Custom Domains and DNS Without a Web Developer

The domain is the one piece of a dealership's marketing that should never sit in a former employee's account. Buy it, point it and keep it from inside the CRM.

In one sentence: LeadLocate CRM lets a dealership search for a domain, buy it, put it to work on the store's pages and email, and edit its DNS records from a plain editor, all from the same login the sales team already uses. The domain becomes a thing the store owns and controls, on the store's account, rather than something a web vendor registered in their own name years ago and nobody can find the password for.

People search for custom domain DNS and custom DNS settings because the topic sounds technical, and vendors keep it that way on purpose. It is not. A domain is a name. DNS is the short list of records that tells the internet where that name points: which server shows the website, which service delivers the email. A dealership needs to be able to read that list and change a line on it without a ticket, and that is what the self-service DNS editor gives a store. The Lead Pages landing page builder and the personal salesperson websites are the two places the domain shows up most.

The general manager wants the store's used truck event on its own short address for the radio spot, something a listener can remember at sixty miles an hour. The marketing manager opens the domain tools in the CRM, types the name into Search for a domain, sees which versions are available, and buys the one that reads best. It appears under My Domains a few minutes later. She opens the event's lead page, goes to the URL settings, picks the new domain from Choose Domain, and the page is live on it. The radio spot runs Thursday.

Two weeks later the store starts sending email campaigns from its own domain instead of a generic sender. Email domain authentication asks for a handful of records to be added to the domain so receiving mail servers trust the store as the sender. She opens the DNS editor, adds the records the email setup screen lists, saves, and the authentication check turns green. Nobody called a developer, and the store's email now carries the store's name.

At the end of the month a salesperson who has been building his own following asks for a personal site on a name of his own. The store buys it, points it at his personal salesperson page, and keeps the domain on the dealership's account. He gets the address on his business card from Design Studio; the store keeps the asset.

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The domain tools sit with the website settings in LeadLocate CRM, reached from the Website menu. Domains is where a store searches and buys. My Domains lists what the store owns through the CRM, and each domain opens into the DNS editor, where records are added, changed and removed in a plain table with a save button. There is no separate control panel login, and no second bill from a second company for the privilege of editing a record.

Domain Monitoring is for the domain the store already owns somewhere else. Enter the name, as the screen puts it, monitor a domain you own elsewhere, and the CRM keeps an eye on it so the store knows if it stops resolving or is about to lapse. Many dealerships have a main domain registered years ago at a company they still use, and there is no reason to move it to start; monitoring it from the CRM is enough.

The domain also appears wherever a page needs an address: the Choose Domain selector in the Lead Page URL settings, the Forward URL Destination for a page that should send visitors elsewhere, and the current domain name field in the email domain setup. Every user with the right role can pick a domain for a page; buying and editing records belongs to the roles a store sets in User Management.

The usual arrangement is that the store's website vendor owns the domain, or a former marketing manager registered it on a personal card, or an agency holds it hostage as a reason to keep paying. Any DNS change means a ticket, a wait, and a fee that has nothing to do with the two minutes the change takes. A store that wants a second domain for an event pays the agency to buy it and then pays again to point it.

Inside the CRM the search, purchase, DNS editing and monitoring are included in the platform subscription; the domain itself is bought at its listed price when the store chooses it, and the pricing page lists the month to month plans that include the tools. There is no per-change fee, no developer hour, and no waiting for someone else's business hours. A store that wants to leave keeps its domain: transfer out is available on request, and our team handles it for your dealership. That is the test of whether you own a domain. If you can take it with you, you do.

Two things about a domain matter to a dealership beyond marketing. The first is ownership. The domain is registered on the store's account, on the store's card, and shows under My Domains for the roles the store allows. When a marketing manager leaves, the domain does not leave with them, and when a vendor relationship ends, the domain is not a bargaining chip. Dealer principals who have lost a domain once tend to care about this more than any feature on the page.

The second is sender reputation. Email sent from a domain that has not been authenticated is the email that lands in spam or is rejected outright, and every text message campaign has a cousin in the email inbox. The email domain authentication setup lists the records the domain needs, and the DNS editor is where the store adds them. Authenticated mail is easier to deliver and harder to spoof, which protects the customers who trust a message from the store's name. Keep the domain and its records in the store's hands, and both of those problems stay solved.

The domain tools are live for every account. Open the Website menu in LeadLocate CRM and go to Domains. To buy, type the name you want into the search, choose an available version, and complete the purchase on the store's account; it appears under My Domains. To use it, open a lead page's URL settings and pick it under Choose Domain, or point it at a personal salesperson site. To edit records, open the domain from My Domains and use the DNS editor. To watch a domain you own elsewhere, add it under Domain Monitoring.

If you would rather move an existing domain into the CRM, need a record configuration the editor does not expose, or want a domain transferred out to another account, that is available on request and our team puts it in production for your dealership. If DNS is unfamiliar territory, the contact page reaches a person who does this every week.

A domain is only useful when something sits behind it. Pair it with Lead Pages so every event, model and offer has a short, memorable address that feeds leads into the CRM inbox. Pair it with the personal salesperson websites so each rep's following lands on a page the store owns. Pair it with the inventory website builder in Inventory Link, which publishes the store's live inventory on a site of its own. And pair it with email domain authentication so the store's Bulk Email and Email Automation go out under a name mail servers trust.

Once the pages are on the domain, website visitor analytics on the Website menu show what those pages do, and trackable short links in texts show which message sent the visitor. The all features page lists everything else the domain connects to.

Can I buy a domain from inside the CRM?

Yes. Under the Website menu, search for the name you want, choose an available version and purchase it on the store's account. It appears under My Domains and can be used on lead pages, personal salesperson sites and email right away.

What can I change in the DNS editor?

The records that tell the internet where the domain points: the ones that show your pages and the ones your email authentication setup asks for. Add, change and remove them in a plain table and save. No developer and no ticket.

I already own my main domain elsewhere. Do I have to move it?

No. Add it under Domain Monitoring and the CRM watches it for you. Buy any new domains through the CRM as you need them, and move the main one later on request if you decide to.

Who owns a domain bought through LeadLocate CRM?

Your dealership. It is registered on your account, listed under My Domains, and transfer out is available on request so you can take it with you.

Can a salesperson have a domain of their own?

Yes. The store buys the name, points it at the rep's personal salesperson website, and keeps the domain on the dealership's account. The rep gets the address; the store keeps the asset.

Is there a fee to change DNS records?

No. Searching, buying, editing records and monitoring are part of every LeadLocate plan, month to month. The domain itself is bought at its listed price when you choose it.

Custom domains, the DNS editor and domain monitoring are part of every LeadLocate plan, month to month. See a domain bought, pointed and live on a lead page in the pre-recorded demo.

Prefer to talk right now? Call or text 844-376-2274.