Custom Domain | Zoho Forms - User Guide

Custom Domain


Custom Domains are used to promote your organization's brand in the form URLs to all your form respondents. If you do not want any reference to Zoho Forms in your form URL, you can use your own custom domain.

Customized Forms - Zoho Forms
Customize Form - Zoho Forms

 

By default, your form URL will be in the format as shown in this example:

https://forms.zohopublic.com/zylker/form/ContentMarketingWorkshop/formperma/136dhmA8E00j0G216Ag44kF9d

Let's say your website is zylker.com and you wish to embed your form in it with the domain forms.zylker.com, you can use such custom domain instead of the default Zoho Forms domain to showcase your organization's brand in the form URLs shared to all your respondents.

 

Using a custom domain can help:

  • Promote your brand

  • Increase the number of responses you receive via your forms

  • Makes it easier for your respondents to find and remember your organization

Pre-requisites

Before adding a Custom Domain for your forms, follow the below steps:

 

CNAME Record Mapping for Your Domain  

  1. You must own a domain or a sub-domain for your organization. Ensure that you can edit the DNS (Domain Name System) records for your custom domain in the settings of the domain provider.

  2. Add a CNAME (Canonical Name) record in your DNS records section in your domain provider. A CNAME record allows you to use your domain as an alias for another domain.

  3. Use the CNAME record to map your sub domain to the Hostname forms.cs.zohohost.com.
    For example: forms.zylker.com CNAME forms.cs.zohohost.com
    Zoho Forms Public URL
    Map your domain or sub domain to the Hostname
    forms.zohopublic.com
    forms.cs.zohohost.com
    forms.zohopublic.eu
    forms.cs.zohohost.eu
    forms.zohopublic.in
    forms.cs.zohohost.in
    forms.zohopublic.au
    forms.cs.zohohost.com.au
    forms.zohopublic.cn
    forms.cs.zohohost.com.cn
    forms.zohopublic.jp
    forms.cs.zohohost.jp
    forms.zohopublic.ca
    forms.cs.zohohost.ca
    forms.zohopublic.sa
    forms.cs.zohohost.sa

    It could take upto 48 hours for the changes to your domain to appear on the internet.

Info
You can search for DNS propagation checker tools online to perform a DNS propagation lookup for your sub-domain name (Eg: forms.zylker.com) and confirm if the DNS records are fully propagated.

Notes

Note: CNAME records need time to propagate. If you have already updated your DNS, wait for 24-48 hours. If you try to add the custom domain in Zoho Forms before this time period, you may see an error.

Adding a Custom Domain

To add your domain for your forms in Zoho Forms,
  1. Log in to Zoho Forms as a Super Admin.
  2. On the forms listing page, under Setup, click Control Panel.Navigate to Control Panel
  3. Click Custom Domain under Customization.

    Click Custom Domain
  4. Your domains will be listed here, and you can check the verification status of your domain. 
    Domain status
  5. To add a new domain, click Add New Domain and enter your full domain details (not the URL prefix), that is the host of your CNAME. For example: forms.zylker.com.
  6. The domain status will be listed as Pending.
  7. We will process the SSL certificate for your domain and send a confirmation email in 3-5 days.
  8. Once confirmed, the domain status will be changed to Verified.

Using Custom Domain

To start using the custom domain in your forms,
  1. Log in to your Zoho Forms account.
  2. In your form builder, navigate to Settings > Branding > Custom Domain.

    custom domain configuration
  3. From the Domain dropdown, select the domain which you wish to use for your form and save.
Once configured, the custom domain will appear in the URLs of all the forms created in your Zoho Forms account.
Notes
Note:
  1. Custom domains can be used only for public forms.
  2. The option to add Custom Domain is available only in our paid plans.
  3. An organization can add only upto 5 custom domains.
Refer to the FAQs related to custom domain.