Custom domains

Business plan. With a custom domain, your short links look like go.yourcompany.com/spring-sale instead of bgum.me/spring-sale. People trust them more, and they show your brand everywhere they're shared.

Before you start

• Pick a subdomain of a domain you own that isn't used for anything else, such as go.yourcompany.com or link.yourcompany.com. Don't use your main website's address.
• Find where your DNS is managed. It's usually where you bought the domain (such as GoDaddy, Crazy Domains or VentraIP) or a DNS service such as Cloudflare or Amazon Route 53. You need to be able to add records there, or ask whoever manages it.
• You need the Administrator or Owner role in the workspace.

Add the domain

1. Open Domains.
2. Under Add a domain, type the domain, such as go.yourcompany.com, and choose Add domain.
3. The domain's page opens, showing Waiting for DNS and the DNS records to add. Keep this page open.

Add the DNS records

At your DNS provider, add each record exactly as shown on the domain's page. Use the Copy buttons to avoid typing mistakes.

Provider notes

• Cloudflare: set the CNAME's Proxy status to DNS only (grey cloud). With the orange cloud on, we can't see that the domain points here.
• Amazon Route 53: put the TXT value in double quotes, as Route 53 asks.
• GoDaddy, Crazy Domains, VentraIP and most others: choose the record type, enter the first part of the name as described above, paste the value and save. Leave TTL at its default.
• Root domains, such as yourcompany.com without a subdomain, can't have a CNAME at most providers. Use a subdomain. If the domain's page also shows an A/AAAA record, you can use that instead of the CNAME.
• If another record appears on the domain's page after ownership is verified, add it too: it lets us issue the HTTPS certificate.

Check the domain

1. Choose Check now on the domain's page, or just wait: we check every few minutes.
2. DNS changes usually take a few minutes to be seen, sometimes up to an hour.
3. The status changes as each step is done:

   Status	Means
   Waiting for DNS	We haven't found the TXT record yet.
   Verified, not pointing here yet	Ownership is proved, but the CNAME isn't there or isn't right yet.
   Verified, setting up HTTPS	All done on your side; we're getting the certificate.
   Active	Ready. Choose it in the Domain menu when creating links.
   Active, DNS check failing	Still working, but a record has gone missing. Fix it soon. See Keeping it working.
   DNS problem	It worked before, but the records have been missing too long, so it has stopped serving links.
   Suspended	We've paused the domain. Contact us.

4. The message above the records says exactly what's still missing.

HTTPS

You don't need to buy or install a certificate. Once the domain is active, a certificate is issued automatically, usually on the first visit, and renewed for you. The very first visit can take a few extra seconds while that happens.

Home page, unknown back-halves and expired links

On the domain's page, under Redirects for this domain:

• Home page: where people go if they visit go.yourcompany.com on its own. A good choice is your main website.
• Unknown back-halves: where people go if they mistype a back-half. Leave it blank to show a "Link not found" page.
• Expired links: where people go when a link on the domain has passed its stop time or click limit. A link's own after-expiry address comes first. Leave it blank to show a "This link has expired" page.

Choose Save redirects.

Keeping it working

• We re-check active domains every day.
• If the TXT record or the CNAME goes missing, the domain keeps working for 72 hours, so a brief DNS hiccup doesn't break your links. After that it stops serving links until the records are back; then it starts again automatically.
• So leave both records in place, and tell whoever manages your DNS why they're there.

Removing a domain

1. Delete the links on the domain first. Archived links count too, because their back-halves stay reserved.
2. On the domain's page, choose Remove domain.
3. Then remove the DNS records at your provider.

Removing a domain stops all its links. Printed or shared links on it will no longer work.

Troubleshooting