Custom short domains

Your short links can live on your own domain: go.yourdomain.com/spring instead of go.sporetag.com/spring. We suggest a go subdomain of the site you already have.

Why it helps:

• People trust a link more when they know the name.
• Links on your own domain are trusted more by Meta, Instagram and email filters. A shared short domain carries everyone's reputation.
• Your links stay apart from everyone else's.

go.sporetag.com works the moment you sign up, on every plan. Add your own domain when you are ready. Solo includes 1 custom short domain, Studio includes 5 and Agency includes 20. Free uses go.sporetag.com only.

Before you start

• Pick go.yourdomain.com, where yourdomain.com is your own site. The go subdomain is used only for redirects. It cannot also show a website.
• Use a subdomain, not your main domain. Most DNS hosts cannot point a main domain like yourdomain.com this way.
• You need to sign in where your domain's DNS is managed. That is often where you bought the domain, or Cloudflare.

Step 1: add the domain in Sporetag

1. Open Settings and find Custom short domains.
2. Enter go.yourdomain.com and choose Add domain. If you have a site in Sporetag, the box starts with go. and that site's domain.
3. Sporetag shows the record to add. Keep the page open.

Step 2: add one CNAME record

Every DNS host asks for the same three things:

Some DNS hosts want the full name, go.yourdomain.com, instead of go. Some call the target Value, Points to or Content.

On Cloudflare

1. Open your domain in the Cloudflare dashboard, then DNS and Records.
2. Choose Add record.
3. Set Type to CNAME, Name to go and Target to go.sporetag.com.
4. Set Proxy status to DNS only, the gray cloud.
5. Choose Save.

DNS only lets the request reach Sporetag directly, so Cloudflare can check the domain and issue its certificate. Sporetag runs on Cloudflare too.

On any other DNS host

1. Sign in where you manage your domain's DNS. Look for DNS, DNS records or Advanced DNS.
2. Add a new record of type CNAME.
3. Enter go as the name or host, and go.sporetag.com as the target or value.
4. Leave the TTL as it is, or pick the shortest one.
5. Save.

If there is already a record for go, remove it first. A name can have only one CNAME record.

Step 3: wait for Verified

Back in Settings, the domain shows Pending until the record is live. We check every 15 minutes, or choose Check now. It usually takes a few minutes and can take up to an hour.

Once it shows Verified, Cloudflare has issued the HTTPS certificate and the domain is ready. You do not need to set up a certificate yourself.

If automatic setup is not switched on for your account yet, the domain shows Manual setup. Add the record, then write to hello@sporetag.com and we will connect it.

Use it

New links start on your verified domain. If you have more than one, they start on the one you used last. You can still pick go.sporetag.com in the Domain list.

Tip: verify your domain with Meta

If you run Meta ads, verify yourdomain.com in Meta Business Settings, under Brand safety and Domains. Meta then knows the domain is yours. You verify the main domain, and Meta counts its subdomains, like go, as part of it. Verifying is done in Meta, not in Sporetag, and it is free.

What the domain serves

A short domain only does redirects:

• /your-link sends people to the link's page.
• A link that was turned off answers with a short error.
• The bare domain sends people to sporetag.com.
• Anything else answers "Not found".

It never shows a page, a sign in form or a file. That keeps it hard to misuse.

Remove it

Archive the links that use the domain, then choose Remove next to it in Settings. Then delete the CNAME record. Links on that domain stop working once it is removed.