Point a Domain to Shopify

If your domain is registered with InMotion Hosting and your store runs on Shopify, you can point a domain to Shopify by editing two Domain Name System (DNS) records in cPanel’s Zone Editor. By the end of this guide, your domain will resolve to Shopify’s servers, while your InMotion Hosting account continues to manage the DNS.

Important: These steps require that your domain’s nameservers already point to your InMotion Hosting server. If you are not sure, log in to cPanel, open Zone Editor, and confirm the nameserver records listed there match your InMotion server. See Registering a New Domain Name for background on how domain registration and nameservers work together.

Step 1: Point a Domain to Shopify by Updating DNS Records in cPanel

Shopify requires two DNS changes on your root domain: an A record pointing to Shopify’s IP address, and a www CNAME record pointing to shops.myshopify.com. Make both changes in cPanel’s Zone Editor before touching the Shopify dashboard.

1. Log in to cPanel.
2. In the Domains section, click Zone Editor.
   
3. Click Manage next to the domain you want to connect to Shopify.
   

Update the A record

1. Locate the root domain’s A record (the record whose Name column matches your bare domain, such as example.com).
2. Click Edit on that row.

3. Change the Record field to Shopify’s IP address: 23.227.38.65.
4. Click Save Record.

Update the www CNAME record

1. Scroll to find the CNAME record whose Name is www.
2. Click Edit on that row.

3. Change the Record field to shops.myshopify.com.
4. Click Save Record.

With both records saved, your DNS is ready. DNS changes propagate across the internet in minutes to 48 hours, but you can proceed to connect the domain in Shopify right away.

Step 2: Connect the Domain in Your Shopify Dashboard

After updating the DNS records, tell Shopify to associate the domain with your store. Shopify will verify the connection automatically.

1. Log in to your Shopify admin dashboard.
2. Go to Settings > Domains.
3. Click Connect existing domain.
4. Enter your domain name (for example, <your-domain>.com). Replace <your-domain> with your actual registered domain.
5. Click Next.
6. Click Verify Connection to confirm that Shopify can see the updated DNS records.

If Shopify reports that the domain is not verified yet, wait a few hours and try again. DNS propagation usually causes the delay. Shopify also publishes its own documentation on connecting existing domains if you need additional context from their side.

Point a Subdomain to Shopify

If you want to use a subdomain (such as shop.<your-domain>.com) instead of the root domain, the DNS setup differs slightly. You will add or edit a CNAME record for the subdomain rather than changing an A record.

1. Log in to cPanel.
2. In the Domains section, click Zone Editor.
   
3. Click Manage to the right of the parent domain.
   

If an A record already exists for the subdomain

1. Find the subdomain’s existing A record in the list and click Edit.
   
2. Change the record Type to CNAME.
3. Set the Record field to shops.myshopify.com.
4. Click Save Record.
   

If no A record exists for the subdomain

Create a new CNAME record from scratch using these values:

Field	Value
Name	The subdomain (for example, shop.<your-domain>.com)
TTL	Leave as default
Type	CNAME
Record	shops.myshopify.com

Click Save Record when done. Then follow the steps in Step 2 above to connect the subdomain to your store in the Shopify dashboard.

Keep Email Running on InMotion Hosting After Pointing Your Domain

Pointing your domain’s A record to Shopify changes where web traffic goes, but it does not have to affect your email. Follow these steps to keep messages flowing to your InMotion mailboxes.

1. In the Zone Editor, locate the mail CNAME record. Change its type to A and set its value to your server’s IP address. This creates a stable hostname that the MX record can reference.
2. Edit the domain’s MX record so that it points to mail.<your-domain>.com. Because that hostname now resolves to your server IP, mail will route to InMotion regardless of what the root A record says. For more detail on MX records, see Changing MX Records to Point to InMotion Servers from Third-Party DNS.
3. In cPanel, open Email Routing and confirm the routing mode is set to Local Mail Exchanger.
   

Note: DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to propagate worldwide. During that window, some email may route unpredictably. Schedule this change during a low-traffic period if possible.

Troubleshooting

Nameservers are not pointing to InMotion

If the prerequisite check in the intro showed that the nameservers pointed elsewhere, none of the Zone Editor changes in this guide will take effect. You must update your nameservers to the values for your InMotion Hosting server first. See Registering a New Domain Name for guidance on where to find those values.

Shopify says the domain is not verified

DNS propagation is the most likely cause. Wait two to four hours, then click Verify Connection again in the Shopify dashboard. If 48 hours pass with no success, return to the Zone Editor and confirm that the A record value is exactly 23.227.38.65 and the www CNAME value is exactly shops.myshopify.com with no trailing characters.

The site still shows the InMotion default page

Your browser may be serving a cached version of the old IP address. Clear your browser cache, then test from a different device or network. You can also check propagation progress using a public DNS lookup tool such as whatsmydns.net to confirm whether the new A record value has reached your location.

Email stopped working after pointing the domain

If you did not complete the steps in the section above, your MX record may still point to a hostname that now resolves to Shopify’s IP address. Return to the Zone Editor, create the mail A record pointing to your server IP, update the MX record to target that hostname, and set Email Routing to Local Mail Exchanger in cPanel.

Conclusion

Your domain is now pointed to Shopify, with DNS records updated in cPanel’s Zone Editor and the connection confirmed in the Shopify dashboard. If you are also running email through InMotion, the MX and mail A record changes keep your mailboxes intact. If you ever want to move your store’s product data, see Migrating to WooCommerce from Shopify for a walkthrough of that process.