Spotlight 17: Custom domains for an on-brand event

Your event markets your brand and gives it the exposure it needs to sell your product or service. And that's why branding is given a lot of (if not the most) importance in event planning. From the speakers to the sponsors, the colors used in your event microsite to the tiny favicon in the browser's address bar, they're all chosen to match your organization's brand.

Customizing the domain for your event microsite is one other way you can highlight your brand. A custom domain gives your events credibility, not to mention a boost in SEO rankings. It also tells your attendees who you are at first glance. It's pretty easy to set up a custom domain for your events in Backstage. All that's required is a domain, a CNAME record, and an SSL certificate.

Let's take a closer look at these three requirements.

Domain and subdomain

So what's a domain? A domain is a virtual address for your organization or, in this case, the events that your organization conducts. A subdomain is an extension of your domain, something to add further meaning to it. As people mostly find your event through the URL, it's beneficial to have a domain name that's relatable to your organization as it promotes brand awareness.

Now, if you are an organization like Zylker Corporation, there are two ways you could do this. You can have a domain solely for your events like zylkerevents.com or have a subdomain under your organization's main domain. For example, events.zylker.com.

In Backstage, you can only map your events to a subdomain. So if you are going with the first option, make sure you add your custom domain with a "www" (www.zylkerevents.com). The "www" will be the subdomain here. Also, we recommend that you add an HTTP 301 redirect in your domain's DNS settings to send users from zylkerevents.com to www.zylkerevents.com. This will avoid content duplication and increase your SEO ranking.

You can add your domain in the Custom Domain tab of your portal's Settings page.

CNAME record

The Canonical name—or the CNAME as it is popularly known—is a type of record that is used to point a domain or subdomain to another domain that usually points to an IP address. The CNAME record has two parts: name and value. The name will be your domain name and the value will be a record that points to the domain you want to connect with.

Once you've added your custom domain to Backstage, you should create a CNAME record for it in your domain's registrar. Your CNAME record will look like this: CNAME | sub-domain-name | record value. The name here will be your subdomain and the value will be a record that points to Backstage's domain.

You can get this record value from the textbox in the Map your custom domain section of the Custom Domain tab.

As the procedure for creating a CNAME record varies for different domain registrars, you can read their help documents or contact their customer support team for specific information.

SSL certificate

Now that your domain is mapped, the next step is to make it safe for people to access. This is done with an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate. This is a digital certificate used to make a secure connection between your event microsite and your attendee's browser.

If you already have one for your custom domain, it will be automatically verified by Backstage. Then your HTTPS-secure domain will be ready to host your events. If you don't have one, you can apply for one in Backstage. In around three to five days, a group SSL certificate will be installed for your domain.

Alternatively, you can contact your domain registrar for the SSL certificate. You can also verify the certificates manually by clicking the Verify Domain Mapping button.

Learn more about custom domains and give your event microsite an on-brand URL that's also HTPPS-secure. Subscribe to our forum to be updated with the latest Backstage news. If you have any feedback or questions, please write to us at support@zohobackstage.com.

Happy organizing!

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