Shopify, Domain Registration and Email Setup

Aside from setting up the Shopify store itself, the 2 very common (and important) tasks associated with this are a) registering your domain (such as promeate.com), and b) setting up an email account at this domain.

Domain Registration

There are any number of domain registrars that allow you to register your domain. Panthur (Australian clients) or Godaddy (Canadian and international) are the recommended options, however there are many other perfectly adequate choices. The main requirement for a registrar (with regard to Shopify) is being able to edit "DNS zone records", as this is required to configure the domain to work with a Shopify store.Domain registration refers to registration of your websites url, or unique web address (such as promeate.com). It is relatively inexpensive and should be your first priority once a business name is chosen.

Email Hosting

If you require an email address at your own domain (mail@mydomain.com, for example), then email hosting is required. Google apps is the recommended solution for this, for around $5 / month this represents a very good value solution. A free option can be found at Zoho mail.

Setup Process

1. Register domain at chosen registrar
2. Create google apps account (or other email hosting account)
3. Configure domain DNS settings at your domain registrar (advanced users only):
1. Point the MX records at your chosen email hosting provider (information for Google Apps records here)
2. Create an A record and a CNAME record pointing at your Shopify store
4. Add the domain in your Shopify domain settings