My domain isn't working

You connected your domain and it does not load, shows an error, or gives a security warning. Domain problems feel alarming but are nearly always one of a few things, and most resolve with time rather than action.

DNS changes haven't propagated yet

By far the most common cause, and the one that needs no fix.

When you change DNS records, the change has to spread across servers worldwide. This is not instant. It usually takes anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, and can take up to a day or two.

During that window the behavior is genuinely inconsistent: the site loads for you and not your colleague, or works on your phone and not your laptop. That is propagation in progress, not a broken configuration.

Fix: wait. Check again in a few hours. If it has been more than about 48 hours since you made the change, move on to the next cause.

While waiting, resist changing the records again. Each change restarts the clock and makes it harder to tell what is actually configured.

The records aren't added, or are on the wrong host

If it has been a day or more, look at the records themselves.

BrightSite gives you the exact records to add for your domain. They go into your DNS settings wherever you manage your domain, whether that is your registrar or a separate DNS provider.

What usually goes wrong:

• The records were entered somewhere other than where your domain's DNS is actually managed. If you moved your DNS to another provider at some point, changes at the registrar do nothing.
• The host or name field is wrong. This is the field that decides whether a record applies to example.com or www.example.com. Providers label and interpret this field differently, and getting it wrong is easy.
• An old record from a previous host is still there, conflicting with the new one.
• The value was pasted with a stray space, or truncated.

Fix: open the DNS instructions in BrightSite alongside your DNS provider and compare each record character by character. Remove old records pointing at a previous host. Copy and paste values rather than typing them.

If you are not sure who manages your DNS, your registrar's support can tell you.

The certificate is still being issued

If the domain loads but the browser warns about security, or the connection is not secure, the certificate is probably not in place yet.

Certificates are issued automatically once DNS is pointing correctly. Issuance happens after DNS resolves, so it cannot complete until the previous step has finished, which is why a security warning right after a DNS change is usually just a matter of order.

Fix: wait for DNS to fully resolve, then give the certificate time to be issued. Check your domain's status in BrightSite. If DNS has been correct for a day and the certificate has not appeared, contact support.

The domain isn't set as primary

If you have more than one domain connected, one of them is primary. That is the address your site is served from and the one search engines are pointed at.

If the domain you are testing is connected but not primary, it may not behave the way you expect.

Fix: check your domain list and confirm which is primary. Change it if the wrong one is set.

Before contacting support

Have this ready:

• The exact domain, including whether you are testing with or without www.
• What you see. A screenshot of the error is ideal.
• When you added the DNS records.
• Who manages your DNS.
• Whether it fails everywhere or only on some devices.