Using a custom Branded Link for your publication

Branded Links are customized links associated with your brand or domain, these links are sent within an email using the same custom Email Domain. Using Branded Links strengthens your sender reputation with mailbox providers and builds subscriber trust by keeping your links consistent with your brand.

By default, beehiiv routes email links through shared domains (e.g., bhclick.com or link.mail.beehiiv.com). With a Branded Link, your publication will use a unique, branded link associated with its custom Email Domain. These links appear in email posts for tracking purposes. When subscribers hover over or copy a link, they will see the branded version before being redirected to the final destination.

A custom Branded Link may look something like this:

elink3gd.mail.yourbrand.com

Branded Links are available to anyone using a custom Email Domain. If you're setting up a custom Email Domain for the first time, follow the directions in this article to set up the Branded Link with the rest of your domain.

If you already have a custom Email Domain, this article will guide you through adding a Branded Link using the Entri or Manual setup process.

Setting up a Branded Link involves two steps in your domain provider account:

1. Adding two CNAME records to your DNS provider.
2. Swapping one of the CNAME record’s values to validate the link with SendGrid and enable SSL protection.

If you initially used Entri to set up your custom domain, follow these steps for setting up a Branded Link using your Email Domain. Click on the steps in the interactive image to review them, and/or view the written instructions below.

1. From the left panel of your account, scroll down and click on Settings.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Your publication settings will open. Select Domains from the left panel.
   
   On the right side under your Email Username, you’ll see a badge that says Branded Link Setup Available. Click the 3 dots menu next to the badge and select Configure Branded Link.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. A module will open on the Branded Link tab, click the Start Setup with Entri button to have Entri set up the Branded Link record for you.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. The Entri modal will pop up again, click Continue.
   
   
   Note: By selecting Continue, you agree to Entri's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Entri will then analyze your domain and determine who your DNS Provider is.
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. In this example, we’re using a Namecheap domain. Enter your Username and Password, then click Continue.
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Namecheap will send a verification code to your email. Copy the code, paste it into the Enter code field, and click Continue.
   
   
   
   Tech Note: Some domain providers may not require a verification code to complete your DNS setup.
8. Entri will then begin retrieving your information and creating DNS records on your behalf.
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. Once this part of the setup is complete, a confirmation message will appear, click Done.
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. After configuration, you’ll be redirected to your Domains page. You may see a badge that says Entri Branded Link Verification in Progress, this is to let you know that this process is still underway.
    
    
    
    
    
    
11. Once verified, this badge will update to say Branded Link: Action Required. Click on the 3 dots next to Branded Link: Action Required, and select Verify Branded Link from the dropdown menu.
    
    
    
    
    
    
12. A module will open on the Branded Link tab, click the Complete Setup with Entri button to have Entri set up the DNS record for you.
    
    
    
    
    
    
13. The Entri modal will pop up again, and you will need to follow the same prompts as before to allow them to update your DNS record. Click Continue to proceed.
    
    
    Note: By selecting Continue, you agree to Entri's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
    
    
    
    
    
    
14. Enter your username and password, and then click the Continue button.
    
    
    
    
    
    
15. Namecheap will email you a verification code, navigate to your email and copy the code. Then, enter it in the Enter code field. Once complete, click Continue.
    
    
    Note: Not every domain provider will require a code to complete your DNS setup.
    
    
    
    
    
    
16. After logging in successfully, Entri will display a message saying, ‘We detected the existing records at yourdomain.com.’ This is expected, as you're updating the value for the CNAME record.
    
    
    
    
    
    
17. Click the Okay, continue button to allow Entri to update the CNAME record for the Branded Link.
    
    
    
    
    
    
18. Please wait while Entri completes the process.
    
    
    
    
    
    
19. When your record has been updated, you will see a message confirming ‘yourdomain.com’ is now configured. Click on Done.
    
    
    
    
    
    
20. After configuration, you’ll be redirected to your Domains page. You may see a badge that says Entri Branded Link Verification in Progress, this is to let you know that this process is still underway.
    
    
    
    
    
    
21. Once verified, the in progress badge will be gone and your Email domain will show as Live.
    
    
    

If you initially set up your custom domain manually, follow these steps for setting up a Branded Link using your Email Domain. Click on the steps in the interactive image to review them, and/or view the written instructions below.

1. From the left panel of your account, scroll down and click on Settings.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Your publication settings will open. Select Domains from the left panel.
   
   On the right side under your Email Username, you’ll see a badge that says Branded Link Setup Available. Click the 3 dots menu next to the badge and select Configure Branded Link.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. A module will open on the Branded Link tab, displaying two CNAME records. You’ll need to add these records to your domain provider's account. To copy a record, simply highlight the text, copy it, and paste it into your domain provider's settings.
   
   After adding all required CNAME records to your domain provider, click Verify Setup in beehiiv to complete the process.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Verification times may vary. If you see an 'Action Required' badge, click Verify Setup again after completing the setup in your domain provider's account.
   
   
   
   
   
   

5. Once configured, the badge on the Branded Link tab will update. To complete the setup, update the CNAME record value found under 'Step 2 - Update DNS Record - Action Required.'

   Modify the CNAME record in your domain provider's account, then return to beehiiv and click Verify Setup to confirm the update.

   Important Note: Only update the value of the CNAME record listed in Step 2.
   
   
   

   Verification times may vary. If you see an 'Action Required' badge, click Verify Setup again after completing the setup in your domain provider's account.
   
   

6. Once the updated record is successfully set up, a checkmark will appear next to 'Branded Links' at the top of the module. Click Copy to Clipboard & Close to save your DNS record.
   
   
   
   
   
   

7. After configuration, you’ll be redirected back to the Domains page, where a 'Live' badge will appear next to the Email Domain.
   
   

   

Why do I see this message: ‘Your Branded Links verification is in progress Your Branded Links are currently being verified. Until this process is complete, the links in your outgoing emails may not function as expected.’?




If you see this message, your Branded Links setup is incomplete. Until verification is complete, links in your outgoing emails may not function as expected.

To complete the setup, click Branded Links Configuration in the banner. This will redirect you to the Domains page, where you can follow the instructions to finalize your Branded Links setup.

What does ‘Disable click tracking for this post’ mean?





You will see a link to Disable click tracking for this post when your Branded Link configuration is incomplete. To ensure your email links work, you’ll need to disable click tracking before sending the post.

However, disabling click tracking means you won’t see any email click data in the Performance tab or Post Analytics report. Instead, you'll see a banner stating: Click tracking disabled for this post. Click tracking was disabled for this post, so analytics data for this post may be incomplete.





To ensure you can properly track email click tracking for your future posts, we recommend completing the Branded Links configuration.

If I set up the Branded Link after disabling click tracking, will I be able to see the email post performance?

No. If click tracking was disabled when the email was sent, there’s no way to retroactively track clicks. However, once your Branded Links setup is complete, future posts will have click tracking enabled.