Custom domains

A custom domain puts your links on a hostname you own, such as go.yourapp.com. Every plan includes at least one. It is the single most useful thing you can do for the long life of your links: a hostname you own can be pointed anywhere, so links and printed QR codes can move with you.

Add one

1. In your project, open Domains and add the hostname. Use a subdomain (go.yourapp.com), or a whole domain you keep only for links (yourapp.link). Don’t use the bare domain your website is on: once it points here, every address on it is a link.
2. Create the DNS record the page shows you, at your DNS provider.
3. Choose Check now. Once DNS points at us, a certificate is issued automatically and the domain turns verified.
4. Add the hostname to your app’s associated domains (iOS) and intent filters (Android), next to the two dl2.app hosts, and release an app update. Until users have that update, the new host opens the store or web page instead of the app.

Things to know

• Your dl2.app addresses keep working alongside the custom domain. The same slug works on every host of the project.
• Keep “open in app” buttons pointing at the -alt host; the SDK and the hand-off page do this for you.
• If you send links by SMS, use your own domain. Phone carriers filter shared short domains more readily than a business’s own.
• If you leave, repoint the DNS record at your own server running the self-host bundle from your export.

Verified websites are different

The Domains page also lets you prove you own a website (by DNS record, meta tag or file). That does not serve links; it tells us a destination is yours.