How to Choose a Custom Domain for a Link Shortener

The short answer

For most brands, the best custom domain for short links is a subdomain of the website you already own, such as go.yourbrand.com. It costs nothing, people trust it because they know your name, and you never need to renew a second domain. Buy a separate short domain (such as ybrnd.co) only when the length of the link is really important, for example on printed packaging or in SMS messages.

Option 1: A subdomain of your website

Examples: go.yourbrand.com, link.yourbrand.com, l.yourbrand.com.

• Good: free, instantly trusted, nothing new to renew, and easy to set up with one CNAME record.
• Less good: the link is longer than a dedicated short domain.

Popular subdomain names are go, link, get and l. Choose one and use it everywhere. A short, common word is easier to say out loud in a podcast or a video.

Option 2: A separate short domain

Examples: nyti.ms and youtu.be are well-known short domains from large brands. Smaller brands do the same with a short version of their name.

• Good: the shortest possible links.
• Less good: you pay for and renew another domain. People do not know the domain at first, so it needs to look clearly like your brand.

Option 3: Your main domain (not recommended)

Your main domain (yourbrand.com) already serves your website. A domain can point to only one place, so if you connect it to a link shortener, your website stops working on that address. Use a subdomain instead.

How to choose a good name

1. Make it look like your brand. A reader must see at once who sent the link. acme.link is clear. xq7.to is not.
2. Keep it short, but not cryptic. Five to ten characters before the dot is usually enough.
3. Avoid hyphens and numbers. They are hard to say and easy to type incorrectly.
4. Say it out loud. If you must spell it every time ("acme, then the letter l, then i, n, k"), choose another name.
5. Check social handles and trademarks. Do not choose a name that is close to another company's brand.

Which domain ending (TLD) to choose

• .com subdomain: the safest choice, because people know and trust .com.
• .co, .link, .click, .to: common for short links. Some cheap endings are also popular with spammers, and some email filters and platforms treat links on them with more care. Test a link in an email to yourself and in a social post before you print anything.
• Country endings (.ly, .io, .me and others): they look short and modern, but each one is controlled by the rules of a country or a registry. Read the registry's rules before you depend on one for years of printed QR codes.

Plan for the long term

• Turn on auto-renew. If the domain expires, every short link and every printed QR code on it stops working.
• Keep the domain in your own registrar account, not in an agency's or a freelancer's account.
• Use one domain for your own links only. Do not let the public create links on it. If someone uses your domain for spam, your domain's reputation suffers.

A good thing about a custom domain: the links belong to you. If you change link-shortener tools later, you can point the domain to the new tool and create the same paths again, so your printed links keep working.

How to connect the domain to URLyte

1. Buy the domain, or decide on a subdomain of your website.
2. In the URLyte dashboard, open Custom domains and add the domain.
3. At your DNS provider, add a CNAME record that points to redirect.urlyte.com.
4. Click Verify. When the domain is active, the SSL certificate is set up for you.

For a root domain (with no subdomain), your DNS provider must support CNAME flattening or an ALIAS record. Custom domains are included on the Pro and Business plans. See the custom domain URL shortener page for details.

Frequently asked questions

Does a custom domain improve click-through rate?

People click links more when they recognize the sender. A domain with your brand name is easier to trust than a random short domain, but the effect depends on your audience, so compare your own numbers.

Can I use more than one custom domain?

Yes. On URLyte, Pro includes 1 custom domain and Business includes 3.

Can I change my custom domain later?

You can add a new domain at any time, but links that you already shared on the old domain keep using the old domain. Choose carefully before you print.

I manage domains for clients. Where do I start?

Read our guide on how to white label a URL shortener for clients.