Vanity domains are custom short domains - like getmyproduct.com or trymyproduct.com - that redirect visitors to your Auware landing pages. They are designed for offline-to-online attribution, making them ideal for TV commercials, print ads, direct mail, podcast mentions, and any other channel where you need a memorable, branded URL that is easy to say out loud or print on physical media.
When someone types your vanity domain into their browser, they are instantly redirected to the correct landing page. The redirect takes approximately 5 milliseconds. Along the way, Auware appends an attribution parameter (aw_ref) so you can track exactly how much traffic each vanity domain drives. Your existing UTM parameters from ad campaigns are preserved and passed through untouched.
Vanity domains are available on Pro and Agency plans. Free and Starter plans do not include this feature.
How to set up a vanity domain
Setting up a vanity domain in Auware takes four steps:
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Purchase a domain from any registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, Google Domains, or any other provider). Pick something short and memorable that relates to your product or campaign.
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Point the domain’s DNS A record to Auware’s redirect server. You will find the IP address in your Store Settings under the Vanity Domains tab. This tells the internet to send visitors to Auware when they type your domain.
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Register the domain in Auware by going to Settings, then the Vanity Domains tab. Enter your domain name and click Add. Auware will automatically provision an SSL certificate the first time someone visits the domain, so there is nothing else to configure on the security side.
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Assign the domain to a landing page. When you are in the campaign wizard on the Review and Publish step (Step 10), you will see a Vanity Domains section. Use the dropdown to pick which vanity domain should redirect to each landing page. You can assign different vanity domains to different audience pages within the same campaign.
How vanity domains are used in campaigns
Once assigned, the vanity domain automatically updates its redirect target every time you publish or republish the landing page. If you change which Shopify page or Buyist page the landing page is published to, the vanity domain follows automatically.
On the campaign detail page, after publishing, you will see the vanity domain displayed below the platform URL for each page. You can copy the vanity URL directly from there to use in your marketing materials.
In the Reports section, the Vanity Domains tab shows traffic data for all your registered domains - total visits, unique visitors, top performing domains, and recent redirect activity. This gives you a clear picture of which offline channels are driving the most traffic.
Managing your vanity domains
All vanity domain management happens in Settings under the Vanity Domains tab. From there you can:
- View all your registered domains and their current status
- Add new domains (after pointing DNS)
- Remove domains you no longer need
Each vanity domain belongs to one store. If you manage multiple stores, each store has its own set of vanity domains. Domains cannot be shared across stores.
Common questions
Do I need to buy an SSL certificate? No. Auware automatically provisions free SSL certificates from Let’s Encrypt the first time a visitor accesses your vanity domain. This happens in the background and requires no action from you.
Can I use subdomains? Yes. You can register subdomains like go.mystore.com or shop.mybrand.com as vanity domains, as long as the DNS A record points to Auware’s redirect server.
What happens if I remove a vanity domain? The domain stops redirecting immediately. Visitors who type the domain will see a “not found” page. The domain’s traffic history is preserved in your reports.
Can I reuse a vanity domain for a different campaign? Yes. Simply assign it to a different landing page in the campaign wizard. The redirect target updates on the next publish.