Complete Guide to Creating Custom Domain Short URLs – Brand Links

You’ve sent a text message.

It was a link announcing a new product launch event, but the customer’s response is quieter than expected. Looking closely at the link yourself, you see this address in the browser’s address bar.

vvd.bz/xK82pQ

Let’s think from the customer’s perspective. When a short link from an unknown source arrives via text message, do you readily feel like clicking it?
With so many phishing scams these days, many people just ignore these links.

Now, what if you changed the same link to this?

go.mybrand.com/new-item

Since the brand name is included in the address, the customer immediately recognizes, “Ah, I know this place,” and clicks it.
This is the power of a custom domain-based brand short URL.

For this guide, you don’t need to know what a domain or DNS is. We’ve written it so that everyone—from first-time domain buyers to marketers and small business owners—can follow along flawlessly from start to finish.

From purchasing a domain → registering on Vivoldi → changing nameservers → issuing SSL → creating your first brand link, everything is completed in this single article.

1. What is a Custom Domain?

When you first use a short URL service, links are usually generated in this format.

vvd.bz/xYhk

Here, vvd.bz is the public domain provided by default by Vivoldi. Anyone can use it for free or on a basic plan, but your brand’s name is nowhere to be found.

A custom domain is a feature where you use your own domain address that you purchased and own for short URLs, instead of this public address.

For example, if you buy a domain called mybrand.com and connect it to Vivoldi, the addresses of all the short links you create afterward will change to look like this.

mybrand.com/summer2025

Now, the link address itself becomes a brand advertisement. Whether you send it via WhatsApp, put it in an email, or print it on a business card, your brand’s name is always right at the front.

The 3 Components of a Custom Domain

A custom domain-based brand link operates by connecting 3 elements.

• The domain you own: An address you purchased directly. Ex) mybrand.net, myshop.com, mybiz.com
• Vivoldi (Short URL Service): Stores the actual link data and routes visitors to the original address when the link is clicked.
• DNS Settings (The Connection Bridge): The internet settings that forward requests coming into your domain to Vivoldi’s servers. This setting is exactly what “changing nameservers” means.

When these three are properly connected, your very own unique brand link system is complete in the world.
It might seem complicated at first, but if you follow this guide step-by-step, you can get it all done in under an hour.

You Can Also Utilize Subdomains

Aside from using an entire domain, there’s also the option of using a subdomain. For instance, if your company website is operating at mycompany.com, you can add a short word to the front to create a subdomain dedicated to short URLs, like go.mycompany.com.

If you’re new to domains and DNS, we recommend learning how to buy a new domain first, and both methods are covered in this guide.

2. Why Should You Use Brand Short URLs?

Some people might think, “Can’t I just use a long link?” or “Isn’t the default short URL good enough?” These are perfectly understandable questions. However, from the perspective of marketing and branding, a brand short URL is not merely a convenience feature.

① The Link is the First Impression

People visually scan an address before clicking a link. On a smartphone, especially, long-pressing a link previews the address. In that mere 0.5 seconds, the decision “to click or not” is made.

vvd.bz/xK82pQ has a hard time passing that 0.5-second test. A meaningless string of characters is indistinguishable from a phishing link. On the other hand, go.coffeebrand.com/latte conveys the context, “This is a latte-related link sent by this cafe,” even before the click.

② Click-Through Rates (CTR) Practically Increase

According to various research results in the marketing industry, short URLs that include a brand have an average click-through rate that is 30~40% higher than URLs that don’t. Sending the exact same content, just changing the link address, shifts the number of clicks.

Assuming you send a text to 100 people, if the default short URL’s click-through rate is 20%, 20 people will click. If you switch to a brand short URL, 28~30 people might click. When this difference compounds, your marketing ROI changes entirely.

③ The Link Itself Becomes a Brand Exposure Channel

WhatsApp, email, SMS, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube video descriptions, offline flyers... wherever the link is shared, your brand name is exposed alongside it. It effectively creates a space to promote your brand without any extra advertising costs.

④ The Link is Remembered

In offline marketing, this difference is even more stark. Imagine a scenario where a customer later manually types in a link printed on a business card, banner, or poster to visit. vvd.bz/xK82pQ is hard to memorize, but mybrand.com/menu is intuitively remembered.

⑤ The Links Survive Even If You Move Services

If you migrate your short URL service to another provider, links made with a default domain (vvd.bz) run the risk of disappearing along with the service. However, because you own a custom domain, even if you migrate or change services, connecting the domain to the new service will keep your existing links fully functional. The link’s lifespan is not tied down to a specific service provider.

