Custom domain tracking involves utilizing a unique tracking domain to monitor email open rates and click-through rates.
This is important because standard tracking methods often use a shared tracking domain, which can lead to deliverability problems.
Email service providers can detect multiple requests to the same tracking URL from different campaigns, which can negatively affect email deliverability.
Custom domain tracking mitigates this risk by offering a dedicated tracking domain, enhancing campaign performance and reducing the likelihood of emails being marked as spam.
Email tracking refers to monitoring your recipients' behavior like if an email is opened or if any links in the email were clicked etc. To obtain this information for you, we add a code to the email’s body. That code is generally in the form of a URL - for example, abc.piplai.com/[code]
The URL is changed every once in a while, that same domain is used by every pipl.ai customer unless you set up a custom tracking domain.
Common Tracking Domain | Custom Tracking Domain |
In a Common Tracking Domain setup, the same domain or URL is used by all users in pipl.ai to get the email tracking information unless you set up a Custom Tracking Domain. For example, emailtracking.pipl.ai
| Custom Tracking Domain for emails involves using a custom domain or URL to store the tracking information obtained from the code that is embedded for tracking inside the email’s body.
Moreover, it differs from common tracking in terms of customization. Custom Tracking Domain allows custom event triggers and advanced analytics. |
Example: emailtracking.pipl.ai | Example: emailtracking.yourdomainname.com |
💡To understand the custom tracking domain better, you can relate it to a real-life example of sharing a towel in a gym. If you use a personal towel instead of sharing one with other gym fellows to wipe your sweat off it will not only be more hygienic but will also mitigate the risk of catching any germs from others.
There are two main steps to add a Custom Tracking Domain:
1. Creating a CNAME record in your domain provider’s DNS Zone.
2. Adding the CNAME record in pipl.ai.
1. Create CNAME in DNS Zone
👉 We will take an example of adding a CNAME record in Namecheap. If you are using the services of some other domain registrar, your steps to add the CNAME record may vary.
Follow these steps to add a CNAME record in your domain provider’s DNS Zone (In our case, it’s Namecheap.)
1. Login to your domain provider's account.
2. If you have multiple domains, select the domain you wish to add the CNAME record for.
3. Click on the Manage or Advance DNS option for your selected domain.
4. Click on Add New Record.
5. Enter the following values:
Type: CNAME Record
Host: px
Value: px.pipl.ai
TTL: Automatic
6. Click on the Save All Changes button to add the CNAME record successfully.
👉 CNAME record propagation can take up to 24 hours.
2. Adding CNAME in pipl.ai
To add the CNAME record in pipl.ai, follow these steps:
1. Login to your pipl.ai account.
2. Click on Email Accounts in the left menu pane.
3. Select the email account from your account’s list.
4. Click on Account Settings for the selected email account.
5. Scroll down to Custom Tracking Domain.
6. Enter your Custom Tracking Domain in the input field in the following format:
px.yourdomain.com
px: This is the prefix that you need to insert before your domain name followed by a period.
domain name: This is the domain name of your website. For example: kontentup.com.
=> Referring to the example above, the custom tracking domain will be: px.kontentup.com
7. Click on the “Next” button to proceed.
8. Upon clicking “Next” you will see the DNS record settings. Verify the settings to make sure you entered the correct values in your Domain Provider’s DNS record.
❗These are the values (Type, Host, Value) that you must use in step 5 of the section Create CNAME in DNS Zone above.
9. Click on “Verify & Save” to proceed.
10. A popup will appear asking if you want to apply these settings to all the email accounts for this domain. You can select “Yes” or “No” based on your preferences.
❗Selecting “No” will not impact your CNAME record settings for the current email address. It is just an additional check for the user’s convenience in case they wish to apply the same settings to all the email accounts of the same domain without going through all these steps to add a new Custom Tracking Domain for other emails of the same domain.
11. Once you click “Verify & Save” your details are verified in real-time and saved upon successful validation. A success popup appears on the screen upon successful validation.
A green “Verified” label will also appear in the Custom Tracking Domain section of your account settings upon the successful configuration of the CNAME record.
❗If you get a popup saying “CNAME record not found…”, check the values you entered in your domain provider’s DNS settings.
👉If the values are correct, and you are still getting the same prompt, there is nothing to be worried about as these CNAME settings can take up to 24 hours to propagate.
▶️Steps in action: Adding CNAME in pipl.ai
▶️Video Link: https://app.supademo.com/demo/0VEzY032fhmJrZBZ7QKwY