click Edit 
• Select the trash can icon next to the field including www
• In the Forward to section type your custom domain with the www prefix 
• Click Advanced options and make the following selections:.
  • Permanent redirect (301)
  • Forward Path
  • SSL On
• Click Forward

Return to your SimplePractice account.

• Navigate to Settings > Domains
• In the field at the bottom, enter your full custom domain name including the “www.” at the beginning
• Click Connect Domain

Note: Until the connection processes and is linked successfully, you’ll see the status indicated as Pending. We’ll notify you via email if the connection is successful, or if there are any other steps you’ll need to take in order for it to be set up properly.

Important: If you make any changes to your domain settings after clicking Connect Domain, you will need to disconnect the domain and connect it again.  Changes in domain settings are not automatically sent to SimplePractice, and are only received by SimplePractice during the 72 hour connection process.

Connecting a Custom Domain hosted by other domain providers

There are many different domain providers available for you to choose from and we cannot provide specific directions for all of them. We do not directly endorse GoDaddy or Google Domains, but these are two of the most common domain providers that are effective for connecting to your SimplePractice Professional Website.

If you already have a subscription with a different third party domain provider, you may follow these general steps for connecting the domain with the SimplePractice Professional Website. If you need additional assistance beyond the steps provided here, we recommend that you contact your domain provider’s support team directly so they can help you navigate their platform when managing your DNS settings.

• Log in to your domain provider’s account and locate the domain you want to connect to SimplePractice
• In the domain’s settings, locate the area where you can manage your DNS
• You should see a table that looks similar to the one below. There may be a separate table just for CNAME and/or A records

• Check the list of records to see if there is a record with the either of the following properties:
  • Type: CNAME
    • Host: www
  • Type: A
    • Host: @
• If there is a record like either of the above, edit them so they include the following information in the table below 
  • Please note that the fields may have different names or may be in a different order, depending on the domain provider

Note: Make sure you type the address exactly as follows: website.simplepractice.com. TTL may not have 1H or 1 Hour as an option. In this case, select the next shortest timeframe.

• If there are no records, or only one record, find a button where you can ADD a new record with the information above
  • Please note that the fields may have different names or may be in a different order, depending on the domain provider
• When completed, you should have at least two records in the table with fields matching the A and CNAME records below:

Return to your SimplePractice account.

• Navigate to Settings > Domains
• In the field at the bottom, enter your full custom domain name including the www. at the beginning
• Click Connect Domain

Note: Until the connection processes and is linked successfully, you’ll see the status indicated as Pending. We’ll notify you via email if the connection is successful, or if there are any other steps you’ll need to take in order for it to be set up properly.

Important: If you make any changes to your domain settings after clicking Connect Domain, you will need to disconnect the domain and connect it again.  Changes in domain settings are not automatically sent to SimplePractice, and are only received by SimplePractice during the 72 hour connection process.

Troubleshooting your Custom Domain

If you’re experiencing issues with your Custom Domain after following the steps above, see additional information in Custom Domain FAQs.