⑥ Understand Marketing Performance with Integrated Statistics

When using Vivoldi’s custom domain feature, you can check the click statistics of all short links created under that domain on a single dashboard. You can grasp in detail which channel got the most clicks, what region the access came from, and what devices were used. This provides a data-driven foundation for your marketing decisions.

3. vvd.bz/abc123 vs mybrand.com/event — What is the Difference?

Let’s see the difference at a glance using numbers and a table. We assume the same event page link is created in two ways.

Comparing Real-World Scenarios

Scenario A — Cafe New Menu Text Blast

A local cafe sends out a text message to 500 people announcing a new menu item.

• ❌ “Check out our new menu: vvd.bz/mKp9Lz” → The recipient thinks ‘What is this?’ and ignores it.
• ✅ “Check out our new menu: skycafe.com/new” → The recipient thinks ‘Ah, it’s Sky Cafe’s new menu’ and clicks.

Scenario B — E-Commerce Email Marketing

An online store sends out an email regarding a sale. Email recipients often check the link address beforehand.

• ❌ vvd.bz/xk9mQ2 → Suspected as a phishing email and might get caught in a spam filter.
• ✅ shop.mystore.com/sale → Recognized as the store’s address, delivering trust and raising the click-through rate.

Scenario C — Printing Links on Lecture Materials

Printing links on handouts to be distributed to attendees at an offline lecture.

• ❌ vvd.bz/Lm2pK9 → Cannot be communicated verbally during the lecture, nor memorized.
• ✅ lecture.mybrand.com/slide → The audience can manually type it in and connect even without the materials.

4. The Impact of Improved Brand Trust and Click-Through Rates

The reasons people don’t click on links generally fall into two categories: suspicion and indifference.

Brand short URLs lower both of these barriers simultaneously. Let’s look at the effects across each channel.

Trust Effects in SMS Marketing

With smishing (SMS phishing) becoming a daily occurrence, short links from unknown sources are a primary cause for dropping click-through rates. Carriers and security apps are increasingly automatically blocking suspicious links.

Links containing a brand domain pass through these filters much more easily. Moreover, the moment the customer sees the link, they immediately recognize it as “a brand I do business with,” which lowers the psychological barrier to clicking.

Effects in Email Marketing

In email marketing, the link click-through rate is a key metric that determines campaign success. Email clients (like Outlook, Gmail, etc.) show a preview of the actual address when you hover the mouse over a link. If an unfamiliar domain appears, the recipient hesitates to click.

Furthermore, some enterprise security solutions and spam filters blacklist entire public short domains that are abused for malicious links. Brand-dedicated domains have almost no risk of being included in such blacklists.

Differentiation on Social Media

When you share a link on social media platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook, an Open Graph preview is generated displaying the domain name. It’s intuitively clear which looks more professional when vvd.bz and yourbrand.com are placed side by side.

Especially on LinkedIn or business-related social networks, brand trust acts as a direct factor in deciding whether to click. Even with the same content, a professional-looking link address alters engagement rates.

Leveraging QR Code Connections Offline

Think about the URL address printed alongside a QR code. Because some people don’t scan QR codes, text-based addresses are printed together with them. A short, meaningful address infused with your brand carries persuasive power all on its own.

Since Vivoldi automatically provides a QR code along with short URL generation, registering a custom domain means you can utilize QR codes that embed your brand URL as well.

5. Precautions You Must Know Before Registering a Domain

Checklist for Choosing a Domain

✅ Choose the shortest domain possible

The purpose of a short URL is to make a long address short. The shorter the domain itself, the better. An ideal domain length is around 4~8 characters, and you should aim to design it so the total link length (domain + slug) does not exceed 20 characters.

• Good examples: myb.com, gc.com, lnk.bz
• Bad example: mybrandshortlink.co.uk — Too long, defeating the purpose of a short URL.

✅ It’s best to include your brand name or an abbreviation

Including your full brand name is ideal, but using abbreviations or initials to keep it short is also excellent.

• Cafe “Sky Coffee” → skycafe.com or sky.cafe
• Academy “EduZone” → edzone.com or eduzone.com

✅ Choose a trusted Top-Level Domain (TLD)

A Top-Level Domain is the part at the very end of the address, like .com, .net, or .co.uk. The most familiar to general users is .com, and local TLDs also hold high trust. .io and .co have high recognition in the startup/tech sectors. On the other hand, unfamiliar extensions like .xyz, .click, or .link can arouse suspicion among some users, so it’s best to avoid them if possible.

