Custom short domains

Your short links can live on your own domain: go.yourdomain.com/spring instead of go.datacenter.so/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.datacenter.so 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.datacenter.so 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 Datacenter#

1. Open Settings and find Custom short domains.
2. Enter go.yourdomain.com and choose Add domain. If you have a site in Datacenter, the box starts with go. and that site's domain.
3. Datacenter 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.datacenter.so.
4. Set Proxy status to DNS only, the gray cloud.
5. Choose Save.

DNS only lets the request reach Datacenter directly, so Datacenter can check the domain and get its certificate.

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.datacenter.so 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 Active#

Back in Settings, the domain shows Setting up with a live check of its record. Opening the page checks it, and so does Check now. We also check every 15 minutes. The check says one of:

• Record not found yet. Add the record, or wait. DNS can take up to an hour.
• Found, pointing to something else. Change the record to the target shown. On Cloudflare, an address here usually means the proxy is on: set the record to DNS only.
• Found and correct. We get the HTTPS certificate next. It usually takes a few minutes.

Settings also names your DNS host when it can tell (Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace and others), with that host's own steps and a link to its DNS page.

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

More than one domain#

Add as many as your plan has room for, on any subdomain you like: go., links., l. and so on. Each one gets its own row, its own record and its own check. Once a domain is Active its row folds to one line.

Use it#

New links start on your default domain. Choose Make default next to any Active domain, or next to go.datacenter.so. Until you choose, new links start on your first Active domain. You can still pick another in the Domain list on each new link. The links list shows your domains at the top, with how many links each one has.

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 Datacenter, 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, like go.yoursite.com/, sends people to your site (yoursite.com) when you track it in Datacenter, and to datacenter.so when you do not.
• 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.