How to get a short link custom domain that matches your brand – Uplifter Limited

Using a custom domain that matches your brand for the base of your short link promotes trust which encourages customers to click on your links.

Custom domains always use HTTPS and use an SSL certificate that is managed by Microsoft Azure. This means that your web traffic will always be carried securely and customers will never see any "unsafe link" warnings.

With custom domains, you are able to set a default landing page which customers will reach if the link is ever incorrectly applied, this means you never miss traffic.

It is possible to have multiple short link custom domains set up. If you manage several brands, we are able to create a short link for each brand that you want to set up. We can even set it to only show for certain workspaces.

If you are ready to start using custom domains with your account, reach out to us at support@uplifter.ai and we will guide you through the easy process.

What are the options available for connecting to a custom domain?

The main consideration with connecting to a custom domain is if you want to use a domain or a subdomain, as this affects how we are able to create a certificate.

A root domain refers to a website address like uplifter.ai. A subdomain can be created from a domain, for example link.uplifter.ai is a subdomain of uplifter.ai. An SSL certificate is used to prove that you own the domain, and prevents a nasty red warning page should the user click one of the short links.

As enterprise compliance and security requirements vary around SSL certificates, we support a range of options:

Option 1: (Preferred for subdomains) Client manages DNS, Uplifter manages certificates

Uplifter provides DNS records to enable routing and validate ownership of the domain (but not authoritatively)
Certificates are managed automatically by Microsoft Azure, which we use to provide the service. This uses Digicert.
Unfortunately, this option only works with subdomains (so we'd have to use something like https://to .short.link or https://link.short.link for example) and not the root domain (https://short.link)

Option 2 (preferred for root domains): Uplifter manages DNS and certificates

Uplifter provides some DNS records and Uplifter handles DNS authoritatively (ie we can create additional DNS records)
Uplifter manages certificate renewals automatically on your behalf, so it’s the easiest experience. We use letsencrypt.org to generate certificates.
We can support the root domain (eg https://short.link)

Option 3: Client manages DNS and certificates

Uplifter provides DNS records to enable routing and validate ownership of the domain (but not authoritatively)
Client provides Uplifter with a certificate (a .pfx file) or we can sort out a Certificate Signed Request (CSR) .
We would need to coordinate certificate renewals, as they last a year. (By 2029, they are due to last 47 days, which is why the automated certificates are preferred)
We can support the root domain (https://short.link) and subdomains.
This means you can use your own existing certificate provider.

Once we have sorted out the domain and how we want to handle the DNS certificate, we provide your IT team with a couple of DNS records to add, and can then typically set the domain up pretty quickly.

Once it has been set up, we recommend waiting 48 hours before using the short links, as it takes a little time for the internet to recognise where it should send traffic to your domain.

What are the options available for connecting to a custom domain?

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