✅ Check for trademark infringement beforehand

If the domain you want to register is identical or similar to a trademarked brand name, it could lead to disputes. Domains containing famous brand names can be forcefully reclaimed through international procedures (ICANN UDRP). We recommend checking with a trademark search service beforehand.

✅ Be sure to set up auto-renewal

Domains can be snatched up by third parties once their registration period expires. Activate auto-renewal after purchasing, and keep your payment methods valid. If you lose your domain, all your short URLs will simultaneously stop working.

6. Why You Shouldn’t Register Your Current Website’s Domain — You Must Buy a New Domain

This section is one of the most critical pieces of information in the entire guide. Misunderstanding this can result in an accident where your live website goes down entirely. Please read slowly to the end.

First, Let’s Understand How Domains Work

Let’s assume you are currently running a website at mycompany.com. What happens when someone types mycompany.com into a browser?

1. The browser asks the DNS server, which acts as the internet’s phonebook: “Where is mycompany.com?”
2. The DNS server checks the nameserver settings and responds: “It’s on the Shopify hosting server.”
3. The browser connects to that hosting server, and the website appears on the screen.

In this entire flow, the nameserver acts as the core signpost informing traffic that “this domain is on that server.”

What It Means to Register a Domain on Vivoldi

When you register a custom domain with Vivoldi, Vivoldi directs you to change that domain’s nameservers to Vivoldi’s server addresses. The moment this change is complete, all traffic coming into that domain is routed to Vivoldi’s servers.

Buy a New Dedicated Domain for Short URLs

Leave your existing website domain (mycompany.com) alone, and purchase a separate new domain exclusively for short URLs.

The cost of purchasing a new domain runs around 9,000 to 30,000 KRW per year. It has absolutely no impact on your existing website, and you don’t need any prior DNS configuration experience. If you are a beginner, you must choose this method.

7. How to Purchase a Domain — Step-by-Step Guide for GoDaddy & Namecheap

Services where you can buy domains are called domain registrars. Here, we will guide you based on two of the most widely used providers: GoDaddy (godaddy.com) and Namecheap (namecheap.com).

Preparations Before Buying a Domain

• Prepare 3~5 desired domain name candidates: The name you want might already be registered to someone else. Keep alternatives in mind.
• Prepare a payment method: Credit cards, debit cards, and bank transfers are all generally accepted.
• Check your email address: Domain expiration notices and management instructions will be sent via email.

📌 Purchasing a Domain on GoDaddy

1. Access GoDaddy and Log In
   Go to godaddy.com. If you don’t have an account, click “Sign Up” to complete your registration.
2. Enter your desired name in the domain search bar
   Type only the domain name you want in the search bar on the homepage. You don’t need to enter the extension (.com, .net, etc.). For example, type mybrandlink and search.
3. Check availability and select
   The search results screen will display availability for various extensions like mybrandlink.com, mybrandlink.net, etc.
   • “Available” → You can buy it. Add it to your cart.
   • “Taken” or “Unavailable” → A domain already owned by someone else. Please choose another name or extension.
4. Select Registration Period
   Select your desired duration, such as 1 year, 2 years, or 3 years. Choosing 1 year is perfectly fine for starters.
5. ⚠️ Add-on Service Screen — You can skip this
   During the cart or checkout process, screens prompting you to buy "Web Hosting," "SSL Certificates," or "Security Services" alongside your domain will appear. These services are unnecessary for Vivoldi short URL purposes. Do not select them; proceed to pay only for the domain. Uncheck them if they are pre-selected in your total.
6. Verify Privacy Protection (WHOIS Protection) Service
   During checkout, if you see a “WHOIS Privacy Protection” service item, we recommend activating it. Using this service protects the domain registrant’s details (name, email, phone number) from public lookup. Many registrars offer this for free.
7. Complete Payment
   Choose a payment method and finalize the payment. Domain registration begins immediately upon payment and usually completes within a few minutes.
8. Set Up Auto-Renewal — Mandatory
   After completing payment, navigate to “My Products” → “Domain Management” to locate your purchased domain and be sure to enable auto-renewal. Without this setting, you may lose your domain on its expiration date.

