With the sale of Google Domains to SquareSpace, many people are thinking about what to do with their domains. Winter Digital has recommended Google Domains as the registrar to many clients. It had a simple user interface and fair pricing. Being a Google product, it also made setting up a domain-based email with Google Workplace a breeze.
SquareSpace seems to be leaning towards upselling and profiting from its domain registration service. To illustrate, let's look at the price of registering a random domain, applefuntime.io. As of November 15th, 2023, you would be paying close to double on SquareSpace vs Cloudflare.
If you are registering a new domain, you can find our step-by-step guide on our blog here.
Step 1 - Changing Name Servers to Cloudflare
Cloudflare requires all domains to be set to their nameservers before being able to transfer them to Cloudflare. From the main Dashboard, under websites, click on the + Add a site button. On the next page, you will have a search box allowing you to enter the domain you plan to transfer. Skip the www. and just enter your domain with the proper extension.
On the next page, you will see a few plan options to protect your website. At the bottom is a Free plan. Choose the Free plan. YOU DO NOT NEED any of the paid plans to transfer your domain.
Cloudflare will scan your current domain setup. If you already have a domain-based email, a website, or anything connected to the domain, they should be listed, and you'll want to transfer them over. Though not guaranteed, Cloudflare is extremely good at making sure all services stay online as much as possible. Click on the Continue button at the bottom of the list.
The last step in the Cloudflare website for now is to copy down your new nameservers. They will be listed at step 4 and should be formatted as randomword.ns.cloudflare.com
Follow Step 2 below BEFORE clicking the Done, check nameserver button!
Step 2 - Changing Google Nameservers
You'll need to go to your Google Domains account next. Once logged in and under the management tab of the domain you want to transfer, click the DNS tab on the left.
On the DNS page, you have to follow a few steps. You'll start in the Default Name Server tab and click over the Custom Name Servers. Once there, you'll see two spaces for the name servers Cloudflare gave you.
Click save.
The last step is to click on switch to these settings near the top. Now, back in the Cloudflare window, you can finally click the Done check nameserver button!
##Step 3 - Unlocking your domain on Google Domains
By default, most domains are locked from transfer, making it much safer and less likely that you'll have a domain stolen without authorization. When transferring our own domains, we need to turn off this lock.
Back in your Google Domain Manager, click on Registration settings on the left menu. After scrolling down a bit, you'll see Domain is locked with a toggle switch to turn it off.
It can take a couple of hours for the changes to take effect.
Step 4 - Finishing the Transfer
Back in Cloudflare, in the Domain Registration tab under the Transfer Domains section, you'll now see the options of domains you can transfer. You can check the box next to any domains you want to transfer and see the pricing you will be charged for the following year.
Once you are happy with the selection, click Confirm Domains at the bottom.
In the next step, you'll be asked for an authorization code. Go back to your Google Domains dashboard for the last time. You'll see the Transfer out section under the section where you unlocked your domain. Clicking on Get Auth Code will give you a popup with the code you must paste into the Cloudflare site.
Continue on Cloudflare. The last step is to verify your address for the domains. Once that's done, you have completed the domain transfer process.
It can take several days to complete the transfer, and you can look out for emails from Google to try and speed up the process. Your domain should be fully transferred within about a week.
