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How to use your own domain for tracked links your audience can trust

Serve your short links from your own domain instead of the shared Clipflow one. Set up by request.

Updated

When a viewer sees an unfamiliar short link beneath a video, they have no reason to know where it leads. By default, Clipflow tracking links are served from a shared short domain. A custom domain swaps that for one of yours, so a link in a video description reads go.yourbrand.com/abc123.

The link behaves identically. Clicks are still counted, UTMs are still appended. Only the hostname changes. See Tracking Links for what the links themselves do.

Why bother?

Common problems solved:

  • Shared short domains look like spam to some audiences
  • A generic hostname gives away nothing about who is behind the link
  • Platforms and email filters treat unfamiliar shorteners with suspicion

What you get:

  • Links that carry your brand into every description and caption
  • Better click-through, because people can see where they are going
  • Your own domain’s reputation rather than a shared one

Before you start

  • A domain or subdomain you control. Most teams use a subdomain like go., link., or l.
  • Access to its DNS records.
  • A custom domain on your organization. This is not self-serve, and it is not on every plan. Ask us first and we will confirm it for your organization before you change any DNS.

Use a subdomain rather than your main domain. Pointing your root domain at a link shortener takes your website down.

Step 1: Ask us to add the domain

Custom domains are added by the Clipflow team rather than from a settings screen. Reach us through the in-app chat or email support@clipflow.co with:

  • The hostname you want, for example go.yourbrand.com
  • Which organization it belongs to

Send the hostname on its own, without https://, a trailing slash, or a leading www.

We will confirm the domain is available on your plan and send you back the DNS record to create.

Step 2: Point DNS at Clipflow

Add the record we send you at your DNS provider, which is usually wherever you bought the domain.

DNS changes propagate on their own schedule. Minutes is common, but a few hours is possible depending on the previous record’s TTL.

Step 3: Wait for verification and SSL

Once DNS resolves, Clipflow verifies the domain and issues an SSL certificate. The domain moves through three states:

Status Meaning
Pending Certificate is being issued, or DNS has not propagated yet
Active Verified and secured, ready to serve links
Failed Issuing did not complete, usually a DNS problem

A domain serves links only when it is enabled, verified, and SSL is active. Until then your links keep working on the default domain, so nothing breaks while you wait.

If it stays pending for more than a few hours, re-check the DNS record for a typo, and confirm no conflicting record exists for the same hostname.

Step 4: Use it

Once active, new tracking links use your domain. Create them the same way you always have.

Links already published on the old domain keep working. You do not need to update a video description from last year.

Tips and best practices

  • Pick a short subdomain. go. and l. are common because they leave room for the slug.
  • Use one per brand. An agency running five clients wants five domains, each on the client’s own domain, so links match the brand they promote.
  • Do not reuse a domain that had a shortener on it before. You inherit whatever reputation the previous owner earned.
  • Check a link end to end after the domain goes active: click it, confirm the redirect and the UTMs.
  • Keep the DNS record. Removing it later breaks every published link on that domain.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use my root domain?

You should not. The hostname is pointed at Clipflow’s link service, so your website would stop resolving. Use a subdomain.

What happens to existing links if I add a domain later?

They keep resolving on the domain they were created with. New links use the new domain.

Can I have more than one custom domain?

Yes. Agencies typically run one per client organization. Ask for each one the same way.

Why can't I add a domain myself?

The setup runs through us today so we can check the hostname and issue the certificate correctly. Message us and we will get it moving.

Is a custom domain included on my plan?

Custom domains are available on some plans. Ask us and we will confirm what your organization has.

Do I need to buy an SSL certificate?

No. Clipflow issues and renews it.

My domain says failed. What now?

Check the DNS record matches exactly and that nothing else is answering for that hostname. Fix the record and the check runs again.

Can I use a domain already pointed at a website?

Not the same hostname. yourbrand.com cannot be both your website and your link domain, but go.yourbrand.com can sit alongside it.

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