📌 Purchasing a Domain on Namecheap

1. Access Namecheap and Log In
   Go to namecheap.com. If you are not a member, use the “Sign Up” button at the top to register.
2. Enter Domain Search Menu
   Clicking the “Domains” tab on the top menu will reveal the "Domain Name Search" menu.
3. Search for Your Desired Domain Name
   Enter the name you want in the search bar. You can enter just the name without the extension. Various extension options will appear in the search results.
4. Select Available Domain and Add to Cart
   Click the “Add to cart” button next to the domain marked as “Available.”
5. ⚠️ Skip Extra Services Screen
   Like GoDaddy, you might encounter screens recommending hosting or security services. Since they aren’t needed for short URL purposes, do not select them and proceed to checkout with just the domain.
6. Select Duration and Complete Payment
   Choose your desired registration period and pay.
7. Set Up Auto-Renewal on Your Dashboard
   After payment, verify your registered domain in your Account Dashboard → Domain List and activate auto-renewal.

8. Registering Your Custom Domain on Vivoldi

Once your domain purchase is complete, it’s time to register that domain on Vivoldi. In this step, you notify Vivoldi’s system about your domain, and verify the nameserver addresses you’ll need to change in the following step.

Steps to Register a Domain on Vivoldi

1. Log in to Vivoldi: Access vivoldi.com and log into your account.
2. Enter Domain Management Menu: Navigate to the “Link Domain Management” screen from your dashboard menu.
3. Add Domain: Click the “Add Domain” button and input the domain address you purchased. Ex) mybrandlink.com
4. Verify and Copy Nameserver Info: After adding the domain, Vivoldi will provide 2 nameserver addresses (Primary, Secondary) that you need to change to. Copy these addresses or keep the screen open to proceed to the next step.
5. Change Nameservers: Go to the service where you bought your domain (GoDaddy or Namecheap) to change the nameservers. Detailed instructions on how to do this are in the very next section.
6. Wait for DNS Propagation & Auto SSL Issuance: After changing nameservers and waiting for DNS propagation (about 1 hour), Vivoldi will automatically issue your SSL certificate.

9. How to Change Nameservers — An Ultra-Easy Explanation

For those encountering the word “nameserver” for the first time, we will help you completely grasp the concept through three analogies before moving on to the actual modification method.

📖 What is a Nameserver? — Understanding Through 3 Analogies

Analogy 1: Navigation App

A friend tells you, “Let’s go to Sky Cafe downtown.” Your friend only knows the cafe’s name, not the exact address. At this time, searching for the cafe’s name on Google Maps gives you the exact location (map coordinates).

On the internet, a nameserver plays exactly this navigation role. When someone types in mybrand.com, they ask the nameserver, “Which server computer houses this name?” When the nameserver replies, “It’s on the Vivoldi server,” the connection routes to that server.

Changing your nameserver means switching the destination settings on your navigation from the “existing hosting server” to the “Vivoldi server.”

Analogy 2: Post Office Address Change

When you move, you go to the post office and apply, “Please forward mail coming under my name to my new address from now on.” Afterward, mail is delivered to your new house.

Changing a nameserver operates on the exact same principle. You are applying to the internet’s phonebook (DNS), saying, “From now on, please send visitors entering this domain address to Vivoldi’s servers.” Afterward, anyone connecting to this domain is routed to Vivoldi’s servers.

Analogy 3: Phonebook

In the past, names and numbers were registered in phonebooks like “John Doe = 010-1234-5678.” If someone wanted to call John Doe, they had to look up the number in the phonebook.

On the internet, a domain name is like a person’s name, and the actual server computer’s IP address (e.g., 123.45.67.89) is like a phone number. The nameserver is that phonebook. Once you update the phonebook to “mybrand.com = Vivoldi Server IP,” subsequently anyone accessing mybrand.com connects to the Vivoldi server.

✅ Changing Nameservers on GoDaddy

1. Log in and Access My Products: After logging into godaddy.com, click on your profile at the top right and select “My Products.”
2. Enter Domain Management: Scroll to the Domains section and click “Manage” or "DNS" next to the domain you want to update.
3. Navigate to Nameserver Settings: On the DNS Management page, locate the “Nameservers” tab.
4. Select Change Nameservers: The currently set nameservers will be displayed (GoDaddy default). Click the “Change” or “Enter my own nameservers (advanced)” button.
5. Enter Vivoldi’s Nameserver Addresses:
   Input the nameserver addresses you verified on the Vivoldi domain registration screen.
   Nameserver 1: Enter the address provided by Vivoldi
   Nameserver 2: Enter the address provided by Vivoldi
   Be careful not to leave spaces at the beginning or end when entering. Check the actual addresses on the Vivoldi registration screen.
6. Save and Complete: Click the “Save” button. If a verification request pops up via email or SMS, follow through with it.

