How do I create and use a Custom Tracking Domain?

By now, you might be aware of Custom Tracking Domains and how helpful they are for maintaining click tracking while also helping your deliverability. If not, don't worry, we'll provide guidance as well as the steps to get this set up in your Email Sequences account.

When you send emails in Email Sequences, by default, Voila Norbert enables link tracking and open tracking using one of Voila Norbert's shared domains. We monitor these domains and block abusers to help ensure these shared domains aren't negatively impacting deliverability.

However, mail providers are starting to monitor tracking in emails with more diligence and that means that using a Custom Tracking Domain is more important than ever.

Using your own domain for link and open tracking will help with deliverability. When you set up your own custom tracking domain, your tracked links will match your sending email which is helpful for deliverability.

In this guide:

• Set up steps - Includes set up in your DNS settings and remaining steps in Email Sequences
• Common Verification Errors
• Resolving Connection Not Private Error

In your web host's DNS settings:

1. Create a sub-domain and set up a CNAME DNS record (this is done outside of Voila Norbert)

For you to edit your domain's DNS (domain name service) records, you'll need administrator access to your domain's DNS settings. The process of editing DNS records is different from web host to web host, but typically these are the basic steps:

1. Create a new DNS record (example: links.mycompany.com; "links" would be the host part of the URL)
2. Choose CNAME as the type of record
3. In the points to or value textbox, enter tracking.voilanorbert.com

Here are a few guides and tips for specific web hosts:

• GoDaddy
• BlueHost
• Namecheap
• Network Solutions
• Google has this page that lists variety of providers (just remember to use tracking.voilanorbert.com  instead of whatever they specify in their help pages).
• Cloudflare: when setting up your CNAME record, set it to DNS proxy only (the default is set to http and DNS)

Here's an example of how your DNS settings might look:

In Voila Norbert Email Sequences:

2. In the left side menu, click "Settings," then click "Team Settings"

3. Click "Tracking Domains" and enter your tracking domain in Email Sequences. 

4. Click "Verify and Save"

Your tracking domain is usually not your main domain but rather a tracking domain you set with your CNAME record.

Once you've entered the tracking domain, the system automatically checks your DNS records to verify everything looks good. If you receive an error message, you'll need to fix that in your DNS records, otherwise you're all set.

That's it! Future emails sent for your team will use this domain to track clicks and opens.

My Tracking Domain can't be verified?

If you don't see a green checkmark or you see an error message when trying to verify your tracking domain, this means either:

• The domain isn't live yet. It can take up to 72 hours before these kinds of changes get distributed around the internet.
• Your tracking domain wasn't configured correctly. You should check your tracking domain setup in your DNS settings and/or contact your DNS provider's support for assistance.

Why am I receiving "Connection Not Private" errors?

If you or a prospect are seeing a "Connection Not Private" error when clicking links from your messages, it's likely due to using https URLs.

Our tracking system currently supports http URLs, but your domain and browser will usually redirect you to https even when the https URL is not used.

To avoid this issue, use http URLs when adding links in your messages.