## **💡 Why Your Whitelabel Domain Stopped Working**

When you move your website to a new server or hosting provider, your DNS zone is usually rebuilt from scratch. Records that were not carried over during the migration — including the CNAME that connects your whitelabel subdomain (for example, app.yourdomain.com) to Search Atlas — are often dropped or replaced with a record pointing at your new server. Once that link is gone, your whitelabel URL stops loading and SSL cannot renew. The good news: this is easy to fix, and your account data is unaffected.

## **📋 What You Will Need**

- Access to the DNS settings at your **new** hosting provider or domain registrar
- Your Search Atlas login with access to Agency Hub
- The whitelabel subdomain you originally connected (for example, app.yourdomain.com)

## **🔍 Step 1: Get the Correct CNAME Target**

1. Log in to Search Atlas.
2. In the left sidebar, open **More Features → Agency Hub → White Label Setup** (or go directly to **/agency-settings**).
3. Find the domain setup section and copy the exact **CNAME target** shown there.

**Important:** Always copy the target directly from the platform. Do not reuse a target from old emails, notes, or screenshots — targets can change over time, and the domain verifier will reject a mismatched target even when everything else is correct.

## **⚙️ Step 2: Re-create the DNS Record at Your New Host**

1. Open the DNS or zone file editor at your new hosting provider.
2. Search for any existing record for your whitelabel subdomain (for example, the host **app**). Delete any conflicting A, AAAA, or CNAME records for that host — a subdomain cannot have both an A record and a CNAME at the same time.
3. Create a new record with these values: **Type**: CNAME, **Host / Name**: your subdomain (for example, app), **Value / Target**: the CNAME target you copied from White Label Setup, **TTL**: 3600 or lower.
4. Save the record.

Do not point the subdomain at your new server's IP address with an A record. The whitelabel connection only works through the CNAME to Search Atlas.

## **🔄 Step 3: Wait for DNS Propagation**

DNS changes can take anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours to spread across the internet. You can check progress with any public DNS lookup tool: your subdomain should resolve to the Search Atlas target, not to your new server. If it still shows your new server's IP, an old record is still active somewhere — see the troubleshooting section below.

## **✅ Step 4: Re-verify the Domain and SSL**

1. Return to **More Features → Agency Hub → White Label Setup**.
2. Re-save or re-verify your whitelabel domain.
3. Confirm the status shows as active with a valid SSL certificate.

If SSL will not activate, the CNAME has most likely not finished propagating yet. Wait an hour and verify again — the SSL certificate is provisioned automatically once DNS resolves correctly. No manual certificate installation is needed.

## **🧩 Common Issues After a Migration**

- **Verifier rejects your CNAME:** the target does not match what is shown in White Label Setup. Delete the record and re-add it using the exact value copied from the platform.
- **Domain loads your new website instead of Search Atlas:** an old A record or a virtual host on the new server is capturing the subdomain. Remove the record from DNS, and check that the subdomain is not configured as a site on your new server.
- **Changes at the new host have no effect:** your domain's nameservers may still point to the previous host. Confirm in your registrar settings that the nameservers match wherever you are actually editing DNS.
- **OTTO pixel stopped tracking:** OTTO tags are tied to your whitelabel domain. If the domain changed or was re-issued during the migration, pixels installed on client sites can break. Keep your primary whitelabel domain stable, and if you genuinely need additional domain aliases, contact our team first so they can be configured in a way that will not interrupt tracking.
- **Client bookmarks or logins fail:** if you renamed the subdomain during the migration, update any links you share with clients, embedded widgets, and lead capture forms that reference the old URL.

## **🚀 Tips to Prevent This Next Time**

- Before any future migration, export or screenshot your full DNS zone file so no records are lost.
- Lower your TTL to 300 at least 24 hours before migrating so changes apply quickly.
- After migrating, test the whitelabel URL early and re-verify the domain in White Label Setup.

## **💬 Still Need 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.