Connecting your custom tracking domain
By default, you will be assigned one of Caide’s shared tracking domains. We will take every measure to ensure that these domains are monitored closely, however, there is no real alternative for setting up a custom one under your own domain.
To improve deliverability while monitoring prospect engagement and activity, we recommend you follow these steps below. Please note that you will need administrator access to your domain's DNS settings.
Note
You can currently only create one custom tracking domain per company. If you have multiple sending domains, we recommend you use the one with the strongest domain reputation. You can check your domain reputation using this service here. We will be implementing a feature to have multiple custom tracking domains in the future.
This guide will take you through the steps necessary to get your custom tracking domain set up both in your DNS panel and from within Caide itself. We will also share links to popular hosting providers’ guides. This process should typically take less than 5 minutes.
Why is a custom tracking domain important?
Using your own domain for link and open tracking can significantly improve email deliverability. When you configure a custom tracking domain, the tracked links in your emails will align with your sending domain. This alignment reinforces trust and boosts deliverability rates.
Moreover, a custom tracking domain helps establish and strengthen your sender reputation. Default tracking domains are often shared by multiple users, meaning your deliverability could be negatively impacted by the actions of others using the same default domain. By utilizing your own domain, you take full control of your sender reputation, increasing the likelihood that your emails land in the recipient’s inbox.
In your DNS settings
You will need to create a sub-domain and set up a CNAME record in your hosting provider’s DNS settings. This process can vary depending on which provider you have chosen but they all boil down to this:
- Create a new DNS record. This could be “tracking.yourdomain.com” where “tracking” would be the host part of the domain. You may choose any descriptive name here such as ‘links’, ‘campaigns’, etc.
- Choose CNAME as the type
- In the ‘points to’ or ‘value’ field, enter tracking.caideplatform.com
Note
Your Host Name or Name value for your CNAME record can be anything you like. “Tracking” is typically the most common choice.
Guides for popular hosts
Note
If your hosting provider is not mentioned above & if their DNS settings differ greatly to the ones listed here, you’ll need to reach out to your web host directly for steps and instructions on how to set up the CNAME record.
In the Caide platform
You can verify your custom tracking domain during the platform’s onboarding flow. Simply enter the sub-domain you created in the last step (e.g. tracking.yourdomain.com) and verify it there.
Alternatively, you can connect & edit your custom tracking domain at any time in settings by going to your account settings and selecting the tracking domain.
Note
DNS record propagation can take up to 72 hours. If verification doesn’t work immediately, we suggest waiting. You can check your CNAME record propagation status using this tool.
And you should be done! If you’re still encountering errors it could be because:
- Propagation hasn't been completed yet.
- You didn't configure your tracking domain correctly. It’s possible that some providers need you to enter the whole value for the host name (tracking.yourdomain.com) and others only want the first part (tracking.) - others want just the value with no period.