For agency owners and first-time sub-account admins
A practical order of operations for the things that make a real difference: domains, email, phone, users, website settings and a complete lead test. Mark items off as you go. Your progress stays in this browser.
Settings, white label, snapshots and plans
Your agency's real website, inbox, calendar and phone
Repeat the operational setup for each business you launch
The parent agency is the management layer for settings, branding, snapshots and SaaS. It is not an operational business account. Create your first sub-account (child account) for your own agency business, then create another sub-account for every client you launch.
Collect these items before you build the child account. It keeps the setup calm and avoids waiting on DNS, logins or approvals mid-launch.
The parent agency controls the platform. A sub-account runs a real business.
Agency-level defaults and infrastructure, not the client business’s customer-facing sender or phone number.
The sender tells you which setup you are in.
Welcome emails, password resets, onboarding and payment notices.
Campaigns, workflow emails, confirmations and customer messages.
Blue is your agency CRM. Green is your first operating sub-account. Snapshot building and client onboarding are deliberately saved for Session 2.
Start with the blue agency steps, then move to the green sub-account steps. Each card shows active setup time, not DNS propagation, carrier approval, or waiting for someone else to accept an invite. Snapshot building and client onboarding come later.
These settings manage your sub-accounts. They do not run your agency's public website or inbox.
Choose your model before turning anything on.
app.youragency.com to HighLevelreplies.youragency.comThis is where your agency’s website, leads, inbox and automations live. Repeat it for every client sub-account.
Add the domain in HighLevel, create the DNS records at the registrar, then attach it to the website or funnel. Pick either the root domain or www as the primary version and redirect the other one. Test the SSL certificate after DNS propagates.
This is separate from the parent agency’s CRM-platform emails. The account can fall back to the agency default LC Email domain, but use its own dedicated domain when the business needs customer-facing branding. Publish every DNS record HighLevel provides and verify before campaigns or automations send.
Buy or connect the number, set the calling and forwarding behavior, and complete A2P/10DLC registration for US and Canadian application-to-person SMS. Do not promise automated texting until the registration status is approved.
Create only the user roles people need. Connect the assigned user's Google or Outlook calendar if availability matters, then set meeting duration, buffers, notifications and the confirmation page.
Define the few stages that reflect how this business actually sells. Every new lead should have a clear first stage, an owner and a next action. Add custom fields and tags only when a workflow, report or team member needs them.
Use a small, clean CSV first. Map name, email and phone fields, preserve consent/source information, tag the import batch and resolve duplicates before any campaign or workflow touches the list.
Start with one trigger, such as a form submission, then add a tag, opportunity or internal notification. Test it on one contact before adding waits, branches, email or SMS.
Connect the merchant account, confirm the legal business details and test the product, receipt and failed-payment experience. This is not required for a lead-generation website with no checkout.
Connect only the channels the business plans to publish from or receive messages through. Confirm the business owns the pages, the right user has admin access and the first scheduled post or reply path works.
Do this before ads, SEO or traffic start.
Confirm the form creates one contact, applies the intended tag or source, creates the right opportunity and sends the internal notification. Check mobile as well as desktop.
Use an outside calendar and a different email address. Verify the available slots, confirmation email, calendar event, reminders, reschedule link and assigned user. Check that the workflow does not send the same message twice.
Open the live domain in an incognito browser. Confirm SSL, mobile navigation, page titles, favicon, primary CTA, forms, booking links, privacy policy, thank-you pages and all redirects. Add your analytics and ad pixels only after the page behaves correctly.
The best final screen is one contact record that shows the form submission, tags, pipeline stage, appointment and message history. If that record tells the correct story, the system is ready for real leads.
Once this checklist is complete, the next useful session is a simple lead workflow: a form submission, a contact tag, an opportunity, an instant notification and a calendar invitation. Do not build a complex nurture system until one real lead can move through the account cleanly.
Keep this guide honest
HighLevel regularly moves labels and navigation. The route shown under each step gives the current destination, while the purpose of the step remains the reliable part.
More free GHL resourcesThis guide translates the first setup into plain language. These are the official HighLevel articles behind the technical details when you need a deeper answer.
Last reviewed September 16, 2026.