diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 9d724ab064..663879d440 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+ISTIO_SERVE_DOMAIN ?= localhost
+export ISTIO_SERVE_DOMAIN
+
 img := gcr.io/istio-testing/website-builder:2019-02-13
 docker := docker run -e INTERNAL_ONLY=true -t -i --sig-proxy=true --rm -v $(shell pwd):/site -w /site $(img)
 
@@ -19,7 +22,7 @@ lint:
 	$(docker) scripts/lint_site.sh
 
 serve:
-	docker run -t -i --sig-proxy=true --rm -v $(shell pwd):/site -w /site -p 1313:1313 $(img) hugo serve --baseURL "http://localhost:1313/" --bind 0.0.0.0 --disableFastRender
+	docker run -t -i --sig-proxy=true --rm -v $(shell pwd):/site -w /site -p 1313:1313 $(img) hugo serve --baseURL "http://${ISTIO_SERVE_DOMAIN}:1313/" --bind 0.0.0.0 --disableFastRender
 
 netlify:
 	scripts/gen_site.sh "$(baseurl)"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9509fd5504..f462152805 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -34,6 +34,16 @@ $ make serve
 This will build the site and start a web server hosting the site. You can then connect to the web server
 at `http://localhost:1313`.
 
+To make and serve the site from a remote server, override `ISTIO_SERVE_DOMAIN` as follows with the IP address
+or DNS Domain of the server as follows:
+
+```bash
+$ export ISTIO_SERVE_DOMAIN=192.168.7.105
+$ make serve
+```
+This will build the site and start a web server hosting the site. You can then connect to the web server
+at `http://192.168.7.105:1313`.
+
 All normal content for the site is located in the `content` directory, as well as in sibling translated
 directories such as content_zh.