Overview

While preparing to connect my portfolio site to a custom domain, I purchased takanorihidaka.com from a domain registrar.

This was my first time setting up a domain and configuring DNS records for Vercel deployment.

What I Learned

• Domain Privacy (WHOIS protection) should be enabled to hide personal information.
• For Vercel, set an A record (@ → 76.76.21.21) and a CNAME record (www → cname.vercel-dns.com) in the domain registrar’s DNS settings.
• Adding both the root domain and www in Vercel ensures all traffic reaches the site.

Update (Feb 19, 2026):
A more reliable approach is to first add the domain in Vercel’s Project Settings → Domains, then configure the DNS records based on the values provided by Vercel.