A link in an email footer, a social post, or a QR code on a conference badge does marketing work before anyone clicks it. elido.me/aBc12xQ says nothing about where the reader is going. go.acme.com/spring-sale says both who sent it and what it is.
You'll often see a 20-39% click-through lift quoted for branded links. We couldn't find that figure on the Rebrandly page it's attributed to when we checked on 2026-10-25, so this post doesn't use it. The mechanism is still sensible: a domain people recognise removes the "is this safe" pause. Test it on your own audience before you promise anyone a number.
This is the marketer's view of setup. For DNS and TLS mechanics read Custom domain short links: DNS, TLS, and what runs at the edge. For the quick API path read How to set up a custom domain with TLS in 5 minutes.
TL;DR
- Free plans include no custom domain. Pro includes 1 and Business includes 5.
- Add the hostname under Domains, then create a TXT record and a CNAME to
edge.elido.me. - Verification polls every 30 seconds; a domain still pending after 24 hours fails and must be added again.
- Existing links stay on their old domain. There's no move-link feature and no automatic redirect yet, so new links are what carry the brand.
Picking the Right Domain
The domain appears in every link you send, so spend a few minutes on it. How to choose a short link domain name goes deeper on registry rules and lookalike risk.
| Pattern | Example | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subdomain of your brand | go.acme.com | Teams that own a known domain | Long parent domains make long links |
| Separate short domain | acme.co | Short links, independence from a rebrand | Annual registration; keep a brand fragment to resist lookalikes |
| Premium TLD | acme.link | The shortest branded URL | Higher yearly price that varies by registrar |
We quote no registration prices here. They vary by registrar and TLD, so check your registrar's page on the day you buy.
I'd start with a subdomain. You already own the parent, and it's one CNAME.
The tradeoff is length. go.globalmarketingsolutions.com/spring-sale isn't short in any useful sense, which matters in podcast notes, print and social text where the URL shows as text.
A separate short domain buys brevity. It also buys independence. If your main domain changes in a rebrand, the short domain is unaffected. The risk is spoofing: a name with no brand in it, like lnk.co, is easy to imitate, so keep a recognisable fragment.
Avoid long domains, since the link is only as short as domain plus slug. Hyphenated names read like phishing to many people, a judgment call rather than a measured rule. Skip any domain you can't serve over HTTPS; ad networks and chat apps treat plain-HTTP redirects with suspicion.
The Four Setup Steps
First, buy or designate the domain. A subdomain of a domain you own needs no purchase. Otherwise register a short, hyphen-free name at any registrar.
Second, add it in Elido. Open Domains in the dashboard, type the hostname, tick the wildcard box only if you want *.yourdomain hosts, and press Add domain. Your plan sets the cap (none on Free, 1 on Pro, 5 on Business). Past the cap, Elido refuses with an upgrade message.
Third come the two DNS records: a TXT record at _elido-verify.<your hostname> with the value verify=<token>, and a CNAME from the hostname to edge.elido.me. You need both: the TXT proves you own the name and the CNAME routes traffic. The dashboard shows the exact values, and the CNAME target is configurable per deployment, so copy it from there. For a wildcard domain, the TXT goes on the parent name.
On Cloudflare, set the CNAME to DNS-only. The check looks for a CNAME resolving to the Elido target, and a proxied record answers with Cloudflare addresses instead. That is our reading of the check, so if verification fails with correct-looking records, turn the proxy off first.
The fourth step is waiting for verification. A background check runs every 30 seconds, and Verify now moves yours to the front of the queue. Status runs from pending to verified and then active, or to failed. A domain left pending for 24 hours is failed and has to be added again. TLS is issued on the first HTTPS request once the domain is verified, so open one link yourself before you announce it.
Seeing the Domain in Analytics
Each link belongs to a domain, and the links list has a host filter so you can look at one domain's links at a time. The Domains page shows clicks over the last 30 days per hostname. That's enough to compare a branded domain against a generic one.
Everything else is unchanged. The country, device and referrer breakdowns work the same on a custom domain as on the platform one. Mobile apps can serve Apple and Android association files per domain from the same page; for the flow see deep links for mobile apps without an SDK.