✅ Changing Nameservers on Namecheap

1. Log in and Enter Domain Management: Log into namecheap.com → Select “Domain List” from the left sidebar.
2. Select Domain to Change: Click the “Manage” button next to the domain name you wish to change.
3. Enter Nameserver Settings: Scroll down to the “Nameservers” section.
4. Select Custom DNS and Enter New Addresses: From the dropdown menu, change "Namecheap BasicDNS" to "Custom DNS." Then input the primary and secondary nameserver addresses provided by Vivoldi.
5. Save: Click the small green checkmark (Save) icon to complete the change.

10. Auto-Issuance Process for SSL Certificates

An SSL certificate is a security certificate that encrypts data between your website and visitors. Sites with SSL applied display a 🔒 padlock icon in the address bar, and the address starts with https://.

The reason short URLs absolutely need SSL is clear.

• 🔒 https://mybrand.com/event → A trusted, safe link
• ⚠️ http://mybrand.com/event → Displays a “Not Secure” warning on modern browsers like Chrome, Safari, etc.

Links without SSL have a direct negative impact on click-through rates due to browser warnings. Some social media networks and email clients even block HTTP links entirely.

Vivoldi’s Automatic SSL Issuance

Vivoldi automatically issues and renews SSL certificates for your custom domains. There is absolutely no need to purchase or manually install certificates separately.

Automatic SSL Issuance Sequence:

1. Domain registration on Vivoldi is complete
2. Nameserver (or CNAME) change is complete
3. DNS propagation is complete
4. Vivoldi’s system automatically verifies domain ownership
5. Auto-issuance of SSL certificate (takes anywhere from a few minutes to dozens of minutes to complete)
6. Verify the "Completed" status on Vivoldi’s domain management screen
7. Verify that the short URL works normally with https://

11. Generating Short URLs with Your Custom Domain

We’re finally at the last step. Once domain registration, nameserver changes, and SSL issuance are all complete, you can generate your very first brand short URL.

Short URL Generation Steps

1. Click Create Link on Vivoldi’s Dashboard: Log in and click the “Create Link” button.
2. Enter Original URL: Paste the long URL you wish to shorten.
3. Select Custom Domain: Choose the custom domain you just registered from the domain selection dropdown. Alongside the default domains (vvd.bz, vvd.im), your registered custom domain will appear in the list.
4. Configure the Slug (the back part of the address):
   Manually enter the path to follow your domain, or auto-generate it.
   Ex) If the domain is mybrand.com and you input the slug summer-sale → mybrand.com/summer-sale is created.
   Slug Configuration Tips:
   • Use meaningful words: /event, /menu, /survey
   • A combination of lowercase English letters and hyphens (-) is recommended
   • Ideally under 10 characters — too long defeats the purpose of shortening
5. Advanced Settings (Optional):
   • Link Expiration Date: Set the event end date
   • Password Protection: Useful for internally shared materials
   • UTM Parameters: Track by marketing channel
   • Redirect Type: 301 (Permanent) or 302 (Temporary)
6. Link Creation Complete: Clicking the “Create” button will finalize your brand short URL.
7. Test the Link: Be sure to copy the created link and open it in a new browser tab to verify it successfully connects to the original page.

Various Utilization Examples

12. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Conclusion — A Single Brand Link Elevates Your Marketing

When you first started this guide, words like “Domain, DNS, Nameserver, SSL” might have felt unfamiliar. But having read this far, you now know that all these concepts are actually stepping stones toward a single goal: “Creating a link that carries my brand.”

Let’s recap the most important points in this guide.

• ✅ A custom domain is a feature to create short URLs using a domain you own.
• ✅ Brand short URLs enhance trust and boost click-through rates by an average of 30~40%.
• ⚠️ You must absolutely never register your currently operating website’s domain on Vivoldi. Your website and email will go down. Always buy a new domain.
• ✅ A dedicated new domain for short URLs can be purchased on GoDaddy or Namecheap for around 9,000 to 30,000 KRW annually.
• ✅ A nameserver is the internet’s phonebook that configures “where to guide visitors entering my domain.”
• ✅ Vivoldi automatically issues and renews SSL certificates, so no extra work is needed.
• ✅ You can start using your brand short URLs normally within 30 minutes to 2 hours after completing domain registration.

Now that you’ve read this guide, give it a try right away. The moment you generate and send out your first brand link, you will personally experience click-through rates and responses on a different level than before.