Who is this article for?
This article will be useful to you if are a company looking to personalize the links provided to your partners for the link's appearance and to prevent ad-blocking interference.
Custom link domain overview
PartnerStack links are initially generated using our standard domains YourCompanyName.grsm.io or YourCompanyName.partnerlinks.io.
Creating a custom link domain allows you to replace our standard domains (grsm.io or partnerlinks.io) with a personalized alternative.
To create a custom link domain you will need:
- Access to your DNS records.
- Tip: You may need assistance from your engineers or webmaster for this step.
- Admin permissions for your account.
- A domain and subdomain to create your custom link domain.
- Domain: The base domain of your website (e.g. acme.com)
-
Subdomain: The link prefix.
- Example: Many companies use prefixes like try (try.acme.com) or get (get.acme.com). You may choose any prefix you wish.
- An active SSL certificate for your website.
- Note: Most web hosts provide this automatically. You can easily check if your website has an SSL certificate using modern browsers like Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.
To create a custom link domain
Your custom link domain can be created from within your PartnerStack dashboard.
- In the left-hand menu, go to Settings, and select the Integrations tab
- If you don't see this, ask your team for Admin permissions
- Navigate to the Custom link domain settings card and click "Add a custom domain"
- Enter your preferred domain (e.g. acme.com)
- Choose a subdomain from the list or create your own subdomain
- Click “Next”
- Select "Replace domain" to confirm the details you just entered
- Add the given TXT record and the provided CNAME record to your domain's DNS settings
- You may need assistance from your engineers or webmaster for this step
- Ensure the root domain of your website has an active SSL certificate
- Tip: You can check for an active SSL through most major browsers (e.g. Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox)
- When you have confirmed both your DNS records and your SSL status, click "Verify domain"
- If you've installed the PartnerStack JS snippet, you will need to update it immediately
- Copy the updated PartnerStackJS snippet code under the Implement via PartnerStackJS snippet dropdown and replace your old code in your website’s front-end header
If you use the JS snippet but do not replace it with the new version, customers using ad-blockers may see a warning message before they can continue to your website. This can result in lost conversions.
Once added, it may take between 10 minutes to 12 hours for your DNS records and SSL certificate to propagate and be detected by PartnerStack.
Please allow a full 12 hours to pass after DNS record and SSL certificate setup before notifying your partners to replace their existing links with new ones.
Notify your partners
Once you have replaced your existing grsm.io or partnerlinks.io links with a custom domain, please notify your partners. Partners can then update their links wherever they have shared them.
We recommend sending an email campaign to your partners or using an announcement to let them know that new links are available for your program.
While partners' original grsm.io or partnerlinks.io links will still work and track activity, users with ad-blocker will see a "disable blocking and continue to the site" message.
- For more information on ad-blockers, see our PartnerStack and Adblockers support guide.
To update a custom link domain
- In the left-hand menu, go to Settings, and select the Integrations tab
- If you don't see this, ask your team for Admin permissions
- Navigate to the Custom link domain settings card and click "Replace with a new custom domain”
- Enter your preferred domain (e.g. acme.com)
- Choose a subdomain from the list or create your own subdomain
- Click “Next”
- Select "Replace domain" to confirm the details you just entered
- Add the given TXT record and the provided CNAME record to your domain's DNS settings
- You may need assistance from your engineers or webmaster for this step
- Ensure the root domain of your website has an active SSL certificate
- Tip: You can check for an active SSL through most major browsers (e.g. Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox)
- When you have confirmed both your DNS records and your SSL status, click "Verify domain"
- If you've installed the PartnerStack JS snippet, you will need to update it immediately
- Copy the updated PartnerStackJS snippet code under the Implement via PartnerStackJS snippet dropdown and replace your old code in your website’s front-end header