## **🗺️ What This Article Covers**

This guide answers the most common questions about Website Studio — including how to share pages with a custom URL, how hosting and billing work, and what the platform can and cannot do today.

## **🚀 How to Access Website Studio**

Go to **Left Sidebar → Website Studio** (URL: `/website-studio`). From there you can:

- Generate a PPC Landing Page
- Clone an Existing Page
- Build a Local Website
- Import a project
- Create a Brand Vault

## **🔗 Sharing Your Page With a Custom URL**

Every Website Studio page gets a free Search Atlas preview URL the moment it is published. To share it under your own domain instead, follow these steps:

1. **Purchase or identify your domain** — you must own the domain through any registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Google Domains, etc.).
2. **Open the custom domain settings** inside your Website Studio project and copy the DNS records provided.
3. **Add the DNS records at your registrar** — typically a CNAME or A record pointing to Search Atlas servers.
4. **Wait for propagation** — DNS changes can take anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours to take effect globally. The platform will show a **propagating** status while it waits; this is expected.
5. **SSL is provisioned automatically** after DNS is verified. If your domain shows as verified but SSL has not activated after **72 hours**, please contact support using the chat widget (details at the bottom of this article).

**Important:** Do not remove or alter the DNS records while propagation is in progress. Changing records mid-process resets the clock.

## **⚠️ Known DNS and SSL Limitations**

Please be aware of the following current platform behaviours:

- **Silent domain disconnection:** In some cases a previously connected domain can silently lose its connection. A fix is currently in development that will surface a clear *propagating* status and send email notifications when this happens.
- **SSL provisioning delay:** Occasionally SSL fails to provision even after DNS is successfully verified. If your site shows a security warning after 72 hours, open the chat widget and type **human teammate** — our team can manually trigger reprovisioning.
- **Cloudflare users:** If your domain is proxied through Cloudflare, set the DNS record to **DNS Only** (grey cloud) rather than Proxied (orange cloud) during initial setup. Proxying before SSL is provisioned can prevent verification from completing.

## **💳 Hosting and Billing**

- **Hosting is included** in your Search Atlas subscription — there is no separate hosting fee for pages published within Website Studio.
- Your published pages remain live as long as your Search Atlas subscription is active.
- Custom domain registration and renewal fees are paid directly to your domain registrar — Search Atlas does not charge for or manage domain registration.
- Plan-level limits on the number of projects or published pages depend on your current subscription tier. Check your account billing page for specifics.

## **📊 Analytics Capabilities**

- Basic page-view data is available inside Website Studio for published pages.
- For advanced analytics, connect **Google Analytics 4 (GA4)** by adding your GA4 Measurement ID in the page settings. This enables full session, conversion, and audience tracking.
- Search Atlas does not currently offer a built-in heatmap or session-recording tool — use a third-party integration for those use cases.

## **📝 CMS and Content Capabilities**

- Website Studio is optimised for **landing pages** — PPC pages, local service pages, and lead-capture pages.
- It is **not** a full CMS (content management system). It does not support blog post archives, dynamic collections, or database-driven content out of the box.
- You can clone and duplicate pages to create multiple variations quickly.
- The **Brand Vault** lets you store brand colours, logos, and fonts so they are applied consistently across all projects.

## **🛠️ Technical Limitations to Know**

- **No server-side scripting:** Custom PHP, Python, or Node.js back-end code cannot be deployed through Website Studio.
- **Form submissions:** Built-in forms capture leads within the platform. Custom webhook or CRM integrations may have limitations depending on your plan.
- **E-commerce:** Website Studio is not designed for shopping-cart or checkout functionality.
- **Iframes and embeds:** Most standard HTML embeds (video, maps, calendars) work fine inside the editor.
- **White-label publishing:** If you are on an agency plan, you can configure white-label settings under **More Features → Agency Whitelabel** before sharing client previews.

## **💡 Tips for a Smooth Setup**

- Always verify DNS propagation using a free tool such as **dnschecker.org** before raising a support ticket — propagation delays are normal.
- Keep your registrar login credentials handy when setting up a custom domain; you will need to log in to add or edit records.

## **🆘 Need More Help?**

If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type **human teammate** to be connected with a member of our team.