How do I get my own website address (like smithhauling.com)?

Your website works on a free address like yourcompany.dumpstervibes.com. An address of your own, like smithhauling.com, looks established, fits on trucks and cards, and is yours for good. You buy it in your own name from a domain company (DumpsterVibes sells no domains and earns nothing on them), then connect it here. About $12 a year and 15 minutes. Step 1, pick a name (5 minutes): • Short and easy to say on the phone: smithhauling.com beats smiths-roll-off-dumpster-rentals-llc.com. • Spelled the way people hear it: no numbers or odd spellings ("4U", "Xpress"). • No hyphens: people forget them. • A .com if you can get it. If it's taken, add your town (smithhaulingmacon.com) or a word (smithdumpsters.com, gosmithhauling.com). Use .net or .co as a last choice. • Make sure the name isn't another company's brand name or trademark. Step 2, buy it (5 minutes, about $10–20 a year) at any of these: Cloudflare Registrar (about $10–11 a year), Porkbun (about $11–12 a year), Namecheap (about $11–16 a year), Squarespace Domains (about $20 a year). 1. Type your name into the search box at the domain company and pick the .com. 2. Choose 1 year and turn on auto-renew, so you never lose it by accident. 3. Keep privacy (WHOIS protection) on. It's free at all four, and hides your home address and phone from the public list of owners. 4. Say no to the extras: hosting or a website builder, an "SSL certificate", premium DNS, SEO tools. Your website, its padlock and its hosting come with DumpsterVibes. Email is optional and separate. 5. Use your business email and a strong password, and turn on two-step sign-in. This account controls your website address. 6. Pay. The name is yours within a few minutes. Watch the renewal price: some companies charge $1–5 the first year and $20–30 after. Step 3, connect it (5 minutes, then a short wait). In your dashboard: Tools → Website & Booking → Your DV Website → Your website address. 1. Here, under Your website address, type your new name (for example smithhauling.com) and press Connect my domain. 2. We find where your domain is managed and show the exact two or three records to add: a CNAME for www, sometimes a TXT that proves the domain is yours, and a forward from the bare name to www. 3. Open your domain company in another tab and add them. Copy and paste each value exactly: one typo stops it working. 4. Come back and press Check again. Most domains connect within 5–30 minutes; some take a few hours, rarely up to 24. 5. When it says Live, your website is on your own name. The padlock (https) is set up for you. Where to add the records: Cloudflare Registrar: Open your domain, then DNS → Records → Add record. For the CNAME, click the orange cloud so it turns grey (DNS only). Forward: Rules → Redirect Rules, sending the bare name to https://www.yourname.com. Or ask us and we'll walk you through it. Porkbun: Domain Management → your domain → DNS, then add each record. Forward: URL Forwarding on the same domain. Namecheap: Domain List → Manage → Advanced DNS → Add new record. Forward: Add a URL Redirect Record for @ on the same Advanced DNS page. Squarespace Domains: Your domain → DNS → Custom records → Add record. Forward: Domain forwarding for the bare name. What doesn't change: • Your email. We never touch your email records (MX, SPF, DKIM); we only ask for the records above. • Your free address keeps working and forwards to the new name, so links you've shared and your Google listing carry over. • Your booking, prices and texts keep working with no changes. If it doesn't connect: • Still waiting after an hour: Check the CNAME value for a typo. On Cloudflare, make sure the cloud is grey (DNS only). • "Domain points somewhere else": An old www record is still there. Delete it and keep only ours. • The bare name (without www) doesn't open: Add the forward from @ to https://www.yourname.com. • You bought the domain years ago and don't know where: Search the name on lookup.icann.org to see which company holds it, then use "Forgot password" there. • Stuck at any point: Message us from Support with your domain name and we'll tell you exactly what to change. Optional: for you@smithhauling.com, get email from Google Workspace (about $7 per user a month) or Microsoft 365 (about $6). They walk you through adding their records; those don't affect your website.