Your Portfolio and your client portals can both live at a web address of your own, like yourbusiness.co.uk, instead of their Buildscout addresses. It's yours to put on your van, your quotes, your clients' emails and Google.
Open the domain settings
Click Portfolio in the sidebar, then the Domain tab. You'll find the same page in Settings → Domain, and from the Portfolio editor's Site tab, under Address & search: click Use your own domain.
Under How would you like to start?, choose one:
Get a new domain: we find one, buy it in your name and set everything up. You see each domain's price before you pick.
Use a domain I already have: connecting one is free. See "How to connect a domain you already have".
Get a new domain
Click Get a new domain.
Under Find your domain, we search for your business name. Type other words and click Search to look for something else. Each domain shows its price a year.
Pick a domain and click Continue with it.
Under Who owns, fill in the owner's details. It's registered in your name, so it's yours, even if you ever leave Buildscout. These details are hidden from public lookups. For a .uk domain, also choose What kind of owner?, and give your Company number if you're a company.
Click Continue.
Under Confirm, check it's right: a domain can't be changed once it's bought. Tick I agree to the domain registration terms, as its owner.
Click Pay to buy it.
We do the rest: the domain is registered, pointed at Buildscout and made secure. It usually takes a few minutes, and you can leave the page meanwhile. When it's ready, it says your domain is live, and your Portfolio and client portal links use it.
Choose your main address
Your domain works with and without "www". Under Your main address, pick which one people see. Anyone who types the other one is sent to it, so both work.
Renewing
A domain you buy is paid for a year, and renews each year after on the same card. The page shows when it renews and what it costs. Someone who looks after your billing can click Stop renewing to let it expire, or Renew it to change their mind while there's still time. If the card is declined, the page says so; click Pay now to keep the domain.
Remove the domain
At the bottom, click Remove this domain, then Remove. Your page goes back to its Buildscout address. A domain you bought stays yours, and you can click Use it to put your page back on it later.
Why can't I buy a domain?
Only someone who looks after your team's billing can buy one. The Confirm step says so, and the pay button is greyed out. Ask them to do this step. A team can have one domain bought for it.
Why does it say "Nothing free"?
No domain matching your words is available. Try other words, or a different ending like .uk or .com.
Why didn't my purchase go through?
If the domain couldn't be bought, we refund it and nothing is set up. Buildscout tells you, and you can try again or pick another. If it says the domain isn't available any more or its price has just gone up, search again.
Why is my domain not working?
If the page says Needs attention, the domain stopped working. Remove it and add it again, or get in touch and we'll help.
What happens to my page if the domain expires?
If you stop renewing, the domain keeps working until the end of its year. Then it expires, and your page and portals go back to their Buildscout address.