Moving From elido.me to Your Own Domain
This is where the product has gaps. Plan around them rather than discover them mid-cutover.
An existing link can't be edited to a new domain. The update call edits the slug and destination among other fields, but not the domain. Nor does Elido redirect the old address to the new one. The practical migration is:
- Verify the branded domain and confirm one link opens over HTTPS.
- Pick your highest-traffic links from analytics.
- Create replacement links on the branded domain through the API, passing that domain's ID, with the same slugs where you can.
- Update templates, bios, newsletter footers and ad copy to the new links over your normal content cycle.
- Leave the old links alive. Anything already printed, sent or spoken keeps working.
The API's create call without a domain ID falls back to a system domain, not your custom one, and we couldn't confirm a per-workspace default or a domain picker in the dashboard link form. Both are in our backlog. Until they ship, say the domain explicitly in your create calls.
Surfaces Worth Updating
Start where trust is under the most strain. Cold email signatures and social bios come first. Then newsletter footers and anything printed. SMS gets its own mention. Carriers filter shared shorteners, and a branded domain avoids sharing a reputation with strangers, covered in do carriers block shortened links in SMS.
Common Mistakes
- Long domain plus long slug. Keep the whole link readable aloud.
- One domain for unrelated brands. Analytics blur together and a rebrand of one hurts the other.
- Not testing HTTPS before launch. Open one live link yourself after verification.
- Forgetting the domain ID. Without it, API-created links land on a system domain.
- Letting a pending domain age out. After 24 hours you start again.
I think the setup is worth an afternoon. Branded links won't fix a weak offer, but it is short and the cost is predictable: one plan slot, two DNS records, and a deliberate migration. For naming slugs read vanity URLs explained, and for the basic flow how to shorten a URL. The custom domains feature page, pricing and marketers solutions page cover plans and workflow.
Related on the Blog
- Custom domain short links: DNS, TLS, and what runs at the edge
- How to set up a custom domain with TLS in 5 minutes
- How to choose a short link domain name
- Vanity URLs explained
- Do carriers block shortened links in SMS?
Ana Kowalska is marketing solutions engineering at Elido. She works with performance marketing and agency teams on link attribution, UTM governance, and conversion pipeline setup.
Frequently asked questions
Do branded short links really get more clicks?
The usual claim is a 20 to 39 percent lift in click-through, but we couldn't find that figure on the Rebrandly page it's normally attributed to (checked 2026-10-25), so we don't repeat it. The mechanism is plausible, since a recognisable domain is a visible trust signal. Measure it yourself by running the same campaign on a branded and a generic link.
How many custom domains does each Elido plan include?
Free includes none, while Pro includes one and Business five. Adding a domain beyond the plan limit is refused with an upgrade message. Wildcard hostnames such as *.example.com are supported as a checkbox when you add the domain, and each domain counts once against the limit.
Which DNS records do I add to verify a domain?
Two: a TXT record at _elido-verify.yourhost with the value verify=<token>, and a CNAME from your hostname to edge.elido.me. Both must be present. The dashboard shows the exact token. A background check runs every 30 seconds, and a Verify now button queues yours immediately.
What happens to my existing elido.me links when I add a branded domain?
They keep working unchanged. Elido can't currently move an existing link to a different domain, and there's no automatic redirect from the old address to the new one. To use the branded domain you create new links with that domain's ID through the API, then update your own references.
How long does verification and TLS take?
Verification waits on DNS. Once your records are visible, the background check, which runs every 30 seconds, picks them up. A domain that stays pending for 24 hours is failed, and you add it again. Certificate issuance happens on the first HTTPS request after verification, so test the link once yourself.
Can I use Cloudflare in front of my branded short domain?
Keep the record DNS-only while verifying. Verification looks for a CNAME that resolves to edge.elido.me, and a proxied record hides that answer behind Cloudflare addresses. That is our reading of how the check works, so if verification fails while records look right, switch the proxy off first.
Try Elido
Paste a URL, get a working short link
No signup. Link lives for 30 days. Sign up to keep it forever.
No signup needed. Sign up free for 50 links a month.