Domain Tips & FAQs

If you’ve taken a look at our overview guide to domains, you’ll already know that the world of web domains might seem like a completely different universe altogether.

That’s why we’ve put together this guide, complete with tips and answers to some FAQs about web domains.

In this guide, we'll cover the following topics. Click on any one to jump ahead.

The 3 Rules Of Church Domain Names

Your church website is quite possibly the most important marketing tool your church possesses. It stands to reason, then, that your church domain name should not be an afterthought, as this is the main gateway to church’s website. Your church domain name should be easy to say, to remember, and to recognize.

If you’re in a situation to buy a new domain name (or perhaps after reviewing the following, you realize you should be looking for a new one 😅), here are three general rules to think about before settling on a domain name:

Rule #1: Keep it short

Rule #2: Keep it memorable

Rule #3: Keep it easy to spell

For full explanations of each rule, along with tips on deciding your domain suffix (.com, .org, .church. etc.) and a word of caution about acronyms, watch our Founder and CEO talk about it all here in this video.

Note: Whenever announcing a call-to-action to your church, never say, “Go to our website.” Always refer to your website by calling it by its domain name. (e.g. “Visit reality.church,” instead of, “visit our website.”) For more tips and rules of church communications, click here.

Subdomains & When/If To Use Them

Subdomains, while helpful and usually something that once you set it, you can forget it, can also be something that’s overused or be an extra piece of the puzzle that you don’t actually need to worry about.

So - do you need to create subdomains? Absolutely not. If the world of domains fills you with anxiety or you’re not super familiar with managing DNS records, feel free to absolve this from your list of to-dos.

What Is A Subdomain?

A subdomain is anything that goes before your URL and domain name. For example, if your domain is reality.bible, then blog.reality.bible is your blog subdomain. There are all sorts of use cases for subdomains in the context of your church website and next steps online, and we’ll touch on some in just a moment.

But first, a word of caution: subdomains can be overused, and you should be wary of making navigating your site too difficult by getting too creative with subdomains.

That being said, there definitely is a time and a place for a subdomain on your Nucleus site, so let’s get into it!

When Should You Use Subdomains?

  • When creating a landing or events page.This is probably our favorite use for subdomains. When you’re hosting your annual women’s conference called “Bloom” or your next cornerstone event for Christmas or Easter, a subdomain can prove to be very useful for promotion online or in person. Directing your ladies to bloom.reality.church in your next stage announcement or easter.reality.church on your next social post is a great promotion plan.
  • When advertising a frequently visited page, like your Sermons archive or your Small Groups page.Frequently visited pages that host a specific type of content like sermons or groups information could also be worthy of a subdomain. Remember - don’t get too clever here. Sermons.reality.church and events.reality.church will do.
  • When doing e-commerce in a virtual store or posting on a blog.Similar to sermons or events, subdomains like store and blog may help with navigation of your site. In fact, store and blog are arguably two of the most popular subdomains in use! What makes them worthy of a subdomain are the fact that they belong on your site, but the content they house is unique on your site.

When Should You Not Use Subdomains?

  • If they don’t contribute to easier navigation of your site. In other words, if they don’t serve a purpose. It’s easy to make things more complicated by overusing subdomains, so be selective with when and where you use them.
  • If you’re not familiar with managing DNS records. As explained above, subdomains are not necessary for a website to function well. They are an extra detail that can be helpful, but also adds extra management to your plate.

How Do I Create A Subdomain?

The process of creating a subdomain and pointing it to a specific page on your website is a very similar process to adding your root/naked domain to your Nucleus and managing it in your domain registrar.

For that, we’ve created a specific guide with step-by-step instructions here.

What Services Nucleus Web Covers

At this point, you may be wondering, “What does Nucleus Web cover in terms of domain management?”

While you can build and host your website with Nucleus (which are big items if you ask us 😉), Nucleus is not a domain registrar. We do not sell domains or manage DNS settings. There are dedicated platforms out there that sell domains for cheap (sometimes for as little as $10/year!) and provide DNS settings & record management

If you’re looking to purchase a new domain (or are thinking of switching domain registrars), we always recommend GoDaddy, as their user interface and customer support stand above the rest in our experience. (We don’t even have an affiliate link or partnership with them. They’re just that good in comparison that we recommend them solely 😄)

Now, most domain registrars will also try to sell you an SSL certificate. While this is very kind of them to offer, Nucleus actually provides you with a free SSL certificate, so you don’t need to pay for this 🙌

At the same time, Nucleus is not an email hosting provider. Email hosting allows you to use your custom domain as part of your email address, so everyone has unified email addresses. For instance, pastor@fakechurch.com instead of pastor@gmail.com (where fakechurch.com is the custom domain, rather than having gmail.com appear at the end).

There are several email hosting services out there. For instance, Google offers their Workspace (which includes email hosting) to nonprofits for free, as long as you can prove your nonprofit status and agree to their terms and conditions. Click here to learn more. But there are others out there too that you can use.

So In Short, Nucleus Web Provides:

  • Website building
  • Website hosting
  • SSL certificates

Nucleus Web Does Not Provide:

  • Custom domains
  • DNS settings/record management
  • Email hosting

FAQs Of Domains

Can I Buy A Domain From Nucleus?

Can I Host Emails With Nucleus?

Can Nucleus Manage My DNS Records For Me?

  • Because we do not have access to your account with your domain registrar, we cannot manage your DNS records. But don’t worry! We’ve laid out a few extensive guides to help you on your journey to pointing your domain to your Nucleus site! We recommend starting with this one as a crash course and moving on from there.

I Just Pointed My Domain To My Website. How Long Do I Have To Wait For It To Take Effect?

  • In most cases, it should only take about 5-10 minutes before your website comes up on your screen when you enter your domain into your web browser. That being said, depending on the domain registrar and a host of other factors, it can sometimes take up to 24 hours for the changes you’ve made to your DNS records to propagate the internet worldwide.

I Have More Than One Domain For My Website. How Do I Use Them All?

  • In some cases, you might have more than one domain name you’d like to use for your church website. Typically, this happens when you had an old domain name, but wanted to purchase a new one that’s easier to remember, spell, etc. (Click here for a quick link back to the top on the 3 rules of church domain names.)
  • While you can only technically have one domain that’s truly connected to your website, you can usually set up domain forwarding. In the example above (where you might have an old domain name that your community is already familiar with), you can set that domain to forward to your new domain, the one you want to be officially connected with / pointed to your website (i.e. the domain that shows up in the address bar of your browser once the website has loaded).
  • Each domain registrar has its own system of how to forward domains. We recommend searching through your specific domain registrar’s help articles or getting in contact with their tech support for guidance on this.

What Next?

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