Custom Domain for your web app (PWA)

How to set up a Custom Domain for your web app (PWA)

1. Set up the entry in DNS for the Custom Domain

• The entry MUST be a CNAME pointing to webapp.pwahosting.com. “ALIAS” records do not work at this time.  This means that the entry at this time must be a subdomain; that is to say, it cannot be the root domain. For example, “www.mydomin.com” is a subdomain of the root domain “mydomain.com, and if you don’t have a website simply do a web redirect of ‘www.mydomain.com’ to the root domain. However if you already have a website then do not use www.
• If you do have a website the choice is yours.  Most clients prefer ‘app.mydomain.com’.  ‘app’ is the subdomain in this example.
• The name must be compliant with RFC 952; only numbers, letters and the hyphen (“-“) are allowed. In particular, underscores are not allowed.
• The DNS provider must have CAA lookups implemented. (Almost all DNS providers do, but there are a few who don’t.)
• If you already have DNS set up, it will be easiest to add a subdomain to your existing DNS. If not, then we may need to help you.
• Wait at least 24-48 hours before you go to step 2 to ensure the set-up has propagated throughout global DNS. (not including weekends)

2. Enter your newly created subdomain on the apps control panel. 

• Go to your app CMS, click settings and then Domain & SEO;
• In the pop-up, you’ll type in the new domain and click “Validate,” which will check that you did Step 1 properly.
• If it fails to validate, the domain may not yet have propagated throughout global DNS, or it may not be a CNAME pointing at webapp.pwahosting.com.
• If it validates, click “Add” again to add the domain.

3. Wait up to 48 hours.

• Single Clients – You’ll receive an email when the site is set up!
• Partners – The email is sent from your Partner Support Email to the Client Email in the “Edit Info” section of the application.
• This process can have issues when you have a third party configuring it on your behalf, so it may be best to start this process early.

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps you optimize your web app (PWA) so that it can be found by search engines like Google, Yahoo, & Bing.

How can I optimize SEO for my web app (PWA)?

• Add a page Title or “Title Tag” to your web app (PWA).  The title of your web app and will be displayed within the title of your browser tab.  It will be used by search engines to index your web app. It is important to have a good title as this will positively influence your ranking and click-through rate.
• Add a Description or “Meta Description Tag” to your web app (PWA).  The description of your web app as it is displayed in search results. Having a clear and concise description will result in more customers clicking through to your web app.  The recommended length is 150 characters.
• Add Keywords or “Meta Keywords” to your web app (PWA).  Keywords are used to index your web app. Separate them by using commas and spaces.  Yahoo and Bing are the only search engines still using this information. It has very little impact on your SEO.   Keywords should be no more than 20 words, separated by commas and spaces.

If you would like to know more about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as it relates to websites and the future of web apps (PWAs), check out Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide.