Subdomain vs Root Domain in UniLink: Which to Connect? (www vs apex explained)

The difference between www.yourdomain.com and yourdomain.com affects your DNS setup, your SSL certificate, and how visitors reach your UniLink page — here is what to know before you connect.

When you connect a custom domain to UniLink, one of the first decisions you face is whether to use the root domain (yourdomain.com, also called the apex domain) or a subdomain like www.yourdomain.com. Most people assume they are the same thing. They are not — they use different DNS record types, have different technical constraints, and behave differently depending on your DNS provider. Understanding the distinction before you configure anything will save you hours of troubleshooting.

What Subdomains and Root Domains Actually Are

The root domain, also called the apex or naked domain, is the bare domain name without any prefix: yourdomain.com. The www version — www.yourdomain.com — is technically a subdomain of that root domain. From a visitor's perspective they look nearly identical, and modern browsers often hide the www prefix in the address bar. But at the DNS level they are completely separate records with different capabilities.

The critical technical constraint is that root domains cannot use CNAME records per the DNS specification (RFC 1034). A CNAME record maps a hostname to another hostname — which is exactly what UniLink needs in order to route your domain to the correct server. Because root domains cannot use CNAME records, pointing your apex domain at UniLink requires an A record (which maps to a fixed IP address) or a proprietary record type like ALIAS or ANAME that some DNS providers offer as a workaround. Subdomains — including www — have no such restriction and can use a CNAME record freely.

This is not a UniLink limitation. It is a fundamental DNS rule. Cloudflare, Route 53, Namecheap, and every other major DNS provider follows the same constraint, though some offer workarounds at the platform level.

How to Connect a Subdomain (www.yourdomain.com) to UniLink

1. Open your UniLink Dashboard — navigate to Settings → Custom Domain.
2. Enter your subdomain — type www.yourdomain.com in the domain field and click Save.
3. Copy the CNAME target — UniLink will display a CNAME record value (something like your-site.unil.ink or a similar target hostname).
4. Log in to your DNS provider — this is typically where you registered the domain: Namecheap, GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Google Domains, etc.
5. Create a CNAME record — set the Name/Host to "www" and the Value/Target to the CNAME value UniLink provided. TTL can be left at the default (usually 3600).
6. Wait for propagation — DNS changes typically take 15 minutes to 2 hours, though up to 48 hours is possible.
7. Return to UniLink and verify — the Dashboard will show a green "Connected" status once propagation is confirmed and the SSL certificate has been provisioned automatically.

How to Connect a Root Domain (yourdomain.com) to UniLink

1. Open your UniLink Dashboard — navigate to Settings → Custom Domain.
2. Enter your root domain — type yourdomain.com (no www prefix) and click Save.
3. Check what record type UniLink provides — UniLink will display either an A record IP address or, if your DNS provider supports it, a CNAME-equivalent target.
4. Log in to your DNS provider — go to the DNS management section.
5. Create an A record — if your provider does not support ALIAS/ANAME, set the Name/Host to "@" (which represents the root) and the Value to the IP address UniLink provided.
6. Alternatively, use ALIAS or ANAME if available — Cloudflare calls this "Proxied CNAME flattening," Route 53 calls it ALIAS. If your provider supports it, use a CNAME-style record pointing to the UniLink target hostname instead of the A record — this is more resilient to IP changes.
7. Set up a redirect from root to www or vice versa — to avoid duplicate content and split link equity, add a redirect at the DNS or hosting level so that only one version of the domain is the canonical URL.

Key Settings Explained

How to Get the Most Out of Your Custom Domain Setup

The most important thing to get right is consistency. Pick either www.yourdomain.com or yourdomain.com as your canonical URL and redirect the other to it. This matters because links you share on social media, in emails, or in other platforms will accumulate authority over time. Splitting that authority across two versions of the same URL dilutes SEO signals and can cause confusing analytics where the same page appears under two different URLs in your traffic reports.

From an SEO perspective, search engines treat www.yourdomain.com and yourdomain.com as separate URLs unless you explicitly configure canonicalization. UniLink sets a canonical tag pointing to the URL you configured, but a proper 301 redirect reinforces this at the server level and is a stronger signal. If you are migrating from an existing domain setup, implement the redirect before you start building backlinks to the new UniLink page.

DNS propagation is the most common source of confusion for people setting up custom domains. After you create or change a DNS record, the new record spreads across DNS resolvers worldwide — a process that can take anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours. During propagation, some visitors may see the old destination and others the new one. UniLink checks your DNS roughly every 15 minutes and updates the Dashboard status as soon as it detects the correct record. Do not delete the old record until UniLink confirms the new one is working.

If you are using Cloudflare for DNS management, be aware that enabling Cloudflare's proxy (the orange cloud icon) intercepts traffic before it reaches UniLink. This can interfere with SSL certificate provisioning and domain verification. The safest approach is to set the record to DNS-only mode (grey cloud) initially, wait for UniLink to confirm the connection, and then re-enable the proxy if you want Cloudflare's caching and DDoS protection.

Troubleshooting Common Issues